Pop Culture Moments that pass you by

Cafe Society
1

Someone has started a Harry Potter thread, pointing out that the last book and the next movie are coming in July. Well, I have totally missed/will miss the Harry Potter excitement. (read first book; found it ok; no interest in the rest) Now I know how you non-Hobbit lovers felt when LOTR was peaking. It will pass me by not because I’m oblivious, but because I just don’t get the appeal.

The Star Wars mania also passed me right by. Could be because I’m female and was in grad school when the very first one came out (wrong demographic so its appeal misses me also). I was able to avoid the prequels entirely - but now I work in a bookstore & can’t avoid HP.

Other pop culture moments passed me by because for years I didn’t own a TV - and actually had a life. For ex., I never saw an episode of Seinfeld until years after it was canceled. Many pop culture references whooshed right by me. Also, any pop culture moments related to MTV completely passed me by.

Well, too much about me. Anyone else have big gaps in their pop-ness? What are your reasons? Just don’t “get” rap or hip-hop? Out of the country for a long stretch? Do you get really annoyed with folks who are iquite nto stuff that has totally passed you by? (I used to ignore “Star Wars” fans; now they drive me buggy).

2

Star Wars for me. I went to the first movie, but fell asleep during it. Never looked back.

Friends-The-TV-Series. Never watched a single episode.

MySpace. Have never opened a page from it that I’m aware of.

Didn’t even have a cell phone until last year. Still have never “texted” anything.

3

Brady Bunch - grew up in the 70s but no TV as a kid (I’ve seen some on TV Land recently)
24 - not oblivious but not interested
Lost - not oblivious but not interested
Harry Potter - not oblivious but not interested
LOTR - I need to read the books first
Cabbage Patch dolls - not oblivious but not interested
Beanie Babies - not oblivious but not interested
Video games and machines - not oblivious but not interested
I like old school rap but the latest generation is lost on me

4

Without itemizing all the things that have passed me by, let me just say that when we’re playing the Genus Edition of Trivial Pursuit I have a fighting chance in all six categories. In the latest edition(s) I am helpless.

Once jazz became an “oldies” genre, sometime in the 60’s or 70’s, I had to content myself with sources that didn’t care. More recent music is a hit or miss proposition for me. Isolated artists, tunes, songs, and such will catch my attention but not in an overwhelming way.

Movies that capitalize on explosions and cartoons and CGI leave me cold.

There have usually been TV shows I’ll watch but I’m out there on the tails of the bell curve as far as demographics go. Odds are good that if I like a show it will get cancelled.

5

Anything on TV - Lost, CSI, anything. No cable, so I totally avoid it.

6

My knowledge of TV basically stops in 1988 when I got my first job in high school. I haven’t gotten around to it much since. Name any popular TV show since then and the chances are excellent that I haven’t seen it at all or got roped into watching an episode or two by someone else. I like TV fine. I just rarely get around to it and, when I do, I usually choose science or history shows.

Web “Portals” - I am looking at you Yahoo. I used you once to figure out what you were supposed to do that was so great. I now know that you have no reason to exist and I have no idea why other people do. I have been on the web since 1994 for an average of 8 - 12 hours a day and never needed you once.

Movies - I probably have no idea what you are talking about.

MySpace - I accidentally got exposed to a couple of pages here and there and couldn’t find the decontamination instructions anywhere. I am pretty sure it caused permanent damage. MySpace disturbs me because it seems to have no redeemable qualities yet kids have gone crazy over it.

PDA’s - I had a hunch they were a fad. I was even given one by a former employer. Working in IT, you would figure I would be a good candidate for one. Wrong. These things are useless and do a whole bunch of things very poorly. I should have known when people listed their top utilities as ones that showed battery life, adjusted the screen, etc. What can these things actually DO that something else can’t do better?

7

To be fair, the first two books are nearly unreadable because they’re so kiddy-oriented and simplistic. They really only need to be read (if someone were interested, which I know you’re not) just to get some background references that will be important later. The 3rd book is when things start getting more interesting and complex, as the kids are getting older. For me personally, who read the entire series in a week and a half, I was bored silly by the first two books (and movies), but by the end of the 3rd book I was hooked. I’d bet the only people who really REALLY like the first two books are people who were kids at the time and could relate. They also tend to be the ones who like the first two movies best. Ugh. Once I was a fan, I forced myself to re-read the books and re-watch the movies, and liked them strictly because I knew what the characters were going to grow into, but if I’d originally stopped at book one or after one and two, I’d feel exactly the same way you do.

