requested #9
I am really torn about today's post. There are some really great requests still to do, but they require more time to contemplate. This one was a huge challenge to me as it is broad in scope and I wasn't sure if I could put it in a simple, one day post. This is my attempt.
Today's Topic - Pop culture philosophy.
"Rennies" are a group of people that walk, talk, breathe, shit, eat and fuck like they were living during the renaissance period of human history. They talk in what they call, old English. Have a love of dragons, crystal balls and jousting. Lords and lasses everywhere. I personally can't stand them. I grew up around a ton of them and if it weren't for the fact that they were easy to sleep with, given their lax attitude toward "a good tumble", I would have killed them all with my car.
Most of them didn't have a car, they hung out at a Perkins restaurant all night, drank coffee, smoked either hand rolled cigarettes or cloves and worked as telemarketers during the day. They had the long hair with ribbons and braids, wore the robes or the kilts or the tights and the leather boots. The women wore tons of velvet and they all loved magic. I just wanted the sex. The rest of the "thy, thee, my lady, etc" was just the price I had to pay to get it. Everyone of these people were not born this way. It wasn't until they saw the movie, "Highlander" that they found their passion. ( or read The Hobbit or played Dungeons and Dragons)
As much as I hated them, I still respected them. They never altered their lifestyle regardless of the shit they took on a daily basis. It's hard not to want to pick on a "lord" as they buy a frozen pizza at the super market. They got a lot of ribbing, some were even beat up, some went to college and some just had children or created drama for themselves to keep things interesting. But they never wavered. They loved the lifestyle and felt it was who they were and who they were meant to be.
These days Entertainment is soooooo much more than just entertainment. Entertainment is also a guidance counselor, a shrink, a parent, a babysitter, a bible and a lover. In today's world, you don't get the freedom to explore options the way you used to in the past. In the last century, the only exposure you were going to have to other ways of life was through literature, a willing and decent teacher or through rare lithographs. Entertainment brought stories of far off lands, different cultures, bravery, romance, defeats, crime and... oppurtunity. People followed a different course of action than they do today. Today, there are rules, boundaries and fears that limit the number of opportunities that you have. You are told that things are silly, dumb, foolish, or out of the question. What you are hearing is the frustration of those who came before you being vented on to your dreams, hopes and desires. So entertainment is your only exposure to another way of life. It's a great break from the staleness of many people's lives. It offers hope that it can get better. It shows us how....
I grew up in the 80's. The great vacuum of history. The music then was glam/hair rock and the normal kids from my elementary school now in junior high, started wearing their hair longer. Jeans were torn and "dude" became part of the vocabulary of everyday life. As time passed, rap music came into the picture and kids who had long hair and were "rockin" suddenly started to shave their eyebrows, wear flashy, baggy pants and say, "yo, yo" a lot. They were very inner city, which was odd to see from a bunch of upper middle class kids who drove BMW's. There was a goth kick and kids that were full of color lost it all and lived in shades of gray. (still very, very sexy to me) There were kids who found punk rock and couldn't stop finding ways to look eye catching. All this, from the music they listened too. There were other options there, but I don't care to remember them all. Music wasn't my biggest influence then, so I didn't have a music look.
For those kids for whom music had little influence, there were movies. "Top Gun" came out and pizza delivery drivers, former passive kids, became speed junkies with flight jackets on. "Dirty Dancing" came out and women started wearing rolled up jean shorts and keds. Every school event, every party, there were women trying to dirty dance with you and killing your thighs with their bony pubic bones.
And then there were the book readers... Fantasy mostly. Dark kids with trapper keepers full of paper. They were always drawing and giving you the evil eye should you look in their direction. I think I have been "hexed upon" a dozen times. Most of them should be worn off by now.
There were kids that only followed the sports of the day, they hated going to school because it was too hard, most of them couldn't spell, BALL, and probably still can't today. They worked out, ate junk food and were covered with acne.
Popular kids looked the same as they did in elementary school, wearing the latest trend, very groomed and well trained, but secretly always trying to find a message in some form of entertainment that would free them too. It was common to see a junior high beauty that was incredibly popular discover "the Cure" and appear, seemingly the next day, in black, smoking and hung over. Her popularity card revoked, her new friends would find her. This happened a lot.
Pop culture seems to come along and hit us all. No one seems immune. Maybe that is the filter by which we set our course. We all seemed to be the same in elementary school, with very few exceptions, then suddenly, something came along... music, movies, books, whatever BAM! We are changed forever. Our dreams are born or modified and there seems to be a through line. "If we just follow our passion, we will live to be the happiest people on earth. How do those other people, those phonies, live?" All this we think as we trek down our chosen path, pretty sure that we can rock and roll forever. Live fast, die young. The band will make us rich and famous and we will be happy... or we can live in a burned out shack and eat candy bars forever.... yeah!
For most people, our high school lifestyle will change by the time we are 20 or so. We shed off the costumes and find our way back into the endless abyss of conformity. Rockers cut their hair, goth chicks wear pink, Rappers let their eyebrow grow back and Athletes... well, not everyone changes. Most people are sent through the next filter of "adulthood" and come out on the other side a conformed member of society, paying rent and wearing clothes that are "appropriate". The wild and crazy dreams of our youth, faded away...
