TITANIC was a Real Ship
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According to “Yahoo News”, on the 100th anniversary of the Titanic disaster, the social news-sharing site Reddit pointed to a series of tweets from people who did not know that the sinking of the Titanic was real—and not just a 1997 Hollywood blockbuster starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet.
You read that right, there are people out there, young people, who thought the “Titanic” was just a disaster movie. If they think “Titanic” was just a disaster movie, then the line of thought would be the Hindenburg Disaster was just an Album Cover for Led Zeppelin; and their trademark.
Many young people view what has happened in the past 112 years as incomprehensible.
History classes are focusing so much on whatever standardize tests are demanding teachers can no longer explore the past. The only time a lot of young people hear about a historical event is either from the T.V. or a blockbuster Movie. Some young people can tell you about the movie “Apollo 13” but cannot tell you about the history of NASA and the space race (if you get lucky, they may tell you about Sputnik, but don’t hold your breath). They know little about the Mercury, Apollo or Gemini Programs.
They have studied World War II, Hitler, Normandy, and the dropping of the bomb on Hiroshima. They can even name the plane! Yet they know nothing of Col. Paul Tibbetts getting the most hate mail on August 8th or the name of the B-29 which dropped the other bomb on Nagasaki (“Bocks Car”). They know of Hitler and the atrocities his forces committed; but they are not taught his last name, before his grandfather changed it, was Schicklgruber. Most do not know Hitler was not German, but Austrian.
Many cultural icons are considered aliens by today’s youth. Yahoo News wrote, “you don’t always have to die or sink a ship to blow young Twitter users minds: Sometimes, you just have to be a former Beatle who shows up at the Grammys. “Who the f— is Paul McCartney and why is he on this?” Kristen Dewe wrote on Feb. 13 during the Grammys broadcast. Sadly, she was not alone. McCartney, who turned 70 on Monday, is one a set of celebrities who have been a constant presence for men and women of a certain age–just imagine what’s going to happen on Twitter when Macca dies.”
When I was growing up, I knew who Perry Como, Frank Sinatra, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, and Ella Fitzgerald were. I watched Bob Hope do his USO shows in Viet Nam and learned in High School History Class he did the same thing during World War 2 and Rita Hayworth was a G.I.’s favourite Pin Up Girl. We also learned about Vaudeville and how many stars of the day got their start there. We learned about Radio Serial Shows since T.V. at the time was impracticable.
Why this disconnect when past generations were aware of who or what came before? Could it be our culture is now turning it’s back on what got us here and is catering to what is hot at the moment?
The Beatles, whom Paul McCartney was a member of, were part of what was called the British Invasion. Rock and Roll music started it’s life as a “B” side of a record whose “A” side was a tune from the movie “The Blackboard Jungle” in 1954. Rock music was the result of combining Country Music and Rhythm and Blues. Rock music was still in its infancy when groups from Great Britain brought their music here. This gave American music a much-needed boost and an entire generation now had its own sound. Perhaps the greatest marketing ploy of the 60’s was when a rumour went out that Paul McCartney had died. Album covers and even the music itself held clues and you had to look for them. On the cover of “Magical Mystery Tour”, there is a hand above Paul’s head; a sign in some societies a person has died. In the song, “Strawberry Fields Forever” you would hear, softly, but distinctly, “I….buried….Paul”. Just before the final crescendo on “A Day in the Life”, you will hear the same voice from “SFF” saying, “Paul is dead…dead….dead.” “Revolution Number 9”, when played backward, you could hear “Turn me on, Dead Man” and a car crash. Even on the highly acclaimed, “Abbey Road” there was another clue about Paul’s demise. On the famous cover, John is dressed as a priest, George a Grave digger, Paul is barefoot with his eyes closed and Ringo is a mourner. Today’s youth knows nothing of that famous hoax.
They have seen and heard Mick Jagger and consider him an old fart. They have heard “The Who” perform during the Super Bowl, and have heard their music on various “C.S.I.” episodes. They know nothing of Keith Moon who played the drums like a madman on meth ( and along with his drum sets, Moon’s infamous (and favorite) calling card was to flush powerful explosives down toilets. It has been estimated that his destruction of toilets and plumbing ran as high as UK£300,000 (US$500,000). His levels of destruction forced The Who to stay outside of New York City when the band performed there, and his repeated practice of blowing up toilets with explosives led to Moon being banned for life from lodging at several hotel chains around the world, including all Holiday Inn, all Sheraton, and all Hilton Hotels, as well as the Waldorf Astoria. Moon became so notorious for this practice that when Nick Harper was asked about his childhood memories spent around The Who, his first recollection was, “I remember Keith blowing up the toilets.”)
Today’s kids have their computers, their iPods and flash in the pan acts. The disconnect comes, I believe, when the parents and school do not share what they grew up on. Perhaps if they did, history would be a lot more Entertaining.
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In America an entertainer’s popularity is gauged by how many outrageious things they do. America is populated with a lot of idiots, but I doubt she’s alone in the world. Better to laugh at such acts than to do them like the crazy fucking muslims.
Linh is right to point out that it’s only part, not all, of the younger generation that displays such ignorance.
Most likely in every generation there was a certain fraction who were appallingly ignorant of culture and history. The difference technology makes is that now everyone, even the most vacuous waste of oxygen, has a voice and a visible presence.
In 1912 there were probably plenty of people as ignorant as Kristen Dewe, but there was no internet, no twitter, no way for them to put their ignorance on visible display — certainly not so that it would last down to our own time.
