Youth and culture: Trendwatch

Group, Sep/Oct 2000

Almost a decade ago author Michael Medved wrote a book, Hollywood Vs. America, that accused insecure, approval-addicted filmmakers of cranking out R-rated movies even though they make far less money than films rated G or PG. Now an independent and respected research center at Texas A&M has proven Medved right.

A report by researchers at A&M's Private Enterprise Research Center finds that R-rated films are less than half as likely as PG releases to reach the $25 million mark in revenue. The kicker: Since 1985, Hollywood has churned out more R-rated movies than all the other categories combined. G, PG, and PG-13 films also cost less to make and return a higher profit.

In his groundbreaking book, Medved punctured the widely believed myth that Hollywood prefers R-rated movies because they make more money. "The Hollywood community" he wrote, "wants respect even more than it wants riches; above all, its members crave acceptance and recognition as serious artists .... The leading figures of the popular culture, insecure and uncertain like all creative personalities, are driven by a deep-seated need to reassure themselves as to the significance of their own work."

Meanwhile, researchers combing through more than 1,000 studies on the link between media violence and aggressive behavior in kids have toppled another Hollywood myth-that screen violence has no influence on teenagers' violent acts. The report, released at a Washington, D.C., public health summit, found the evidence points "overwhelmingly to a causal connection between media violence and aggressive behavior" in young people.

At the summit, respected doctors, psychologists, and psychiatrists agreed that kids who watch violent entertainment...

* are more likely to see violence as an effective way to solve conflicts;

* can grow emotionally numb toward real-life violence;

* can be overly fearful of violence because they see the world as a dangerous, mean place; and

* have a higher tendency to commit violent acts.

napster attack

A year ago, 18-year-old college student Shawn Fanning created a little software program in his dorm room that allows Web surfers to trade and download digital music for free. He did it because his roommate dared him (how collegiate!). And now the embattled ex-Northeastern-University student is at the vortex of a legal hurricane-18 record labels and a few high-profile artists (including one of Fanning's favorite bands, Metallica) sued his Napster software company for copyright infringement. After a federal judge ruled in favor of the record labels, another judge awarded Napster a "stay of execution" until Fanning's lawyers can appeal.

Record executives and some artists say Napster is simply making it possible for people to steal music-akin to shoplifting CDs at a record store. But according to Napster's fans, the music industry is missing the point.

* Almost two-thirds (60%) say they use the software to "preview music before buying the CD."

* Almost half (48%) say they trade tracks so they can "hear music from new or unknown artists."

* Only a fifth (21%) say they use Napster because "CDs cost too much," and just a tenth (13%) say they decided to not buy a CD because they got it free online.

* And more than a third (36%) say access to free Internet music has actually increased the number of CDs they buy.

The digital MP3 format is popular even though the sound quality is far below the CD standard.

who cares if you like me?

As kids get older, they care less and less about what others think of them. By their junior year in high school, about a third of both guys and girls say popularity is "not very important," according to an American Demographics survey. That's good, because three-quarters of all teenagers think other kids see them as "sort of" or "not very" popular.

And for those on the short end of the popularity stick, everyday life is often about surviving the abusive behavior of their peers. When Gallup researchers asked kids if their best friend had been hit or beaten by somebody their own age over the past year, almost a third (31%) said yes.

a culture of extremes

Two of today's most popular mainstream artists-Creed and Eminen-are camped out at either end of the cultural continuum. How can a white hip-hop artist who, according to a Rolling Stone reviewer, "has a macabre imagination to rival Satan's" and a white, four-man glamour band that sings about the virtues of Jesus both be hot at the same time?

Well, it's a perfect illustration of the confounding extremes that define popular culture. Today's young people, like no generation before them, move easily between hardcore raunch and nouveau-moral street preaching.

In his songs, Creed's singer/songwriter Scott Stapp decries abortion, warns of judgment day, affirms God's sovereignty, condemns hypocrisy and materialism, and laments casual sex.

Meanwhile, Eminem writes hip-hop rhymes that promote violence against homosexuals, celebrate rape, and fantasize about killing his mom and ex-wife.

Eminem seems perplexed by the firestorm surrounding his quintuple-platinum release The Marshall Mothers LP: "The kids listening to my music get the joke. They can tell when I'm serious and when I'm not. They can tell the entertainment of it. I think kids are smarter than we give them credit for."