Somewhere near our thirties, our childhood gets a revisit. Either through media remaking our childhood entertainment or somehow we are forced to review it by friends, children, spring cleaning, high school reunions, running into an old buddy from the day or just some fleeting memory that forces us off the couch and into storage to dig all that shit out. This gets are brain a-pumpin' and we start to think of the parts of our past that were not all that bad and seemingly a lot of fun. Parts we wish we had back or wish we could do again. How often have you dug through your stuff, found a box of your old music and listened to it just for shits and giggles? Old picture albums? Scaaaaary shit. You can be alone and still feel embarassed.
Pop culture gives us conversation. It gives us rules. It defines the way of your life. Our vocabulary is littered with phrases that movies, music and television have created for us.
Church lady, "Isn't that special", Top Gun, "I feel the need. The need for speed." Bugs bunny, "What's up doc?" Will smith, "Gettin giggy wit it", The spanish soccer announcer, "GOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAL, GOOOOOOOOOOOOOAL, GOOOOOOOAAAAAAL!"
You get the point.
Star wars has given us the dream that we can move things without touching them if we use a "force". It seems possible and people practice everyday.
Rocky made us think we could take a huge beating and still be able to fight.
Horror films taught us that women fall down, people feel the need to "search the building" for no reason and that if you are a teenager, you're gonna die.
Sit coms showed us that anything can be resolved.
Miami Vice gave us pastels, the no socks look and the stubble beard.
U2 gave us the mullet.
Porky's told us women are easy, men are stupid. etc..
Pop culture gives us our lives. When we are no longer able to find variety on our own, either because our parents don't want too, can't, or have no idea where to look or because we give in to pressure from the world we live in not to look at all, we are forced to accept what we are given. And what we are given is a large selection of entertainment to find an identity, form our opinions and make our plans. All of this real life stuff based on fantasy.
The last filter of life is the one where it dies. When it finally becomes clear to us that we wasted it all. All that time, all that energy. When that happens, either you kill yourself for feeling you are too far down the path to turn around and you feel sorry for yourself or you dramatically change your whole life and try to "get back in touch". ( The great irony is, most people at this junction will seek answers where? You guessed it. Movies, music and television. Books come into play here, but they are self help books based on movies, music and television)
I don't know if I answered this one correctly. Like I said, this was a big one to tackle. Look around your own life and try to determine what you found in music, movies and television. Where were your passions born? When did the life you lead today, start? Do you look the same as you did your freshman year in high school? How about your Senior year?
Today's Topic - Pop culture philosophy.
"Rennies" are a group of people that walk, talk, breathe, shit, eat and fuck like they were living during the renaissance period of human history. They talk in what they call, old English. Have a love of dragons, crystal balls and jousting. Lords and lasses everywhere. I personally can't stand them. I grew up around a ton of them and if it weren't for the fact that they were easy to sleep with, given their lax attitude toward "a good tumble", I would have killed them all with my car.
Most of them didn't have a car, they hung out at a Perkins restaurant all night, drank coffee, smoked either hand rolled cigarettes or cloves and worked as telemarketers during the day. They had the long hair with ribbons and braids, wore the robes or the kilts or the tights and the leather boots. The women wore tons of velvet and they all loved magic. I just wanted the sex. The rest of the "thy, thee, my lady, etc" was just the price I had to pay to get it. Everyone of these people were not born this way. It wasn't until they saw the movie, "Highlander" that they found their passion. ( or read The Hobbit or played Dungeons and Dragons)
As much as I hated them, I still respected them. They never altered their lifestyle regardless of the shit they took on a daily basis. It's hard not to want to pick on a "lord" as they buy a frozen pizza at the super market. They got a lot of ribbing, some were even beat up, some went to college and some just had children or created drama for themselves to keep things interesting. But they never wavered. They loved the lifestyle and felt it was who they were and who they were meant to be.
These days Entertainment is soooooo much more than just entertainment. Entertainment is also a guidance counselor, a shrink, a parent, a babysitter, a bible and a lover. In today's world, you don't get the freedom to explore options the way you used to in the past. In the last century, the only exposure you were going to have to other ways of life was through literature, a willing and decent teacher or through rare lithographs. Entertainment brought stories of far off lands, different cultures, bravery, romance, defeats, crime and... oppurtunity. People followed a different course of action than they do today. Today, there are rules, boundaries and fears that limit the number of opportunities that you have. You are told that things are silly, dumb, foolish, or out of the question. What you are hearing is the frustration of those who came before you being vented on to your dreams, hopes and desires. So entertainment is your only exposure to another way of life. It's a great break from the staleness of many people's lives. It offers hope that it can get better. It shows us how....
