Was Alex P. Keaton meant to be the butt of the jokes, though? His parents were the stodgy old parents and he was the rebel. Also, are you sure radical chic was wealthy folks pretending to be downtrodden? Maybe the Weather Underground, but not Leonard Bernstein.
“It is important to note this moment because for the first time since the Sixties, there was a sizable leftist movement that was disillusioned with electoralism and voting Democrat because it’s practical.”
It came close but the online component wasn't strong enough to bolster the Nader skeptics. Plus Bernie getting robbed was more dramatic and upsetting than Nader's campaign, especially in a contested election like 2000.
pretty good synopsis of the intersection of popular culture with politics. Reductive, but all potted histories are reductive. Not bad, despite the brevity of it. Resonant with the times I've lived through.
nb. footnote 5 : "Substackers not only caught Biden’t dementia long before the mainstream press, they also saw how Kamala’s campaign might be in trouble. Considering the mainstream press’s bizarre aversion to Substack, no wonder they were caught unawares both times."
I don't know how you can derive these wide ranging forecasts on cultural direction from the November 2024 election result, which even the article seems to believe was down to inflation and Gaza.
This was not just from an election result. This was from many liberal journalists writing thinkpieces about how out of touch they have been with the Internet this whole time. Before the Internet they had network TV and major periodicals. Then they had HuffPo, Buzzfeed, Twitter. After Musk bought Twitter, they were shellshocked. They stayed out of inertia. It wasn't until the Rogan moment that they came to and realized they lost their grip. They had inklings of it regarding Gaza which is why they supported the TikTok ban. They had inklings of it regarding inflation; they responded by downplaying economic woes as a "vibecession." But that "left needs a Joe Rogan" moment...when have liberals needed their own version of ANYTHING when it came to media?
You say the media became liberal around 1968, but what about the stereotype of the liberal journalist present in Ayn Rand novels and conservative laments from the 1930s through 60s? Also, you make interesting points. But it must be admitted that the singer-songwriter music of Laurel Canyon and even disco music is of great artistic merit, certainly compared to music today (and arguably better than the 80s hair metal you mention). Though I just wrote an apologia for disco, so I’m biased: https://open.substack.com/pub/cracksinpomo/p/you-should-be-dancing?r=118ei5&utm_medium=ios
Good question. The key is OVERWHELMINGLY liberal. I don't doubt that the media in general might have had a slight liberal tilt. NYT and Atlantic were always liberal. But there were enough conservatives, especially in the tabloid world and even in Hollywood, that the 1968 distinction needs to be made.
i am glad you made your second point: I want to state, officially on the record that I love canyon rock and disco. As a Gen X slacker, I turned on the hair metal that nursed me. But the type of Boomer that joined the Boomer Liberal Elite media always hated metal, going back to Led Zeppelin. They resented how dumb it was; they wanted all songs to have lyrics like Dylan and Mitchell. Why not? They were journalists.
Mo: Don’t know if this was coincidental or if you are influencing the Zeitgeist or if someone in Hollywood is a reader but the “Ethel Merman disco record” was referenced in the new season of Reacher.
Anyone who uses the word "woke" without defining what it is supposed to mean in the given context is *without exception* completely full of it.
I didn't mention it
That said this frames everything on my side
https://open.substack.com/pub/supculture/p/when-woke-wasnt-weak?r=ucm19&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
Was Alex P. Keaton meant to be the butt of the jokes, though? His parents were the stodgy old parents and he was the rebel. Also, are you sure radical chic was wealthy folks pretending to be downtrodden? Maybe the Weather Underground, but not Leonard Bernstein.
I misspoke with pretending to be downtrodden but they pretended to be down. As for Family Ties that was true for season one that he was the butt
“It is important to note this moment because for the first time since the Sixties, there was a sizable leftist movement that was disillusioned with electoralism and voting Democrat because it’s practical.”
2000 election comes to mind.
It came close but the online component wasn't strong enough to bolster the Nader skeptics. Plus Bernie getting robbed was more dramatic and upsetting than Nader's campaign, especially in a contested election like 2000.
Bernie getting robbed was a watershed moment for me. There really wasn’t any hope for electoral politics after that.
pretty good synopsis of the intersection of popular culture with politics. Reductive, but all potted histories are reductive. Not bad, despite the brevity of it. Resonant with the times I've lived through.
nb. footnote 5 : "Substackers not only caught Biden’t dementia long before the mainstream press, they also saw how Kamala’s campaign might be in trouble. Considering the mainstream press’s bizarre aversion to Substack, no wonder they were caught unawares both times."
What follows the ascendancy of Liberalism?
What is the next ‘ism’ to stand astride our cultural world?
I would bet none since there is no monoculture
I don't know how you can derive these wide ranging forecasts on cultural direction from the November 2024 election result, which even the article seems to believe was down to inflation and Gaza.
This was not just from an election result. This was from many liberal journalists writing thinkpieces about how out of touch they have been with the Internet this whole time. Before the Internet they had network TV and major periodicals. Then they had HuffPo, Buzzfeed, Twitter. After Musk bought Twitter, they were shellshocked. They stayed out of inertia. It wasn't until the Rogan moment that they came to and realized they lost their grip. They had inklings of it regarding Gaza which is why they supported the TikTok ban. They had inklings of it regarding inflation; they responded by downplaying economic woes as a "vibecession." But that "left needs a Joe Rogan" moment...when have liberals needed their own version of ANYTHING when it came to media?
Man, if only Joe Rogan would let a Democrat on his show...
*stares in Bernie*
You say the media became liberal around 1968, but what about the stereotype of the liberal journalist present in Ayn Rand novels and conservative laments from the 1930s through 60s? Also, you make interesting points. But it must be admitted that the singer-songwriter music of Laurel Canyon and even disco music is of great artistic merit, certainly compared to music today (and arguably better than the 80s hair metal you mention). Though I just wrote an apologia for disco, so I’m biased: https://open.substack.com/pub/cracksinpomo/p/you-should-be-dancing?r=118ei5&utm_medium=ios
Good question. The key is OVERWHELMINGLY liberal. I don't doubt that the media in general might have had a slight liberal tilt. NYT and Atlantic were always liberal. But there were enough conservatives, especially in the tabloid world and even in Hollywood, that the 1968 distinction needs to be made.
i am glad you made your second point: I want to state, officially on the record that I love canyon rock and disco. As a Gen X slacker, I turned on the hair metal that nursed me. But the type of Boomer that joined the Boomer Liberal Elite media always hated metal, going back to Led Zeppelin. They resented how dumb it was; they wanted all songs to have lyrics like Dylan and Mitchell. Why not? They were journalists.
Ben Stein wrote an interesting book in 1979 called The View from Sunset Boulevard, about the politics of people who write TV shows and such
I'll have to check it out. Thanks
Mo: Don’t know if this was coincidental or if you are influencing the Zeitgeist or if someone in Hollywood is a reader but the “Ethel Merman disco record” was referenced in the new season of Reacher.
It's happening!