It’s pretty great for people who like good music, but 90% of MySpace is useless.

I’ve never seen Friends either. Or American Idol (or any reality-TV that isn’t named Overhaulin’), 24 or any of the HBO/Showtime shows, or about a 100 other popular TV shows.

8

Lord of the Rings. It’s kind of ironic because I’ve played tons of tabletop RPGs, starting with 1st ed. AD&D back in the early 80’s, played Everquest, WoW and even beta tested LoTR Online and I’ve read/watched lots of fantasy novels/films. But I’ve never read any of the LoTR books nor seen the films. No real reason why not; I just haven’t gotten around to it.

9

I have seen tiny snippets of “American Idol” and “Survivor,” and neither show appeals to me. I feel a bit left out when my online pals are discussing these shows, but the feeling isn’t overwhelming enough to cause me to spend time sitting through entertainment that I don’t find to be entertaining.

10

About 75% of pop culture misses me completely because I don’t care for Science Fiction, Fantasy, Comic Books, or pirates. Nothing against them, they just don’t appeal to me. I read a lot and love good movies, but it seems that I’m limited to about 25% of what’s put out due to my tastes.

Sometimes I wonder why I’ve been on these boards for so long.

11

Most or all of the above, plus Japanimation / “anime.” Don’t like it, never liked it, don’t understand the appeal of it, and in all honesty think slightly less of people who do like it.

12

References to any broadcast-network television show that aired in the past 25 years whoosh right by me. For years, we had DirecTV with no “local” programming. Now that we can pull the networks again, we’re completely out of the habit and we couldn’t be less interested.

Harry Potter passed me by as well. As did the Star Wars “prequels” and any Star Trek after TNG. I tried to watch an episode of *Enterprise *on SciFi the other day and damn! was that an unwatchable piece of shit.

**Shagnasty **- you hit it with “web portals” too. My ISP went so far as to send me an “upgrade” CD awhile aback that would have installed the Yahoo browser and made a load of other changes to my broadband connection to optimize My Yahoo Internet Experience. I chucked it.

13

You would certainly lose that bet.

As to the OP, almost the entire genre of modern music that is pop/rock/rap/everything pretty much passes me by. The only “rock concert” I’ve ever attended was Weird Al. The only rock albums I own are The Beatles and Queen. I do like some number of pop/rock songs, but only ones that I happen to have encountered in other mediums. It’s impossible not to have heard of many of the big stars, but I know very little about them. For instance, the total number of Green Day songs I could name is zero. However, I’ve undoubtedly become familiar with some via osmosis without being aware they’re by Green Day, and probably kind of like some of them.

(Two asides:

  1. Well he’s back is the most gender-confusing username ever, even beating out the man named Nurse Carmen
  2. I’m pleasantly surprised that this thread has only partially devolved into a hipper-than-thou fest)
14

Well now, I do happen to think that a fair amount of animated product from Japan is crap, but works of certain directors - Hayao Miyazaki and Satoshi Kon, for example - IMO really stand out as on par or better than what some American studios put out. So I think it’s a bit harsh to think less of everyone who likes any animation from Japan, because certainly not all of it sucks to the same degree :slight_smile:

Anyway, I’ve missed many of the great television obsessions of my time. Friends, 24, Desperate Housewives, all of the “reality” shows, you name it. I don’t watch a whole lot of TV, but when I do, it’s invariably stuff like Mythbusters, History Channel documentaries, and the like. I just find those types of shows more entertaining, but then again, I’ve always been a sort of nerdy type who likes to watch shows that tell me interesting things.

15

This is going to sound weird, but: “My Humps.” Supposedly it’s so inescapable, right? I have never heard the song. Not once; not even a snippet. And it’s not like I’ve gone out of my way to avoid it or something. In fact, I’m sort of a music buff, I listen to the radio, I watch a fair bit of VH1 and MTV. Name any other current pop song, and I’m probably at least passingly familiar with it. But the ubiquitous “My Humps” has somehow missed me entirely.

16

Yep, and I still don’t have network TV. I had an antenna that got shitty reception, but it blew down a few years ago and I never replaced it. Not sure if Direct TV has my “local” channels yet or not.

