Ageism

SBoY is set in a society much like ours today where the old have no human value. Aging is a catastrophe to Chase and Princess Kosmonopolis. But why are they, and we, obsessed with youth? Even today, we are surrounded daily by age-defying products, cosmetic surgeries, and magazines with phrases such as, “Take ten years off your age!” The founding fathers of the United States powdered their wigs and wore clothes that imitated the sloping shoulders of the. Since then, the focus has shifted from wisdom and experience to appearance and image. (Says something about our priorities, doesn’t it?) The greatest compliment now is to be told you look younger than your age. How did we reach this point?

In the 1800s, a form of Protestantism focused on the importance of youth, self-improvement, and progress in order to achieve redemption for sins. Changes in the workplace from industrialization also made young workers more attractive then old for labor. Physicians in the early 1900s also spoke of aging as an “incurable disease,” and when doctors say something, we tend to believe it. Today and in SBoY, the young grace all sorts of media. They are seen as possessing sharp minds and “ideal” bodies. Aging, on the other hand, is a time when we are declining and our bodies and minds are dull and losing our capabilities. There are fewer opportunities open when youth is gone, and both Chase and Princess Kosmonopolis have an acute sense of this phenomenon.

As Bob Dylan says to his listener, "May you stay forever young."