The cult of the old

I will continue to worship at the altar of the old as long as most people waste their time worshipping at that other, newer altar. Here's the slogan from my cult: Just because it's new doesn't make it good.

Followers of Grinwout in other venues have heard me on this subject before, usually in regard to movies. I can pinpoint the moment when I felt the need to start proselytizing. I was in a video store that had an excellent selection of classics and foreign films and the like, and was enjoying the embarrassment of riches. Meanwhile, in walks Typical Suburban Family looking for the latest hot release. Unfortunately, the LHR was all sold out. What wasn't sold out was My Stepmother is an Alien. (Yes, that really was a movie, and yes, it was as bad as it sounds, not that I ever saw it, but I'll believe the 13% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and you probably should too.) I listened as the Typical Suburban Family decided, with virtually no reluctance, to check out that far-from-classic precisely—precisely—because it was new. I watched them walk to the checkout, the great American parents with their 2.5 children, and thought to myself that Culture had just lost another battle.

Erik Adams is obviously my kind of guy, because he applies my thinking about movies to television. He demonstrates how we are losing access to the old classic TV shows. The result of this is that those shows start to appear dated, rather than simply old. There is an extraordinarily large difference between the two, but it requires a certain trained palate to appreciate that difference. Lack of exposure to the old shows prevents that palate from developing.

Read Is television a medium without a past? And then watch some old TV. I recommend Burns & Allen myself. But just about anything classic will do.