Saturday, June 21, 2008

Split Generations

I am not old. Ok, maybe i should say "I am not that old", yet i was appalled to see this one particulr program on MTV and was left wondering whether the cultural identities have shifted significantly even to vary within the same generation. In the "olden" days, we used to have the older generation (mostly your uncles, a bit older cousins etc) and you would often have these good natured disagreements about which generationhad the better songs and actors etc. But the age difference which separates these two different generations were quite considerable.But now, things seem to be changing. So now, to the topic.There is this new program which is being aired on channel V in which there are two guys and a group of girls, whose objective is to make sure that they get one of the guys to date them (something on these lines). And so we have "competitions" in each episode and then there are "elimination rounds" where girls are "Dumped" based on various "parameters". And its shocking to see these girls taking it so seriously!I mean, what kind of message are we sending to the millions of youngsters who are glued to these channels?That, being a girl, you are a loser if some &@#$!@&* doesnt want to take you for a date? That you need to "compete" and "prove yourself" inorder to be an object of affection? I mean, come one, gimme a break!Is this the definition of being "Cool" for the teenagers? Shouldnt this kind of competitive mentality be used to motivate them to take on better things, which could be cool too?

I wish i could know the opinions of teens on this!