Posted on 09/14/2005 9:05:10 AM PDT by Millee
I am 40 years old. I don't know how that happened. But here I am.
People my age don't have a lot in common. That is, most generations share a common experience or cultural phenomenon during those magic years from adolescence to early adulthood. Those of us who grew up in the'70s didn't really have any bonding experience.
The generation before mine had the Vietnam War, the civil-rights movement, the Beatles. The generation before that had the Cold War and Elvis. Before that, World War II and Sinatra. Before that, the Depression. People had their impressions of those experiences from their own vantage point.
By contrast, for kids in the'70s and early'80s, life was pretty easy; no war, no civil unrest. The biggest threat to the American way was disco, and we shouldn't forget what a serious threat that was or how many lost their dignity and hair styles in that battle. The outrageous inflation, interest rates and gas prices of the Carter years were your folks' problem, not yours. There were few hardships. And because of that there were fewer shared experiences. There is not a lot that connects my generation together.
We don't run the risk of being called the greatest generation in history. While it would be wrong to label us the TV generation, it would be accurate to call us the rerun generation. In the days before 100 channels of cable, we had four TV channels and rabbit ears on top of the box. And after school we watched re Clampet? Mary Ann. Mary Ann or Jeannie? Jeannie.
Jeannie or Samantha? Let's see, here. One comes with serious mother-in-law issues. The other runs around the house in her lingerie, calls you master, wants to grant all your wishes, and when you get tired of her you can put her in a bottle. Yep, tough choice.
I would, rather embarrassingly, argue that the most shared cultural experience for 40-year-olds is old "Star Trek." We all know the Vulcan neck pinch. If Kirk, Spock, Bones and some security guard in a red shirt beamed down to a planet, we all know which one is going to get blasted. We all know who will pronounce that the red shirt is dead, and how he'll say it. (And we get it Bones, you're a doctor not a bricklayer.) And we all know which one is going to get it on with the hot alien girl.
I'm not proud that nearly everyone my age can mouth every line to every "Star Trek" re run, even the one in whichSpock gets to wear the goatee. But at least it is something.
My generation has many of those shared icons. My sense is that younger generations may have many more icons, but they are not shared. My father's generation had only a few media outlets. Everyone in America stopped to listen to Uncle Milty on radio. Not what you call a lot of variety, but the whole country knew Milton Berle.
My generation had more outlets, but with only a few TV stations, Dick Van Dyke and Brady Bunch re runs were known to all, and gave us some shared reference in entertainment.
Today the outlets for media are customizable; hundreds of channels catering to every varying taste. TIVO and I-Pods now allow individuals to become their own station programmers. A million different kids can be watching and listening to a million different things at the same time. This is a terrific thing, but will there again be a shared cultural experience? Recently James Doohan, Scotty on "Star Trek," Bob Denver, better known as Gilligan, passed away. These icons from our childhood are just the beginning of what will be an avalanche of old TV, movie and rock music names that we will soon be saying goodbye to.
When they all go, they may be the last entertainment icons shared by an entire country.
Two words. Nels Cline.
Not to mention H.R. Puff n' Stuff, Snagglepuss (exit, staaaage right), Underdog, Charlie's Angels, Three's Company, etc....
I guess the author has forgotten about The Ramones and The Rocky Horror Picture Show...................
I clearly remember Watergate and watching Vietnam on TV....that really affected me growing up.
Mondays everybody would be doing their recreations of the latest SNL skits, especially after one Steve Martin hosted.
LOL! I remember those days, back before when everyone on SNL was openly gay...
Jeez, I can almost hear myself relating it to my children "When I used to watch most of them were straight..."
What about STAR WARS? I'll never forget the long lines.
In spite (or maybe because) of the decadence, the 70s was a great period creatively. Hollywood gave us Spielberg, Lucas, Scorsese, DePalma. The music industry exploded with LP wonders. (Remember LPs?
Punk rock, anyone?
I believe America began its cultural decline in the early 80s. By then, I no longer cared about any shared icons.
Let's do the Time Warp Again....
I just turned 37 last week. This weekend, I was parked out front of a Subway sandwich shop, waiting for the hubby to pick up lunch. My two year old daughter was in her car seat in the back of the truck.
The only radio station I can stomach is the Classic Rock one. While we were sitting in the car, Eruption starts playing. Now, I wasn't a metal girl. I was a punk as far back as 1979. But... Van Halen is another story.
My husband comes out to the car, subs in hand, to find me air guitaring and singing along to "You Really Got Me..." and the best part, our daughter was head banging and clapping along. She likes the Ramones. She's a cool toddler.
The late 70s were sort of fun, especially when new wave peered its pink striped head around the corner. The 80s were an awesome decade. We had Reagan, MTV when it still played music videos and before it started sucking. The 90s were so pretentious and full of cynical irony; the oughties are better, but still problematic. And the music still sucks.
I never had enough hair for Aqua Net, but I did try to get my spikes to stand up with Scrunch Spray and Studio Line! from L'oreal. Manic Panic hair dye, those dorky lace-up jazz oxfords, and parachute pants. Ah... youth!
What's a JR?
You noticed that too?
Hay days?
Nostalgic at age 40? What a maroon...start becoming nostalgic in the rocker....
I too just turn 40 and I think we do have one shared experience: Islamic terrorism. It started with the PLO (Olympics, Entebee, Hijackings). Continued with Beirut (kidnappings and bombings), Iran, Libya, Iraq and then 911. I bet lots of us saw them as a big a threat as the USSR....
God, do I. Omce in a while my mom would buy us a special Saturday morning breakfast treat (usually the assorted generic donuts in the box or if we were REALLY lucky, Honey Buns) and we would park ourselves in front of the TV in the basement with that and our orange juice and feel like God Himself programmed the TV just for us.
I'm also 41 and have to agree, although I had a thing for Nixon when I was 10. My parents were horrified. But Carter turned them off to democrats forever.
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