Reminiscing Part 3 - The Media
I'm reminiscing about my childhood. These past couple months have put me in contact with so many people from "back in the day" that I can't help but reminisce. You can catch up here and here.
The media was always considered a source of evil in our house. Perhaps "source of evil" is a strong phrase, but it's a close enough description. We did not watch television or movies, except movies that had been pre-screened or major sporting events. We did not read magazines or newspapers, except for some random Catholic newspaper. We did not listen to the radio, except for NPR, a bit of sports talk radio, traffic updates from a local radio station, and a very conservative Christian radio station.
To give you an idea of what this means, I missed out on 80s rock music. I don't know any early 90s R&B. I recently found some "Best of 80s and 90s" CDs out on our music server and didn't recognize most of the songs. (That did make it exciting for me, though, because I found new songs!) I didn't see any movies or television shows from the 80s and 90s. Saved by the Bell, Married with Children, The Cosby Show, Star Trek, Family Matters. I missed out on all of them. You know that DirecTV commercial that references Back to the Future? I hated that commercial for the longest time because I didn't understand it. I only recently saw part of that movie, but I understand the commercial a bit more.
Now, don't let this get you down. I did get to watch cool CCC movies. The opening credits of the movie have you "fly" through the lines of the C's; I thought it was the coolest thing. I watched Mr. Rogers and Reading Rainbow in kindergarten. I listened to radio shows like Adventures in Odyssey, James Dobson, Elisabeth Eliot, and The Sugarcreek Gang. Each day we would rush around the house to finish our chores so that we could listen to the radio. It was a big deal if we missed it. I listened to Catholic apologists before it was popular to be able to defend your faith. I listened to Scott Hahn my entire childhood, and figured he was a nationally known figure. He's amazing; how could people not know him?
What does this mean for me today? There are countless culture references I don't get. Fortunately, I'm younger than everyone I work with, so if I don't know what they're talking about they just think it's cause I'm young. Then they feel old. Ooops. People reminisce about their childhood and wonder why I'm not agreeing with them or contributing to the conversation. Watching TV whenever I wanted used to be one of the greatest things I could think of. While I do enjoy watching TV, I don't watch just anything. If shows are really stupid, or the people are full of themselves in an obvious way, or the people are mean to each other, I can't watch it. I really appreciate cable, though, and not having to look at the TV and wonder if the lines on the TV are fuzz or if they're the lines on the tennis court. I still don't read the paper nearly as much as I would like. When I move into my own house or condo I'll start subscribing to it; until then I'd assume my neighbors would steal it. I could last several days without watching TV or movies provided I had a few good books to read, homework to do, and someone to talk to.
But all of this also means that I'm sensitive to "immorality" in shows or songs. I'm still amazed by what you can say on television or the radio. I mean, when did it become okay to cuss on the radio? I still believe that movies from the 30s - 60s were some of the best movies made, and can say "They just don't make them like they used to" because I saw movies from that time period. And believe me, they don't make them like they used to. I initially listen to songs for the lyrics, and if the lyrics are bad, the music isn't much to talk about, and I wasn't introduced to the song by a friend, I don't give it a second listen. I try not to watch too many TV shows. In fact, when I started watching Pushing Daisies I gave up another show. I don't remember what it was, so it clearly wasn't that big of a deal. I still try to screen what I watch and listen to, but my screening is a tad different than my parents. While I might be surprised that Jon Stewart can say "bitch" on national television, that doesn't mean I'm going to stop watching him!
More to follow...
The media was always considered a source of evil in our house. Perhaps "source of evil" is a strong phrase, but it's a close enough description. We did not watch television or movies, except movies that had been pre-screened or major sporting events. We did not read magazines or newspapers, except for some random Catholic newspaper. We did not listen to the radio, except for NPR, a bit of sports talk radio, traffic updates from a local radio station, and a very conservative Christian radio station.
To give you an idea of what this means, I missed out on 80s rock music. I don't know any early 90s R&B. I recently found some "Best of 80s and 90s" CDs out on our music server and didn't recognize most of the songs. (That did make it exciting for me, though, because I found new songs!) I didn't see any movies or television shows from the 80s and 90s. Saved by the Bell, Married with Children, The Cosby Show, Star Trek, Family Matters. I missed out on all of them. You know that DirecTV commercial that references Back to the Future? I hated that commercial for the longest time because I didn't understand it. I only recently saw part of that movie, but I understand the commercial a bit more.
Now, don't let this get you down. I did get to watch cool CCC movies. The opening credits of the movie have you "fly" through the lines of the C's; I thought it was the coolest thing. I watched Mr. Rogers and Reading Rainbow in kindergarten. I listened to radio shows like Adventures in Odyssey, James Dobson, Elisabeth Eliot, and The Sugarcreek Gang. Each day we would rush around the house to finish our chores so that we could listen to the radio. It was a big deal if we missed it. I listened to Catholic apologists before it was popular to be able to defend your faith. I listened to Scott Hahn my entire childhood, and figured he was a nationally known figure. He's amazing; how could people not know him?
What does this mean for me today? There are countless culture references I don't get. Fortunately, I'm younger than everyone I work with, so if I don't know what they're talking about they just think it's cause I'm young. Then they feel old. Ooops. People reminisce about their childhood and wonder why I'm not agreeing with them or contributing to the conversation. Watching TV whenever I wanted used to be one of the greatest things I could think of. While I do enjoy watching TV, I don't watch just anything. If shows are really stupid, or the people are full of themselves in an obvious way, or the people are mean to each other, I can't watch it. I really appreciate cable, though, and not having to look at the TV and wonder if the lines on the TV are fuzz or if they're the lines on the tennis court. I still don't read the paper nearly as much as I would like. When I move into my own house or condo I'll start subscribing to it; until then I'd assume my neighbors would steal it. I could last several days without watching TV or movies provided I had a few good books to read, homework to do, and someone to talk to.
But all of this also means that I'm sensitive to "immorality" in shows or songs. I'm still amazed by what you can say on television or the radio. I mean, when did it become okay to cuss on the radio? I still believe that movies from the 30s - 60s were some of the best movies made, and can say "They just don't make them like they used to" because I saw movies from that time period. And believe me, they don't make them like they used to. I initially listen to songs for the lyrics, and if the lyrics are bad, the music isn't much to talk about, and I wasn't introduced to the song by a friend, I don't give it a second listen. I try not to watch too many TV shows. In fact, when I started watching Pushing Daisies I gave up another show. I don't remember what it was, so it clearly wasn't that big of a deal. I still try to screen what I watch and listen to, but my screening is a tad different than my parents. While I might be surprised that Jon Stewart can say "bitch" on national television, that doesn't mean I'm going to stop watching him!
More to follow...