Credit: BreAnna Jones

For decades, Hollywood has offered women over 40 one narrow love narrative: the comeback. Think Angela Bassett in How Stella Got Her Groove Back. It’s the framing that says passion only returns after a tropical trip, a younger partner, or a dramatic shake-up. Later-in-life love is treated like a novelty, as though joy, intimacy, and desire expire after 35 and must be rekindled.

What happens when women stop being framed as comeback queens and instead are shown living fully in the layered, self-assured, and unapologetic love they’ve created?

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That’s the shift writer, producer, and filmmaker Felicia Pride is helping to lead. Her new novella, Come Close: A Romance Novella, reframes romance at 40 as continuation rather than reclamation. The story follows Amaya Ellis, a filmmaker directing her first feature, who unexpectedly reconnects with a past love. It’s a second-chance romance, but one rooted in clarity, maturity, and possibility rather than nostalgia.

In a conversation with MadameNoire, Pride explained why this reframing matters.

Aging Is A Luxury, Not A Liability

Courtesy of Ascend PR Group

When asked why love after 40 is so often framed as “later in life” or a groove-back story, Pride pointed to something bigger than Hollywood tropes.

“I think we live in a very ageist society, and there’s a lot of fear around aging. At the same time, there’s a celebration of youth and nostalgia. The honest truth is aging is a luxury. We should all be so lucky to age.

“For women in particular, there is a lot of projection that we’re no longer desirable or have desires at a certain age. Sometimes we internalize that, and it impacts how we go about our dating lives. There are a lot of factors that have to do with various forms of discrimination. That’s what contributes to this narrative.”

Her point is clear: the “groove-back” trope isn’t harmless. It reflects — and reinforces — discrimination that casts older women as invisible.

Instead of viewing new relationships at 40 or 50 as shocking, Pride argues they should be treated as an ordinary (and ongoing) part of life.

“Most of us have had relationships throughout our lives. So the fact that we may have a new relationship after 40 or after 50 is not novel. It’s not a new thing.

“We should think of it as a continuation — that women of a certain age continue to be love interests, continue to have interests in love, continue to be objects of desire. Media is important because it can play a role in showing that continuation. It’s a normal part of life. It’s not something worthy of headlines. It just is.”

Amaya Ellis, the protagonist of Come Close, isn’t chasing youth or apologizing for desire. She is fully in her career, fully in her body, and open to love not as a reclamation, but as an extension of her wholeness.

The post ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ & ‘Queen Sugar’ Writer & Director Felicia Pride On Love After 40: ‘Aging Is A Luxury, Not A Liability’ [Exclusive] appeared first on MadameNoire.



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