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Entertainment for Senior Citizens
Seniors Did Not Do Too Well at Academy
Awards, But Near Centenarian Honored
All time senior citizen favorites – Gone with Wind,
Sound of Music
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Robert Boyle-Nicole Kidman |
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Feb. 25, 2008 – Senior citizens did not do as well
at winning Oscars last night as they have in recent years. In fact, the
older men and women in the motion picture business were almost blanked.
But, there was a touching moment for older viewers as Robert Boyle, who
will be 100 next year, made a fine speech in accepting a special honor
from the Academy. Still, seniors, who prefer movies like Gone with
the Wind and Sound of Music in a recent poll, had to feel a little left out by
the success of violent movies and one about a pregnant teenager.
Certainly times are changing. A recent Harris Poll
found the all time favorite movie is the classic Civil War epic and love
story, Gone with the Wind. Number two is Star Wars and
rounding out the top three, Casablanca. Senior citizens, however,
preferred Sound of Music for number two.
Just to keep with the political season, it is
interesting to note that Republicans, Democrats and Independents say
Gone with the Wind is number one. But, the Republicans choose
Stars Wars as number two, while Democrats and Independents agree
that Casablanca is number two.
The
legendary production designer, Boyle, received an Honorary Academy Award
“in recognition of one of cinema’s great careers in art direction.”
Boyle
has earned four Academy Award nominations in the art direction category
for his work on “North by Northwest” (1959), “Gaily, Gaily” (1969),
“Fiddler on the Roof” (1971) and “The Shootist” (1976).
Other top movies in the Harris Poll
Another fantasy film comes in at number four,
The Lord of the Rings. Two musicals are next – first the hills are
alive as The Sound of Music is number five on the favorite movie
list and then we’re off and following the yellow brick road on our way
to see The Wizard of Oz.
In at number seven is The Notebook and
number eight is Forrest Gump. Tied for number 9 on the list of
all time favorite movies are two that at first blush are very different,
but are really about the same things – family, honor, and action. First,
Inigo Montoya is attempting to avenge his father in The Princess
Bride, then Michael Corleone is doing the same in The Godfather.
Favorites Among Different Groups
Different groups all have their favorite movies.
First, and probably not surprising at all, there is a gender difference
as men say Star Wars is their favorite movie followed by Gone
With the Wind, Women, however, say Gone With the Wind is
their favorite movie followed by The Sound of Music.
There is also a generational difference. Echo
Boomers (those aged 18-31) and Generation X (those aged 32-43) each have
the same favorite movie – Star Wars, but differ on the second
favorite as the youngest age group goes for The Notebook while
the Gen Xers cite Lord of the Rings.
Baby Boomers (those aged 44-62) and Matures (those
aged 63 and older) each cite Gone With the Wind as their
favorites, but again differ on next favorite. Baby Boomers go for
Casablanca and Matures for Sound of Music.
Race and ethnicity also show some differences. For
whites, Gone With the Wind is their favorite movie while Blacks
cite Casablanca and Hispanics say their favorite is The
Notebook. In this election year, with so many other differences, one
might expect Republicans and Democrats to part ways on favorite movies.
But, that is not the case as both parties as well as Independents say
Gone With the Wind is their favorite. Alas, bi-partisanship can only
go so far as Republicans say Star Wars is their second favorite
while Democrats cite Casablanca.
TABLE 1
FAVORITE MOVIE
"What is your favorite movie of all time?"
Unprompted responses
|
All Adults |
2008 |
|
Gone with the Wind |
1 |
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Star Wars |
2 |
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Casablanca |
3 |
|
Lord of the Rings |
4 |
|
The Sound of Music |
5 |
|
Wizard of Oz |
6 |
|
The Notebook |
7 |
|
Forrest Gump |
8 |
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The Princess Bride |
=9 |
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The Godfather |
=9 |
"=" prior to a number indicates a tie
TABLE 2
TOP TWO MOVIES AMONG DIFFERENT GROUPS
|
Group |
Favorite
Movies |
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Men |
Star Wars, Gone
With the Wind |
|
Women |
Gone With the
Wind, Sound of Music |
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White |
Gone With the
Wind, Star Wars |
|
African American |
Casablanca,
Wizard of Oz |
|
Hispanic |
The Notebook,
Gone with the Wind |
|
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Echo Boomers (18-31) |
Star Wars, The
Notebook |
|
Gen X (32-43) |
Star Wars, Lord
of the Rings |
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Baby Boomers (44-62) |
Gone With the
Wind, Casablanca |
|
Matures (63+) |
Gone With the
Wind, Sound of Music |
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Republicans |
Gone With the
Wind, Star Wars |
|
Democrats |
Gone With the
Wind, Casablanca |
|
Independents |
Gone With the
Wind, Casablanca |
Methodology
This Harris Poll® was conducted online within the
United States January 15 and 22, 2008, among 2,279 adults (aged 18 and
over). Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, region and
household income were weighted where necessary to bring them into line
with their actual proportions in the population. Propensity score
weighting was also used to adjust for respondents’ propensity to be
online.
>>
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