Pop Culture and All That Matters, Part II

OK, I was s'posed to come back here Tuesday night, after the grueling kickboxing session, but if there's one thing I've learned since becoming a parent, it's that the best laid plans are always subject to change. Instead, I ended up in the easy chair, reading Eli and Uncle Dawn and Keys to the Kingdom. 'Cuz you're never too young to learn to appreciate magical realism. Meanwhile, the conversation is still cookin' over at Bijan's house; a trip there is highly recommended.

Ho'kay?! Back to the story. The list of television programs is, to my eyes, right on point. I'd add just a few things, because other shows I've thought of could easily be subsumed under the already existing shows, i.e. "Mission Impossible" (which I loved; I really couldn't make up my mind as a kid whether I wanted to be a rock star or a secret agent when I grew up...and after all, I had the formidable Emma Peel of "The Avengers" to be my role model, one of television's few non-blondes) is probably covered under "I Spy", and "Homicide" could be covered under "Hill Street Blues". The chronological order of the list immediately brought to mind both how television has changed over the years, and how television has changed who we are.

One of the thoughts that came to my mind, as it inevitiably does during any discussion of television, is the change in set design, wardrobe and character background of television characters, to reflect more 'upscale' lifestyles. Back in the day, there were more working-class characters, in typical working-class homes. There were more single mothers. I find it somewhat curious that with the rise in both downward mobility and single parenthood, that there are fewer onscreen reflections of this. Now, what caused this: remotes and VCRs creating the 'need' for product placement (and its inherent 'upscale' drive...after all, if someone already has a blender, maybe they need a Cuisinart?)? Is it subliminal; an attempt at social engineering through the tube? Or does it go deeper....do we really not want to see ourselves as we are, but how the screen can make us appear?

Another thought is how music is used in television today. Bijan's comments section has moved on to discussion of soundtracks and themes; those listed are invariably of older shows. New shows seem to rely on the use of existing recorded music by pop artists. Is this the influence of MTV and Flashdance (credited at the time as a full-length video and influence on the use of music in "Miami Vice")? Or is it a natural outgrowth of mass media mergers---a way for multimedia corporations to maximize profits by promoting music they own (or promote) on the television series they produce?

Also, the recent rise in game shows and "reality TV". This was attributed to labor issues with the Screenwriters Guild, but the trend has far outlasted bitter contract negotiations. Is this the influence of foreign programming (it is a small world after all, courtesy satellites)? Or are a growing number of folks actively pursuing that "fifteen minutes of fame"? Is it in any way related to a generation of folks growing up with video games and computers, thus demanding that television be more interactive, too? 'Cuz I really don't think television is its own medium; T.V. seems to rely heavily on the existence and innovations in other forms of media, which television then makes more accessible or acceptable. Then again, the various contests remind me a lot of the endurance contests popular during depression times (pole-sitting, marathon dancing, etc.). The large number of people turning out for auditions to see who can drink and/or vomit up blenderfuls of worms on national television ought to speak to the state of our economy; I doubt there'd be many takers without the cash prize.

And as a side note I'm noticing fewer strong female characters on television, or shall I say, those whose power comes from within, rather than from holding a position of authority as a consequence of their employment. The difference may be subtle, but it holds meaning for me.

How is television changing who we are? I've noticed a distinct rise in the level of materialism, and at ever-younger ages, in my lifetime. And it seems to be a different type of materialism; less of a keeping-up-with-the-Joneses and more of a way of defining oneself---buying an identity, rather than buying because of an identity (did that make any sense?). I remember when cable programming first came out, and people used cable as a way of expanding horizons; seeing films, programs and sports they might not otherwise have seen or been interested in before (and MTV had that function when in first arrived, because the playlists resembled college radio more than the mainstream---it seemed like overnight I went from being regarded as having weird taste in music to having cool taste in music, go figure). Now, like Amanda said somewhere out in the blogosphere, but I forget where, viewing is used to limit exposure to difference; since the novelty wore off, the viewing has become more 'tribal'. It probably goes without saying how television is affecting body image, particularly in young women. And there seems to be "television apartheid" on the same level as radio apartheid; not that it hasn't always existed (it has), but that with cable offering more choices, you'd think integration would be one of 'em.

