Old age is in western cultures under current neoliberal ideology increasingly linked to notions of decline, frailty and dependence as it is often equated with being unproductive and a burden to society. This case study is grounded in the belief that to change socio-cultural patterns one must first understand them. Consequently, this article aims to analyse the socio-cultural (re)production of narratives of ageing in general and of narratives of male ageing in particulara topic often neglected in academic debates of ageing. Mass media today hold an enormous influence on the development and maintenance of socio-cultural standards. As such, their products need to be taken seriously even if their content might seem superficial and frivolous. A critical analysis of commercially highly successful Hollywood action films The Expendables and The Expendables 2 will shed light on the cultural narratives of male ageing revealed in the two films and subsequently support a better understanding of the strategies used to transform narratives of decline commonly linked to ageing into stories of success and progress.

Low fertility rates, advances in medicine and improved living standards have dramatically altered the worldwide demographic landscape of age and ageing. The world’s population is growing older, and as a result of this demographic trend, scholarly research in a variety of academic disciplines in the West have turned their focus towards socio-cultural understandings of old age. Research-based in cultural gerontology suggests that within the context of western neoliberal societies perceptions of older age mainly unfold within two hegemonic narratives, namely ageing as related to decline, frailty and dependency and successful ageing characterised by youthfulness, productivity and continued personal autonomy. Since recent multi-disciplinary approaches to age presume that western views of ageing are shaped by the socio-cultural environment and its hegemonic narratives, the role media play in the dissemination and preservation of these hegemonic narratives has been an important site of investigation, particularly in relation to the portrayal of older women. However, the media depiction of older males and related cultural narratives and how older men experience these narratives within a cultural environment other than the U.S. have received less academic attention. Paradoxically, whilst the representation of older male ageing is strikingly less in the focus of scholarly debate than female ageing, the action film genre has recently brought older male characters into focus through the revival of tough-guy action films featuring older male protagonists. This thesis analyses three ‘geri-action films’, The Expendables, The Expendables 2 and The Expendables 3, in order to explore current representational contextualisations of masculine ageing within the hegemonic socio-cultural constructions of successful ageing and ageing as decline. In so doing, it furthers an understanding of the dominant socio-cultural frames of reference which influence older men’s constructions of older male identities. Subsequently, this thesis explores the ways that ageing impacts on the later lives of men who would have been judged during their working lives to fulfil the criteria of hegemonic masculinity in that they are heterosexual, white and were, before retirement, in white-collar, affluent, middle- and upper-managerial positions. The in-depth semi-structured interviews with four retired German men offered genuine and novel views of older German men’s inner worlds in relation to the specificities of their life-course narratives and self-perceptions within the socio-cultural and theoretical contexts of ageing and masculinity. Through qualitative research underpinned by theoretical and conceptual understandings of media, ageing and representation, cultural gerontology and masculinity studies, this thesis offers a critical analysis of previously unheard narratives about ageing and masculinity.

The marked demographic change in industrialized countries has increased cross‐disciplinary interest in exploring understandings of aging on a social as well as individual level. Qualitative research in aging studies predominantly views aging as socially constructed. It therefore aims at gaining a better understanding of grand narratives of aging disseminated by powerful sociocultural agents in the media, the legal and political system, medical sciences, and academic institutions, of individual identity constructions in higher age and of how older people incorporate narratives of aging into their life‐course narratives. Neoliberal grand narratives of aging unfold within the binary of progress versus decline discourses. While representations linking aging to decline are characterized by a loss of control over mental and physical capabilities and resultant dependency on family, friends, or the state, the concept of successful aging is based on managing aging by staying autonomous, active, and youthful for as long as possible. Although the successful aging paradigm seems to support a positive view of aging, it not only reproduces gender hierarchies and heteronormativity but it also puts enormous pressure on those trying to meet the standards of successful aging and contributes to the marginalization of anyone who does not want or is not able to comply. An alternative to current sociocultural views of aging might be to approach aging outside of chronological homogenization and standardization and within the context of individual life‐course narratives in which each person constructs meaning, consistency and, ultimately, identity in one's life.

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