For the uninitiated, The Four Seasons follows three long-term American couples in their fifties – Kate and Jack, Danny and Claude, Annie and Nick – as they holiday together across four seasons. Nick, however, throws a hand grenade into their cosy group dynamic by divorcing Annie and – surprise, surprise – replacing her with a younger model, specifically 32-year-old blonde dental hygienist come “yoga Barbie”, Ginny.
In ‘The Four Seasons’, middle-aged divorcee Annie is rejected by her younger surf instructor after developing a crush on him (Photo: Francisco Roman/The Four Seasons/Netflix)
Age-gap relationship? Tick. Post-divorce solo travel? Tick. Attempting to party like someone half your age? Tick. Taking up surfing and being the eldest in the otherwise nubile group? Tick. A woman tempted to reset her life by blowing up her marriage? Double tick.
And there was me thinking I was doing mid-life differently. But it turns out, there’s simply a new breed of mid-lifer in town: the Gen Xer who grew up in more hedonistic times and refuses to let go.
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Like Nick, I too found myself dating a 32-year-old. My young beau and I ended it by mutual agreement after six fun-filled months. Nick, however, isn’t so lucky (I won’t expand on this at the risk of spoilers but take my word on it).
As much as I wanted to think these escapades were mould-breaking, they’ve become such tropes of contemporary middle-age that they’re comedy fodder. Ouch.
Annie has many blunders exploring new things after husband Nick leaves her for a younger woman (Photo: Jon Pack/The Four Seasons/Netflix)
Rushing to the tattoo parlour seemed original, romantic, Bohemian. And yet, when tattoo artist Matt Roe told me, “I’ve definitely seen more middle-aged couples getting matching tattoos lately”, he hammered the final nail into my cliched coffin.
The new, liberating mid-life crisis
Claire Macklin, divorce coach and author of Break Up: From Crisis to Confidence, has witnessed countless Gen Xers in mid-life choosing to “live more intentionally” by leaving stagnant marriages, walking pilgrimages like the Camino de Santiago, and launching new relationships and businesses. One standout client, Katie Eccles, marked her middle years by founding Compass-Ghana, a palliative care charity.
Our generation shrug off social expectations
Macklin says that as we hit mid-life we simply care less about others’ judgements. And I couldn’t agree more. Having ticked off all the major boxes – career, kids, marriage, mortgage – the weight of expectation lifts and we’re freer to be our true selves. If that means taking up surfing at a hilariously inappropriate age, or finally getting inked or inflicting strawberry tat with violence, then so f**king be it.
So although The Four Seasons has shown me to be a middle-aged cliche, I’m making peace with it. And I can’t wait to see what season two brings. Psychedelic retreats? Career change? Writing a book? Reconnecting with an ex from decades ago? Partying at festivals? Yep, that’s me. And, by the sound of it, a whole lot of other 50-somethings too.
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Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( Surfing, tattoos and a younger boyfriend – at 52, I’m a total mid-life cliché )
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