I have some more thoughts, but I've had this post sitting around long enough. I like blogging, but real life trumps it, always. I'll keep thinking on the subject. Oh, and another good "read me a story" book is Pockets by Jennifer Armstrong (very creative site design, btw). She's married to the author of this site. For her sake, I hope he's less curmudgeonly in real life. He has another site here, and if you love architecture, you'll love his "Eyesore of the Month".

Pop Culture and All That Matters

Despite the backlog of half-starts and unfinished projects on this blog (including posts on getting women into apprenticeships in the trades, the Mafia and stereotypes, images of fatherhood, and skipping several Fridays' worth of 'Umana Cosa', my so-far one shot series featuring italian-american women writers), I've been spending a considerable amount of time procrastinating instead (now, why can't that be an Olympic sport? Some of us certainly do it in Olympic proportions!) and surfing the blogs (and runnin' my mouth; what else is new?).

Today's magnificent stop was Bijan Bayne's gig, the aptly named Pop Culture. If you dig sports and pop culture, like the Talking Heads said, This Must Be the Place. He's been throwing down the gauntlet with posts on essential reading, seminal television and films to curl up to on a cold winter's night. I think this all started with Avery Tooley, and his periodic posts on the best music (he just might have more CDs than me) and top athletes, but I could be wrong. Anyway, those posts have really set my mind flowing. The television one especially; just seeing the names of those seventies shows took me waayyy back, back to the days when I read MAD magazine and Marvel comics (my favorite? Vampire Tales), stayed up late to watch the Creature Feature and "Saturday Night Live" while my dad nagged at my mom to "get your ass out of bed and get movin'" (she worked third shift. the nagging wasn't helpful, least of all to me, who had to sit next to the set and turn the volume up loud enough to hear over everything else being done at the top of the lungs, yet not loud enough to wake the upstairs neighbors).

Hey! Don't laugh! MAD magazine was a fountain of knowledge for me; it was where I first encountered, through their cartoons, the idea that some people didn't discuss religion or politics (I remember asking my dad, on one of our ubiquitous trips to the liquor store, about this: *cue plaintive expression and tone* "well, whadda they talk about, then?!" He spit his drink out--remember, this was the seventies; you could put your drink on the dashboard then--and he laughed his ass off, before collecting himself and responding, "oh, nothing important..."). Politics and politricks were the constant noise in the verbal background of my youth. I remember going to high school and hearing my history teacher insist that americans had faith in political leaders until Nixon lied onscreen (an event I remember, 'cuz my mother taped it on a small reel-to-reel on top of the set, hushing me during the commercials and telling me to "remember this. this is history. that man's lying through his teeth." I don't know why she taped it; maybe she was afraid no one else would, and the moment would be forgotten, Orwellian style.). My response? "Psshhtt. None of those people were from Chicago, then, were they?" to a classroom full of laughter.

Eventually, I moved on from MAD and Marvel to CREEM magazine and Rolling Stone. And from there to the current periodicals rolled in the sidebar. Kinda goes with other changes, like broadening my musical tastes from what was on my transistor radio (Jackson 5, Stevie Wonder, Elton John, EWF, Sly, Beatles) and my folks' stereo (Janis, Etta James, Hendrix, Tull, Clapton, Harry Chapin, Mingus, Monk, ELO) to encompass everything from rock, soul, blues, funk, jazz, hip-hop, punk & new wave (altho', I gotta give my dad credit on this one too; he came home one day singing "God Save the Queen". does anyone else have a father who turned them on to the Sex Pistols?), reggae, salsa, and american roots music.