I grew up in the 80's. The great vacuum of history. The music then was glam/hair rock and the normal kids from my elementary school now in junior high, started wearing their hair longer. Jeans were torn and "dude" became part of the vocabulary of everyday life. As time passed, rap music came into the picture and kids who had long hair and were "rockin" suddenly started to shave their eyebrows, wear flashy, baggy pants and say, "yo, yo" a lot. They were very inner city, which was odd to see from a bunch of upper middle class kids who drove BMW's. There was a goth kick and kids that were full of color lost it all and lived in shades of gray. (still very, very sexy to me) There were kids who found punk rock and couldn't stop finding ways to look eye catching. All this, from the music they listened too. There were other options there, but I don't care to remember them all. Music wasn't my biggest influence then, so I didn't have a music look.
For those kids for whom music had little influence, there were movies. "Top Gun" came out and pizza delivery drivers, former passive kids, became speed junkies with flight jackets on. "Dirty Dancing" came out and women started wearing rolled up jean shorts and keds. Every school event, every party, there were women trying to dirty dance with you and killing your thighs with their bony pubic bones.
And then there were the book readers... Fantasy mostly. Dark kids with trapper keepers full of paper. They were always drawing and giving you the evil eye should you look in their direction. I think I have been "hexed upon" a dozen times. Most of them should be worn off by now.
There were kids that only followed the sports of the day, they hated going to school because it was too hard, most of them couldn't spell, BALL, and probably still can't today. They worked out, ate junk food and were covered with acne.
Popular kids looked the same as they did in elementary school, wearing the latest trend, very groomed and well trained, but secretly always trying to find a message in some form of entertainment that would free them too. It was common to see a junior high beauty that was incredibly popular discover "the Cure" and appear, seemingly the next day, in black, smoking and hung over. Her popularity card revoked, her new friends would find her. This happened a lot.
Pop culture seems to come along and hit us all. No one seems immune. Maybe that is the filter by which we set our course. We all seemed to be the same in elementary school, with very few exceptions, then suddenly, something came along... music, movies, books, whatever BAM! We are changed forever. Our dreams are born or modified and there seems to be a through line. "If we just follow our passion, we will live to be the happiest people on earth. How do those other people, those phonies, live?" All this we think as we trek down our chosen path, pretty sure that we can rock and roll forever. Live fast, die young. The band will make us rich and famous and we will be happy... or we can live in a burned out shack and eat candy bars forever.... yeah!
For most people, our high school lifestyle will change by the time we are 20 or so. We shed off the costumes and find our way back into the endless abyss of conformity. Rockers cut their hair, goth chicks wear pink, Rappers let their eyebrow grow back and Athletes... well, not everyone changes. Most people are sent through the next filter of "adulthood" and come out on the other side a conformed member of society, paying rent and wearing clothes that are "appropriate". The wild and crazy dreams of our youth, faded away...
Somewhere near our thirties, our childhood gets a revisit. Either through media remaking our childhood entertainment or somehow we are forced to review it by friends, children, spring cleaning, high school reunions, running into an old buddy from the day or just some fleeting memory that forces us off the couch and into storage to dig all that shit out. This gets are brain a-pumpin' and we start to think of the parts of our past that were not all that bad and seemingly a lot of fun. Parts we wish we had back or wish we could do again. How often have you dug through your stuff, found a box of your old music and listened to it just for shits and giggles? Old picture albums? Scaaaaary shit. You can be alone and still feel embarassed.
Pop culture gives us conversation. It gives us rules. It defines the way of your life. Our vocabulary is littered with phrases that movies, music and television have created for us.
Church lady, "Isn't that special", Top Gun, "I feel the need. The need for speed." Bugs bunny, "What's up doc?" Will smith, "Gettin giggy wit it", The spanish soccer announcer, "GOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAL, GOOOOOOOOOOOOOAL, GOOOOOOOAAAAAAL!"
You get the point.
Star wars has given us the dream that we can move things without touching them if we use a "force". It seems possible and people practice everyday.
Rocky made us think we could take a huge beating and still be able to fight.
Horror films taught us that women fall down, people feel the need to "search the building" for no reason and that if you are a teenager, you're gonna die.
Sit coms showed us that anything can be resolved.
Miami Vice gave us pastels, the no socks look and the stubble beard.
U2 gave us the mullet.
Porky's told us women are easy, men are stupid. etc..
Pop culture gives us our lives. When we are no longer able to find variety on our own, either because our parents don't want too, can't, or have no idea where to look or because we give in to pressure from the world we live in not to look at all, we are forced to accept what we are given. And what we are given is a large selection of entertainment to find an identity, form our opinions and make our plans. All of this real life stuff based on fantasy.
The last filter of life is the one where it dies. When it finally becomes clear to us that we wasted it all. All that time, all that energy. When that happens, either you kill yourself for feeling you are too far down the path to turn around and you feel sorry for yourself or you dramatically change your whole life and try to "get back in touch". ( The great irony is, most people at this junction will seek answers where? You guessed it. Movies, music and television. Books come into play here, but they are self help books based on movies, music and television)
I don't know if I answered this one correctly. Like I said, this was a big one to tackle. Look around your own life and try to determine what you found in music, movies and television. Where were your passions born? When did the life you lead today, start? Do you look the same as you did your freshman year in high school? How about your Senior year?
posted by Daniel Loomis | 8:24 AM
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