So I'm liftin' down at The Gym and they got all these TV screens, some you can control 'cuz they're on the machine you're on and some that you can't, those other ones lining the walls. An' you know workin' out is kind of tedious so you look around at the other peeps in the gym some but don't want to get too personal (or creepy) so you end up mainly doing one of two things. You either internalize, dig in, and really feel your workout while perhaps listening to something on your earbuds, air pods, or noise cancelling bluetooth headset or you sweat while staring at some screen. Listening to music or podcasts is what I usually do but that takes focus, which I just can't do on some days, and I'm not into watching TV on some shaky piece of gym equipment, so in those situations I'll pass the time looking at the TV's along the walls.
On the TV's along the walls my gym plays music videos exclusively and pipes the audio throughout the facility. This is total fluff fare, perfect for working out.
Country music videos these are not. Those are much too narrow a demographic for my gym's ethnically diverse crowd, one that spans all age ranges. These vids are not rap or gangsta either, for the same reason. They are not oldies videos, though those could be shown, no, these are current pop videos and man, I'm tellin' ya, between twenty and thirty is the age to be 'cuz the sky's the limit with those kine folks.
In these videos the characters are sunning on tropical islands, tooling (is that word still in the slang vernacular?) around on yachts sipping champagne, hangin' with their bros or stellar girlfriends at poolside soirees, and are dressed up in clothes that emanate attitude. "Yeah- I'm twenty something and I rock!". Everything that's goin' down is ultra dramatic and oozing with the kinds of emotions that are accessed only in unique situations, the kinds of situations that people just don't experience every day. However, over and over it is shown that this is the everyday reality of the pop stars. Fantasyland is the world they live in and to their kin they be representin' Livin’ The Life.
Forget about rising sea levels, trade imbalances, dire political climates, paying mortgages, dealing with kids, holding jobs, or anything approaching reality. Bor-ing! Who wants to sing and dance about that kind of stuff? The people in the music videos would rather be cruising, partying, or blowing bubbles at the top of a mountain at sunset dressed like they just stepped out of a limo, or was it a chopper that got them up there(?) 'cuz they certainly didn't walk.
It happened to Meghan Markle!
Alice Alinari- Unsplash.com
Oh, messy reality! Not for us! They are superstar material and even though they sing about relationships and other things that their contemporaries are dealing with they're hardly like them. They're far above all that, which has always been the dream of every young adult. No mundane experiences- ever!
This not wanting to live an ordinary life is taken to the X Factor by the gangsta rappers, whose videos absolutely astound me, that is, when I'm not at The Gym. (I could watch stuff on my phone at The Gym but don’t. The screen is too small and my data plan doesn’t support it). The gangsta rappers always show themselves surrounded by luxury, cash, and beauty. They have yet to learn that those things are highly coveted and that more nefarious ‘playahs’ than them have long ago laid claim.
About the only music videos that might be said to be real are the ones old people would make, if any of them were to bother making one.
Most old people are past fantasy and self importance. Lots of water has gone under the bridge and they are fully aware that there's not a lot of time left. They also know that at their stage in life they're either partying with their friends on a yacht or they're not and if they're not, it's because they didn't make enough dough, fit in with that crowd, or they've done it already and are over it.
Fantasy fits best with young people, who see in front of them a lengthy, pristine time window. In that magical window endless possibilities exist. As they gaze into it they let their imaginations run wild and exclaim "OMG! I see myself living such a fantastic life!". To that I say "Good luck!". Actually manifesting that life might take a little bit more than just conjuring up a cool location, some hot extras, and the music and lyrics for a video shoot.
If statistics are any indication, the vast majority of twenty somethings aren't going to live amazing lives. They are going to live rather ordinary ones. But don't I be the one to pop anybody's bubble! It's okay to dream, and dream big. Some people are gonna make it, and one of those might as well be you.
Hell, my generation dreamed big too. The only difference between then and now is we didn't have all these videos of our contemporaries to watch. Looking back at some of the dreamers I’ve known, Lord only knows what kind of goofy videos they would have made!