another signpost on the road to oblivion

[Sergeant Thorne]

What Slick is trying to say, Spidey, is that if we bring back Ballet and Opera it would restore the concepts of etiquette and protocol in society. Not by themselves, goodnessno, but watching men dance in tights with flat-chested women, and listening to gibberish hollered at the top of fat lungs is a large part of what is missing in this day and age.

To be fair to slick, I think ballet and opera probably have a lot more depth than various pop groups which are so popular today. Depth, excellence, and class is really what sets worthwhile performances apart, and popularizing depth, excellence, and class would be a winning play in any society. But in our society the ultra-rich or ultra-popular cater to the lowest common-denominator for the biggest return, and that denominator is what seems to be continually sinking (which, makes sense if you think about what may be lost, generationally). It is interesting to note that people who should know better involve themselves in this lowest-common denominator culture, or encourage it in order to court popularity with its tenants.

[vision]

Politically Correct Euphemisms are not used in the context of being “polite” they are used in the context of being “political” as the name would suggest, otherwise they would be called “politely correct” or some such.

Fair enough. A bad choice of words on my part. I still contest that we are not on the road to oblivion in any way. At least in the West, women are no longer property and they have voting rights. Black people are also not property and can vote (and we don't have mistrel shows any more, politically correct or not). LGBT people are still needing some rights, but progress is being made. So when fashion dolls become a hot topic of discussion we know for sure things are going really, really well.

[Spidey]

Oblivion is probably overstating the situation just a tad, but like I said…you do have to take the bad with the good, when things change.

And I don’t think there is any such thing as a utopia, due to my belief in the principal of Yin & Yang, or as it’s more commonly know in the west as…Duality/Dualism.

[Top Gun]

I think it's amusing how all of you have apparently turned into your parents. "Those damn kids and their long hair and their rock 'n' roll!"

[CUDA]

I think it's amusing how all of you have apparently turned into your parents. "Those damn kids and their long hair and their rock 'n' roll!"

Not a parent are you?

[callmeslick]

I'd add that, no, I am not turning into one of those parents. I AM a parent, and a grandparent, and could be seen as very accepting of new forms of expression. Still, I tried to instill in my daughter a certain sense of respect for others, a decorum and a willingness to learn and understand about older forms of expression as part of the overall picture. I hope to be able to do likewise with the next generation.

[Tunnelcat]

Pop culture, Rock & Roll and the “youth culture” did far more to kill “high culture” than any conservatives could ever dream of, and quite frankly…I don’t miss it.

In fact, I wish Ballet would fall off a cliff, and take opera with it.

My problem is with a culture that has become rude, loud, jaded, disrespectful…and has completely lost any sense of etiquette and protocol, not changing tastes.

Gads, cable TV is a vast wasteland of trash and vulgarity. I'm surprised most of the stuff MTV puts out is even allowed to air. But since it's not on the common public airwaves, which can be regulated, and is paid for by willing customers, it's OK. You're forgetting Spidey, money talks and if it sells, it will be peddled. You can't legislate morality in a free market that makes money and profit off the stuff. Personally, as a product of the 1960's who likes Rock and Roll, most of the crap that gets peddled and sold to kids and adolescents is beyond bad taste and has become just plain gross. But hey, it makes someone else very rich. That's the American Way.