Grandpa Bandit tells the story of elderly Virgil Wells, an upstanding citizen who is forced to partake in criminal activities in order to be able to provide for his ailing wife, Mary. As their funds decrease and their medicare is terminated, Virgil applies for work but is overlooked. His abilities are underestimated. He's viewed as a liability because of his age. When all attempts at making an honest living fails, Virgil decides that his only option is to rob a bank.
Throughline: The common misconception that the elderly are incapable of working hard during their golden years often leaves these people in financial strain, without much assistance from the government. Many of them surrender to poverty and imminent death. While others, like Virgil, take fate into their own hands, going to extremes in order to ensure their families survival, no matter the risk.
","abstract_html":"<p><em>Grandpa Bandit </em>tells the story of elderly Virgil Wells, an upstanding citizen who is forced to partake in criminal activities in order to be able to provide for his ailing wife, Mary. As their funds decrease and their medicare is terminated, Virgil applies for work but is overlooked. His abilities are underestimated. He's viewed as a liability because of his age. When all attempts at making an honest living fails, Virgil decides that his only option is to rob a bank.</p> <p>Throughline: The common misconception that the elderly are incapable of working hard during their golden years often leaves these people in financial strain, without much assistance from the government. Many of them surrender to poverty and imminent death. While others, like Virgil, take fate into their own hands, going to extremes in order to ensure their families survival, no matter the risk.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Dunn, Jasmine D."],"institution":null,"degree_name":"M.F.A.","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Henry Griffin; Kevin Graves","Erik Hansen"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2012,"date_issued":"2012-12-15T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2012-12-15T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:29:47Z","subjects":["Film and Media Studies","Fine Arts"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://scholarworks.uno.edu/td/1586","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Henry Griffin; Kevin Graves","Erik Hansen"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Dunn, Jasmine D."]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["M.F.A."]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Film and Media Studies","Fine Arts"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://scholarworks.uno.edu/td/1586"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Grandpa Bandit tells the story of elderly Virgil Wells, an upstanding citizen who is forced to partake in criminal activities in order to be able to provide for his ailing wife, Mary. As their funds decrease and their medicare is terminated, Virgil applies for work but is overlooked. His abilities are underestimated. He's viewed as a liability because of his age. When all attempts at making an honest living fails, Virgil decides that his only option is to rob a bank.
Throughline: The common misconception that the elderly are incapable of working hard during their golden years often leaves these people in financial strain, without much assistance from the government. Many of them surrender to poverty and imminent death. While others, like Virgil, take fate into their own hands, going to extremes in order to ensure their families survival, no matter the risk.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Grandpa Bandit"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Henry Griffin; Kevin Graves","Erik Hansen"],"dc:creator":["Dunn, Jasmine D."],"dc:description.abstract":["Grandpa Bandit tells the story of elderly Virgil Wells, an upstanding citizen who is forced to partake in criminal activities in order to be able to provide for his ailing wife, Mary. As their funds decrease and their medicare is terminated, Virgil applies for work but is overlooked. His abilities are underestimated. He's viewed as a liability because of his age. When all attempts at making an honest living fails, Virgil decides that his only option is to rob a bank.
Throughline: The common misconception that the elderly are incapable of working hard during their golden years often leaves these people in financial strain, without much assistance from the government. Many of them surrender to poverty and imminent death. While others, like Virgil, take fate into their own hands, going to extremes in order to ensure their families survival, no matter the risk.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://scholarworks.uno.edu/td/1586"],"dc:subject":["Film and Media Studies","Fine Arts"],"dc:title":["Grandpa Bandit"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["M.F.A."]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:29:47Z"}