Forgive me as I digress into a subject which strays away from the usual topic of my sedentary ass. Today, I would like to talk about change.
You see, I was reminiscing today when I came to the realization that our culture has morphed into a state from which I see no return. I miss the old days of black and white. If one stops and thinks about the incredible shift from simple to complex, it is mind-boggling. Entropy.
Remember when tv was simple. Good shows written with great humor and drama. Gilligan's Island, Fantasy Island, The Love Boat, Knight Rider, Good Times, Quincy, St. Elsewhere, etc. But these show didn't have enough sensationalism. Things had to get more gruesome, more crude, and more violent. Remember watching the original "How the Grinch Stole Christmas?" It was about a rotten guy with rotten motives. Simple. Then we have a remake with Jim Carrey where we have to dissect back to the Grinch's childhood and how he was tormented. This was the excuse for why he became a pessimistic, nihilistic, curmudgeon. Did we really need to know
why the grinch was a jackass?
Other shifts in tv culture are evident as well. We watched Quincy, M.E. and love the passion and relentless nature of Jack Klugman. The plot was always rich with suspense and great drama. How did society fix its need for MORE---I have the answer, do you? CSI, CSI-Miami, CSI-New York. NCIS, Law and Order-SVU. The styles have changed and they lack some of the old panache that the older shows had.
Ever watch old Alfred Hitchcock films? Truly the master of suspense. My favorite movie is Rear Window. No gore, no sensationalistic movie set. But the development of character and suspense were incredible. Now we have Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Saw I, II, III, IV, V.........Some of these movies lack true substance and make up for this deficiency with blood, violence, and gore. Please don't pin me as a prude. I love violent movies like Scorsese's
The Departed, Goodfellas, Casino, etc. He is an amazing director. And although quite violent, the filming quality and substance of his films is superb. I am, mostly, talking of the movies and shows which think up the most demented, nastiest, creepiest characters who think up the most demented, nastiest, creepiest ways of torturing and killing people. No substance. Boring. Blah, blah, blah.
Next, we can talk about infomania. Texting, emailing, facebook, myspace, twitter. Text messaging is eating at the delicate core of society. Kids and adults are jumping into the warm, inviting pool of de-socialization. We don't talk anymore. Whats the point in talking? We can control how much we want to say and when we want to say it by texting. Kids getting cell phones in elementary school is becoming the norm. We have a festering problem here that is going to sneak up on us and bite us square in the fat ass. What we should be teaching our children is the importance of inter-personal relationships. How do you learn how to properly form relationships and interact with people without TALKING? Learning to read people by the inflections in their voices or the tone is going to become obsolete. Replaced by the mechanical text-message. I'm a hippocrit. Even though I don't embrace the idea of all of this fucking text messaging, I still text people. It feels like if you don't keep up with the technology, you"ll get left behind. Maybe getting left behind would be a blessing.
I wish we could go back to the old days. But change is gonna happen. I have a hard time letting go of old ways as evidenced by my struggle with weight. I am trying to be more flexible. I am really trying.
Hungry