Geriatric as an adjective means, by definition of a dictionary; 1. In relation to geriatrics. 2. In relation to the aged or to the characteristics of the ageing process. As a noun, it is an aged person. It is associated with the diseases and illnesses that elderly people become a victim of.
Some characteristics/thoughts came to mind about the word, such as;
- Elderly people
- Worn out
- Old
- Useless
- Obsolete
- Disregarded
- Senile
- Irresponsible
- Disorder - Disabled
- Senior
A character that came to mind was Carl, a 78 year old man, from the Pixar animation Up. His movements, both in the face and in the walk cycle, are helpful in making the character believable. He uses a four balled stand walking stick as another leg to keep the character upright, making the character feel very 'slugish' and reliant on that third leg. As a result he hunches his back, much like a gorilla. The consistent/constant depressive look on his face, is a giveaway that he hates how life has turned out for him/others, a typical generalisation for people of old age. He follows a dream that he once wished to fulfil with his wife, out of both regret and memory, to live up to his promise from his childhood.
Another character was Geri from the Pixar animation Geri's Game. An old man who is playing chess by himself. This loneliness or de-illusion is a sign of a senile/crazed man. Whilst the character is never given much of a background, there is a sense that he doesn't need one because of the (lack of) life given to him in his movements. Slow, sluggish and reliant on support for walking, he still has a personality. Two sides of the board, and two sides of Geri, one the calm, wise old man and the other a bold, arrogant, taunting, not so old man.
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