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This post is actually from Sept. 2, 2009, but was posted on a different site that I am in the process of closing down. I reposted it here for my own amusement.

I remember when I was young and idealistic – as opposed to my older idealistic self – and the occasional reminders I’d suffer in regards to my value of self expression. Usually that would come in my seeing the world change for other people. On that end I would watch as older generations bemoaned the loss of familiar comforts like vinyl records, 8-track tapes, and oversized cars. The future was not what they’d expected and they’d failed in seeing that new frontiers were coming to them, not them standing at the precipice. Granted, I never thought myself one to hang onto the past; I remember my grandfather’s cantankerous opposition to change and how I would sometimes stare with slack-jawed awe at the shear level of commentary he would offer. Statements that always began with, “When I was your age,” and end with some commentary on the moral turpitude of contemporary society.



This isn’t a soapbox and it’s not yet my turn to ask where the flying cars are; I just think that commercial is funny in that it’s Avery Brooks asking the question. As far as culture goes though – in a sardonic way – I almost can’t help but wonder what happened. Was I sleeping? I must have been as almost overnight Christian groups are now embracing the once damned Harry Potter as the metaphor of Christ and just as suddenly I see people wantonly emulating that movie’s characters in public. Beit the lanky guy with glasses I saw the other day zipping around the office waving his pencil like a wand and yelling, “Expelliarmus!” or the Hot Topic brand Goths I saw at the Project Pitchfork show the other night. In fact I overheard Severus Snape and Lucious Malfoy lost in conversation about how C.C. DeVille was the Keith Richards of our generation. The situational irony was amazing! There must have been a big sale on those costumes somewhere. Being an individual is great, especially when you look like every other individual.

So what did happen? There was once a time that if you wanted to be punk or industrial you had to actually work at it. It wasn’t a kit you could just buy at Hot Topic-mart. If you wanted a look, you had to work for it; there were military surplus and second hand stores to visit, clothes to be dyed, etc. Of course technology did make the world smaller, but movies and the internet are hardly to blame for the commercialization of a subcultural phenomenon.

Much of what happened has less to do with feelings of disaffection from society and more to do with what people are willing to spend their money on. The world of marketing is acutely aware that any niche can be exploited and familiar holdings can be adapted. Beyond the Harry Potter examples, examine these two recent events which transcend generational boundaries: Disney Studios purchased Marvel comics, and the PBS staple of 26 years, Reading Rainbow ran its last episode on August 28, 2009.

My daughter looked at me like I slapped her in the face when I told her about the passing of Reading Rainbow, and truthfully I’m not sure what to think of the Disney deal. Will Cyclops now tease Wolverine not to throw him in the briar patch? Or for that matter; what about any of the near S&M clad figures whom were once the Marvel staple; will they be made to clean up their act? Guess we’ll have to continue watching the show.