We Eat What’s Grown By Those We Pay When We Buy What We Eat

by Jeremy Lewit

An analysis of popular music lyrics over the last three decades proves a trend toward self-centeredness and aggression, according to a report by the New York Times science writer John Tierney.

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Since I would have believed this without the research grants being diverted to song analysis, it begs the question: can we prove this is true in all the other media?

Film and television aside, because I can’t name anything recent that isn’t about a narcissist, stars a narcissist or is marketed to wannabe narcissists, this is exactly how I feel about the Twilight generation of books.

I’ve been trying to figure out if having read too much Tolkein as a child has left me any more or less damaged than readers of Twilight. I’ve decided that Tolkein is better. Frodo is a model of self-sacrifice, and Samwise an even better one, because he manages to be stalwart without all the mystical suffering. The heroes are heroic, ‘nuff said.

What’s the message in Twilight? That we’d all rather be monsters and leave the rest of humanity to suffer their silly little lives because monsters get psychic superpowers, live forever, sparkle in the sunlight and have really, really great, uh, romance? Or the appeal could be that no matter how much the plot depends on the need for blood being so difficult to overcome, that because the story is about you, everything is easy for you, because hey, you deserve it.

I don’t read every book published, although I did read all four Twilight books, and not just because I thought it was my job to remain informed about them. Because of their mass appeal, I wanted them to be better than they were, and not as works of art, but as cultural artifacts. I don’t often feel that way about music, because it seems so ephemeral to me.

But books: I’d like to see some research dollars compare how selfish our pulpy fiction has become since the golden and silver ages sunk away. While I’m at it, I’d like to see the same analysis done on the history of bloggers. Because this article is all about my opinion, not yours.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/26/science/26tier.html?ref=science

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