Margaret Mead, the great anthropologist, once said that each child is born into a world entirely different from the world of its parents. The reality of that statement becomes more meaningful as the years pass and you come to realize that not only are you in another world, you have taken off into outer space and exist in a time and place known as the olden days.
Popular culture has left me more than perplexed. I’m often in the “what the heck is that about” or “I can’t believe that this is on TV” mode. Take television. There are the lurid almost absurd reality shows that have taken over cable TV. “The Bachelor” and “The Bachelorette” and “Nude Dating” will have to survive without my viewership. People watch these low budget versions of True Romance comics and love them. They have enormous followings. Why? It seems absurd when the electronic world can offer so much more. There is always PBS. But no, people watch these sleazy versions of carnival side shows including something called “Keeping up with the Kardashians.”
What is a Kardashian? As far as I can surmise, none of these so named individuals can sing, dance, act, recite poetry from memory, juggle (except spouses) or evidence any kind of entertainment or educational proficiency. It is appalling that this family empire rests on the back (and, yes, I get the irony of this) of one of the daughters who became famous because of a pornographic video. A true mark of modern culture!
The Kardashian phenomenon contributes to the evidence all around us that accumulating stuff, consumerism, is the one of the most important aspirations in our lives. There are the youngish couples searching for a house on HGTV. When we were looking for a house, it had to have a roof that didn’t need fixing, a heating system that worked, identifiable rooms such as a kitchen, dining room, living room, bathroom and bedrooms. We thought that our 850 square foot house was enormous.
Today? Youngish couples with no offspring are looking for houses of 3,000 square feet or more with “master bedrooms” that are larger than our living room. Larger than our living room? Heck, larger than the first floor of our house. There must be “en suite” bathrooms, dual sinks, gigantic showers, soaking tubs and media rooms. Kitchens must have granite counter tops and stainless steel appliances with dark wood cabinets. Watching these post pubescent house hunters evaluate houses with anything less makes me wonder who raised these hot house flowers. On the house hunter hit parade are such songs as, “I can’t live with white appliances” and “It’s so dated.” Give me a break.
What about those adventurous house hunters seeking an international experience, resettling in a foreign country, determined to soak up the local culture? “We want to experience the way that people really live here,” is their mantra. Sure they do, as long as their house has granite counter tops, stainless steel appliances, a dishwasher and walk in closets. It would be like a visitor from the steppes coming to Marcellus to experience our culture, rejecting our domiciles in favor of a yurt with no electricity and a yak.
Then there are the commercials for Haute Look…”My day begins first with coffee, then the gym, then Haute Look” … followed by a picture of the woman receiving a package. Talk about consumer culture. Is there anything else in life but shopping? Well, maybe coffee and the gym.
Admittedly, television isn’t the hallmark of popular culture, but it’s right up there, acting as a mediating influence, validating behaviors in not so subtle ways.
So, here I am, stuck on the planet anachronism, holding fast to values and such that are rarely given a nod in the electronic media except as something recorded in black and white history. The story of my life begins as in Star Wars … “ A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…”
