In the movie Dennis the Menace, there are many different age groups represented; childhood, adolescence, adulthood, and older adulthood. During childhood, children are carefree, fearless, talkative, curious, and playful. In adolescence, teens are faced with many important responsibilities and decisions. They start to become more mature and become interested in the opposite sex and sexual actions.
When you enter into the adulthood and older adulthood world then you are faced with many more decisions and obstacles including; what job you are going to choose to do for the rest of your life and when or if you are even going to get married and start a family. Also, you must think about buying food, clothes, a house, car and other necessities or wants. Along with each age group comes some worries. When you are in the childhood age group, things that seem big to you actually are not all that big.
For example, when Dennis mom tells him he has to go to Margarets house while she goes to work all summer, he acts like it is the end of the world. In the adolescent age group things get a little more stressful. Some things that are stressful for the adolescents are keeping up their grades because school has gotten harder, getting a job, making the team, and things like that. With the adulthood and older adulthood age group comes the realization of necessities needed to just get by because it is the first time you are supporting yourself.
As time goes on you get more and more worries like; house payments, car payments, life insurance, taxes, bills, etc. Also, if you decide to have kids then you have to think about the costs of diapers, clothes, bottles, milk, baby food, and other baby necessities. The worries and stresses go on and on and seem to never stop. There are many stereotypes which members of one group associate with members of the alternate group. Children have a lot of stereotypes that they compare to adults, these include; that all adults are cranky, sleep a lot, have no fun, and that they dont understand anything that they do or go through.
Adults have a lot of stereotypes that they consider children are, they include; that all children are menaces, annoying, too curious, dont understand anything, and ignorant. The attitude toward the opposite sex changes as you get older. When you are younger you think that the other sex is gross, annoying, and has cooties. As you go into adolescents you start to get more interested in them. When you get into the adulthood and older adulthood stage you come to realize that you need and want someone of the other sex that you just might spend the rest of your life with. You need them if you ever want to get married and have family.
Dennis tries to get the attention of his parents and Mr. Wilson by being a menace. He also asks them a lot of questions, so he feels like he is closer to the people he cares about. He goes and visits Mr. Wilson everyday and when he thinks Mr. Wilson is sick he tries to make him better, but instead of making him feel better he ends up making Mr. Wilson furious. In conclusion, there are different age groups so you know there will be some conflicts on how each group thinks things should be. Each age group has their own stereotypes about the other groups and could lead to ageism or other prejudice.
