COLUMN: American Culture?

From Lee Bailey's "The Immaculate Perception?", Fall '95 From Lee Bailey's "The Immaculate Perception?", Fall '95In modern times, fads and fashions move at incredible speed. Acid wash jeans came and went in just five years. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles had quite a terse lifespan. Even that mainstay of musical culture, Menudo, has long been gone. Sadly, it seems as though another once integral part of our society has departed, out with the New Kids, Michael J. Fox, and Swatches. Yes, imagination has left American culture, and reality has landed in its place. One cannot deny that reality has become the most popular mainspring for the nation's enjoyment. We live in an age when the multitude of talk shows is legend. Toddlers who gaze at the television no longer count Bert, Ernie, and Big Bird among their friends, but instead learn all about the misadventures of cunning ex-girlfriends, pregnant seventh-graders, and obsessive co-workers, all courtesy of their new pals named Ricki, Sally, Montel, and Rolonda. If broadcast programming is not convincing enough, one can turn to cable for substantiation. MTV has formulated an inveterate hit with its show The Real World. Millions of young people tune in to learn what has happened to seven obnoxious brats who live in the same house. There have been four seasons of this show, and only the cities and sexual orientations have changed. Even the show's claim to "reality" is false. Since when is it realistic to have a television network pay for empty-headed GenXers to live in lavish townhouses and send them on expensive vacations? It is frightening that large segments of the population actually care that unemployed rap artists wire their jaws shut to lose weight, have annual abortions, and get hair extensions while their roommates fight over the telephone and pierce their eyebrows, nipples, tongues, and genitalia. Now that's entertainment! As was mentioned, there is a flip side to these laughable wastes of time, and it is the realm of false reality. Basically, when Americans find all of the above portrayals of real events unsatisfying, they look to the weakest forms of fiction and least imaginative games for fun. Thus was born Melrose Place, and many subsequent imitators. Admittedly, it is entertaining to watch neighbors cavorting in bed, blackmailing one another, and plotting to explode apartment complexes, however there comes a time when one must ask himself why he derives pleasure from such rubbish. One wonders whether little kids still make forts out of sofa cushions, transforming living rooms into Camelots. Why are kids drooling in front of Sega-generated bloodbaths? Whatever happened to Legos? The answer is simple: human folly has supplanted human imagination. Who needs Atticus Finch or Jean Valjean when he can have Marcia Clark and O.J.? Tragic is the death of imagination. Without it, progress slows and life grows boring. Of course, the argument that society is losing its creativity is not new. Conservatives have been making related statements for years, however in the '90s the issue has transcended partisan boundaries and become an undeniable fact. It is perfectly acceptable to enjoy a reality built upon human innovation and imagination, but if that reality has no such inventive basis, culture faces a bleak future. There have always been complaints of "kids today" and the supposed problems which plague the status quo, but today's issues are of a markedly different degree. Never before has the cultural vacuum sucked so hard. Decades ago, British mathematician and philosopher Bertrand Russell wrote, "Some people would rather die than think; in fact, they do." One can only imagine his reaction if Russell were to happen upon John Wayne Bobbitt or Courtney Love. Perhaps the fact that people in ages as far gone as Russell's diagnosed the same problem serves as evidence of its very gravity. What's next, Brad Pitt for President?