So, as lame as this may sound, this weekend I was sitting around reading the Rolling Stone 40th Anniversery issue, and ever since I've just been fixated on some of the ideas that were floated about in the interviews in the magazine, conducted with such luminaries as Jimmy Carter, Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney, and Norman Mailer. I know that some of what they say is fluff, but then again, some of it isn't. And I was sitting there and reading about all of these huge, progressive ideas that came out of the 60's, and I kept dwelling on where we are today in relation, and I thought about how there is this huge void in today's society as compared to then, despite the fact that many compare the crisis of today in unfavorable terms to the crisis of yesterday. It made me really depressed and eager at the same time ...
Where is today's Bob Dylan or John Lennon? In this American Idol-ized world of instant pop fame and singers judged on pitchiness and all that crap, where are the true iconoclasts who are out there in their teens and twenties that are acting as the voice of a generation? I mean can you imagine Bob Dylan or Kurt Cobain on American Idol?
And that leads me to my next point -- by all accounts this is the time for OUR generation. But who is out there that is in their 20's that is getting people talking? I feel like my generation has been confined to the cubicles and crappy studio apartments of the world, or else given faux-celebrity status based on number of reality show appearances. Who is out there that is under 30 that is making noise, aside from athletes and people famous simply for being famous? Sure there are some examples, but does anyone else feel like, in more ways than one, us Generation Y'ers are being given the short shrift? In the 50's, people our age had already come back from World War II and were starting families and living in two story homes in the suburbs raising families. Now, most people I know aren't even in steady relationships let alone making a salary that allows for anything more than week-to-week living. In that Rolling Stone issue, I was struck by Paul McCartney talking about the failure of the counterculture to take hold in the 70's, and how EVEN TODAY, in 2007, the traditionalist values that were being rebelled against forty years ago are somehow still prevalent in America, it's like everything has regressed. Under Bill Clinton we had a baby boomer president raised on post-Vietnam values. Now we have George Bush who's in his own little time capsule bubble, influenced by people still of a previous generation like Dick Cheney. And I wonder - will anyone who is 25 years old now even be on the national radar anytime soon? I'm not even just talking about when will be the next great artists or politicians or revolutionaries - I'm talking about things like - when will politicians of today, many in their 60's and 70's, actually talk TO us? It's not even like we are the youth vote - we're not getting any younger here. And yet - when's the last time it really felt like a political speech was aimed at anyone younger than 40? And, where is OUR outrage over this? Where are the people of OUR generation who are out there taking the lead on these things? Or are we all too busy wondering who will win Dancing With the Stars to care about all that old-timey stuff to be original or to have a vision that involves more than what bar you're going to hit up over the weekend? What I'm saying is - is it just me or is everyone kind of numb? We have people who lived through Nixon calling Bush the worst president we've ever had, yet the people who are 25 are content to just sit back and tune out with their iPods.
Anyways, these are all things I've been thinking about lately. And a lot of it is tied into the lack of opportunity I see for people my age. In some way it's no wonder that we are ambivalent to it all, because there's no REAL outlet for our voice. Oh sure, we can have a stupid blog or little MySpace profile that reduces our political views to a one-word field, but what then? Are we all just wage slaves doomed to live isolated lives of MySpace-ing and internet polling, with no shot at greatness, no say in anything, nothing to look forward to as our elders drive us into a dystopia of global warming, terrorism, and close-mindedness?
Anyone else feel like this?
PS - One of the reasons I really like CHUCK, officially announced today as part of NBC's fall schedule, is that it actually kind of captures the zeitgeist of being an aimless 20-something in America today, under the guise of being an off the wall comedy about a nerdy guy who accidentally downloads all of the government's secrets into his brain. I like the idea that all of us who are slaving away at underpaying jobs for which we are overqualified all have within us the potential to be a superspy or whatever. So yeah, look out for CHUCK this fall on NBC (cheap plug, I know) - it's from OC creator Josh Schwartz and is pretty good stuff.
Now on to some pointless, superficial stuff about that great medium we call television (even though, with the way my brain works, I already segued into that i nthe last paragraph ...):
- THE SIMPSONS last night, in which underfed and neglected dog Santa's Little Helper became a certified police dog, was not terrible per se, but not exactly good either. A few funny jokes here and there, mostly revolving around Homer being stuck in a maze made of corn (a Maize Maze - get it?). But this ep mostly limped along, rarely providing much humor that actually worked, and barely seeming to care about its own main storyline. I have high hopes for next week's 400th episode and 24 tie-in, but this ep did nothing to make me optimistic that those will be handled with the quality they deserve.
