Boomers Finding Love in the Millennial Age
Apparently The Bachelor is doing a casting call for singles looking for love over the age of 65.
Given the sometimes sordid history of the show, this concept can easily be a turn off, but I have to say I think this is a GREAT IDEA.
Consumers are eating anything up that even smells like nostalgia these days. A platform that can somehow combine our love for awkward dating scenarios & whimsically magical love stories with the sentimental ways we cherish our grandparents/elders just may have a shot.
We got a small taste for how great this could be in Netflix’s show, Dating Around, a show that matches up one participant with 4 different singles on rapid-fire blind dates. For participants to “win” they’d have to be selected to go on a second date.
On the show, we got to meet Leonard, a 70 year old widower who finally decided the time was right to look for love again after the death of his wife. This episode was part of a series of other episodes with mostly younger participants so when it came on I remember being immediately disinterested and confused. But then, as I continued to watch, I became very invested.
The women Leonard was paired with all had their own stories and had lived long enough to develop their own sense of self and their own ideas about love and marriage. There was no indecisiveness about what they wanted or where they were in their lives- they were just great people to have warm conversations with, with none of the elusive trickery of hookups or ghosting.
The dating part was a bit tricky for some who were not so used to it anymore. At the end of one of Leonard’s dates she pressed him about being selected and going on another, which he tried gracefully not to give her false hope about. She didn’t take it well and you can tell it was hard for both parties involved, and honestly, it was really hard to watch but also very relatable. Ultimately, Leonard chose 67 year old Dianna to go on a second date with and I found myself rooting for the sweet, unlikely couple ( I still am).
Love, relationships and partnerships in the Millennial generation is in a state of reinvention, and while we figure out what that will ultimately look like, there is always room for reminders of the kind of love that doesn’t always seem to exist anymore, even if no longer relatable. Whether these couples are on the show because they are widowed, divorced or simply never got married, there is something very nice about watching love develop at an older age, especially as we are getting married less, having families later, and divorced more often.
A show like this is a great way to give hope to those of us who are still trying to manage swiping left and right successfully on dating apps and will likely help to sew the seeds of the next generation who will find a way to stabilize our relationship with love, marriage and partners — God willing.
