Last week, I had the unfortunate experience of seeing the film “What Dreams May Come.”

Normally, I’m a sucker for a cheesy romantic movie, but as soon as I ran out of soda my interest in the film quickly waned.

Something about the movie really bothered me. It wasn’t the pitiful dialogue, it wasn’t the 257 flashbacks, and it wasn’t even the fact that I’ve seen stool samples that were more engaging.

What bothered me was a casting decision, and this isn’t the first time that has happened.

Robin Williams, our dashing male lead, also is nearly 50. Annabella Sciorra, the woman who is hopelessly in love with him — although all of 34 — looks to be at most 25.

I could list a number of movies that follow this trend (“As Good As It Gets” and “Pretty Woman” for instance), but you would have to be living under a rock not to notice.

So what’s the harm with a young woman and an old man being in love? Doesn’t love conquer all bounds? Apparently love doesn’t conquer our rigid schema for female beauty.

Judging by the American royalty of the big screen, if a woman has the audacity to age beyond the age of 30, she isn’t worth giving the time of day.

After that, women aren’t considered beautiful; not unless they fill their breasts with silicon to make themselves continue to appear young.

Men, on the other hand, can grow quite old and still be considered attractive. Men like Patrick Stewart and Sean Connery look like older men but are still considered Grade-A in pop culture.

In film (and I would contend in our subconscious), older women are appropriate only for the roles of nurturing, sexless shells.

Younger women actually aren’t treated much better. They are lusted after primarily for their youth and beauty.

The older man, we are led to believe, is attractive to the young nymph because of his wisdom, his courage and his strength. Conversely, the young woman is attractive to the man because she’s hot.

Not to mention the heavy ego petting that is going on, any 50-year-old guy who can land a real “dish” is doing pretty well, eh? A real swinger.

Because so many men have been raised with this notion of attaining a youthful mate as the greatest accomplishment, the thought of being able to continue to attract young women into old age is a potent dream.

What a sad place to find ourselves. Youth is a fleeting fancy, and as soon as you reach for it, it’s gone.

I hope this doesn’t come as too much of a shock to all the guys religiously working the meat market circuit. But believe me, even the young filly in the tight knit pants down on Welch is going to get older and (heaven forbid) even put on a few pounds.

What’s really tragic is that men have allowed themselves to be programmed to believe that there is nothing of value about a woman from then on.

Aside from the obviously horrible atmosphere this creates for women, what does it do for men?

If all the images we see in the media tell us to find ourselves a trophy, then when that trophy gets dusty and stops coloring her hair, what are we left with?

Well, we’re left with a human being, with ideas and emotions and all that other stuff that the movies never told us they had.

I’ve been just as polluted by this idea as anyone else. It takes a lot of energy to be an individual in our society.

So, what’s a society to do? I’m just sure there are hundreds of young men out there reading this and saying, “Gee, what can I do?”

Now, I’m not exactly an authority on healing the wounds of sexual stereotypes, but I’ll be glad to offer my dangerously unprofessional advice.

Step one might be to take down the poster of the 19-year-old hard-body in the pink thong and put up a picture of a middle-aged matron hustling kids in soccer uniforms out of her station wagon.

Maybe it’s not as erotic, but it’s a hell of a lot more realistic.

Not to mention the fact that there’s no reason that it can’t be just as beautiful. As long as we continue to insist on young and slender as the only two factors in female beauty, we are going to continue to be disappointed by the reality we live in.

This delusion is what continues to send people to the theater, to watch men who voted for Eisenhower “fall in love” with Victoria’s Secret models.

Don’t let the media tell you that you need to seek out beauty; just allow yourself to find it in reality instead of fantasy.

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Ben Godar is a junior in sociology from Ames.