Jim Donovan, the Ageless Boomer

It was a Wednesday night like any other at the NCO club annex at the American Forces Korea Network Headquarters in Seoul, Korea. Most of the off-duty personnel were gathered in the club, anxiously awaiting the new television episodes, which were previewed, prior to airing, on a projection screen in the club. One of the perks of being at AFKN was seeing the new programs before the rest of the troops in country.

On the screen in front popped an incredible looking, bubbly blonde in a small bikini. Thus began my love and appreciation for Goldie Hawn. Now, some thirty five years later, it continues.

Having gone from the “eye-candy” ingenue in “Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-in” to a bona fide movie star and well respected Hollywood power broker, she has managed, through it all, to not only maintain her good looks but her wit and sense of humor as well. The recent AARP article about her was refreshing. As I head toward that magic age of sixty, she leads the way, looking great and with an attitude that is certainly, “Not your parents generation.”

This is he new breed of older American. The Baby Boomer turned mature adult. Notice the absence of the word “senior.” This is the generation that will re-define our concepts of aging and, once and for all, destroy the myths and stereotypes that have been perpetuated on older people for far too long.

This is an aging population the likes of which we’ve never seen before and Goldie’s point is well taken. It’s time for the movie moguls of our time, more CPA than film producer, to rethink their strategies. In the same fashion boomers demanded our “Maypo” in our pre-teen years, we will demand better fils and better parts for, dare I say older, people today.

Hollywood will, hopefully, wake up and smell the coffee when they realize where the buying power lies.

Go Goldie go!