The changes. The change from television being three networks, a public radio station, and a UHF channel, to hundreds of digital stations, all on demand, in stereo, and with instant rewind. No more rushing to the set...just set the timer and record it. Or buy the DVD later. Hell, I remember when I was the remote! The change on AM radio from rock-n-roll to all talk. From FM meaning variety to the tightly formatted, stringently controlled, no-request, all-corporate apartheid-oriented radio that it is today. (The rechristening of 'AOR' to reflect a little more boldly what it actually is, is courtesy Greg Tate.)

Looking at Brother Bayne's (told d'ja, I'm in the labor movement, and I have a tendency to call people I like 'brother' and 'sister'; get over it) list on television got me thinking less about the actual shows, and more about how changes in pop culture and its technology have created changes throughout the american character.

But, before I can get down to business, there's a kickboxing class to attend to. The teacher's a real sadist, too. My lungs and arms already hurt, just thinking about it. Part II, comin' up later this evening. Really.

Terry McAuliffe, YOU"RE FIRED!!!

Ok, Black Wednesday is over. It's time to get busy.

I volunteered for the election campaign; I stumped for Kerry in St. Louis (swing state!) and in Illinois. I phone banked. Sat on the PAC committee. I, and thousands of other union members bit the bullet and went with the program, flaws and all. We shook our heads, but kept on. We held our noses. But kept on. We held our tongues. And now some people have the nerve to say we should just keep on holding them, that to do otherwise is just giving aid and comfort to the enemy. Bullshit. For too long, our silence has been our own worst enemy. Now, the DNC needs to hear it. I owe them the truth, and they owe me their ears. Let's see if anyone listens. I am addressing this open letter to the DNC, but really, everyone who has been going with the program needs to listen up. Recognize. And then get busy.

The election results shouldn't have surprised anyone. Disappointed, yes. But not surprised. The Repugnicans have been organizing from the ground up for several decades, while the Democrats have just been calling in favors from the usual suspects (unions, african-americans, environmental groups, what's left of the women's movement), and then only during election time. That's when we are courted. Between elections, our concerns are not addressed. And some of the citizenry that you occasionally flirt with (youth, gays, immigrants, latinos) are pretty much ignored, especially if their votes are seen as alienating some of the more usual suspects. This shit has to stop. If the Democratic party is to have a future, if it is to learn any lessons from this election, it better learn that number one on the agenda better be organizing from the bottom up.

Yeah, go ahead and suck your teeth. Then siddown and listen. You take home a nice salary. The people who would be your constituency do not. The people who would be your constituency not only do not take home much money, but we do not have very much control over our working conditions, or even whether or not we are working. We do not need one more "boss" lording their higher education over us, telling us what to do and how to do it, and telling us that our analysis doesn't count. Top-down organizing has really been pissing off the troops out here. Start looking at some trees. Bottom-up organizing, starting at the precinct-committee level, needs to get more attention. It will require asking more from people. More legwork. More going out and talking to people. Don't look for a ready-made solution. Wake up. This nation is deeply divided, and those divisions exist throughout your would-be constituency. Here are some suggestions:

• Every neighborhood, every township needs a Democratic precinct committeeperson. It is embarrassing the number that do not. Don't make excuses. Find one. One thing I have learned through union and community organizing, is that people need to be asked to volunteer. These people can and do rise to the occasion. Ask them for their help.


• This precinct committeeperson then has to get really, really busy. And not just during election time. The only time I see my precinct committeeman is during election time. This should not be the case. The precinct committeeperson should be on a first name basis with everyone in the neighborhood. That precinct committeeperson should be known by people in the neighborhood. That precinct committeeperson and his or her die-hards need to see and be seen at community events. Church suppers. Union meetings. Various fundraising events, whether to help an uninsured person with cancer treatment or to give toys to needy children. PTA meetings. School plays. The Boys and Girls Club. Poker runs. Chili cookoffs. Mostaccioli dinners. Get the picture? Your people need to see and be seen. They need to talk to people about their concerns, in person.


