Indiana Jones and the Cult of Youth

[Deadlock]

Gotcha!

No, I've not started a new piece of fan fiction. Sorry to disappoint. :)

I'm merely intrigued by Joe's comments on Americans, life, death... and botox. I thought the topic needed it's own thread.

Let's review, shall we?

Quite simply, because we ignore death. The average grave here in the U.S. is visited twice (http://www.newyorker.com/online/content/articles/050829on_onlineonly01).

Shows like HBO's Six Feet Under and the PBS special are no accidents. Baby-Boomers are getting into sixties and death to them is a more immediate matter -- so they can no longer ignore all the old dying relatives because they are now the old dying relatives themselves. Boomers never had time for death . . . and they tried to stay looking young as long as possible. By time you hit sixty you can't bo-tox your way to looking 40 anymore -- so time to move on and face facts.

Personally, I'm not so sure this is a matter of ignoring death, so much as idolizing a stereotype of youth, and with it a lack of maturity and responsibilty, an obsession with a youthful appearance, etc. Preached from the rock 'n' roll pulpit, these neo-romanticist ideals ignore anything that would tie you down (like, say... the reality of mortality) and "sha-la-la-la-la" living for today. It's not that I'm opposed to making the most of every day, but I don't agree with the idea that if you're not at the peak of youthful vitality... then you're better off dead.

I think that age can bring an important perspective, and that these seasoned thoughts from greying heads have merit... not only for these venerable individuals but, potentially, for the rest of the world as well.

[Joe Brody]

I may have made a mistake equating obsession with appearance with aversion to death/aging. I'm just think that through their lives Boomer's had no time for death -- unless if was a death of friend (like The Big Chill). They were the generation that wasn't going to age -- and due to their never-ending adolesence (sp?) they've skipped straight to old age and funerals aplenty.

[Paden]

Thinking out loud for a moment, I can't help but wonder if part of this change in perspective on the aging has to do with the alteration (in this country, anyway) of the family structure: from an extended family to a nuclear one. I think in the extended family, respect for the aging and their wisdom, along with an awareness of the generations that make up one's family line, was intrinsic. With the change to the nuclear family, and its supposed focus on mobility, it seems that some of the connection to the larger family and the older generation has been lost for the family's younger members. Add to this the idea of the boomers "skipping over" the notion of death, and you have a younger generation for whom the concepts of aging and death are very alien.

However, I will agree that American culture places a premium on youth and beauty. Being young and attractive are assuredly held up as cornerstones of self-worth by the media. Perhaps in the quest to continue appearing young the question of mortality is shelved by those seeking the illusion of youthfulness, or at least placed on the mental "back burner" where the idea of death is only dealt with during more reflective (and honest) moments.

[Joe Brody]

Add to this the idea of the boomers "skipping over" the notion of death, and you have a younger generation for whom the concepts of aging and death are very alien.

I think that's it -- and I'd expand on Deadlock's observation about the perspective from those venerable greying heads and note that even if the greying heads don't have any perspective, their passing alone gives perspective. Up through my '20's I was shocked by how many of my peers had never been to a funeral. I was fortunate to come from a very large family on my mother's side so I was exposed to a good cycle of weddings, births, deaths (rinse, repeat). It was a real circle of life thing.