Who says television can't be educational? Here are some things we've learned about aging from binge-watching Netflix.
1. Being the supportive spouse sometimes stops being enough.
For decades, "House of Cards"' Claire Underwood publicly appeared as the supportive woman who stood loyally behind her ambitious husband, Frank Underwood. While they may be equal partners behind closed doors, Claire has shelved her own big ambitions to further his. Until now. She has a burning desire to move further and faster into her own powerful role. After years together, Claire is faced with a choice of keeping her marriage or pursuing her own ambitions. American politics have nothing on the politics of marriage.
2. Your adult kids don't necessarily like each other.
Keeping the peace among family can sometimes be a lofty goal in "Bloodline." The Rayburns work hard to forget the past and try to forgive each other’s flaws, but sometimes blood doesn't run deep enough for the love to survive. The close-knit family of four adult siblings' secrets and scars are revealed when their black sheep brother returns home for a family reunion.
3. Your son or daughter brings home the love of their life and you may be ...... less than thrilled.
When Ken and Lorna collect their daughter Rachel from the airport in "Cuckoo," they learn that she has returned from her gap year before medical school having married Dale "Cuckoo" Ashbrick, an eccentric American hippie with an exuberantly loving attitude who does not have a job and loves to take drugs. Yes, it's a comedy.
4. Older women need a little help in certain places.
Yam lube anyone? Could we love "Grace & Frankie" any more as they deal with aging issues head on? No, no we could not. If creating a vaginal lube out of organic yams wasn't enough, how about a farewell party for a close friend who chooses to die on her own terms and learning to forgive enough to officiate when your ex-husband marries the man he cheated on you with for 20 years?Perhaps at its core, aging is learning how to focus on yourself and find your joy -- at least that's something Frankie would say.
But to just circle back to the yam lube for a minute ...
5. As you age, friends matter more not less.
"Grace & Frankie" are about as unlikely a pair as they come, thrown together when their husbands announced their affair together. The two women, in their 70s, navigate the turbulence of lives turned upside down -- and in the process move from an alliance born of misery to a genuine, albeit unlikely, friendship. Friends rock.
6. Work at being flexible.
Aging brings out the stubborn side of people. You know the expression, "he's just set in his ways?" Well, don't be that guy.
Colt’s parents Maggie and Beau are separated on "The Ranch." While they no longer live together, they manage to maintain a physical and rather complicated relationship. Yep, we know a few of those couples in real-life too. Colt and Beau work to rebuild a tenuous but loving relationship between a 34-year-old son who comes home to reevaluate his life and a stubborn father who is set in his ways.
7. Live each day as if it's your last.
Nothing like a little family dysfunction to remind you that life is just too short. Let the ridiculousness of the Bluths on "Arrested Development" help you keep a little perspective on your own family.
8. Grieving is all-consuming.
There is a lesson to be learned from watching the charismatic "Longmire" sheriff patrol with a brave face and sense of humor while hiding the pain of his wife's recent death. With the urging of his daughter, Cady, and the help of Vic, a new female deputy, he gains a new appreciation of his job and decides to seek re-election. He's committed to putting his life back together, one piece at a time. But his pain? It's real and the glue that holds this show together.
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