My Super Sweet New Post

I'm not sure, but I think My Super Sweet Sicksteen has signaled a new benchmark for the depths of this nation's popular culture. It is really the epitome of almost everything wrong with today's youth. Now I'm still a pretty young guy; I'm not some granny harping about her kid's rattledy-bang music or the degeneration of the good old days, who really mostly just doesn't want to admit times are changing. I'm still a part of that target audience, and yet I'm looking back and I know for certain, things were better five, ten, fifteen years ago.

MTV started out as a pretty cool idea. A station devoted entirely to music. Yet piece by piece, they dismantled that vision in favor of a kid-savvy look. Even their back-up station, MTV2, which they promised to only air music on when it was launched, has just become the place for MTV to show all its reruns. Now it is symbolized by shows such as My Super Sweet Sixteen and Laguna Beach, which do nothing but celebrate the revolting gluttony of the Hollywood lifestyle and what weak-minded people think they're supposed to aspire to. The show is almost harder for me and my weak stomach to watch than Scarred. It does nothing but display superficial misguided teens being spoiled by their parents and flattered by people they hardly know.

Enough with MTV though, now to the current state of music. Just for kicks the other day I decided to listen to the top 9 at 9 while I was on a mini-road trip. It was the first time I'd listened to it all the way through since fifth or sixth grade. And, wow, was I unimpressed. The music was all but downright awful. And what's more, they play the same songs over and over and over. I heard at least four of the same songs again on the way home and one of them twice more. What happened? Back when I used to listen to pop radio regularly I'm aware it still wasn't all that great. It was the era of the boy bands and Britney and a lot of other synthesized drivel. Despite that though, there were still some popular quality bands. Matchbox 20, Goo Goo Dolls, The Offspring, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Ben Folds 5, even lesser stuff like Smashmouth was zounds better. I have to admit, I do have a penchant for starting to dislike things once they become fads. It makes me feel like an unoriginal conformist, or maybe just like I'm no smarter than the hordes of others who flock to the same thing and whose tastes, if they really actually have any, I normally mistrust. The thing is, it's not just me though. I know nearly no one who likes the hip hop and faux skater music that dominates today’s airwaves. Everyone I know listens to independent bands and labels that are under the radar. I asked my mom today whether when she was in college everyone hated the popular music of the time, she said no. So it's not just a rebellious college thing. Music simply is worse. Why else would everyone still feel the Beatles and Led Zeppellin were their favorite bands? There's only one band I listen to regularly that's risen to fame in the last five years. So, I'm forced to ask a question.

Who listens to this stuff?? I feel as if the reigns of our country's so-called popular identity have been passed into the hands of middle-schoolers. If chart numbers are any indication, they have more economic clout in the music and TV industries than any other demographic. And money certainly does seem to be the cardinal measuring stick for success. What do you expect in a capitalist market after all? For this evening on the news, I was told this week’s number one selling CD was that of Disney Channel teen star Miley Cyrus.
Now, if you don’t know who Miley Cyrus is, I’ve done a bit of background research this summer myself. First of all she’s the daughter of the guy who sang Achey Breaky Heart. Today she stars in a massive hit TV show as an undercover country pop singer named Hannah Montana. So, I sampled this show, and several others that Disney Channel currently has in production, and I have to say again, wow, what happened? Disney Channel blows now. From a business standpoint they’re doing fantastic. They sure know how to rake in the dough: Merchandising and cheap sitcoms with laugh tracks and obvious sound stages. Every show was sickly sweet and painfully unoriginal and unfunny. High School Musical, Hannah Montana, The Suite Life of Zach and Cody, That's So Raven and its spin offs (Though I have to give High School Musical big credit for helping introduce kids to an underappreciated genre). By some twisted function, it seems the worse the quality is, the more profit they earn. Are kids just stupider as they’ve been weaned off of any quality programming or anything of substance? The shows and movies on Disney Channel when my brother and I were growing up were real. They attempted to actually recreate and connect with the lives and emotions of pre-teens, to relate to their world. Not to just get cheap laughs, preach lessons without genuine feeling, and sell you products. I’m talking about stuff like Brink!, Johnny Tsunami, So Weird, Even Stevens, to a lesser extent even The Famous Jett Jackson. Or other network’s gems like Boy Meets World, Doug, Daria, or Recess. I’ve repeatedly said I don’t know what I’d watch if I was growing up today, I don’t think I’d stand for this.

Another tidbit from my 3-4 AM drive home was equal parts amusing and depressing. In Between songs, the DJ would host a “Booty Call”, where people, actually equal numbers of girls and guys, would call in say things such as, "Hi, this is Katie from Milwaukee and I just wanna say, Eric-You’re fine and I wanna get with you and that bod. Real soon!" Really? It’s that same pervading self gratifying glamorous society shining through. Even though I have managed to generally stay away from people who’ve fallen into that trap, it’s still not altogether unavoidable. Just look at the media. What has Paris ever done to even receive acknowledgment, let alone deserve the attention of every major press junkets headlines'. What’s her occupation? Heiress? Aka rich person’s daughter? She’s made one TV show where she goes around and insults hardworking people with her carefree life. I’m sure she’s feeling accomplished. At least Richie got herself preggers.

Oh well, I think I’ll just pop in an old R.E.M. album and wait until So Weird comes out on DVD. If losing the Disney Channel is the worst I have to fear, I think I can cope.