Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Sick Sad World (a skeptical review of the times)

Anyone remember that old MTV show, Daria...you know...right before they started flooding every one's lives with "reality" TV? My generation was almost at it's point of no return with MTV, save for the obsession with the one ray of hope, the single item on their roster that came even close to baring truth to the teen experience (at least the teen experience of my day). Daria simply rocked.

Remember on Daria the show that always came on she and her friends would watch with a glazed look over their faces, 'Sick, Sad World'? The show that mocked all shows, and seemed to be the biggest over-statement of the entertainment world, at least at the time (late 90's). Well, take a look around...we're living in it. The obscene following of mediocre, food-deprived pop stars, the matter-of-fact attitude towards hard core drug use (why do people still book Amy Winehouse??), the disgusting insult to every one's intelligence that is called "commercial advertisement"...is it just me or has the REAL world (the actual world, not the "reality" show) become it's own caricature???

Maybe this is "growing up", the diapers coming off so to speak. The second coming of mental development, when my sensory perception once again changes and I look around to find that I wasn't REALLY seeing anything before. Because of this, I can laugh it all off. I can laugh off the fact that HONESTLY come November we get to choose between a half-dead vet. and a moose-killing insane person or a president who, lets all face it...has a higher chance of being assassinated then all the Kennedys combined (God forbid). I can laugh off the fact that the only television I can stand these days are old re-runs of the Mary Tyler Moore Show- live streamed, sexless and commercial free. I can also laugh off the fact that whether it be the second coming of Christ, a massive hydrogen bomb or good ole' green house gases; we are all probably going to see the end of the world much sooner than we should.

Happy Hump Day!!

2 comments:

Shawn Smith said...

I loved that show. I used to hate that when growing up that we didn't have cable in the house. So later on when I was older and did have it, it was a simple pleasure to catch it.

I'm trying to be positive about today's society. Life was so simple then.

Carolina Z said...

Ohhh... good old Daria... I wanted to BE her - that's how much I liked he show (or how troubled I was :). Nice memory... thanks! ;)