Don't Watch It

Today we talked about the aspect of superheroes today and how they’ve brainwashed the innocent boys of today. Now at one point, I assume I was an innocent boy—I don’t remember. What I do remember is that I was never really into superheroes. I saw random episodes of some of the cartoons, but I never really caught on because typically they were always in the middle of storylines. (Spider-Man and X-Men were the most notorious about that. They said “This is Episode 11 of 14.”)

I grow up and, like it was mentioned today, superhero films blew up after the success of the first X-Men film. I saw most of them and liked a handful of them, but I never wanted to dress up as Batman. These stories and heroes affected millions of people, but I wasn’t one of them.

My media upbringing was on a lot of books, primarily. I read a lot of popular kids books of the time, but also a lot of older ones. Thanks to being able to read really fast and a great library, I was able to find a whole lot of different books. I then took that attention to film, still at a young age. Exposure to a lot of different ones made me realize what I really was looking for in characters.

So it wasn’t always the popular stuff of my age. It wasn’t because I was a snobby kid, but because I didn’t differentiate as much. I laughed more at Abbott and Costello than Adam Sandler so those were the films I devoured. My heroes were always the guys who were clever and funny instead of traditionally masculine. Groucho Marx, Basil of Baker Street (and human counterpart Sherlock Holmes), and The Great Brain. If I would have found Doctor Who when I was younger, I would be even more of a nerd.

I wasn’t trying to be a counter culture guy. I’m still not. I watch what I like to watch and I can always defend why I watch it. It’s not about what is popular. We rag on Disney Princess films and superhero films and reality shows and all of this. If you have problems with them DON’T WATCH THEM. Personally I think most of them are pretty good because I like the way they tell a story. I think the reality shows are terrible so I don’t watch those.

Always be actively thinking about what you are watching and then you aren’t “brainwashed.” Pop culture is a rich area of investigation, but why must we complain about stuff so heavily? There are so many fascinating trends and nuances but we only look at the major things because those are easier to calculate. Don’t be angry as something because it’s popular and it’s ruining the world. Make a difference by highlighting something you want to support. You want to change the world? There’s something to it.

--Austin Lugar