(This image is part of a project called Horror Vacui by photographer Federico Chiesa. Hat tip Who Killed Bambi)
I’ve found myself saying the phrase “Oh my god, he/she is so old!” a lot recently. I say it when I see pictures of friends I haven’t seen in forever, an interview with a much beloved actor who was in that movie I loved as a kid, or a press conference with President Obama. I think it shocks me so much because in my head, I am still in my twenties. I’m still a “young lady.” And everything else is supposed to stay just as eternal as I am. Seeing those images only highlight how much I am lying to myself.
Everybody ages. If our horror icons were real people, then they would age, too. What we love, what we fear, it all ages, changes, disintegrates, and yesterday’s slasher is today’s old man shuffling along behind a walker.
It’s a hard truth. And never harder than looking in the mirror and saying it to yourself.
“Oh my god, I’m so old.“
Various and Sundry 