Uncool and Uncultured

I used to be one of those people who knew about popular (and unpopular) music, and had seen almost every movie in the theater within a week or two of it being released.  Come Oscar time, I had always seen the nominees and knew what everyone was talking about.  Now?  Not so much.  I would say it’s representative of my stage in life, but my older siblings (one of whom does have children) are still more knowledgeable about these things than I am, so I can’t say that it’s just because I’m no longer “young” and “hip” – because let’s face it, I was never what one might call “hip.”

I still love listening to my favorite musicians, and even new ones that friends tell me about or that I discover thanks to satellite radio.  The only time I learn what the kids are listening to these days is by watching Glee, which I no longer do because it completely lost me last season.

As for movies, I stopped going to the theater when I was about seven months pregnant, because it became extremely uncomfortable to sit down for two hours straight.  Thankfully, I am married to a film editor and we get a lot of the best movies sent to our house on DVD this time of year, so theoretically I can catch up that way if I am so inclined.   The only movies I’ve seen in the theater since E was born were nothing to write home about.  Ironically, most of my knowledge about recent movies comes from my parents, who go to about a bazillion movies a year.

When my baby is asleep, I want to read, cook, maybe watch a little TV.  Yes I do still listen to music, and I play it to E all the time, but I can’t claim it’s anything new or boundary-pushing.  When my husband and I actually have some time together, we might choose to watch a movie on TV.  But if we get the chance to go out of the house and let someone else babysit (something that has happened exactly TWICE since E was born) we would rather not go to a movie.  We did go to a movie the first time (The Dark Knight Rises), and we regretted it.   Why sit in a dark theater where we can’t talk, and watch a too-loud, too-violent movie?  That sort of thing used to be fun, when we got to spend 24 hours a day together on weekends and do whatever we wanted, but it just isn’t anymore.

I imagine a time will come when I’ll care again about what movies are in the theater, and maybe even want to know what music people are listening to.  It’s funny that two things that used to be such a major part of my life are now merely background noise.  The side effect of this is that I feel completely out of the loop when pop culture discussions come up.  I actually had to look up what this “Gangnam Style” nonsense was on youtube.  I find myself googling references that people make on twitter or facebook because I’m too embarrassed to ask anyone except my husband, and he doesn’t know what they’re talking  about, either.

It makes me laugh to think that someday my son will be annoyed when I ask who this pop idol so-and-so is and get the name wrong, the way my parents always used to do.  I’m becoming the old lady that the young kids have to explain popular references to.  But for now, I’m okay with that.   I’m happy to bake muffins and listen to old songs on satellite radio and read my library books.  Occasionally I will watch those DVD screeners and I’ll ask my more hip friend to make me a mix CD so I feel a bit more in touch.

And let’s not even talk about things like fashion and style.  Those are categories in which I have *always* been deficient, and I can only face my lack of hip-ness so much before I start to feel a wee bit sad.  Thankyouverymuch.

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