Somebody and her mom

My first symbol of the decade is a song and its accompanying music video. It’s called “Stacy’s Mom,” and it’s sung by a band called Fountains of Wayne. Even if you’ve heard the song, I suggest you watch the video below, because it’s the focus of this article (and quite entertaining).



Now, you’re probably thinking “Chris, why on earth did you just make me watch that? Not only is that complete trash, but I can’t see why someone decent like you would like something like that.” Well, my first response is:
1. It’s a really catchy melody.
2. Yes, I know it’s trash.
But isn’t that what life is all about nowadays? It’s all catchy trash. Why do people buy iPods when there are better mp3 players out there? Because they’re shiny and everyone else has one. Why do people watch Rush Limbaugh, or Bill O’Reilly, or John Stewart, or Jay Leno, or Survivor? Because as much as they are trash (in their own different ways), we like watching them. Here’s a little demonstration of my point that you can try at home. I was watching the news the other day and decided I would play a little game. I would watch the anchor introduce a story and then imagine what I would like to know next about the topic. Then I’d watch the rest of the segment to see if what I wanted to know was actually discussed. You should try it sometime, and you will probably be amazed at how unsatisfied your cravings are. The vast majority of information we get isn't something we actually need to hear or really even want to hear, it's what we hear first and hear most pleasantly.

My second (and more profound) lesson from “Stacy’s Mom” is the reflection of society that it portrays. There’s absolutely no question as to what that kid is doing at the end of that video. Likewise, there’s absolutely no question as to what that girl’s reaction is to what she finds him doing. Twenty years ago, you couldn’t even talk about masturbation except if you were smoking pot with your buddies. Sure, there were songs out there with all sorts of lyrics relating to sexual acts (“Jet Boy Jet Girl” by Elton Motello, “Cowboys are Frequently, Secretly Fond of Each Other” by Willie Nelson) and non-traditional relationships (“Mrs. Robinson”). However, there’s something different about today. We’re the generation that grew up with Jim and his American Pie and Finch fantasizing about Stifler’s Mom. We’re the generation in which we don’t care if you inhaled, because so did everyone else. We’re the generation that realizes that people are people, that everyone has their quirks, and that the symbolic “closed door” to the bedroom that things happen behind is closed for a reason.

What’s my explanation for this? People grew up and got real. They realized that to write songs about “normal love” or to only talk about “traditional” topics was to believe that “normality” and “tradition” never changed. I’m to break this to those to may differ, but tradition changes. And with it does society. Society never was, or never is, nor ever will be, full of the same , monotonous people. The worlds of “Leave it to Beaver,” “Brady Bunch,” “Family Ties” and “I Love Lucy” weren’t full of middle-class white families who played catch and ate breakfast together, and neither is our world today.

Does this mean that society has suddenly gone lax? Are our teachers going to be encouraging preschoolers to get gay marriages, and will it soon be legal for people to marry their dogs, cats, and vending machines? Of course not. A lot of the same limits will still exist and will probably never be changed. It will never be normal to see a grown man wearing pink eyeshadow or to discuss one’s sauerkraut fetish at the office lunch table. However, we have to realize that the way that people in a society express themselves changes with time. We may not all be harboring a socially unacceptable secret, but I guarantee you that you know someone who is.