My correspondent basically told me how much they dislike these "American expressions" and, whilst I couldn't help but agree with him on some level - mostly because I'm a bit of a tweedy old-fashioned git anyway - my first thought was that it's no longer "our" world but it belongs to "da kidz" and if that kind of rootless, homogenised, bland photocopy of another, more powerful, culture is what they want to have, then who are we to disagree...?
We may regret the passing of the old ways, and some may try to hang onto them for longer than seems strictly necessary - I still have milk bottles put on my doorstep by a milkman in the mornings, buy my music on discs, and use my landline for most of my (admittedly few) telephone calls - but if they want a bland facsimile of a shallow culture, with all of its fast food, Prom Nights, Trick or Treating, Black Fridays, lack of basic healthcare for everyone, and cheap, nasty sportswear, why should we try to stop them?
Oh yes... because most of it is cheap, vacuous and nasty, despite the fact that it usually costs a fortune, and lots of things about the way we do things over here are actually rather more nicely done, but aren't embraced as much by the wider world and, when you're part of the up-and-coming next generation, far-away, exotic things always seem far more exciting than the same old bland, boring nonsense that your parents did, and the grass is always far greener on the other side.
The problem is that when you've already been playing on that lush greener grass for all of your life, where do you go for new experiences and excitement when you tire of that...?
A lot of these shiny new imports have come through the massive influence that American Film and TV has had on the young, impressionable minds that it's most aimed at. When you're exposed to such exciting versions of High School as seen in "Glee" or (to a previous generation now, I suppose) "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" then three periods of dry old Chemistry and maybe setting fire to your blazer on the way home after your last day at school perhaps doesn't seem quite as exciting as an expensive new outfit, a stretch limousine, and the opportunity to lord and lady it over all you meet, no matter how broke it leaves those who care most about you.
Bland, shallow and vacuous it all may be, but at least it's memorable, and life these days is for living in the moment and, perhaps most importantly, being seen to be living it, and for a generation that no longer have holidays, but "go travelling" and who no longer want to stay in a decent hotel but want the "experience" of living in a Yurt and digging their own hole to have a crap in, that seems to be an "awesome" enough ambition.
And if the worst comes to the worst, entire battalions of "helicopter parents" will swoop in an take care of any little problems that may arise, even if you don't have the slightest respect for them and their pathetic little lifestyle choices (which, incidentally, might just include giving you life), unless, of course, you don't have any family, in which case life can start to get complicated when the "RealWorldBomb" hits.
Social Media has also been a great leveller, too, with people getting immediate exposure to the better time that everyone else appears to be having, and looking at their own lives and finding them somehow inadequate by comparison. As to whether this has speeded up the indoctrination of British culture by the American Way, or whether the desire was already in place and it is merely feeding the monster, will probably be for history to decide, but it certainly seems to have been, at the very least, a catalyst for change.
Still, when it comes to the "Americanisation" of Britain, some might say that, given how so much of British culture inflicted itself upon the world back in the days of the Empire, this kind of payback is rather overdue and richly deserved, but I'm more inclined towards the "Great Big Melting Pot" theory anyway, just so long as you keep hold of the very best that every culture has to offer.
I do lament the bastardisation of the language, though, almost as much as I regret the passing of a great many other things, but, of course, it's no longer "my" world, and so it's time to kick back and see what a bloody mess this lot manage to make of it.
No comments:
Post a Comment