Have you had an experience lately which illustrates how "out of it" you are when it comes to pop culture

Question

I was sitting in the waiting room at the doctor's office the other day and looking at "People" magazine. It was their annual " Hottest Bachelors" issue. I recognized the major celebrities, like Matthew McConaughey and Jake Gyllenhaal, but most of the names and faces drew a blank. My granddaughter loves those "High School Musical" movies, so I know who Zac Efron is, but for the most part of it, I'm pretty out of it. I guess I'm not the hip granny I pretend to be.

Answer 1

not yes, but HELL YES ! I went to IHOP (yes, I know, my gourmet demands are low on the totem pole) and sat through dinner listening to RAP on the in-house music system ! I go to the gym and I listen to RAP on the in-house music system. As far as "People, " US," , and the other "magazines of this ilk, I don't even read these while waiting in the dentist's office...my mind is better off with a rest than reading this trivia. AND, what the hell is "E-Tonight" about...every night, on TV, no matter what is going on in the world, TV has nothing better to report than who is doing whom, where they are doing it, and how long they will be doing it....such rubbish. I was flabbergasted when Paris Hilton's getting out of jail was headlined OVER all other world news here in LA....I have not only lost touch with today's generation, I do NOT want to get in touch, touch, or any other form of the verb with them IF this is the most important thing in their lives. Sorry to sound like a grump, but really....there is life, and then their is Hollywood...the two have nothing in common. In today's world, it is "star d'jour." ( I use the term, "star," very loosely here...sort of like "porn star." ....for that is what so many seem to want to pass themselves off as...a porn star. ) You would think that, given the opportunity, the money, the life these people are handed, they would do more to protect it...but...."a fool and his money are soon parted" may be old, but it is an Oldie but goodie !"

Answer 2

Homosexuality has always been around in other cultures and times. But I don't think pop culture as anything to do with it. It was the cause of large numbers of people and what is legal that paved the way. Look at black and interracial couples. It wasn't to long ago when their marriages were illegal, but what changed it wasn't the media or the pop culture. But the people banning and uniting together working both politically and non-politically to change things. They had no reason to keep they're marriages banned, and it was hurting more people then helping. So the courts over turned it. And the same things happening here. So to answer the question, pop culture had no influence. Sure, it might of raised awareness to a problem that most people already knew about. And it might of help gay people get more support. But it doesn't have any affect on a legal stand point. It was the law makers and the people in the courts that changed the injustices.

Answer 3

Yes I feel that way every time I turn on the radio and hunt through the stations for something to listen to in the car. To quote Joni Mitchell when asked about the currency state of popular music "it's a cesspool".

I've always been a fan of Saturday Night Live and still watch it every week. I realize the show comes from studios in Manhattan and the music there has always been eclectic and cutting edge but for the life of me I don't know where they find those musical quests. Most of them are never heard from again.

Slutty young girls like Britney Spears have made millions in the music industry on their looks alone while having no actual talent or really any kind of singing voice. Their stage performances are all alike with a dozen or so dancers on stage with them all dancing in unison with them. Michael and Janel Jackson while not much more talented were doing that 20 years ago. So many young girl singers all sound alike and all Britiney Spears ever does is growl. She's from my "neck of the woods" so I can say that.

Today's "hot" boy or girl celebrity are yesterday's news within a couple of months. A young boy from my small home town of Thibodaux, Louisiana near New Orleans is one of the latest teen heart throbs with 60s style peek-a boo bangs. He's having his 15 minutes of fame on that new Bill Engvall show on TBS. Such brushes with fame can and do happen, but I saw a question from a young girl just recently that wanted to know how she could become famous. She explained that she felt that if she didn't somehow become famous her life would be wasted, Is that sad or what? Just famous, not talented, not successfully at music, acting or for doing anything in particular, but just famous. I tried to explain that it was far better that your name stood for something noble or respectable in your own town than have it stand for nothing all over the world.

If there is one thing in modern society that makes me feel totally out of it it's rap "music". What am I missing here. Is it or is it not a couple of guys talking to a beat? How do they choose their favorite rapper. So and so talks much better than what's his name? It's crude, it's mean, so many people hate it, but for some reason it will not go away.

Answer 4

Here is the problem;

Back in the 50s and 60s, we had probably 10 movie stars and probably 10 singing entertainers - TOTAL!! They all had a number of years of employment, so we saw and heard them all the time.

The came the 70's and the life of a movie star and/or entertainer was 3 years, or less. So the entertainment industries had to start replacing "stars" more quickly; to keep the money-making entertainment "machine" going.

That is just business!!

Then came the 90's...

Stars started lasting 2 years OR LESS.

Then came today...

Sorry, but Zac Efron will be like Hillary Duff and others, they will have a FANTASTIC career, sell a lot of things, be seen in a lot of places, and then "poof," retire from the entertainment business, and never be seen again. New "stars" now come so fast, in such large quantities, it is impossible for even kids to keep track of all of them!!

I wonder, though. Football players get new careers when they retire from football. Entertainers seem to just retire...

Even Bobby Sherman got a new career; paramedic...

How can you retire at age 25 or 30? What will you do the rest of your life? Go "nuts" like Brittany Spears?

Answer 5

Yes. last week I bought a movie for the grand kids. (senior moment, I can't recall the name).It was a 2nd part with a man who married a woman with children. They bought a house and as it turned out it needed a lot of work.
I was telling my daughter about it over the phone and called the actor Ice-t or was it Ice-cube? I still don't remember. And they have been around a long time.She and the kids laughed at me.
They both used to be gansta rappers but one now is in a serious night time sitcom and the other is into making wholesome movies.

Answer 6

Yup! Not lately but all the time. There used to be a commercial about something which made reference to "www.dontgetit". I live there!
When watching awards shows, promo's for an event or some upcoming movie or tv show or news programs reporting the latest escapades of someone I guess we should know about, my wife and I often look at each other and say, "Who are these people"?
Blissful ignorance is sometimes preferable.

Answer 7

I'm not into it. I remember when the Beatles came in
the 1960s and some of the great folk singers like Joan
Baez, Judy Collins, Peter, Paul and Mary, the Kingston Trio, Simon and Garfunkle and John Denver. I still listen to their music.
What amazes me is that kids today don't even know who
they are.

Answer 8

Yesss! I remember when I knew all the stars and starlets. Now I don't even look at ET because I don't know who these people are!!!

I am a music lover, but I really don't care for the music (if that is what they want to call it) in the pop culture today. Guess I just have to admit I am old, because none of it interest me anymore. If it wasn't for my son or nephew, I wouldn't know anything (smile).

Answer 9

While discussing movies: my grandmother didn't know who Paul Newman, Marlon Brando and Liz Taylor were.
The experiences, people and level of acceptability established during youth impress us deeply and for a lifetime. There's a season for everything and enjoying the young, silly, immoral (all by my standards) trends no longer attract.

My grandkids mock me by pulling their pants above their waist and way over the belly button.

Thus I'm lost in pop culture. What is high school musical?
Speaking of "Lost", I'm addicted and can discuss with the best of 'em!

Answer 10

Three Words: High School Musical