What Nancy Meyers Understands About Love After Age 50
To some people, Valentine’s Day encourages the notion that there is a blueprint for experiencing love—a pink greeting card, an appreciation post on Instagram, or a prix-fixe dinner. I find this notion stifling. To me, the holiday should instead provide an opportunity to rethink the rote role of romantic love in our culture. And for that, I’ve frequently turned to two classic romantic comedies that—in their treatment of age—are more complicated and progressive than critics sometimes give them credit for.
and , both directed by Nancy Meyers, center on older people enjoying the dating scene. They star women over 50, a group long rendered invisible in rom-coms, showing not only that they can have an exciting love life, but also that this life can be desirable. Both Erica (played by Diane Keaton), of , and Jane (Meryl Streep), from , are divorced, with loving families, satisfying jobs, and amorous entanglements. They pursue men and are pursued in return—both have two men competing for their attention. Rom-coms typically suggest that thrilling courtship is for people in their 20s and 30s. They imply that, once coupled, partners will follow a largely linear path from romance to marriage to children and a house. The dating pool might be tumultuous in early adulthood, but eventually that stage will be a distant memory. In these films by Meyers, though, both protagonists delight in their divorced lives—an implicit critique of marriage’s promise of finality.