My Grade: C+
- FAMILY GUY meanwhile had, I guess, a decent episode, which featured a larger than usual role for Adam West, which is always a good thing in my book. West provided a few classically-delivered lines, but otherwise, this episode faltered in the humor department, and its feeble attempts to provide some commentary on / satire of our political system by and large fell flat.
My Grade: C+
- And yet, finally remembering to watch this week since it was UNCEREMONIOUSLY DUMPED at 7:30 pm, for no discernable reason, I was shocked and amazed at jsut how good KING OF THE HILL continues to be. The Dale-Nancy-John Redcorn love triangle has always been one of the show's best subplots, and it seemed like it had been basically put to rest a while back. But this ep brought it back with plenty of humor and subtlety, and I'm always amazed at how this show gives its characters so many dimensions - making them more real, despite being animated, than almost any show out there. To see whacked-out Dale worry about losing Nancy, to see materialistic Nancy tormented over whther to cheat on Dale, to see stoic Hank concerned for his friend Dale -- I mean, this is some sophisticated stuff here. I love this show, and it's ridiculous that FOX doesn't stick with it at 8:30 as was originally announced for this season.
My Grade: A -
- SMALLVILLE this past week was a mixed bag. I was surprised at how many threads it tied together that had been developing over the course of the season -- this was the most continuity I've seen on the show in a long while. All that accumulated story could make for a great season finale next week if things come together. On the other hand, this show still suffers from the same old tired writing shortcuts that have plagued it for years now. I cringed when I heard Lana explain away her keeping things from Clark with that lame "We all have secrets, Clark" line which has been used about 5 billion times on this show and gotten more annoying each time. I cringed again when Lois was knocked unconcious just in time for Clark's big fight with Project Ares - are you serious? Again? Really? Even worse - the resulting confrontation was nothing to get worked up about - it seems like the show has more often than not dropped the ball whenever it's pitted Clark against a similarly super-powered foe. Finally, the Lana-Lex relationship is getting a bit absurd. All it consists of is Lex embracing Lana, only to have her turn her back, wince, and insist half heartedly that everything is okay while looking like she's about to cry. Similarly, we still have a Clark and Lana relationship that has progressed little in seven years! The one standout has of course been Lex, who has come along nicely since Season 1, now on the verge of fully embracing his dark side. Still, the show can only trad water like this for so long -- something has to HAPPEN. In the past, the show has tread along this same path, only to really deliver with movie-like season finales that elevate the season as a whole with great cliffhangers and thrilling action. This week seemedl ike a lot of build up, but at the same time there was no true indication of what we can expect. I'm hoping that this season will once again deliver, even if, judging by this episode, this show may have nothing left in the tank.
My Grade: B -
- I also caught ABC's TRAVELER this weekend. Of all the scripts I read last year, this was one of my favorites. On the page, it read as fast, unpredictable, and compelling. As it turned out, the pilot didn't live up to the potential of that script, though it did end up being a fairly enjoyable if somewhat bland-seeming hour of drama. Part of the problem was the lead actors. In the script they felt like regular guys, which made the crazy mess they get in all the more thrilling. On screen, lead Matthew Bomer did a great job (he was Brett Ratner's pick to play Superman - and judging from this pilot, he could have been great in the part!), but the actors playing his friend Tyler and the mysterious Will Traveler kind of fell flat. On the whole, I thought the episode did an okay but not great job of moving the plot forward - there was never a real sense of mystery or foreboding - instead everything just quickly devolved into an overlong chase scene with no real impetus behind it. I do like this show though, and I think in some ways it was a breath of fresh air. It has a fun, ambitious premise, and that kind of "anything can happen" wrecklessness that makes shows like Prison Break so fun to watch. I just felt like this pilot was bit TOO wreckless, and a lot seemed to happen without much internal logic or reason behind it. I'd be willing to give the show a shot though and see where it goes.
My Grade: B
- Alright, I'm out - glad I had a chance to get my little rant there out of the way. And GO SUNS - here's hoping for a victory over those dirty Spurs! Hahaha ... oh yeah, 24 had better be good tonight.
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