So nothing on broadcast TV. Lost? Never seen even a split second. American Idol? Never seen any of it except maybe snippets on the news or something. I’ve seen some re-runs of Survivor on Outdoor Network or something. No sitcoms. I’ll watch Seinfeld re-runs on TBS, but no Friends, no Everybody Loves Raymond, no CSI, hell I don’t even know what the popular TV shows are these days. I haven’t watched the Super Bowl in 10 years, but the NFL channel had a couple of NFL games last season.

And I don’t pay for HBO or any of the “Premium” channels. I’ve seen an episode or 2 of Deadwood, about the same of The Sopranos, but if pressed I couldn’t answer any trivia.

I’ve seen all of the “Star Wars” movies, and I think all of the “Star Trek” movies, but none of the Star Trek series after the original. Never saw any Harry Potter. Never saw any Lord of the Rings except some animated Bilbo Baggins hobbit stuff back in high school English class.

Ditto here. I have SBC/Yahoo DSL, or maybe it’s AT&T/Yahoo now, I don’t know. I have a “home page” that links me to my email and streaming tunes, but Google is my homepage.

17

I missed, purposefully, the whole Star Wars fiasco; mainly because if I recall correctly, it was the 1st thing to be majorly overdone everywhere!!! McDonald’s, lunch boxes, etc, I couldn’t stand it. To this day, I have never watched a single one of the series.

That same thinking made me avoid all the hoopla about American Idol, Survivor, and the like. However, I did watch Seinfeld in the 90’s, and some Friend’s, and up until I got rid of my paychannels, watched The Sopranos, Huff, Dexter, Weeds, Sex in the City, and Brotherhood…I have to admit, I miss them.

I never read any of the Harry Potter books, but have seen all the movies, I think, and enjoyed them.

Oh, here’s a good one…video games…huh??? NO idea or desire about them whatsoever. When I read about people camping out for the PS3’s, I’m stumped.

Someone else mentioned Beanie Babies…there’s another one I just couldn’t understand!!! The lengths people went to w/ those things… :confused:

I finally got this computer at home just a few months ago, along w/ a DVD player, since I really didn’t have much choice there, w/ VHS being basically phased out…I already love that, though…sooooooooo much better, so far.

I still don’t have a cell phone, or a PDA, a palm pilot, digital camera, MP3, Ipod, HD TV…god, I AM a dinosaur, aren’t I!!!

My nephew, while over about a year ago, wandered over to my CD collection (which, damn it, I am proud of!!!), and said, “Oh, you still have CD’s?”…arggggggggh…yeaaaaaaaah…but, why wouldn’t I??? Different generation, and there’s just been too damn many advances for me to keep up w/, I guess.

18

Oh, hey, I forgot about all of the HBO/Showtime hotness that was going around. Well, I don’t have premium TV either, save Starz which shows nothing but movies, so I never got into stuff like the Sopranos, either. I tried watching one episode of Deadwood, but couldn’t for the life of me tell what was going on (this coming from a Shakespeare fan who’s used to heavy, metaphorical dialogue). In fact, I think everyone I was watching it with had a great big “WTF?!” reaction as well. Just not our cup of tea, I suppose.

19

I missed out on pop culture events starting in the '70s. I’ve not seen Star Wars, LOTR, any of the truly iconic movies or TV shows since then. No Roseanne, no Married With Children, no reality shows, no Friends, no Seinfeld. They don’t appeal to me.

I’ve never played a video game. When they came out, I had a look at Pong, and moved on. No one I knew had any games or anything to play them on. The whole phenomenon passed me by.

I lost interest in current music when it became something with which I could not identify, in the late '80s.

“Web portals” were mentioned. I didn’t even know what this meant until it was explained as a Yahoo home page. I’ve never had a use for that. I refused to install the IE browser that came with Comcast cable internet. When I want to go somewhere, I just go there. In Netscape.

20

Oh, I don’t care for much of what comes out of American animation studios either. I think the last animated film I saw was “Aladdin” and everything since then by any studio has left me feeling quite “meh.” And as I said I don’t think a lot less of anime fans, just a little bit. The only real consequence of someone’s being an anime fan is that I won’t date them (which they may or may not care about).

What is this “home page” of which you speak? You mean that some people when they launch their browsers get something other than a blank window?