It's no secret that I like old things. I've informed the world of my obsession with vintage clothing and my love for refinishing furniture. But it even goes beyond that. I'm getting to the point where I'm feeling disenchanted with modern entertainment. All of my favorite movies came out before I was born, I listen to very little music from the past decade and I think most of what's on TV is total garbage.
I'm usually so positive and open to new things. Why am I so willing to rant about how much I hate today's movies, music and television programming? To be honest, I don't know why this one area of our society gets me so worked up —but when our generation is old enough to have children, I will be pretty ashamed to call myself a millennial and have them thinking I was obsessed with Lady Gaga and sparkly vampires.
Maybe I'm an old soul, or maybe I'm just cynical; either way, I feel the need to justify my distaste for all things 2011.
There are a few things about most movies that have come out recently that just anger me, and it's pretty much every genre. My least favorite types lately are horror movies and romantic comedies. My friend Corey makes me watch a wide array of horror movies with him, and they are all simply mindless violence. "The Human Centipede" is the most disgusting, vomit-inducing garbage I've ever seen. And then there are the "Paranormal Activity" movies. Yes, that woman standing over the bed is creepy, but was it worth the money I paid to go see it? Absolutely not.
I really hate modern romantic comedies, or at least I hate a great deal of them. "Bridesmaids" made me want to barf. The storyline was so incredibly predictable that after watching it for the first time, I felt like I'd seen it at least 10 times before. It seems like in every romantic comedy the same thing happens every time. A girl is having a rough life because someone broke her heart (as women are obviously not capable of living any sort of meaningful life without a significant other) and is at first skeptical of love and treats a man who could be really great for her rather poorly. Then that man proves her wrong; they have some sort of wacky adventure and live happily ever after. I can't even laugh at most of them anymore.
My favorite movies are "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid," "Easy Rider" and "One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest." All of them are what could be considered late ‘60s counterculture movies. I find them to have much more substance than the majority of movies today.
Modern music doesn't anger me quite as much —people have liked awful music in almost every decade, and there are a lot of bands that I do like. But as far as top 40 music goes, I'm really not a fan. And the worst thing of all is today's country music. I'm not ashamed to admit that I love everything country from Hank Williams to Kenny Rogers, but let's be honest —Taylor Swift isn't country music and neither is Sugarland. I don't know what it is, but I know I don't like it.
Mostly, I listen to classic rock music and mellow ‘70s stuff. I'm addicted to Pandora, and I've developed the best list of stations ever, ranging from The Doors to Elton John.
Even worse than today's movies and music are today's TV shows. There are a few good ones out there, like my personal favorite, "Community." But most of the sitcoms lack good storylines, and most of all, reality TV is stupid. I'd much rather watch the entire series of "MASH" on DVD than watch one single episode of "Secret Life of The American Teenager." And the catchy theme songs of "Green Acres" and "All in the Family" are forever stuck in my head. I just love those classic shows so much that I find it difficult to watch new ones without comparing them.
My real beef with TV is that what passes for entertainment on MTV and E! People have become so obsessed with celebrities that they neglect their own lives to watch them go to the gym or have fights with their friends over muscle headed guys. Why people care about "Keeping Up with the Kardashians" beats me. "Jersey Shore" is not funny, it's pathetic.
I hate to be negative, difficult or picky, and everyone is entitled to their own opinions. If you want to keep watching "Teen Mom" and fantasizing about Edward Cullen, that's your prerogative, but don't expect me to join you without complaining or trying to analyze what has gone wrong with our society. I'll always be stuck in a past that I never lived in.
