From the Edge desk...
Cody Boland
Issue date: 3/4/09 Section: The Edge
Hey, Western. It is time to take a look back.
Remember our youth? I'm sure we were all bright and starry-eyed youngins without a cruel thought or deed to our names. Some of you may remember it differently, but one thing is for sure: the entertainment in our lives back then was so questionable that it's a wonder we didn't become serial killers.
When we were younger, say middle-school aged, the last thing we wanted to do was watch the family-friendly programming that made life look like how the 1950s were supposed to be. Instead, we turned to the type of entertainment that made a conservative parent cry.
What type of things did we watch that should have been a red flag? How about professional wrestling? My elementary school was firmly in the corner of D-Generation X. Remember "suck it," along with the ever-present crotch slap? A group of prepubescent nothings telling each other exactly where to put their mouths - now that's just classy.
How about the South Park movie? That was 10 years ago and we all watched it. Cartman's mom in a German excrement video, songs focused on an inappropriate relationship with one's uncle, and, oh yeah, the side story about the boy's hunt for the clitoris. I highly doubt that many of our pre-teen selves truly understood that, and those that did are probably in jail at the moment.
Let's think about the music that we listened to back in the day. "Total Request Live," that wonderful MTV show that was conveniently scheduled right after school, was all about Eminem. He had a few wacky songs get popular so we all picked up his CD, a CD that treated us to the brutal murder of his wife in a time when there were still some among us that thought kissing would get a girl pregnant.
Come to think about it, "TRL" might just have been the gateway drug of our youth. It also gave us Limp Bizkit, who taught us that it was all about the nookie. Now, I don't know about you, but when I was a youthful chap in 1999 during the release of this single, nookie was certainly the first thing on my mind. Well, maybe third, right behind brushing my teeth and being happy that my age finally had two digits.
Now, I'm not the kind of guy that is saying any of this is bad. Growing up is a natural part of life, and what better way to grow up than to expose yourself to the kind of filth that only truly exists in the fictional world of entertainment.
Still, we should all acknowledge the terribly inappropriate things we all exposed ourselves to in our quest to be more grown up and mature.
Did we enjoy it? Sure, there is little doubt about that. But whether or not we truly understood it is a question I think we all know the answer to.
Remember our youth? I'm sure we were all bright and starry-eyed youngins without a cruel thought or deed to our names. Some of you may remember it differently, but one thing is for sure: the entertainment in our lives back then was so questionable that it's a wonder we didn't become serial killers.
When we were younger, say middle-school aged, the last thing we wanted to do was watch the family-friendly programming that made life look like how the 1950s were supposed to be. Instead, we turned to the type of entertainment that made a conservative parent cry.
What type of things did we watch that should have been a red flag? How about professional wrestling? My elementary school was firmly in the corner of D-Generation X. Remember "suck it," along with the ever-present crotch slap? A group of prepubescent nothings telling each other exactly where to put their mouths - now that's just classy.
How about the South Park movie? That was 10 years ago and we all watched it. Cartman's mom in a German excrement video, songs focused on an inappropriate relationship with one's uncle, and, oh yeah, the side story about the boy's hunt for the clitoris. I highly doubt that many of our pre-teen selves truly understood that, and those that did are probably in jail at the moment.
Let's think about the music that we listened to back in the day. "Total Request Live," that wonderful MTV show that was conveniently scheduled right after school, was all about Eminem. He had a few wacky songs get popular so we all picked up his CD, a CD that treated us to the brutal murder of his wife in a time when there were still some among us that thought kissing would get a girl pregnant.
Come to think about it, "TRL" might just have been the gateway drug of our youth. It also gave us Limp Bizkit, who taught us that it was all about the nookie. Now, I don't know about you, but when I was a youthful chap in 1999 during the release of this single, nookie was certainly the first thing on my mind. Well, maybe third, right behind brushing my teeth and being happy that my age finally had two digits.
Now, I'm not the kind of guy that is saying any of this is bad. Growing up is a natural part of life, and what better way to grow up than to expose yourself to the kind of filth that only truly exists in the fictional world of entertainment.
Still, we should all acknowledge the terribly inappropriate things we all exposed ourselves to in our quest to be more grown up and mature.
Did we enjoy it? Sure, there is little doubt about that. But whether or not we truly understood it is a question I think we all know the answer to.
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