When Youth Supports An Elder

I saw something very important this week that I hope is a sign of an increasing trend. For those of you who are not followers of popular culture, last night was a huge event for a large group of television fans--- Betty White hosted Saturday Night Live. Betty White has been around for eighty-eight (and one half ) years as an actress most famous for her roles on the Mary Tyler Moore show in the 70's and The Golden Girls in the 80's. Why am I writing about this on my blog, stick with me for a minute because I think the event signals something important.

The back story is that Betty made a hilarious commercial that played during the Super Bowl this year and all the twenty-somethings loved it. They loved it so much they opened a facebook page and started a campaign to get her on as a host of Saturday Night Live---the twenty-somethings show of shows so to speak. They got so many people to join the campaign that she was asked to host three months later. My own peers called me before the show to ask me to tape it so they could watch it again if they wanted. They were already anticipating a second viewing before they saw it the first time. What is going on here?

While I was watching it I saw that at least seven former SNL female members came back to be in several sketches with her exciting the audience (and I am sure the shows writers) and ensuring a "Best of SNL" title for the entire show. Remember, these former SNL players all came back for this one show, and that has never happened for anyone before her. That is when it hit me: Youth is supporting an elder. Youth liked her in the commercial, youth got their show to make her host and youth came back to the show to support and boost her skits. It also marked Betty as he oldest guest to ever host the show, and gave SNL it best rated show in eighteen months. While being an exciting event for the show's faithful, it may also be a sign of something bigger---a positive step toward bridging youth and eldership

In the traditional native cultures eldership begins with early elders (60's) and moves to middle elders (70's) and finally to the revered position of full elder (80's on). These elders are revered and honored for their wisdom in these cultures and it is not uncommon for older people from these traditions to brag that they are "almost 80". Our culture, on the other hand, often finds these people abandoned in nursing homes. So what made our culture's youth pluck this one elder, Betty White, to become an icon of their generation? It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter because it happened and that is all that is important. When the relationship between youth and elders is strengthened in any way, our culture matures and that is worth noting. Every positive act of support of youth to elders, especially such a public one, changes our culture's negative stereotypes of older people being feeble and useless and upholds the truly dignified nature of our elders. Youth feeds elders with energy and enthusiasm and elders give experience and wisdom. This of course does not mean that all elders in this culture are automatically wise as wisdom is rarely sought after or valued by most members of our culture, but every act of mutual support strengthens the connection between the generations. Whether it is simply a shared laugh or a deep conversation, all connections that deepen relations between youth and eldership benefit our entire society.