• and what's more, if people have problems, the precinct committeeperson should be able to help with solutions. I took a training course through the local Trades' Council to be a 'union counselor'; basically to run point through the maze of community services that could help a person with a particular problem...a liason maybe, or someone who can help cut red tape. Precinct committeepeople could benefit from such a training program. Many people are afraid to volunteer for certain positions of authority because they are not provided with any training or walk-through. No one wants to volunteer and then fall flat on their face. Give them training. Watch them get results. Watch your membership rise. While I was phone banking on Thursday, the lead-man came in with a list of phone numbers from my parents' hometown. A dying rust-belt town in the northern part of Illinois, with a high proportion of very elderly people. I spoke with many who were bedridden and couldn't make it out to vote. Where the fuck was their precinct committeeperson? Why wasn't that person talking to the disabled elderly people and making sure they were registered and had an absentee ballot? Or assistance to the polls? Think about new mothers too....especially mothers of twins or triplets. Think about people on workman's comp. The precinct committeeperson should make it his or her business to reach these potential voters.


• don't just focus on the "big" elections. Think about focusing some effort at the local level. I live in Illinois, a "blue" state, that came out for Kerry. Again, it's embarrassing the number of races where there are no Democratic challengers. Races are written off, because "oh, we'll never get that one." That doesn't seem to stop your competition! What about the school board, the county board, city elections (many of which are officially "nonpartisan", like that's fooling anybody), park district, sheriff, etc.? Don't let a race go without a Democaratic challenger.


• Criminy, I can hear the excuses now. B-b-but that'll take too much money! Where will we get the volunteers? Start working. You can't get results without starting the work. You can start with the usual suspects, but you have to begin reaching out. Preaching to the choir does not work. They're the only ones in church anymore, dig? Don't believe the bogus stereotypes that are thrown around by your competition. Remember, you were just gifted with a senate seat here. A lot of rural Republicans voted for Barack Obama. Why? Because he bothered to come out here to the sticks, which is more than can be said for practically any other Democratic politician with a Chicago base. He worked. He got results. Study this case. It can work with other races, and in other states. Oh, and a word about volunteers...maybe this is Illinois-specific, the land of patronage, but I doubt it...there've been two traditional camps of volunteers: people from the union halls, and people who want a decent job, that the party might be able to help them get. You are ignoring other demographics here! I'm a die-hard, you're pretty much stuck with me until and unless there's a viable labor party (uhh, you could be that party, you know). Even so, I would have spent more time volunteering if there was child-care available. There's more single parents that feel the same way. You'd get more of us if we could bring our kids, who would have other kids around and something fun to do, maybe some pizza ('cuz you're feeding volunteers anyway)...food for thought. And if you go to the dollar store and pick up some trinkets for the kiddos to take home (older kids might dig movie or amusement park tickets), they just might remember that when they're in their teens and ready to volunteer themselves. Teens. Why aren't they being asked? What better way to get the youth vote when they turn eighteen than to get them already involved in the process? Elders? Remember, it's flattering to be asked. Ask some people.

The bottom line on bottom-up organizing is that it will offer more flexibility, a better handle on geographic and/or cultural problems and solutions, and the local control will give the constituency more of a sense of ownership...more investment in the process. That they are a part of and not the "hired help" will make all the difference in the world, and keep them coming back.

So. What does that leave us with? Oh yeah.....the issues. Now that the election is over, do you think it's safe to talk about some issues? Republicans have been doing the framing for decades, and Democrats have been playing their game, on their field, by their rules, with their ball. And then turning around and wondering why they lose. The Democratic party has acted like Republicans are a united front; that they don't have any divisions or internal contradictions like we do. Here's a news flash from someone who was born, raised, and lives in the heartland....they do. Pay attention. Here are some ideas for tactics and issues whose time has come:

• The Living Wage. Push the living wage. Push it hard. People in the United States like to believe in Fairness. We like to believe that our work counts for something. Every working american should be taking home a paycheck that covers housing, food, utilities, transportation, clothes, school necessities for the kids....in short, all their basic expenses. No one should have to go begging for charity at the end of the working week. This is a message that will resonate with american people. This is what the minimum wage started out being. The framework and the idea are already there. This elephant isn't just in the room, it blew through the front wall and is running down the street. Run after it, dammit!


