(Search Bar Approved! - I think...)
Yeah, I know, that may seem kind of odd. A 20 year old bachelor saying he admires a franchise basically bent on exploiting the young, naive, and romance-driven brains of 13 year old females everywhere, but I have a decent reason for it!
I got to thinking, and realized just how these past years have been some of the MOST culturally self centered, greedy, and even selfish ever. Nostalgia has reached disturbingly high levels of unprecedented credibility (thanks to all the Thundercats/Transformers/Ninjas/Pirates/Vampire/Monkey/Mummy/every other old beloved franchise/theme/thing from yesteryear fans not wanting to let it go), which of course means easy money for the people in the entertainment buisness (Hence the excessive amounts of remakes/reboots/re-imaginings we see).
But we already know that, so lets not dwell on it.
The thing is, in refusing to not let go of some of the most material or superficial parts of our childhoods, were not leaving a lot of room for new things to be made for future generations of kids.
The older, more financially independant crowd rags on and on and on about some old show from the 80's, which leads to the fellows down at Hollywood or whatever to slap a bunch of expensive graphics and shallow modern humor/wit on the whole thing for easy cash. And of course, most all the "hardcore" nerds and fans (that are ironically enough the main ones RESPONSIBLE for these new, lame iterations being made in the first place) flip out when it inevitably sucks.
Except for when something like the new IRONMAN or New Incredible Hulk or Dark Knight comes out. Then they all cream themsleves over it, even though none of those particular films are any different or better than the rest of the crap out there that they complain about.
But in clinging so desperately to this stuff, were shutting out our kids from having the same kinds of experiences with franchises and movies and whatnot that WE had as children ourselves. Instead they're forced to kind of go along with all the old stuff that WE obsess over, when instead we should be making room for newer stuff for the new generations to enjoy.
Which is why I don't mind stuff like Twilight, or New Moon. No, NO, I'm not saying that I personally think it's good, but then I realize that NOT EVERYTHING IS MADE FOR ME, and I also realize that it's nice that they have something that can really excite them and make them happy, so I can let it slide.
But really, we should be a lot farther along than this. What did, say, I, for example, have to grow up with?:
Super Mario - Sonic the Hedgehog - Banjo Kazooie - Snowbaord Kids - Bomberman - Lion King - Toy Story - Dexters Laboratory - Angry Beavers - Courage the Cowardly Dog - Powerpuff Girls - Looney Tunes - the list goes on...
But when I see kids nowadays - especially my 4 and 11 year old little brothers - they don't have much of that kind of stuff to call their own. Thank GOD for the miracle that was Spongebob (back when it was good, anyways...), and even stuff like Ratchet and Clank and Jak and Daxter (back when THOSE were good, I mean...). That was the kind of stuff that would bring us all together, and we'd have a blast!
What are they going to have to look back on when theyr'e older? High School Musical? The Disney Channel? El Tigre? The Live Action Ben 10 movie!?!?! Twilight? Goodness...
Yeah, I may not care for Twilight myself, but if it can bring joy to those who normally would not find it in these kinds of places, then great!
And honestly, complain and moan about how twilight percieves vampires as much as you want, vampires have always been kind of a silly concept. What with their capes, and blood sucking, and turning into bats, and always living in giant secluded mansions/castles and all... They really don't initially come off as much more serious than mummies, or goblins, or unicorns, at least not to me.
I don't know, maybe it's just me, maybe I'm just thinking too much for the children (in the least pedo way possible, I promise!), but that's what I'm getting from all this. WHat are ya'lls thoughts?...
Yeah, I know, that may seem kind of odd. A 20 year old bachelor saying he admires a franchise basically bent on exploiting the young, naive, and romance-driven brains of 13 year old females everywhere, but I have a decent reason for it!
I got to thinking, and realized just how these past years have been some of the MOST culturally self centered, greedy, and even selfish ever. Nostalgia has reached disturbingly high levels of unprecedented credibility (thanks to all the Thundercats/Transformers/Ninjas/Pirates/Vampire/Monkey/Mummy/every other old beloved franchise/theme/thing from yesteryear fans not wanting to let it go), which of course means easy money for the people in the entertainment buisness (Hence the excessive amounts of remakes/reboots/re-imaginings we see).
But we already know that, so lets not dwell on it.
The thing is, in refusing to not let go of some of the most material or superficial parts of our childhoods, were not leaving a lot of room for new things to be made for future generations of kids.
The older, more financially independant crowd rags on and on and on about some old show from the 80's, which leads to the fellows down at Hollywood or whatever to slap a bunch of expensive graphics and shallow modern humor/wit on the whole thing for easy cash. And of course, most all the "hardcore" nerds and fans (that are ironically enough the main ones RESPONSIBLE for these new, lame iterations being made in the first place) flip out when it inevitably sucks.
Except for when something like the new IRONMAN or New Incredible Hulk or Dark Knight comes out. Then they all cream themsleves over it, even though none of those particular films are any different or better than the rest of the crap out there that they complain about.
But in clinging so desperately to this stuff, were shutting out our kids from having the same kinds of experiences with franchises and movies and whatnot that WE had as children ourselves. Instead they're forced to kind of go along with all the old stuff that WE obsess over, when instead we should be making room for newer stuff for the new generations to enjoy.
Which is why I don't mind stuff like Twilight, or New Moon. No, NO, I'm not saying that I personally think it's good, but then I realize that NOT EVERYTHING IS MADE FOR ME, and I also realize that it's nice that they have something that can really excite them and make them happy, so I can let it slide.
But really, we should be a lot farther along than this. What did, say, I, for example, have to grow up with?:
Super Mario - Sonic the Hedgehog - Banjo Kazooie - Snowbaord Kids - Bomberman - Lion King - Toy Story - Dexters Laboratory - Angry Beavers - Courage the Cowardly Dog - Powerpuff Girls - Looney Tunes - the list goes on...
But when I see kids nowadays - especially my 4 and 11 year old little brothers - they don't have much of that kind of stuff to call their own. Thank GOD for the miracle that was Spongebob (back when it was good, anyways...), and even stuff like Ratchet and Clank and Jak and Daxter (back when THOSE were good, I mean...). That was the kind of stuff that would bring us all together, and we'd have a blast!
What are they going to have to look back on when theyr'e older? High School Musical? The Disney Channel? El Tigre? The Live Action Ben 10 movie!?!?! Twilight? Goodness...
Yeah, I may not care for Twilight myself, but if it can bring joy to those who normally would not find it in these kinds of places, then great!
And honestly, complain and moan about how twilight percieves vampires as much as you want, vampires have always been kind of a silly concept. What with their capes, and blood sucking, and turning into bats, and always living in giant secluded mansions/castles and all... They really don't initially come off as much more serious than mummies, or goblins, or unicorns, at least not to me.
I don't know, maybe it's just me, maybe I'm just thinking too much for the children (in the least pedo way possible, I promise!), but that's what I'm getting from all this. WHat are ya'lls thoughts?...
But again, not turning this into anything other than what it is.
