Apparently, when he and his brothers would visit relatives in Greece in their childhood, there was very little to do. Greek television was sorely lacking compared to American programs and Saturday morning cartoons. Mario characterized comic books as the only option for childhood entertainment and therefore treasured by he and his brothers during these trips.
It’s an interesting anecdote for its applicability to why kids just don’t read comics anymore. In the 1940’s, comics were a very new form of entertainment and widely read. The competition, if any, was radio programs and maybe the Saturday movie matinee. Television came along in the fifties as comic books, not un-coincidentally, began to wane. And then the Adventures of Superman hit the airwaves and the medium was given a boost.
Today, when my son sits down with his iPad, he has just a few choices of entertainment. He can read comics. He can read books. He can watch movies or listen to music. He can browse the internet, watch YouTube, or listen to Pandora radio. If he’s feeling creative, he can write, draw, make movies, make music, and even make animations. If he’s in an educational mood he can learn about a variety of different subjects in many different ways. And then there are the video games – which are hands down his favorite use of the device.
And that’s just with using one tool available in the house. Albeit, it’s the most advanced tool, but there are still other options around the house vying for his attention.
The point being, our culture has changed. Our entertainment choices have changed drastically in the last seventy years. It’s probably changed more in this last century than ever before.
So how are comics, just one medium in the dull roar of things fighting for your money, supposed to survive?
Odds are, they won’t. They’ve only survived this far because of the characters. People are drawn to this American mythology. They may stay for the unique storytelling or other factors. But this is a rare case of the subject of the medium driving the need for the medium.
I’m constantly trying to push the idea that change is good. With my kids, where I’m trying to prevent them from getting stuck in certain mindsets. Especially at work, where people find a groove and tend to want to stick with it. And with myself. Trying to expand beyond the boundaries of who I decided I was in my early formative years. I’m a better person for it. Logically, I understand that.
But still, there’s the romantic notion of nostalgia that keeps plaguing my mind. I’ll catch myself driving to work early on a summer morning remembering fondly my days of biking to the 7-Eleven to look for new comics and get a Slushee. And there’s nothing wrong with those nostalgic feelings. As long as when I get to work I force myself to get out of the car, get in the door, and continue the push to expand.
Thanks,
DCD
What's the fear if comics become obsolete? Do you feel like we will collectively miss out on something? It seems like, in this post, you are suggesting that whatever we miss out on will be replaced by something else…and that something else is just as good.
ReplyDeleteDave is into obsolete media. ;) And like you, he discovered his passion WELL after the passion was popular. But Chaplin is still a part of the American narrative. And right now, it's even making a glimmer of a "come-back" because of The Artist. I think Superman will be a big part of American narrative (bigger than Chaplin, for sure!) for a LONG time.
I guess there's no answer really….and that's what you are getting at. It's that tension between nostalgia and progress, I guess. It's just there. Word?
I still live in "Leave it to Beaver"-land!! But you knew that, didn't you? Dixie-girl.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I've had the same thought. When I was growing up there were only a couple of competitors for my leisure-time attentions. There were afternoon cartoons, but only for an hour or so after school and we only had 3 channels on TV, so the Saturday morning cartoons were very limited and didn't always win out. We had an Atari 2600 and then a Nintendo. Plus I had a pretty limited budget, so my comic buying was only about 2-4 issues per week. I like having balance in my life and I guess I learned that growing up. There was school, comics and regular books, video games, cartoons, and playing outside. There wasn't the ability to watch whatever you wanted on TV whenever you wanted to watch it. That's a bit of an intoxicating power to have and I think it consumes many people, including kids if there's not a limit put on it. I know I would have needed that limitation. The quality and variety of video games is also astounding today. My childhood self could have easily been wrapped up in nothing else with the current plethora of options. I'm really not sure how comics would have fit in or ranked with me as a kid if they had to compete with all of the present-day distractions available to our youth.
ReplyDelete