Tuesday, February 06, 2007
Why It’s Just Wrong When Pop Originates Pop Culture.
In my recent squabbles over pop culture a lot of people just didn’t seem to understand why people , like me, in their late middle age wouldn’t be up to date. So you might understand this phenomenon, it all begins like this.
Fads and pop culture begin with older teenagers and very young adults. At least they did when those used to be home made. Sadly, it now seems that a lot of them are content to just adopt whatever stupid junk corporations tell them to. But assuming that it at least has to pass through this age cohort to be a fad, I’ll continue with this entirely unscientific line based on observation.
After the fad has been adopted by it’s “originators” it is then taken up by those insecure conformists, young teenager kulture vultures, and their even more uncertain and insecure fellow second-tier adopters the thirty somethings.
After them come tweens and pre- geezers. With the tweens and even younger people, parents might notice that something is happening. I’d say they notice that something new is happening but by this stage the fad is quickly passing from the ‘originator’ cohort. The spectacle of 40-year-olds...., it’s not pretty. They didn’t learn about the fad from the originators because of the natural stealth of people that age.
It starts getting fuzzy from here but what is almost certain is that the last people to know about the dying fad are geezers, and specifically males in their fifties and up being almost certainly the end of the line. This is roughly the same age group which has authority in important areas of life, having come up through the ranks or, having been pushed up, if you believe in some vaguely amusing theories of business hierarchies. This could explain why people with the authority to make decisions aren’t up on the latest fads. The theory is based on my seeing a man in his fifties with one of those stupid tiny braids down the back of his head well after even I knew it had ceased being a fad. He asked me if I was looking forward to The Stones tour. As they say, lightening struck.
I wish young people would start smashing corporate culture instead of adopting it. It’s geezers who decide what corporations are going to promote as cool. How do you expect these business types to come up with something new? This explains the blandness and stupidity of so much pop culture these days. That’s just wrong. Geezers trying to originate and follow pop culture robs young people of one of the greatest pleasures of youth, theirs by nature and by right, condescending to their elders in matters of coolness. Give it up, Dad.
In my recent squabbles over pop culture a lot of people just didn’t seem to understand why people , like me, in their late middle age wouldn’t be up to date. So you might understand this phenomenon, it all begins like this.
Fads and pop culture begin with older teenagers and very young adults. At least they did when those used to be home made. Sadly, it now seems that a lot of them are content to just adopt whatever stupid junk corporations tell them to. But assuming that it at least has to pass through this age cohort to be a fad, I’ll continue with this entirely unscientific line based on observation.
After the fad has been adopted by it’s “originators” it is then taken up by those insecure conformists, young teenager kulture vultures, and their even more uncertain and insecure fellow second-tier adopters the thirty somethings.
After them come tweens and pre- geezers. With the tweens and even younger people, parents might notice that something is happening. I’d say they notice that something new is happening but by this stage the fad is quickly passing from the ‘originator’ cohort. The spectacle of 40-year-olds...., it’s not pretty. They didn’t learn about the fad from the originators because of the natural stealth of people that age.
It starts getting fuzzy from here but what is almost certain is that the last people to know about the dying fad are geezers, and specifically males in their fifties and up being almost certainly the end of the line. This is roughly the same age group which has authority in important areas of life, having come up through the ranks or, having been pushed up, if you believe in some vaguely amusing theories of business hierarchies. This could explain why people with the authority to make decisions aren’t up on the latest fads. The theory is based on my seeing a man in his fifties with one of those stupid tiny braids down the back of his head well after even I knew it had ceased being a fad. He asked me if I was looking forward to The Stones tour. As they say, lightening struck.
I wish young people would start smashing corporate culture instead of adopting it. It’s geezers who decide what corporations are going to promote as cool. How do you expect these business types to come up with something new? This explains the blandness and stupidity of so much pop culture these days. That’s just wrong. Geezers trying to originate and follow pop culture robs young people of one of the greatest pleasures of youth, theirs by nature and by right, condescending to their elders in matters of coolness. Give it up, Dad.
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No corporation told me that "Shoes" was as funny as all get out. Or gave us the ORLY owl. Or "all your base are belong to us". We came up with those on our own.
There's still a real culture out here. I promise.
There's still a real culture out here. I promise.
# posted by 
: 8:24 PM
: 8:24 PM
paulkman, I am glad to hear it. I promise that, as a geezer, I will avoid trying to adopt it and so create the mess that is the subject of this piece.
The generation of ABBA vs. The Long Tail. "Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery" might well be the author of age - inappropriate style. But if the practitioner is guilty of nostalgia and repeating the line "You're only as old as you feel" aren't you yourself practicing discrimination ?
That acronym of mine is oldephartteintraining BTW and the hair colour is grey ( some is likely white )
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That acronym of mine is oldephartteintraining BTW and the hair colour is grey ( some is likely white )
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