merchants of cool

"The Merchants of Cool", what a wild documentary. This documentary shows the process of marketers as they conduct surveys and focus groups, and scourge the streets to find the next "big" thing. These creators and sellers of popular culture have made teenagers the hottest consumer demographic in America. I will admit, I have been caught in the scheme of things. Most of the time I would consider myself to be outside of the sphere of marketing, but I know that to be false. I have been sold an ipod, a macbook, music, makeup...and I suppose the list could go on.

The place in life where I find myself seems to be a strange one. I ache to get away from media's attempts at selling me things and I long for the "good old days". I long for the days where people sit on the porch and drink iced tea with their neighbors and find out the latest news from each other instead of a gossip columnist on the internet. I long for things that I suppose won't happen in most people's lives, but I will try to make them happen in my life.

Looking at my fourteen year old sister, I can see the effects of media on her life, the Jonas brothers and Miley Cyrus being the center of many conversations. Texting seems to be turning into the main form of communication between young people. What if they started talking the way they text? Oh wait, some of them do. As you can see, I am bitter towards a few things that are taking place among our young people. Perhaps I am old fashioned? Yes, maybe. But I do recognize that media has a MAJOR effect on our young people and I don't see the benefits to it.