Arrested Development

OpinionJournal.com ^ | August 21, 2007 | JOHN LEO

[gpapa]

Blame the '60s for America's perpetual adolescence? Nah, blame the '20s.

In the 1990s, most people who played video games were teenagers. Now the average gamester age is nearly 30. Cultural products aimed at tots and preteens capture the attention of adults. "SpongeBob SquarePants," intended for the 6-to-11 age group, draws almost 19 million viewers from the 18-to-49 crowd. Some famous museums, uncomfortable with their adult role as guardians of historical memory, have gone adolescent, staging exhibits on motorcycles, hip-hop and "Star Wars" movies. Many college courses, even on major campuses, make rainy-day activities at summer camp seem profound.

Such examples of America's descent into perpetual adolescence populate Diana West's provocative "The Death of the Grown-Up." Ms. West, a columnist for the Washington Times, argues that the country is suffering a case of arrested development, with teen tastes and desires eclipsing traditional adult conduct and values. A good deal of evidence supports her. An obsession with play and self-expression and a resistance to limits--conventional hallmarks of adolescence--are increasingly strong "adult" themes too.

[rmlew]

The point is that we aren't marrying having kids and acting mature.
We prefer to party, perpetuate adolescent behavior, and even continue to watch cartoons and play games.
And for all the other people doing this, shame on you.
Meanwhile, I want to have fun for another 5 years, while putting some money away.

[AnotherUnixGeek]

In the 1990s, most people who played video games were teenagers. Now the average gamester age is nearly 30. Cultural products aimed at tots and preteens capture the attention of adults. "SpongeBob SquarePants," intended for the 6-to-11 age group, draws almost 19 million viewers from the 18-to-49 crowd. Some famous museums, uncomfortable with their adult role as guardians of historical memory, have gone adolescent, staging exhibits on motorcycles, hip-hop and "Star Wars" movies.

The snobbishness and elitism of this paragraph are matched only by the foolishness and self-absorption of the paragraph. "Adult interests" aren't defined by how boring they are, nor are they defined by what the author happens to find personally interesting. The interesting thing about adults in a free society is that they collectively define adult interests, regardless of what some bore in an opinion column thinks.

[Pining_4_TX]

Yeah, I think this lady needs to untwist her undergarments a bit. Men have always acted like boys in many ways. Just ask a married woman. ;-)

[Sandreckoner]

Oh noes, fear teh vidya games!

And, sorry, but as someone who was in their 20s for much of the 1990s I can fairly safely attest that a large chunk of the people I played games with and met online playing games were in their 20s, and many in their 30s. The idea that “teens” were the ones playing video games until recently goes hand-in-hand with the still-common jokes that anyone under 30 can’t set a VCR (or now DVD player) despite the fact people in their 30s and 40s grew up with this technology.

[Judges Gone Wild]

Everything in the culture has been dumbed down. In education, children have not been taught the classics in a couple generations, film and television are cesspools of degradation, modern art is degenerate. The Communists said they would corrupt the American public through the culture, and they have. It’s time to create an alternative culture. Shut off the TV, read a book, get out and live life!

[gondramB]

>>Yeah, I think this lady needs to untwist her undergarments a bit. Men have always acted like boys in many ways. Just ask a married woman. ;-)<<

My Grandmother used to say some men go from being boys to being old men without anything in between.

[psycho3lf]

Who decides what is for boys and what is for men? Is the game Battlefield for boys and the movie Black Hawk Down for men? Battlefield is basically and interactive movie, where instead of staring blankly at a screen people can interact and make decisions. What about bowling for entertainment versus Battlefield? What is the difference?
The author of this article is a self-righteous moonbat trying to arbitrarily decide what is grown up and what is childlike.

[ozzymandus]

Who’s badmouthing Spongebob?