Thing about Anglo #PopCulture, to me, is that it’s too age-based, too segmented by “generations”. People are expected to like a certain thing because it “resembles” them, but many of those similarities are based on chronology. Whether it’s The Beatles or Lady Gaga, popularity has a lot to do with demographics and portrayals of people who were born during a certain period. The Francophone cultural context in which I grew up was much more atemporal. We were likely to discuss Alphonse Daudet, Tourgueniev, and Marcel Pagnol in the same breath as we would sing Serge Gainsbourg, quote Philippe Djian, and comment on the latest Federico Fellini movie. Generations didn’t segment artistic tastes for my mother and her sons. Thinking about this, this morning, because I watched “(500) Days of Summer”, last night. It was fun to watch, like a music video from a foreign land. As it included a few shots of French “Film Noir” and Bergman movies, the contrast with my upbringing was salient. The first thing which came to my mind is that I should watch «Jules & Jim», again. But that might not be most effective. That movie has a place in Anglo Pop Culture, though near the edge of it. I guess watching it would make me think of film students. A more appropriate choice might be «Alexandre le bienheureux». I did watch it again a few years ago, but it’s fun enough that it could warrant another viewing. Or Fernandel’s «Heureux qui comme Ulysse», with a song by Georges Brassens. Of course, some French movies are really based on generational affiliations. At least since Les Sous-Doués and Les Bronzés. When I watched «Filles perdues, cheveux gras», my reaction was similar to the one I had with “500 Days”. It was foreign and looked pretty much generation-based. Romain Dury’s career might also parallel that of a Hollywood celebrity like Joseph Gordon-Levitt. (The fact that Gordon-Levitt was frequently mentioned on the “Geek Friday” podcast connects his work a very age-based cultural identity. My reading of “500 Days” might have been influenced by this. Same with Zooey Deschanel, actually. Had only seen her in that (in)famous Siri commercial.) Of course, I’ve also had connections to celebrities of my own “generation”, especially through sitcoms. But I didn’t really recognize myself in “Reality Bites”, “Clerks”, or “Slacker”. In fact, some of the sitcoms I watched (“Kate & Allie”, say) weren’t really intended for my generation. I may have identified a bit with characters around my age, but it wasn’t the main attraction. Granted, I was probably a bit unusual, as a kid. When “kids my age” were listening to Duran Duran and reading teen magazines, I was having deep experiences with John Coltrane and Albert Camus. When music videos became very popular, I was more interested in Thelonious Monk than in Corey Hart. These days, I do get strong reactions hearing popular music of the 1980s (from Luba to Hall & Oates, Cindy Lauper to NENA). But it’s not because I was a big fan back then. Guess age is a strange thing. I just feel like it’s become too strong a basis for exclusion. Not too long ago, during a discussion of the effects of opening a bar catering to a specific subculture, I was told that I couldn’t understand that phenomenon because of my age. Not only did it affect me personally, but it demonstrated the impact of this strong segmentation by age. For somebody teaching sociology of cyberspace, that can be rather deep.
Posted on: Sun, 15 Sep 2013 14:35:54 +0000
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