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First off, are we talking "this decade" as in the one that just started, or the one we just left? Because I think it's a bit too soon to make a call on the 2010s. (Less than three months? What?).
The '80s and the '90s were each called a lot more than the Me decade and the Electronic age. I would contest those names as be-all end-all terms in the first place; I mean they aren't even thematically synchronized, since one refers to the social attitude and the other refers to technological advances. It's equally hard to come up with one be-all end-all title or for 2000-2009, but here are some possibilities:
The Culture Wars Both internationally and domestically, from jihad terrorism to conservative/liberal clashes within the US, cultures have been waging war.
The Age of Personal Glorification The "Me Age" may have been selfish, but never before have we ever had a culture that grants us so much power to believe in the importance of ourselves. Thanks to sites that host uploaded content, on Deviantart anyone can be a commission artist; on LJ, Xanga, Blogger, Wordpress, etc, anyone can be a journalist, social/political commentator, or "published" creative writer; on YouTube, a filmmaker, comedian, counselor, or style guru. On Wikipedia, anyone can be a published "expert." And with reality TV, anyone can be a celebrity. It's so easy for each of us to believe we are the most important voice in the world-- why else would we have a website devoted entirely to instant newflashes of every meaningless moment of our lives? It's funny, because making all ourselves out to be as special as our kindergarten teachers taught us, we're still just as anonymous as ever.
The Ascension of Postmodernity People have been arguing the birth of the postmodern age for practically a century, but I think this decade we began to see features of social postmodernity really start to become the norm, especially amongst young people. Let's look at the features:
-The rejection of an inside/outside self: With social networking sites, blogs, YouTube, Twitter, etc, in some circles we have become the sum of our uploaded content. I see it amongst my peers (including me!) and it appears to be only getting worse, people unloading their entire inner selves into public forums so that the public and private is indistinguishable.
-The absence of originality: In fashion, media, and music, we have resorted to mostly repeating the old rather than creating much of anything new, from vintage-inspired trends to remade movies to hooks remixed from classic music tracks. Creativity is in the form of reinterpretation and parody rather than new advances.
-The abolition of distance: Thanks to the Internet, we live in a truly global society, where distance is practically no object when it comes to media, merchandise, and often even culture. Living in Japan, it's amazing how much I still *live* in the US.
-The adoption of consumerism as identity: This is especially prevalent in countercultures, especially young countercultures, where you *are* emo once you have purchased the emo lifestyle of clothing, hair, and music, etc.
-The separation of identity from the individual: Online, you are not confined to your body, nor are you confined to one name. You can be pluralistic.
PS: Why did they give us an answer for us? And "The Mobile Decade"-- really? Sigh, I hate lame answers that only seem to speak to one sphere of the entire culture. Culture is not the sum of technology, however much technology may fuel it. I think it's infinitely more intriguing to explore the effect of that technology on the culture!
First off, are we talking "this decade" as in the one that just started, or the one we just left? Because I think it's a bit too soon to make a call on the 2010s. (Less than three months? What?).
The '80s and the '90s were each called a lot more than the Me decade and the Electronic age. I would contest those names as be-all end-all terms in the first place; I mean they aren't even thematically synchronized, since one refers to the social attitude and the other refers to technological advances. It's equally hard to come up with one be-all end-all title or for 2000-2009, but here are some possibilities:
The Culture Wars Both internationally and domestically, from jihad terrorism to conservative/liberal clashes within the US, cultures have been waging war.
The Age of Personal Glorification The "Me Age" may have been selfish, but never before have we ever had a culture that grants us so much power to believe in the importance of ourselves. Thanks to sites that host uploaded content, on Deviantart anyone can be a commission artist; on LJ, Xanga, Blogger, Wordpress, etc, anyone can be a journalist, social/political commentator, or "published" creative writer; on YouTube, a filmmaker, comedian, counselor, or style guru. On Wikipedia, anyone can be a published "expert." And with reality TV, anyone can be a celebrity. It's so easy for each of us to believe we are the most important voice in the world-- why else would we have a website devoted entirely to instant newflashes of every meaningless moment of our lives? It's funny, because making all ourselves out to be as special as our kindergarten teachers taught us, we're still just as anonymous as ever.
The Ascension of Postmodernity People have been arguing the birth of the postmodern age for practically a century, but I think this decade we began to see features of social postmodernity really start to become the norm, especially amongst young people. Let's look at the features:
-The rejection of an inside/outside self: With social networking sites, blogs, YouTube, Twitter, etc, in some circles we have become the sum of our uploaded content. I see it amongst my peers (including me!) and it appears to be only getting worse, people unloading their entire inner selves into public forums so that the public and private is indistinguishable.
-The absence of originality: In fashion, media, and music, we have resorted to mostly repeating the old rather than creating much of anything new, from vintage-inspired trends to remade movies to hooks remixed from classic music tracks. Creativity is in the form of reinterpretation and parody rather than new advances.
-The abolition of distance: Thanks to the Internet, we live in a truly global society, where distance is practically no object when it comes to media, merchandise, and often even culture. Living in Japan, it's amazing how much I still *live* in the US.
