Posted by
Gladys Kravitz on Saturday, February 02, 2008 5:35:01 PM
While riding in my car the other day I heard a song I hadn’t heard in a while by Olivia Newton John. As a card carrying member of the overly hormoned 18 year olds of the time I remember thinking "wow, I wonder what it’s like to actually be with a girl like that”. Who didn't lust after the blonde haired, bubbly personality and that “aussie” accent? I suppose we used to call it an “Australian” accent back then before “down-under” lingo (or is it dingo) became cool thanks to Crocodile Dundee’s adventures.
Which brings me to the outskirts of my thought for today. The song I referred to was “Have You Ever Been Mellow?” I honestly never loved that particular song of hers as it was a little too “poufy” for a Jethro Tull/Led Zeppelin fan. As I listened to it I got that feeling we get when we see a picture of ourselves from the 70’s with the whiteboy afros, clothing from the Austin Powers Collection, and that skinny “crackhead" physique we all seemed to exhibit back then. It was a mixed feeling of embarrassment and naiveté for the time we lived in, when it was OK to say something like, “Have you ever been mellow” and not get punched in the mouth by some homophobe. (It is a pretty goofy thing to say, by today’s standards anyway.)
Everything we read these days is either abbreviated using just letters, preceded by an adjective such as “xtreme” or ends with “at the end of the day.” We are all so hip in everything we say and do, or is it that we simply repeat everything we think will be perceived as hip. We regurgitate the lexicon of the day from TV shows, musicians, talk show hosts and a variety of other “talking heads”. (See how I worked that one in!) Our kids must all have the same hair cuts, sneakers, cell phone, IPod and a variety of other personal items that have stripped our individuality in favor of a “groupthink” mentality. No longer can the individual say nor do anything original until a personality of some sort has endorsed or worn it. At which time it is immediatley backordered in all major department stores throughout the country and fights ensue to secure one upon arrival. We are now tied to that rock/movie star wagon where all water cooler conversation is reduced to media “talking points” with the individual knowing little of the facts behind what they are saying.
That brings to mind the quote “If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it.” When trying to look intellectual, the political left in the country will point to the Bush administration and the right will point to the “Clintonista’s” as examples of this phenomenon. Unfortunately, the original quote is attributed to Joseph Goebbel’s, who at the time was Minister for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda for Nazi Germany and one of Adolf Hitler’s closest associates and a devote follower. (Some also say that the original quote was “A lie told often enough becomes truth” which was attributed to Vladimir Lenin, and we all know he was the father of a political theory our republic has repeatedly fought to defeat.) In any event, the thoughts expressed within this type of thinking are not what one would hope to find in the American psyche. Yet, it is becoming the norm in our society to find this to be true everywhere. No longer can one be confident that what we see on TV news, read in the local paper, or hear on talk radio is supported by hard factual based information. So much of what is said by corporate American is taken as gospel because some over compensated CEO has hired a team of well educated linguists who specialize in “spin’. Our elected officials spin (as I suppose they always have) just about anything to get elected. Our police and national security officials have to spin the truth to avoid letting us know how truly vulnerable we really are to all the evil in the world. We are surrounded by misinformation on an unprecedented scale and all we can do is try to make sense of it all by looking further into it by examining all sides. But which side is immune from their own version of the spin? We no longer can trust the messenger, and this is creating an angry, cynical world.
Chronologically it was not that long ago, yet it seems a lifetime, and it was definitely a much simpler time when you could hit the top 10 with a song whose video likely would not have to be X-rated. I miss those simpler times as does everyone who was fortunate enough to have lived through them. Things were certainly not perfect and Camelot it was not. I’m sure Hollywood was still the debaucherous place it is today, with sex, drugs, and other perversions abounding. Sure there were tabloids that as today reported it to those who had time to read such trash or care. However it seems today that this is what passes for the type of “news” stories those who sell news think we want.
Reality TV, which is anything but, has left us mimicking or attempting to emulate lifestyles that we are led to believe are real. “Leave it to Beaver” is criticized for being an unreal portrayal of life in the 50’s, which I know it is not. I remember snippets of my life growing up back then that were more reminiscent of “the Beave” than that portrayed in any of the 70’s shows such as Partridge Family. Which as far as I’m concerned is about when TV sitcoms began the spinning of what families should act like and how we should interact with each other when not touring the country with our family band. There was a time when “breaking news” portended some horrendous airline crash, assassination or some other similar world event. Just the other day one of the major news networks broke a story about Brittany Spears going back into the hospital for mental issues as a “Breaking News” story. Then proceeded to pay one of their lawyer/news commentators to report on this for the entirety of their 30 minute “news” show. The problem now is that everything we do is transparent. There is no discretion anymore in what is reported.
Enter “YouTube”. The popularity of which will surely be looked back upon as the beginning of the end of American culture. Any society that encourages the manufacturing and distribution of videos depicting it’s people behaving badly and calling it “entertainment” is heading towards an untimely end. It’s no wonder the religious fanatics around the world despise us. Unfortunately, it is not “us”. Most American’s are decent and moral individuals. You would not know this however to be on the receiving end of a TV microwave signal emanating from our airspace. What must other intelligent life in the universe think should they ever stumble upon any of these signals sent out into the cosmos as if that society were proud of it? And last of all, not to sound like a religious zealot, but what must God think of what we have become? Yes, I am a believer in a “Supreme being”. I do not understand how one could look around at our world and not believe that something larger was in play now or at some point in cosmic time. He must be very disappointed, and if there is any truth to “The Rapture” theory. I would think we are fast approaching some type of final accounting for what we’ve done with all the gifts we’ve squandered.
Not to be forgotten is the perceived loss of our civil liberties. Those of the Liberals mindset are fearful that in our efforts to unearth elements in our society who would kill us, we have given up certain rights. The Conservatives believe that it is the Liberal thinking elitists who have made entitlement programs such a part of our daily lives as the impetus of government intrusion into our lives. They are likely both correct. However, as a retired law enforcement officer I can assure you that the individuals involved in those daily activities perceived as stripping us of our personal liberties, could care less who a law abiding American called on their cell phone last year or what books they borrowed from the library. They have the unending task of finding the bad guys to keep them busy. However, there is the TSA which is another topic for another entire blog entitled "Government Inefficiency Gone Wild".
Have “I” ever been mellow? Yes, I believe in my youth I once was, but don't recall the details or emotions except in retrospect. As I look around at the world it would be nice to turn back the clock to a simpler time. As many, I fear for my children’s future and hope they may remember today in the same way I do the simpler times, but I doubt it. My only hope is that whatever afterlife there is, be it spiritual, cosmic, or a state of consciousness we simply can’t comprehend; that I can relive the highlights of my life in a “slideshow” type reality, revisiting all of those mellower times.