Young people looked older back in the day..or is it me

I’ll watch old movies, news clips, etc and always think people look older. I’ll see a film and later find out the actor was 30 when it was made. However, he looks 45 or 50. Am I the only one who thinks this?

 

It's not just you. Maybe with each succeeding generation, adolescence keeps getting extended.

 

Makeup is more sophisticated now, as are camera tricks -- to say nothing of CGI, which didn't exist 50 years ago

 

Look at a high school yearbook pre-1970s . . . most of them look 30+.

 

LOL...yea I thought that the last time I browsed by Yearbook...

 

Men were more manly when they were in their 30's, back then.

wait..... it's true

 

Kids today often grow up very soft and have it pretty easy compared to even 30 or 40 years ago.

 

I think that's true. Possible contributing factors:

Today, adolescenthood is greatly extended with fewer stressors and more leisure time.
More time spent indoors and less time spent out in the sun physically laboring.
Generally better nutrition and healthcare (I know, hard to believe).
General unacceptability of smoking - a big premature aging factor.
The dominance of youth (and youthful) culture and the desire to maintain it.
A possible genetic selection factor arising from lifestyle changes mentioned above.

 

Let's not forget aesthetics in general, clothes, colors used and design on the clothes, hair cuts, shoes. Also, the attitude of people, in the past once married with a child all was working and raising that child with very little time for oneself, all this has changed, many couples decide not to have children, even with children people keep a younger attitude, the feeling that there's still more to do in a positive and joyfull way in life and having children is JUST one more of them. We're more open minded today, our young personality lasts much longer now than 30, 40 or 50 years ago, don't forget that your mind projects part of your image to the others. People atending Guns'nRoses concerts, just an example, this and last years are mostly on their 40s and 50's, some of them even go with their own children. Or being 40 something and going to see a Star Wars movie with your children both wearing Star Wars T-Shirts, I've really seen it, this makes people feel and look younger. Would a 50 something 40 or 50 years ago go and attend a Rock concert or buy memorabilia from their favourite artists or bands from 20 or 30 years ago? No way. One was supposed to be a very serious and respectable guy and behave in certain way.

 

But it's not just movies/TV. Look at pics of "ordinary people" from the 1950s-70s - they'll almost always look older than how people of the same age look today.

Despite the rise of obesity, I think people are generally healthier today. I think more people eat better than they did 40 years ago - non-meat options are clearly more prevalent/valued, as are other healthy options. People barely thought about that in the past.

I think more people exercise, and smoking clearly has declined a lot - smoking REALLY ages people, so that makes a big difference.

I could be wrong, but I think drinking has probably declined, and that also would "de-age" people...

 

Hey, when 50-somethings are crawling the landscape in flip-flops and backwards caps . . .

 

You're right on the button, Carl. Some years ago I went to a school where my cousin was Principal, and the hallway had class pictures going back into the 1930s. All the way into the early 1950s the students looked like they were at least in their 20s, and perhaps even as much as 30. By the mid-1950s, the students looked more like they were in their late teens, which would be appropriate. And by the mid-1970s the students looked more like they were in their early teens.

I figured it was a combination of better nutrition, better health care, and easier times as the years progressed, so I tend to agree with Deesky's conclusions.......

 

People used to dress in a more formal manner, even in casual environments. “Dressing up always makes you look older”

 

I think the recent years are more terrible with young people looking older than they are, especially girls using too much make up.

 

That's true too, but the receding hairline (guy on the right) doesn't help either.

 

Andy Warhol said something like "If you dress like an old person when you're young, people won't notice as you grow older."

 

Just watch Grease!
Olivia newton John looks like she's a 30 year old student.
Maybe it's because she was 30 at the time.

 

I have to agree, on older movies or TV shows the Father will always appear to be about 45 year or so old, I look them up and it turns out they are like mabye 32-35 years old.

Same with normal men working in an office or bad guys in a criminal movie, they appear to be about 50-55 years old and I look up their names, and bam, they were 45 at the time.
I see it even on twilight zone. Guys that look semi-old and are in their mid 40's!

 

"Ah, but I was so much older then....I`m younger than that now"....Bob Dylan.

 

I'm 50 and wear a baseball hat when I don't feel like washing my hair - hey, if I'm not going to work, why bother?

I walk my dog and in summer, the cap brim tends to sag into my face while we walk. I'll go "backwards" with it on those occasions, but I feel like a douche when I do so!

 

Has the world changed, or have I changed? - Morrissey

 

The funny thing is that you could argue we didn't notice that the actors were too old to be teens in "Grease" because everyone looked "old" back then!

You shouldn't exaggerate, though - ONJ was only 29 when the movie hit screens!

As many of the main actors were in their 30s as were in their early 20s!

 

You look at photos of college students in the late seventies at a concert.

Many with beards, longer hair, and "Are You Experienced"...gazes.

Rapid aging was bound to happen...

Look at how the Beatles look by Abbey Road, compared to 6 years earlier.

Hard living, hard work, and pushing the limits...

 

Nah, movies are different to real life. Older actors routinely play younger teens in high school type movies/tv shows, such as 21 Jump Street, Porky's, Welcome Back, Kotter, etc.

 

How old are they?