Back in the 1970’s I can still recall quite a few things that stand out from today. Cars were much more distinguishable. TV shows were more distinguishable. Bikers were bikers. As for cars, you could tell a Corvette, Mustang, Camaro, El Camino, Chevelle, GTO or Barracuda from almost a mile away. If you could make out the body shape that far, you could identify it without question. I can’t tell most cars today while standing right in front of them unless I see the name on the side somewhere. TV shows like All In the Family, MASH, Gilligan’s Island, The Munsters, and The Beverly Hillbillies were unique. Now every show is a clone of another. Like Friends, or Seinfeld, or any one of the bazillion Disney Channel shows with kids making their parents look like complete idiots and disrespecting them at every turn. Bikers in the 1970’s rode bikes that they, for the most part, assembled themselves. And they looked it. Parts borrowed from other models, worked, as long as they fit. The people that rode them looked like they actually worked for a living. Usually a shitty Godforsaken job of some kind, but a real manual labor job nonetheless.
Today we have shiny showroom Harleys being ridden by people that look like day traders or retirees. Nothing wrong with that, but if you’re going call yourself a “Harley rider” or a “biker” you need to stop shaving and rub some grease on you and your bike to be more convincing.
This all came back to me today while taking note of the cars and people I see each day as I make my 64 mile roundtrip commute to and from work. I counted, roughly, about 20 to 22 red Ford Mustangs. Brand new models, not older ones. I also counted about 8 to 10 of those brand spanking new Harleys with well-dressed riders, and about 6 or 7 Red Dodge Chargers, a few silver ones, a few black ones, and so on. They all look alike to me. And the quantity of them is disturbing. It screams “I want to be like everyone else”. America was never like this before. Prior to this past decade, we were known around the world for individuality and uniqueness. It’s what fueled innovation and creativity. It’s why we led the world in so many diverse areas from entertainment, to technology, to art and arguably literature. We’ve devolved into a soup of blandness and corporate molding. It’s really sad and I hope to do whatever I can to instill in my kids the ability to see that and work around it. Don’t be another clone. Be yourself. Be different. Don’t drink a cold one and get another lame-ass Celtic tattoo on your arm.
But what if you are Celtic? I mean... that''s a valid reason to get your family crest.
ReplyDeleteI kid, I kid.
We've taught people that to be different is bad, so those few people who want to be "cool" must choose one of a dozen cardboard cutout "cool kids" archetypes to be. If you don't fit in any of them, you're not cool or unique... you're weird and a threat to the status quo.
Doh! Damn you and your great logic. I suppose I'll have to ride my Harley down to get a tat across my forehead sayin "Jonas Bros rock!"
ReplyDeleteNah... just live by the FIP and you'll be fine. After all, the motorcycle riders you remember weren't cool at the time... they were seen as threats to society and bastards.
ReplyDeleteMOST tattoos (the meaningless ones) no longer say "I'm ballsy enough to write on my skin FOREVER" they say "I was drunk and had a few hundred dollars left from my Pell Grant LOL"
If people think you're a weirdo and potentially dangerous, you're probably going to be considered cool later. Or evil. Either way, win.
Indeed, the Eisenhower America was all about the cookie-cutter conformity. The hippies tried to overturn that mindset with Flower Power. But thus, a Savior was borne unto those that would conform. And they looked upon him and bestowed upon him a name. And that name was Michael J. Fox. (who has no Elvis in him)
ReplyDeleteMichael J. Fox? Eh? Granted he's no connoisseur of the fine arts, but hardly the single cause of the fall of Western culture. Another theory is that all of the Woodstock folks are who were wallowing in the mud on tripping hard on windowpane acid are now the Enron/AIG/Goldman-Sachs execs who have donned the corrupt suits and ripped off their disenchanted followers.
ReplyDeleteThen again, it could be Michael J. Fox after all.