Trendwatch

Group, Mar/Apr 2003

YOUTHANDCULTURE

purple mohawks at the opera

"The only traditional performing arts form where the audience is getting younger is... opera." So says National Public Radio reporter Neda Ulaby, who set out to discover exactly who, or what, is fueling this youth movement. The answer? Punk-rock fans. That's not a type.

Ulaby asked one opera/punk fan, Karen, to describe the common threads that run through her disparate tastes. "Neither [punk rock nor opera] is insipid," Karen says. "They both offer you a severe kick in the guts. Which is why there's probably plenty of people who hate both of them."

So now that we're off the launching pad, let's round out the list of similarities:

* Both opera and punk attract thrill-seekers and nonconformists.

* Both opera and punk deal centrally with sex, death, and authority.

* Both opera and punk are passionately, unapologetically, over-the-top. (Some say they're both morbid and nihilistic as well.)

* Both opera and punk trigger extreme behaviors in their live audiences-for example, people hurling insults and rotten fruit at the stage.

* Both opera and punk create an almost chemical reaction in listeners. Punk/opera fan Colin says, "The big-ness of emotions really does lift you into another place. And if you can feel that intensely, then you know you're living." Neither genre works well as background music.

* Both opera and punk attract fans who like their heroes served up as uncompromising underdogs. Colin says, "The strategy of opera in the face of broken hearts and death and loss and sadness is to transform that experience into something beautiful, something noble, something sublime. While the reaction of punk rock is to confront the ugliness, not to transform it, but to yell and scream about it."

It's unlikely opera music will steamroll into a cultural movement of, say, roots-music proportions. Then again, you'd have to be crazy to have predicted The Fairfield Four would be featured performers on a #1 pop album, but that's exactly what happened with the roots-music soundtrack to O Brother, Where Art Thou?

One thing is sure-punk rock is dragging itself out of the ash heap and hauling itself back into the limelight... again. More than a third of teenagers responding to a Sam Goody survey think the next hot trend in music will be "garage punk bands" such as Good Charlotte (fronted by identical twins Joel and Benji Everly), the Donnas (featured on MTV's "Spankin' New Bands Week"), and the Strokes (named Spin magazine's band of the year). New York Times reporter Kelefa Sanneh says, "Like many of the rising punk rock bands, the Donnas have found a way to mock teen pop while co-opting its language."

For punk rock to reach true dominance, however, it'll have to unseat rap and country-the two extremes that sit atop the Billboard music charts. Together, country and rap filled 30 of the 50 #1 slots last year. Well, let's see how well they do when they have to go up against Pavarotti Sings Green Day

make me smile

Ever wonder whether you're making a real difference? Of course you do. Well, here's something to store away in your "Cabinet of Reminders That I Don't Stink": Researchers with the National Study of Youth and Religion have discovered that senior highers who go to church and youth group often and place high importance on their faith are shinier, happier people.

The third (31%) of all 12th graders who attend church worship services weekly and say religion is very important to them (30%) are more likely than their peers to:

* have positive attitudes toward themselves;

* enjoy life as much as anyone;

* feel like their lives are useful;

* feel hopeful about their futures;

* feel satisfied with their lives;

* feel like they have something of which to be proud;

* feel good to be alive;

* feel like life is meaningful; and

* enjoy being in school.