By Rebecca Law, Media and PR Officer.
What's this we hear of Disney casting 38-year-old Jennifer Garner
as Miss Marple - one of Agatha Christie's best-loved characters who
was apparently based, in part, on the author's own
grandmother?
Is it not Miss Marple's age and all of the lighthearted
stereotypes that go with it, which make her so delightfully
implausible as a detective; that aside from the knitting and the
weeding she is able to use her life experience to scupper police
officers half her age and beat them at their own game? Take away
those salient qualities and, sadly, Miss Marple is no longer
herself - she quite literally loses her Marples. Joking aside, by
denying us one of our few remaining older role models, Disney is
making a grave mistake. Not only is the decision laughable, it
highlights a serious unwillingness to accept and honour older age
and suggests that it might be unreasonable to subject audiences to
the exploits of an older, less than physically perfect,
heroine.
