Robin Baker Leacock – Stella & Co: A Romantic Musical Comedy Documentary About Aging

By starrymag | June 30, 2020

By: Lisa Steinberg

 

 

Q) Being in the times we currently going on with COVID-19, it’s wiping out an older generation whose lives are seemingly becoming more vulnerable and devalued. Talk about this juxtaposition of the documentary and the vibrancy we see and now where we are in the world.

 

A) It is kind of amazing that my film is coming out at a time when seniors are a little vulnerable right now.  I think that my documentary gets to show a little bit about how valuable people are as they get older and how we should really learn to see the value in them and respect them.  Not just respect them, but to hear them and see them and share our lives with them and not put them aside.  Our culture is very unique in the way that we tend to put older people aside.  Some people like to forget about them.  Other cultures in the world really venerate their seniors.  We listen to them and look up to them and make them a big integral part of their lives, and even a very special part of their lives.  It’s really nice to take a look at really fun, cool older people who have a lot to say in my film and to see who wonderful they really are. It’s really just us a few years down the line depending on how old you are.

 

Q) Your documentary showcases this bright light on the spunk and spirit of whom you feature.  I want to talk about when we think about the phrase “attitude is everything.”  The attitudes we see throughout your documentary are incredibly vibrant and energetic.

 

A) I like that you said bright lights because there are a lot of bright lights in the people that I spoke with.  The people that I tended to talk to were some of the people who had some of the bigger personalities.  They all said, and I think you saw in the film, that they all felt like they were twenty or thirty.  One woman said if she didn’t have her walker, I think Maria. She would seem like she was sixteen.  Nobody felt like they were old. They felt maybe a little challenged or limited, but in the way that they looked at life they were just as vibrant.  I think they greet life every day just the way we do and just the way they did when they were younger.  We are still the same, you are still going to be you in forty years, you’re not going to be someone else. You’ll just have been here on the planet for a bit of a longer time, but you’re still going to be you.

So, whatever attitudes you have (and hopefully you can develop some great ones and positive ones) you’re still going to have them when you’re older.  That’s the thing we tend to do to older people.  We judge them superficially and see that they are a little frail or not as strong as you are when you are younger.  But in fact, their personalities and outlooks and brilliance and creativity and love of life is all still there.  The only reason it may not be there is if they have some dementia problems let’s say.  Other than that, you’re still you.  I think what you said is true, attitude is everything and to keep that wonderful attitude in your life as you get older and have gratitude and greet each day with a wonderful outlook is the most incredible thing.  Take that all through your life.

 

Q) In younger generations, vanity has kind of become an obsession where we don’t value the wrinkles or “miles” as some people refer to them.  There are creams, treatments, and serums to help defy our age.  I feel like the wrinkles and “miles” are all reminders of the lives we have lived.  I liked that it was a focus as well in your film. That age is part of the story that they tell of who they are and what formed the women and men we see on screen.

 

A) I made a film about my mom about nine years or so ago called Stella is 95 and that was also on PBS, as this one Stella & Co: A Romantic Musical Comedy Documentary About Aging is also on PBS across the country.  The last line in the film Stella is 95 my mom says, “The best way to get rid of wrinkles is not look in the mirror.”

Not one person that I can think of, not one female and the men too, they all got dressed up for dinner. Everybody took great care of what they looked like.  I didn’t see anybody that was sloppy about their appearance.  I can’t think of anybody.  Everyone really put in an effort. Maybe they were all a little vain too at that age, but they all wanted to look good.  I know my mom had great interest in dressing up and looking good.  She did that every day whether she saw anybody else or not.  She was really into matching everything.  She loved to match the right color sweater with the right colored pants.  I don’t think that inclination really changes.  Maybe you’re not as gorgeous in some people’s eyes as you were when you were twenty, but I always thought my mom looked really great.  I thought she was beautiful at 103.  When we had to take her to the hospital once when she was 102 and I remember a nurse telling her just how beautiful she was.  And she was.  So, it’s the way that you define beauty.

 

Q) Another extension of their attitude is their incredible creativity and the romanticism of it all at the same time.  We see one gentleman handing out poems. It’s not just a love for life, but a love for one another that is also showcased in the film.  

 

A) Gurson is a really serious poet and he has written a lot of poetry. I think that he thought that was the best way to share it. Every night before dinner he would walk around and hand out one of his poems hoping and imagining that people would read it and enjoy it.  He is quite a good writer.  I think he is very intelligent and has a lot to say and that’s very good perspective on aging.  It was really nice to talk to people in that age group that had a very good perspective on aging and what they were going through.  That’s why I say in the film “talk to the experts,” which is them.

 

Q) When you were interviewing your subjects, it didn’t seem like anyone really held back, they all just innately let their guard down so easily.  So many people these days hold a lot close to the vest, and the people in your documentary were so open and engaging.  

 

A) Well, I always told my mother she was a ham.  She loved to perform. One of the things she would say is, “I never met a microphone that I don’t love.”  I think she loved to talk and perform in front of the camera.  You could film her for hours and hours and she wouldn’t run out of anything to say.  I think that the other people really don’t mind the camera on them.   I think they were quite looking forward to being filmed.  I don’t think they were shy.  I think maybe as you go on in life maybe you want to share what you know.  I can’t think of any one of them who was shy or had to be coaxed. They all had a lot to say and they said it.

 

Q) It was so wonderful that we got to see a look back into history and how far we have come with the stories we see shared. There was a woman who talked about being a journalist and the barriers she broke down being a female in that field.  I really loved that aspect that allowed that introspective on these individuals who were a huge catalyst to where we are in modern.  Especially now with a lot of the political rights we are fighting for recently.

 

A) I will tell you one thing; my mom was extremely opinionated politically.  She had a lot to say.  She kept up with the news every day and knew everything that was going on up until the day that she passed.  She had great opinions about our President…I don’t know if I should say which way.  She was ready to go out and march if she had to.  And she meant that, too.  We sort of made a joke about her going out with picket signs.  She would have done it.  She was very engaged in life and I think that’s part of staying younger and open – it is to stay engaged in life.  My mom said in the movie, “You can get older, but don’t get old.”  I do believe that a lot of the other people in the film too were quite political.  There was a conversation about that.  I don’t think anybody was immune to having opinions.

 

Q) Is there anything that we didn’t touch on or discuss about the film that you would like to make sure that we mention?

 

A) The reason I called it Stella & Co: A Romantic Musical Comedy Documentary About Aging is because I told someone that I was making a film about aging and older people and they said, “Oh, is it educational?”  I said, “No, it’s meant to be fun, light and brilliant and stylish.  It’s kind of a fun, upbeat movie about getting older.”  That’s why I put it in the title, so people wouldn’t think it’s just some boring documentary.  Hopefully, people will have fun watching it. The film is on PBS across the country this summer. Check your local listings.  We haven’t had it in Florida yet, unfortunately. But that’s still to come.