To be slightly aghast that Shirley Valentine was only 42?

[Pjsandbaileys]

I do realise it's late 80s fiction but I'm not far off that age and don't feel middle-aged at all (except maybe in the mornings lol)most of my friends still have primary school aged children, I'm just slightly horrified when I watched it I assumed she was mid 50s lol

42 isn't midddle aged?
My ddad's first words to me on my 35th birthday were "Welcome to middle age, love!" in the literal sense of mid way to 70 (of the old bible measure of Man's age being 3 score and 10).

I'd say I was middle aged in my 40s. Doesn't mean I feel old though.

@thisstooshallpass

I haven't seen it (I know) and I've just turned 40. Do you think back in the 80s 40 was more like 50, and as the years have gone on we stay/portray as younger?

I was 40 in 1988 and I can assure you my 40 was nothing like 50.

At 42, in the film, she would have been around the same age as me then, but I also thought she was in her early 50s; that bloody awful hairdo doesn't help.

But that was the point of the film. Even though she was still a relatively young woman, she was dowdy and worn down by the tedium of her life, the lack of excitement and the indifference of her husband.

Had she been glamorous, go getting and fulfilled the film would have rather lost its whole point.

I was shocked that I ever thought it was a good ending. Fuck Joe, stay there! And that Milandra, she was a mare!

Jeez I’m 49!

God I know watched it last night with dh , I'm the same age as Shirley .
It's dated that most woman not all work throughout bringing up children now.
She had no hobbies .
Her children well the daughter was exactly like her husband and believed woman look after the husband.
So no wonder she buggered off to Greece I'd do the same .
I'd hope men aren't like that anymore but I suppose they think it's the wife's job .
I'm sure even in the 80s it was outdated attitude. I grew up in the 80s and my mum worked part time but I never remember her going out with friends or any hobbies.

I remember my mam in the 80s and she was real dowdy.I dont mean that in a bad way.Its just she wouldnt wear jeans,she had her hair permed.

I do think they looked older becasue of the way they dressed.

Im 47 and theres no way i would wear what my ma did in the 80s.

Middle age is defined as the part of your life between early adulthood and old age so your middle years. If the average age for a woman is 83 then 42 is part of your middle age so even if you don’t think or feel it you are middle aged.
I am older than 42 but not old so I am middle aged.

I always thought my primary school teacher was in her mid 50's.
It turns out she was only 40 when she taught me. Four years younger than I am now!

Did you see the scene where she’s in the kitchen and her and her husband are throwing paint at each other? She looks VERY young.
The perm in other scenes ages her. I thought the look for the time was perfect. Yes she’s frumpy, but she’s downtrodden.
Pauline Collins was very attractive and had the most beautiful skin.
I honestly don’t know why Channel 5 aired it in the middle of the afternoon when so many great scenes had to be cut out. It’s a lovely film, one of my faves.

I don't think women were expected to stay at home in the 80s! My mum certainly didn't, she worked full time, as did all the mums I knew. It wasn't the 1950s.

Between this and Jane MacDonald trying to sell me a retirement home on the other thread here I really do feel old. I’m 48 😩

@thatmustbenigelwiththebrie

I don't think women were expected to stay at home in the 80s! My mum certainly didn't, she worked full time, as did all the mums I knew. It wasn't the 1950s.

Most of my friends had SAHM, I was one of the exceptions. I don't know what age they were but I also remember women of a certain age starting to have a blue or purple rinse and wearing shapeless polyester floral dresses.

Most mums had part time/evening jobs in the 80s in my experience or were sahms.

Women got old quick a few decades ago!

Hairstyles in general change a lot with time. While having a binge on some Crystal Maze episodes from the 90s, lots of the YouTube comments said, on several different episodes: "these people are in their twenties, and have hairstyles that make them look much older!"

Sue Townsend's Adrian Mole (who was born old-aged) wrote "I am thirty-five today, so I am middle-aged. A pathetic slide towards gum disease, wheelchair ramps and death."

She was a working class woman with a life of drudgery, I think the point was that she was aged before her time, and life was grey and monotonous.

I really want to watch the film now, I love Joanna Lumley in it especially.

Is it on iplayer? I'd love to see it again!

I remember walking to primary school with my mum criticising another mother because "women over 30 shouldn't wear their hair long." I'm 38 and nowadays my mother would pass out if I got a short, 80s frump haircut They definitely did dress older too. I remember persuading her to try on a gorgeous cherry red midi skirt for an Occasion, she claimed the colour was too young for her. She was 32!

Yes, I’d like to see it again too. What channel is it on?

It's the way she dresses ,it ages her, I watch Classic corrie and we are currently in 1996 ,but all the men look so much older than than their years ,you never really see them looking casual and a,lot of the women seem to.wear very heavy make up, I'm 46 now and the clothes I wear bare no resemblance to what my .mum would have worn at the same age

Just checked and Pauline Collins was 48 when they filmed it. Which makes me feel a teeny tiny bit better

Another one who's surprised! She has grown up kids so because of that Pauline Collins looking her age at the time she did this (which isn't a dig) I always assumed Shirley was late 40s - did she ever say in the film how old she was?

I've just turned 42, I assumed she was older.

She’s supposed to look frumpy in the beginning, that’s the whole point. As the film goes on she becomes less dowdy, has better hair, nicer clothes etc.

Watched it with 11 yo DSD. I loved it when I first saw it aged 13. Now I just want to do that. I'm 43. OMG. But Tom Conti was so hot he's roasting in that film. 😍