Christians on Ageing’s Culture Club provides light relief from our core activities. It provides a venue for discussion of films, books, poems, TV and radio programmes which throw an interesting and provocative light on the depiction of older people in the arts.
Meetings, free of charge and open to anybody, whether a member of Christians on Ageing or not, take place via Zoom between 1.30pm and 3pm on Friday afternoons every two months. Each has a focus on a particular theme.
Our next Culture Club meeting will be on 27th February 2026.
At the November meeting of Culture Club, we focussed first on life in a retirement community and the depiction of older people as detectives, with reference to the book and film of the same name The Thursday Murder Club. Later, we went on to examine the depiction of older people in advertisements, both current and past. The next issue of the CoA members’ magazine plus will feature a report of what was a fascinating discussion.
The next meeting of Culture Club will take place at 1.30pm until about 2.45pm on Friday, February 27th. Last year, our discussion in mid-February focussed on the depiction by the arts of love and romance among older people. In 2026, we’ll focus on another part of the human experience which is the source of great suffering as well as a deep sense of connection – death and dying. This at a time when a highly-charged debate continues to rage in parliament on the case for the provision of medical help to terminally-ill people to end their own lives, while on the ground, tens of thousands of people up and down the country meet regularly within the Death Café movement to talk about death and how connection and support during the dying process can best be fostered.
Our discussion on February 27th will include reference to three films.
Goodbye June will be showing in cinemas from December 12th and from Christmas Eve on Netflix. It’s a film about the way in which four adult children (one played by Kate Winslet) deal with the death of their mother (played by Helen Mirren). This is Kate Winslet’s directorial debut and is based on the experiences of her, her siblings and her father (played by Timothy Spall).
A regular at Culture Club, film editor at The Guardian Catherine Shoard, reports that this film is likely to be much-discussed in the run-up to Christmas and that, while flawed, it is also moving, uplifting and sometimes funny. She thinks we would find the film’s portrayal of palliative care in the NHS thought-provoking.
Much Ado about Dying, available on Prime Video, is a much-acclaimed 2022 documentary film about an infuriating, yet charming older gay actor, practically housebound and with a serious hoarding habit, who summons his nephew from overseas to look after him during his final months. The film explores not only attitudes to dying, but also the caring relationship between David and his uncle and the ease with which a hired carer exploits David’s weaknesses.
Finally, the multi-award-winning film 2012 Amour, widely regarded by critics as one of the greatest films of the 21st century, offers an unsparing portrayal of dying and its impact on an older partner/carer. Amour is currently streaming on BFI Player, BFI Player Amazon Channel, Curzon Amazon Channel, BFI Player and Apple TV Channel.
Do consider joining our meeting on February 27th to discuss the way in which the arts portray death and dying amongst older people, with special reference to these films. If you don’t have time to watch the films beforehand, get a sense of them by simply watching their trailers. And you may well have poems, novels and other works of art you wish to bring to the attention of the group. Sounds pretty heavy? Far from it, Culture Club discussions tend to be light-hearted, yet always interesting. They are free to anybody (whether CoA member or not) and ‘Club’ does not imply any sort of membership – attenders come along when they choose. If you’re interested, contact CoA’s Hon Secretary, Barbara Stephens, at secretary@christiansonageing.org.uk, and she will send you the Zoom link.
Marion Shoard
CoA Trustee
