Lily and Oscar: Mature Times article:

A link between Lily Allens’ latest single “22” and Oscar Wilde’s “The Picture of Dorian Gray” (now out on film) may seem unlikely or even improbable, but both are essentially about the loss of youth and beauty (and implied worth) due to age. They are also both great reflections of their time- one published in 1890 and the other 119 years later. They essentially show that our attitude to ageing hasn’t changed one jot.

You’re not missing much musically if you haven’t heard Lily’s song but I was intrigued by the words which are, something along the lines “when she was 22 her future looked bright, but she’s nearly 30 now and she’s out every night… how did I get here and wondering why? It’s sad but it’s true.. How society says her life is already over”, you get the gist. Now I was tempted to use the good old Sex Pistols’ response “never mind the boll**ks Lily” but I’ve got to say it did get me thinking. Is there hidden behind these poetic words a more serious issue that individuals in every generation have a tendency to self-discriminate based on age? This means they miss out on key opportunities because of an in-built pre-programmed predisposition towards negativity i.e. getting old is just plain “bad” (not in the Michael Jackson sense). Life is written off at 30 with a future spanning 50 years or more of gradual decline leading to ultimate despair and then death.

See the full article at www.maturetimes.co.uk