For all those people born in the 1990s, don't you ever feel nostalgia for a decade that seemed like yesterday? When there was no 9/11, no Iraq and Afghanistan War, and the technology was as simple as a PC. It was the last decade before American culture and society began to break down and disintegrate. Today, we live in an era where our values and morals are threatened. I believe that this can be attributed to the technological breakthroughs in both the movie and music industry.
While the previous decades of the US were filled with a creative and vibrant energy, the twentieth century offers none. In terms of movies, the 1970s had the color and sound and Star Wars, the 1980s had family adventures like Indiana Jones and Back to the Future, the 1990s had the new computer and technology, and what did the 2000s have? All this momentum ended at this time, as many people decided that it was easier to recycle music, styles, and movies then make them. This led to the creation of "remakes"(think about all those remixes, sequels that you've been hearing about). I’m not trying to criticize a society’s admiration for previous eras, but I just want to point out that our society has been overusing these “remakes” and it has accelerated with the advent of technology.
A long time ago, in a galaxy far away...."pop singers used to be actual singers" like Frank Sinatra and the Beatles or John Denver. These were people who put in hours of work to perfect their voice and instilled passion into what they loved to do. Nowadays, the most popular singers are those with an insane amount of publicity, looks, and help from this new deceiving technology called Auto-Tune. What Auto-Tune does is correct any signs of intonation or off-pitch sound. This has led to the arrival of child-pop stars like Justin Bieber, Rebecca Black, and Miley Cyrus. Late bloomers who haven’t found their taste in music, are force-fed this manufactured music. This had led to a generation of people who have terrible taste in music. A few examples of Auto-Tune in the music industry are Rebeca Black's "Friday", Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance", and Britney Spear's ‘Womanizer’.
Technology has also stripped the cornerstones of our culture of its creativity and energy. Ever since the 1990s, filmmakers have been experimenting with CGI and other special effects. They came up with jaw-dropping movies like Titanic, Terminator 2, Judgement Day. Moviemakers continued to ride this trend because it was cheap and good enough to attract attention. Have there been any good movies from 2000-2012?? Yes, and very much no. While movies like Avatar, the Lord of the Rings, and Inception have very well thought out plots, and special effects, other movies have not been so successful. It seems like today that movie-makers are willing to make only "safe films" including sequels and remakes that will make them a boatload of money. I am talking about Transformer 2, 3, Shrek 2, 3,4, the Star Wars prequel, Twilight saga, Eragon, and all those mythological films that make no sense(Immortal).
While some may argue that the movie and music industry is all about business, I say its corporate greed. Companies that control the industry offer you a variety of options, from movies to music but they don’t care about you. They only seek to make profits from their sales at whatever the cost. Even if it means commercializing the hell out of a crappy song or making a terrific trailer to a terrible movie. This has created a conformist environment in our society. Everywhere you go, people are losing their individuality as the media, TV, and other marketing companies tell them what to wear, do, and think. We have become a society of must-haves and this is exemplified with the iPhones, iPad and other i-tech that give you a false sense of control. …I must continue this digression for another day..
I am not saying that technology is evil or bad but when it is mishandled than it can produce detrimental results. In the music and movie industry, it isn't those artists, musicians, and filmmakers to blame, it is those who know the consequences and continue to misuse technology (Hollywood, and whoever popularized Auto-Tune). The core of my argument is that people have been abusing technology like there's no tomorrow and we are seeing the effects of it in society. So why have people not noticed this and gone to stop it?? This is because people are just becoming acquainted with technology. We are at a transition from a modern civilization to one that is technological advanced. People don't realize the trade-offs they are making and until they do, it will be too late.
Too be continued… "dun dun dun!
Work Cited
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/30969073/ns/today-entertainment/t/oh-my-ears-auto-tune-ruining-music/
http://dominiquesphere.blogspot.com/2011/01/1990s-golden-era.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auto-Tune
http://videoeta.com/news/2767
http://help.com/post/136093-im-tired-of-things-like-mone
LOL, I LOVED your blog entry about this crappy American culture! Thank you for using my blog as one of your Works Cited. I appreciate it! I really think America is doomed seriously. People just don't put their true creativity and skills into entertainment anymore. They'd rather just take the easy way out and come up with movie sequels, non-talented "stars", and you said it, MORE TECHNOLOGY GADGETS! That is exactly why so many Americans are fat and have so many health problems. We don't even know what we are eating as people anymore. They put so many chemicals in today's food. I don't see it getting better and if it does, it will surprise me. America has ALWAYS been about the money, but at least you felt proud to be an American back in the 80s and 90s. What do millennium kids have to be proud of? If you go to urbandictionary.com and look up the "2000s" just check the definitions. EVERYONE gave it a bad review and even Time Magazine termed the 2000s as the "decade from hell."
ReplyDeleteI will definitely be coming back and checking out more of your blog entries and I just posted one yesterday about the USA becoming a third world country. Take care!