So lately, my roomie and I have been obsessed with the show “American Dreams.” Ah, nothing like getting lost in the rhythm of the 60’s to rid your mind of current Iraqi death toll numbers and plans for world domination. Sometimes I think I was born in the wrong era, other times I think the “good ol’ days” have a lot more relevance than we think.
Yea okay the ’60’s were just coming out of the Red Scare and suffered a Presidential assassination, and not to mention were gearing up for Vietnam, but they had penny loafers, Bandstand and the Beatles! The 60’s were IT and now are over and done for. I can’t help but think-what a TV show depicting your era be like?
I can picture it now: Sprightly young teen bounds her way onto the screen of the hit show “The Good ol’ Days.” It’s New Years and she’s not completely sure if life as she knows will end once the clock hits midnight on Jan 1, 2000. Of course, everyone will laugh once 12:01 rolls around and Chicken Little didn’t see the sky break into pieces. They’ll all then toast to good fortune and to what a new century has in store for them.
Fast-forward to Sept. 11, 2001, Anthrax, Bush winning again and Iraq moving much closer to home. Our favorite Suzie Q will keep her chin up, and sit comfortably in her suburban bubble as she figures out whether to Ti-Vo “Date My Mom” or just watch it now.
I can just see us all looking back 40 years from now wondering what happened to the days when life was “easy.” We watch a show about the ’60’s and all its upcoming music and culture, and easily get lost in thinking that those days are all over, safety and simplicity are all downhill from here.
Of course they weren’t as perfect as they seem, but the idea of robots freaks the crap out of me, and I can’t get over how industrially shiny 2050 looks in my head. But then I remind myself what a basket case I was when my computer froze last week before a deadline and what a mess I’d be without my cell phone. How many of us are willing to give up these seemingly “simple” luxuries to go back to the scene on “American Dreams” when families huddled around the first color TV? I doubt many.
So instead the “Good ol’ Days” will remain a universal measurement, always reinventing itself, and representing anything that is in the past; be it cardigan sweaters, typewriters or even the late Mini iPod. Ah the Good ol’ Days- for anyone lost in a time where they can’t help missing the past and yet can’t imagine living anywhere but in the present.