• Full Employment. Yes, I said full employment. That big bugga-bear of economists everywhere. Sure, we can argue about whether or not full employment can ever really be achieved, but the fact is....there can stand to be a lot more employment than what there is. And this is a message that deeply resonates with most americans....that everyone who wants a job, who took the time to get educated for a job, who has the skills necessary to do a job, should have that job. This is important. Many people are unemployed. Many more are underemployed. Most of the underemployed have jobs with no benefits, such as health insurance or a pension. This will have dire ramifications for America's future. This needs to be talked about. Start talking about full employment and set it as a goal.


• Education. Our public educational system is seriously underfunded. No Child's Behind Left is not going to fix it; it's another unfunded mandate that has more problems than solutions. Don't take my word for it; listen to the people who make that their job. Property taxes are not properly funding the schools; most of us will never have the kind of income needed to pay an amount of property tax that will give our children the school they deserve. Again, americans like to believe in Fairness. Start talking about the ways and means to fix our schools. In December 2000 the U.S. Department of Education identified thirteen key indicators of school quality: school leadership, school goals, professional community, discipline, academic environment, teacher academic skills, teaching assignment, teacher experience, professional development, course content, pedagogy, technology and class size. Too many schools in America aren't making the grade. Money is part of the solution, particularly for lower-income areas where teachers tend to be less experienced, class sizes tend to be larger, technology tends to be outdated and/or nonexistant, and kids already have adult-sized problems on their shoulders. This isn't just a message for the cities; rural areas can't consolidate schools fast enough with their dwindling tax base. Rural kids are losing out too. Democrats should feel free to bring up the fact that schools were considered okey-dokey until Brown vs. the Board of Education. After Brown, conservatives magically wanted government out of the education business. Democrats should feel free to talk about the resegregating of schools, as well as strategies to combat this. College costs are also spiralling out of control. Every now and then, you'll hear talk about a "G.I. Bill for everybody" (meaning, giving non-veterans a cheap means to obtain a college education). This is a policy that Democrats should be working on.


• Health Care. This is certainly on the minds of many americans! Meanwhile, Bush's only game plan for health care involves capping malpractice awards, so that regardless of the damages done (including future earnings of the dead or injured patient) or the negligence involved, doctors get a break. What the hell is that going to do for uninsured americans? Especially young uninsured americans, who are entering a job market where benefits like health insurance and pension plans have gone the way of gas lighting and the horse and carriage. It will do nothing to reduce the number of bankruptcies filed because of medical expenses. Hospitals and health clinics are not closing down in rural areas because of the cost of malpractice insurance. Hello? Universal Single Payer Health Plan?


• The Commons. The what? You know, everything in the public domain. Public libraries. Public parks. Public roads. Public buildings. Publically owned resources. All of the things that belong to us in common. What we share as our national heritage. Slowly but surely, conservatives have framed "the commons" to mean "Communist", capital C. Why the hell have Democrats let this happen? Why did we succumb to red-baiting? We already know the "how", of course, and it relates to another aspect of the commons....the airwaves. Perhaps by bringing back the Fairness Doctrine, and stressing that the airwaves belong to the public, we can come up with more tools to combat the idea of the "ownership society", which in short means that everything and everyone should be owned. Democrats shouldn't be afraid to mention that "privatization" is shorthand for "less access and fewer resources for the common people". What was built and/or sustained by the public should not be given or sold. Period. We all need the commons.


