Holden Caufield is a phony.
Can you believe it? Kids now think that he should just 'take his Prozac and get over it.'
What's the problem? The original story of an alienated teenager is now being alienated itself.
The article reports that experts believe that the creation of teen culture has made it less likely for teens themselves to be alienated. It used to be that 15 year-olds were constantly choosing between youth and adulthood. Between 'the carousel and the Wicker Bar' or cotton candy and alcohol. Kids who shirked youth culture for adulthood felt alienated.
No more. They no longer need to search for an identity. Young adult culture gives them one.
They identify with The Gossip Girls. With Sony Playstations. Sadly, with Grand Theft Auto. And advertising has helped create this.
Is it wrong to segment audiences for target? Is it wrong to create new cultural definitions? I don't have an answer. But I do think that every time advertising tries to create something new, we essentially kill off something old to replace it.
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1 comment:
we've gone from Rebel without a cause to revel without a cause!! Once was cool to be apart from everyone else as a teen, sullen, brooding, the cool loner; the goal was to be different from the established adult set. What is going on?
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