WARNING: This page contains content likely to create cognative dissonance for the "average" internet user. if you think you're cool, you should close this page and continue with the conforming process. As you've probably already guessed, I'm not your average teen. And one major way I differ from a "normal" teen is my stance on pop culture. You know, TV, Music, Movies, Clothing, the whole nineties yard. (but my pun doesn't work anymore now that we're in the, um, whatever you call this decade) My biggest pet peeve is the stereotypes that go along with these media, and how we are choosing to make them accurate.
I'll start with popular music. People often dis Brittany Speares and the Backstreet Boys. And I think they are definitely worthy of disage, but not to the extent to which they are. I don't like them, of course. The boy bands have such vapid lyricists, and every song ends up sounding alike. Brittany, and her competitive gang of WannaBrits, can sing well, but, again, the songs suck. And they try to do things with their voice that shouldn't be done, and honestly aren't musical. (I mentioned in my Chawkservation how it'd be cool to listen to a round of the choruses in all Brittany's songs, because they sound the same) But I'm not supposed to like these artists, because I'm a guy. All guys are supposed to hate Brittany and BSB with a vengeance. This sounds like a very insecure things for guys to be doing. To prove their masculinity, they must not only not like them, they must hate them, grimace when the song plays, and accuse those guys who listen to it of unnatural sexual orientation. But when you get right down to it, the reason why we really hate these artists is BECAUSE they're so popular. We can't shrug and say, "Good for her." That'd be gay. So exactly how do these bands who apparently lack sufficient musical qualities and any support from the male half of the population become so popular? The answer, my friends, is Twelve Year Old Girls (TYOG). These artists are supported by girls, obviously, and the peak of female support comes from 12 year olds. This is when a girl is most likely to listen the CDs all day and put the posters on her wall and write "I luv Nick" on her hand (assuming Nick is a member of a Boy Band). These girls typically don't have jobs or much money, but they apparently control the majority of the popular music industry. They decide what is cool, and this medium caters to them. If we are to accept the fact that TYOG control the biz, we must stop and look to see what makes them tick. When a girl is twelve, changes take place. All of a sudden, she sees that she is practically a teenager, something she used to pretend she was for years. Now, being excited, she decides to embrace all that is the hip society. No more playing with dolls, it's time to put on makeup. But this is cool, because she's been wanting to do this forever. but a problem arises when society tells her that girls are supposed to like boys. You see, girls want to like guys, but guys are at rock bottom when they're twelve. They want girls for very different reasons. They make crude jokes, and have about a tenth of the maturity that they had in 5th grade. (Thank god the media doesn't cater to them) Now, the girls are unable to like these perves, but they have to like guys to be cool. So they pick out an ideal. The music industry realizes this, and creates the Boy Bands to fill this need for sexual direction in a world of Beavis and Buttheads. The boys are cute, cool and sensitive. They're lucky to get one out of three from a seventh grader. So, my theory is that girls don't really like the Boy Bands for the music, but rather for the subliminal comfort. But why do they all pick the same guys? These aren't the five cutest guys in the world. How can ten million girls like these few? The answer lies in the pursuit of popularity. TYOG are more conscious of their public image than any other being on the planet. I've seen them forcibly change themselves to fit the modern molds. You notice charectoristics that they all have in common. The key to popularity is to be just like all of the other cool people, whether that means saying "Da Bomb" or listening to Brittany Speares (who appeals to these girls because they like to sing along as if they were in her situations). They all develope the same habits, and even personalities. So, if the Backstreet Boys are cool, they are all in love with the singers, and try to prove they love them more than their friends. What's more, they will do all that is in their power to keep what they follow popular. What is a girl thinking when she calls TRL, that insane show on the network that feeds the problem? She's not thinking, "Boy, I really want to see that BSB video, because I missed it the other 5,000 times they played it." No, she's thinking, whether conciously or otherwise, "I hope my band wins." "I hope it is the most popular, so that I will be too." This is pack mentality, and it smothers diversity. So girls have to like their bands, and this condition lessens in severity as the girl grows. But what's left for us guys? According to MTV, guys like stuff like Limp Bizcuit(what do you call that genre?) and Rap. Lord, help me. Of the songs that have been so popular that I heard them, I've found that there is a large amount of vulgarity in here, with significantly less musical qualities than the Boy Bands. What cracks me up is the people who say that Speares can't sing, and then go and listen to DMX. Cracks me up in a sorrowful manner. While guys aren't as closely bonded to their music as girls, a guy who doesn't like these is often taunted. I could go on and on about how Rap sucks, but it's a vain argument. What I'm quite sure of is that guys are not getting the same impact tha they would be getting from real music, and it hurts our charector. I know the preceeding paragraphs at times sounded like uneducated opinions, but I'm certain that my points are for the most part true. I'll put some more in later. So the music industry is no longer musical, and, ofcourse there are exceptions. How about television? Most quality network programming is aimed toward boring 30 year olds. They have sitcoms that really aren't extremely witty, unless you're a boring 30 year old. Lesser quality network programming (Fox) is targetted toward guys. Not very bright guys. Fox likes to shock people, and they can get pretty raunchy too. There are some good programs on Fox, such as the Simpsons, which I fail to see as more stupid than funny. Talk shows show our interest in pathetic people, which I cannot explain. Wrestling is rock bottom. Such is my synopsis of network TV. The different networks are for different people. Cable TV is much the same. Everyone has a channel that's made for their social group. And, in a large way, your channel will develope your personality. It's your main idea bringer, and influences you more than any person can. I'm not going to rag on MTV, because it won't matter. But for the record, I think that it's crap. I like Comedy Central, because it's funny. But I think that our comedies are becoming unneccessarily raunchy. I watch South Park for the satire, but the filth in it repulses me. And the Man Show is a huge disappointment. Apparently, my gender thinks primarily of sex all day long. But I'm running out of time. So sorry, but I've got to leave you. I may return someday. Bye. |