-The adoption of consumerism as identity: This is especially prevalent in countercultures, especially young countercultures, where you *are* emo once you have purchased the emo lifestyle of clothing, hair, and music, etc.
-The separation of identity from the individual: Online, you are not confined to your body, nor are you confined to one name. You can be pluralistic.
PS: Why did they give us an answer for us? And "The Mobile Decade"-- really? Sigh, I hate lame answers that only seem to speak to one sphere of the entire culture. Culture is not the sum of technology, however much technology may fuel it. I think it's infinitely more intriguing to explore the effect of that technology on the culture!
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no subject
Date: 2010-03-11 08:48 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-03-11 09:28 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-03-11 07:19 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-03-11 08:15 pm (UTC)It's kind of like a stop watch, always starts at zero
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Date: 2010-03-11 10:39 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-03-12 02:29 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-03-12 09:26 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-03-12 10:41 pm (UTC)Heads Up! Big Response Imminent!
Date: 2010-03-11 08:44 pm (UTC)This counts both culturally and literally. The bonding that can take place via Internet is also an alienating agent, where through the faceless alias of a username, people are free to say anything they want. True, this is liberating but it also allows the assholes to come out of the woodwork (again, free speech, but DAMN)
This was also a decade where the US was culturally held in negative views (thank you, politics) worldwide and not just in the terrorist-ridden, US-bashing countries.
9/11 and the wars following are both very talked about and covered by the media and yet so much else (as well as the topics themselves) go unspoken or ignored. Media bias and personal distaste leaves little room for moderate and free-thinking thought leading both Liberals and Conservatives alike acting very polarized. This is tougher to talk about because this is not the first time this has happened. Sentiments of the Vietnam era are back.
Communication has become the the biggest Close Distance item. Texting, Blogs and Instant Messaging are very handy, intuitive tools, but they are also killing intimate human interaction. I do not think any of this should be banned or viewed as negative tools, but remember to hang out with people physically, make a phone call, and talk about your deepest, personal feelings with someone in the same room (and not through a monitor, dammit)
I agree with you beyond a doubt that repetition has taken over. Many people asked me how amazing were this year's films and I say nay. While the technical brilliance of films is soaring (i.e. Avatar and even The Hurt Locker), true and meaningful storytelling has become a rehashed repetition of what's already been made or are devoid of soul. I loved The Hurt Locker and it's VERY unbiased views, but frankly something was missing (which is why I would've voted Inglorious Basterds or District 9 (somewhat) as my favs).
What happened to the intimate character studies (L.A. Confidential) or slices of life (American Beauty) or gripping, accurate historical retellings (Apollo 13)? I'm waiting either for them to return with full impact or for me and my peers to bring them back ourselves (a little braggy, I know, but it's my "thesis" I bring with me to my filmmaking).
And finally, trends are bigger and more ridiculous than ever. Whether this be fashion, music or news items. Everything is SO transient despite how STRESSED it is:
In fashion - Leggings as pants showing off your cooch (I call them "winners") and blinds over your sunlgasses? Really people? You will look back on these one day and go "what the fuck was I thinking?" Oh well, they'll make great 00's party costume items!
In music - BRING BACK THE 80s/90s MUSICALITY AND GUITAR SOLOS!! Sure, the synth sounds dated, but at least they had good musical writing in them. Melody is incredibly important and I feel that today it is being lost in Hip Hop loops, non-melodic singing (either through rapping, screaming or that fucking annoying indie-rock Bob Dylan wannabe lazy voice....FUCK I hate that and goes for you too, Coldplay) This is why I've loved bands like Linkin Park and Evanescence and some of Greenday, Sum 41 and others when they were in the first half of this decade. They had musicality and despite some problems or sinking into the boring quagmire of today's music, they sound musical. (Also why I'm into film scores)
CONTINUED BELOW -->
no subject
Date: 2010-03-11 08:52 pm (UTC)In news items - Okay, while I absolutely DESPISE Michael Moore, he did make an important point about America's media in Bowling For Columbine where news makes a huge fuss over the smallest things to incite fear so that people can come back to the news and gain them more viewers. True, Mel Gibson is a drunkard and what he said wasn't cool, but for fuck's sake it wasn't that bad, was not a recorded sound, and was said WHILE HE WAS DRUNK. Meanwhile, Kramer's N-Bomb rant while sober, on stage as a professional and recorded on video got much less heat. Really, media?
And also, could we get less fucking biased reporting for once? Yes, politics suck, but just because someone's not on your political side doesn't mean you have to bash them (this goes both to Conservative AND Liberal media alike). Please give us the facts on BOTH sides and let us make our own decisions. To the networks and reporters who have managed to do this from time to time, thank you from the bottom of my moderate heart.
PHEW! Didn't mean to be as ranty as I was, but do you all see what I mean? Everything is brought close to us and yet it is at a distance in both truthfulness, meaning and physical proximity.
I hope that is is a transient thing in that we're finally settling comfortably into the Internet and other tools. Maybe once we're all settled, we'll be able to appreciate things actually close to us or find ways to get the real story.
Of course, that's just my opinion, I could be wrong