Amazing Must-watch Documentaries About Aging 

by Emma Wilson

Just as sure as taxes and antics of reality TV, aging is something we can't avoid. But aging isn't the end of life; in fact, it is the start of something beautiful and mysterious. With age, our decisions and choices start to change. Go back ten years back and see if you still enjoy the same music or support the same political party you did back then. The change in our perspectives and choices as we age is what makes our lives beautiful.  

There have been many documentaries made on the different aspects of aging. While some deal with the intricacies and complications that aging brings and using Tranquility u200badult diapers, others show how beautiful the process is and that it is not the end of the world. However, almost each of these documentaries inspires us to lead a beautiful and healthy life. Here is a list of fantastic documentaries about aging that you can watch online. 

Griefwalker 

The first documentary on this list is Griefwalker, which introduces us to Stephen Jenkinson. He led a counseling team of palliative care at the Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto. He had seen over 1000 people when they were lying on their deathbed because of his day job. He says he had seen an existential terror and terrible anxiety among the dying people even when there was no pain. It made him dedicate his life to changing the way people die. He wanted to turn death into an essential part of everybody's life and not something people resist and deny.  

The Open Road: America Looks at Aging 

This is an hour-long documentary that tries to examine the upcoming retirement of the baby boomers of America. The documentary explores the lifestyle and work options of some individuals at different stages of their retirement. Specifically, it deals with the critical 'third stage' of life and how individuals shape their retirements. The movie premiered during the spring of 2005 on Public Broadcasting Service (PBS).   

The Passage of Time 

This documentary examines closely the fears and joys that subjects feel about old age. It is a highly personal look into the viewpoint of actual individuals in regards to growing old. The exciting part of The Passage of Time is that the individuals featured in this documentary belonged to 12-101. The documentary film tries to address the differences in upbringing, family, and social relationships at the very beginning. It then moves on to address the positive and negative sides of old age.  

Ageless 

The Ageless documentary deals with the effect of anti-aging advertisements for women in text messages, TV commercials, and others. The documentary gives a platform to women of all ages to come forward and talk about the effects of these daily messages on their mental health. In addition, there are interviews of women who have to deal with this problem and also of various experts. These interviews, along with inspiring commentary, thought-provoking stills, and gripping background music, have made Ageless a must-watch documentary. 

How to Live Forever 

In this documentary, Max Weller, the film director, travels worldwide searching for secrets for long life. He tries to explore what it means to grow older and what it could mean to live forever. This documentary is fascinating because Weller interviews characters like a beer-drinking, chain-smoking centenarian runner, an aging porn star, among many others. They have contrasting views on health, fitness, and living a balanced life as the experts. And this is what makes the documentary such a fun watch.   

Aging Matters: End of Life 

This documentary investigates the radical change of death and dying in the USA in the last 150 years. It tries to look into the American culture of unwillingness to die and change how Americans view and understand death. The documentary film weaves together personal experiences of real people and families and interviews of doctors, medical ethicists, and scholars to inspect the intricate experience of dying. It also tries to address the role of palliative care, hospice, and advance directives in the last stages of an individual's life.  

The documentary is hosted by Kathy Mattea, a Grammy-winning singer, and songwriter. She also shares her personal experience of taking care of her family members with Alzheimer's disease. 

Immortality Institute: Exploring Life Extension 

The Immortality Institute documentary deals with different aspects of extreme life extension. It explores topics like cryonics (cryogenics), transhumanism, caloric restriction, among other scientific techniques of life extension. The documentary Immortality Institute tries to answer questions like "Is immortality possible?", "Can humans conquer death and become immortal?" "Can science provide humanity with assets which will make us immortal?".   

All these seven documentaries are available online either on YouTube or on any other streaming platform. After watching all the documentaries mentioned above, your notion of old age might change for the better. So, take out some time on a lazy Sunday and binge on these documentaries about aging.