I often think of this in the context of all the complaints about bad grammar and spelling. We’re seeing that in today’s writing because people with poor language skills can write, literacy being almost universal. The person who, today, writes “If I would of knew that” — if that same person had lived 200 years ago, he wouldn’t be writing that because he wouldn’t have learned to write at all. The ignorance of the past was deeper than today’s, but so deep as to be invisible to us now.
And sorry, but anyone who flushes explosives down toilets is an asshole, no matter how good a musician he is.
I’m a university professor and the number of students who can’t write or spell boggles the mind. Then again there are those who think Germany is just outside of New Jersey.
The world has gone to hell but I can always count on some relief over here, and the analogy drawn by the author of this post comparing a lack of education and learning to Titanic, is right on the mark. Kudos to you old bean.
There is a lot of controversy over which movie tells the best story, and I have to go with A Night to Remember, however for FX I have to go with the latest version. As to kids, I can guarantee they are getting dumber by the day. Just last week I mentioned to my neighbor’s kid that one of my dogs came from Belgium and he thought it was a town in Mississippi. No kidding.
Linh, it is great to hear from a young person who not only some of the great and wonderful things of historical significance but can also write them in a coherent manner. I suspect that as you grow older you will find those older than you that know little of your generation or their own. You will also find many of your own generation that know little of their generation or any other. The problem is that it is a big world and we as individuals tend to extrapolate to the world at large based upon a localized stereo type. All of that being said, Gary is right about one thing, never dismiss the opportunity to learn something new regardless of how trivial it may seem, even if it is “Hitler’s real last name”. There will come a time when you will realize how much it is that you do not know and there is not enough time to learn it all.
I agree, by the time you’re one of us “old farts” kid you’ll look back and ask yourself not what you learned but what you forgot.
First off, I have to agree with Linh, above. I have a degree in History and was a teacher, albeit in electronics, for many years. I found the young people whom I worked with to be bright and intelligent.
Secondly – and this is just a personal pet peeve, so perhaps unnecessary to mention – but there is no “the” in front of Titanic. Ships names are proper nouns. Just as you wouldn’t write “the Florida,” or “the Mike Smith,” you don’t write “the Titanic.” BTW – the RMS part stood for “Royal Mail Steamer.”
Sadly, ignorance is not generational. We’ve had it as part of our national pastiche since Roanoke. Many young people of “our” generation sought out knowledge and likewise many of this generation still do. Conversely, some of the biggest idiots I’ve ever known were my own age.
Please flog me. About proper nouns, you are absolutely correct. I was remiss in my use of grammer and I most humbly apologise.
I agree;; no Monets but we have Ansel Adams, Frank Lloyd Wright, guitar Gods Jimi Hendrix and Les Paul, drummers Keith Moon and Ginger Baker, lady vocalists such as Ella Fitzgerald, Etta James, Aretha and Janis Joplin.
As for not knowing things, little grass hopper, I have been all over the globe. I have seen and done things that give people nightmares. For 58 years I have made my life an adventure. As a retired DJ I am familiar with Tu-Pac, the Notorious B.I.G., Kanye West, et al.
As for my lawn, you may stand on it for it is there for all to enjoy. Just stay away from my Japanese Spiritual Garden, Lihn.
Whippersnapper….
Wonderful. A great discussion and I suspect the last comment was written by our author, Gary, who mistakenly failed to enter his real name. If he had it would have been The Gary Green. 🙂 🙂
David thanks so much for pointing out our error. As you can see it has been fixed. Thanks for your comments as well, always nice to see you over here.
Speaking as a member of the younger generation, I’d have to say that the majority of this article is based on the worse aspects of a single generation. For your generation, I can point to “gay-related immune deficiency,” Watergate, the inability of the average baby boomer to name a single masterpiece by Brahms or Monet, the fact that for every generation, they have to set the standard for IQ higher, and so on. Much of your rant involves obscure facts (to use modern youth vernacular, who gives two flying f**ks about Hitler’s real last name?), cultural icons that will obviously fall out of the spotlight under time, and other predictable complaints that every older generation will say about the younger until the end of the human race.
You may not know that the Notorious B.I.G. is considered a rapper of the greatest technical skill, poetry, and flow. You may not know that Keynesian economics has been gaining support as austerity measures in the failing areas of the EU have proven useless. You may not know that the American electoral system was created the way it was because the Founding Fathers did not trust the intelligence of the American public. You may not know that you can literally blow a hard-boiled egg out of its shell. You may not know that the cat cannot, in fact, haz the cheezburger.
Either way, I’m just going to get off your lawn, you old fart.
Written by a 17-year-old, obviously. And yeah, I actually did know much of the things you talked about. Keith Moon is/was f**king awesome.
Linh-You are proof that the current generation is a hell of a lot smarter than we give you credit for. As a teenager (before the invention of electricity ahem), I knew more than many of my friends about politics, the environment and the world at large. I am teaching my teenage son to be the same. Kudos and cheers to you for being smarter than the average bear. You can visit my lawn anytime. 🙂
Linh, thanks so much for putting us “old farts” in our place. Your points are well taken and I enjoyed your commentary. By the way if you would be interested in writing something for us from the “17 year old” perspective let us know in the contact section. You have the right mix of humor and intelligence for us, not to mention writing skills.
Mike
P.S. You mean the hat really cannot haz the cheeseburger? 🙂