LOSING THE GRIP ON CULTURE

I have always prided myself on being someone who kept up with pop culture and who could relate to what went on in this country in terms of music, movies, television, literature, politics, etc.. But not anymore. Now that I have reached my 70's, I find myself drifting to the  periphery of pop culture. I feel increasingly like an outsider looking in, unable to fully relate to what I see and hear around me.

Take movies, for instance. Ever since I was a youngster of 4 or 5 I have been a big movie fan, a love implanted by my mother, who was also a huge fan and often took me along to see her favorite movies and stars. I have seen thousands of films over the years, comedies and dramas, big spectaculars and obscure independent films. Today I scan the movie listings and yawn with boredom. I recall the edgy and innovative films of Scorcese, Altman, Coppola, and a host of other young directors from the 60's and 70's. These were productions that created cutting portrayals of the human condition, both funny and tragic. Today, Hollywood offers up a menu of preposterous super heroes from some alternate universe, cartoonish comic book figures  in preposterous plots aimed at adolescent mentalities.

Turn on the TV and it's more of the same. Superheroes, comic book characters, and the sophomoric and silly antics of 20 somethings written by sophomoric 20 somethings for 20 somethings.

The casting of movies and television ooze with political correctness. Stories are no longer cast with actors who would be most proficient for that role. Instead, actors are cast to fill diversity requirements to meet some unwritten diversity quota.

Even one of my favorite magazines-Entertainment Weekly-has begun to lose my interest. When I first became a subscriber 20 years ago, the magazine took a serious approach at all aspects of the entertainment world. Today the magazine is all about superheroes, comic books, ComicCon and an editorial policy aimed at people under the age of 25.

The music scene has also changed, and not always for the better. Listen to the top 20 songs and all you will hear is slow and moderate tempo music. Gone are the rockers like "Jumpin' Jack Flash", "I Saw Her Standing  There," or one of the up temp jams by Chuck Berry or Little Richard. Hip hop, rap and EDM dominate the charts, all of them done by artists with identical voices and singing styles.

Maybe  a growing sense of cultural alienation and detachment is inevitable.As the years mount, so does my distance from the youth that shapes and dominates our culture. In truth, 2 generations separate me from this under 30 group. The old cliché says time marches on, and as it does, it moves past the older generation and doesn't look back. It also means I do not have to follow if I dislike the direction on which they're headed.