• Our Environment. That most important part of the Commons. You can't turn around these days without reading headlines about the melting of the polar icecaps, the destruction of Rocky Mountain glaciers, the large dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico, the lack of ozone around Australia, mercury poisoning, fish and amphibians with multiple limbs and/or sex organs, plankton dying in the oceans (Soylent Green, anyone?), E. Coli, acid rain, the rising cancer rates...yet the Repugnicans have managed to frame any mention of our shared environment as coming from tree-hugging radical trustafarians. Clean air, clean water, clean land and safe, healthy, life-sustaining food are of interest to all human beings who plan on surviving. Believe it or not, this is an issue of interest to what has been disdained as "middle America". Wake up. There's an awful lot of gun-toting, Second-Amendment loving outdoorspeople out here in "middle America" who see first hand what the destruction and neglect of our environment is doing. And they don't like it. "Middle Americans" aren't real thrilled about factory farms, genetic modification of crops, or irradiation of the food supply. It's not just coastal intellectuals that read Fast Food Nation.


• The Bill of Rights. The most beloved part of the United States Constitution. That for which we are envied. That for which we would fight and die. That which is being gutted by the PATRIOT Act. This is one of the pillars of the United States of America. Do not let it fall to fears of "terrorism" or "crime" or anything else that supposedly lurks in the shadows of night. The PATRIOT Act cut large swathes across our Bill of Rights in broad daylight, with too few Democrats standing up against it.


• Energy. Or as was said in the Seventies, the Energy Crisis. Peak oil production means it's all downhill from here; meanwhile we are focusing all our resources towards the "global economy", which won't be sustainable in the post-oil world. Spend enough time here and you may agree that we need other strategies than "burn, baby, burn". The Democratic party could be capitalizing on the fact that americans like to believe in Progress; progress in this instance could involve renewable energy and rebuilding of our infrastructure, with the resultant increase in living wage jobs. Speak up! Oil is not our future!!


• Our Infrastructure. What is now dismissed as "flyover country" was once the backbone of the nation. Now we're the Rust Belt, a name that is visibly apropos for anyone brave enough to drive through, not fly over, our nation. Let no Democratic speech go without mentioning the infrastructure. Blue-collar ears perk up at the mere mention of this word. We're listening. Start talking.

Now, let me repeat myself: Framing is Everything. If the Democrats take nothing away from this election loss but Framing is Everything, the game is still on. I didn't mention foreign policy, because it ought to go without saying that war should be a last resort rather than another tool to implement foreign policy. Get out of the empire-building game; it didn't work for Great Britain and it won't work for the United States (especially after peak oil production). I did not mention "women's issues" because that is divisive framing. What is called "women's issues" in the United States are really human rights issues, and many are children's issues, which emphasizes the neoconservative stance that (a)women are really only good for raising children anyway, and (b) children are only for photo-ops. Back to the factories with 'em! Childcare, family leave, the education of children, care for our elderly, equal pay, equal opportunity....don't ghettoize these as women's issues; they are everyone's issues. I will mention this though: religion. As in "freedom of" and freedom from. Make no bones about it; this election was lost because of religion. There's an ill wind blowing, and it's name is Dominionism. *that link shamelessly stolen from The Goddess.* Groups such as the Family teach their members to toss out God-talk at every opportunity but not to get into pesky specifics. As the saying goes, the "devil is in the details", and ain't it the truth. The beliefs of these american jihadists bear little to no resemblance to the faith of mainstream americans. Democrats should never miss a chance to force dominionists or their lackeys to show their hand. Wanna bring religion into the ring? Then make them state their real beliefs. American people are used to listening to polite benedictions of the most general sort at public events. Most americans don't get too out-of-sorts when hearing mention of God; most americans of christian faith assume that the speaker is talking about the same God they believe in. When it comes to dominionists, nothing could be further from the truth. Catholics especially need to pay attention; dominionists are no friends of catholics. Democrats tried to play the religion game by pandering to homophobia and abandoning the right of gays and lesbians to marry. Didn't work, did it? Meanwhile, here was this nice institution called the Bill of Rights, sitting idly by, waiting to be used by some enterprising Democrat who would dare to say that the government is not in the business of enforcing the laws of religion, and invoking that most american right of privacy in the interests of homosexuals being permitted the same right to civil marriage that heterosexuals have. Freedom of religious practice goes hand in hand with freedom from having someone else's religion crammed down your throat.

Now, DNC...are you ready to rumble?