American Youth & Identity Crisis

[SwampThing]

MarvyMarv, thanks for the well thought out reply.

<font size="1">"I've been playing the joker and dumbass for too long here, out of pity for the intellectually challenged that frequent this site" -- Hutter</font>

[Panorama]

[quote][i]Originally posted by marvymarv[/i]
.....Picture the absolute quintissential thug/rap/gangster - that's these two kids. But they're white! I guess you'll have some of these types of white boys in the inner city. But on Long Island's upscale and affluent North Shore? The absurdity of their appearance is beyond description.[/quote]
Hey, what can I tell ya... I'm just a white man trying to make it in a black man's world. [:D][;)]

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[WolverineSyr]

I've been thinking about what, in our culture of the 70's, led us to associate ourselves with punk & new wave. I'm not sure the current musical movements associate themselves in the same ways, but I see some parallels.

For those of us who were born in the 1960's, or became aware of a bigger world in the '70's, there was a lot to rebel against. We lived through Vietnam, Watergate, a corrupt president (Nixon,)inflation, gas shortages, disasters that humans were to blame for - 3 Mile Island, Love Canal, Chernobyl, the media became more sensationalized, it was becoming a scarier world with increased & in-depth reporting of people like Son of Sam, Zodiac, Ted Bundy, the Atlanta Child Killer, etc. Then there was Regan, who ignored huge health crises, cut funding for continued education, worked for the rich rather than the middle class & poor. There was Russia, the Day After, etc. etc. etc.

For one of the first times, it seemed like there was no future because either nuclear war would get you, AIDS would get you, poverty would get you, or crime would. I can understand why there was rebellion - that often times presented itself as violent - kids were angry, we felt our future was being sold out from under us - we were inheriting all this shit that the previous generation created.

I don't think that's so different than how kids may feel today, (or kids before us.) It's a common lament among youth across the ages.

Musically - look at what was happening - prefabricated disco with almost no social commentary - total escapism, giant overblown rock which no one could just pick up an instrument and recreate, and not everyone could relate to. Then along comes punk - total DIY - anyone could have done it.

I think I can see some parallels to today's gangsta crap, although I don't know anything about that music or culture - but a lot of the same stuff is happening today, isn't it?

Every generation associates itself with various musical movements, and there is a unform that goes along with it, as well as a lifestyle.

My mother could not understand punk at all & was very threatened by it. She forgot that her 50's rock was probably just as threatening to her parents as my music was to her. She said the same things we're saying, my grandparents probably did, and so on.

I hate the current fashions, attitudes and music - as much as my grandparents probably hated the Twist, Little Richard, music hugely influenced by black culture, boys looking like thugs, girls looking like sluts & so on...