Cool?

Watching the video for the second time hasn't lessened the original shock of just what media can do. There was a time that I used to love 7th Heaven, infact it was a little bit more than a year ago. It was cute and I couldn't wait to watch it. I even taped almost all the episodes. Being a PK, I kinda of identified with some of the things that the kids went through. Some times it was even funny just thinking that some of those things they did would be totally a PK"s way of dealing with situations. ANyway, the point is that I don't like the show anymore. What used to be a family show has become like all the other shows out there. I just realized that the innocence persay that the show used to have is gone. I can't help but wonder why there is all this need for being cool... call me sheltered or something but what media is selling to the teens today is just disgusting and pitful. I found what Andrew said today in class today interesting. Things haven't gone from worse to worst, instead, they are getting worse at a steady rate as before. Just think about it, Cool is whatever everybody is doing, whatever is unique at a particular time. When the cool things blows out of proportion, then a new item comes in. So it doesn't get worse, it just goes from one cycle to another. You know from a Christian point of view, you would think that something has to be done...and I would agree. But what? what can be done that hasn't been done already? I have heard people trying to compare this generation, with all the other past generations. Then those teens did not have what the teens of today have. With advancement in technology, there came both advantages and disadvantages. We have access to so many things than any other generation. It's shocking to how many commercials that a person can see a day and by the time 18 years have passed. I mean, it's not only in broadcast media but also on print media. There are a lot of books that have so much 'garbage' that teens are exposed to everyday.It's amazing how my perspective of both America and Africa has changed. if I might say so, in my mind, America was like the demon and Africa was the angel...off course I would feel this way...that is my origin. As years have passed by, I am the first one to readily admit that American media has extended it's hand to Africa and even other continents. Maybe Africa has not gone to the xtremes yet, but I suppose it is because of how people take the media in.I can remember my eight grade year when Britney Spears came out with her song "baby one more time", I loved it and I saw nothing to it. In fact I watched a lot of other music videos by what in America is called "the bad girls". Then I never thought anything of it...but now, I don't really watch or listen to too much of Britney. So why the difference? Culture. I don't think that I gave much thought to these videos or songs. Neither do many people who were around me. Television was a way to just amuse ourselves and since our culture never really allowed mid reefs or mooks ( even though there are places where these kinds of people are to be found). It would be very unusual to see any nude scenes on television...now that doesn't mean that there are no pornographic video because there are plenty. It's funny when I think back on my TV watching habits. I used to watch soap operas with my brothers and sisters, even my parents and off course we would make fun of people but we never gave a second thought of what we were watching. Coming here however, the story was different. I found out about the songs not to listen to, the TV stations not to turn to and offcourse, the programs/movies not to watch.
But this "cool" aspect is creeping itself inside the jungles of Africa, where supposedly media has no much influence on the society. I never thought I would say this, but the african culture is getting to be materialistic inspite of the poverty...funny.
So when will this all end? When will there be an end to trying to look cool or trying to go with the mainstream? Those who rebel against the mainstream are as bad as the mainstream. Because in their own way, they have shaped their "cool" So will the cycle really stop? The media will watch the teens, sell them what they think the teens want and the teens will buy it offcourse and the cycle will go on again. So I pose a question...is there anyway to stop the cycle?