So many moan and lash at the cultural lows that define every single moment history. Twilight is not the problem. The Jonas Brothers are not the problem. The problem is the attention; the incessant grousing that the teenage world has created to counteract the benign mindlessness of otherwise unimportant pieces of the cultural landscape. The divisiveness of the Jo-Bros fans the flames of mediocrity, yet still people attack these people who simply are not great. If there was no controversy over the Jo-Bros and their talent they would simply have sunk under with Demi Lovato and the rest of the relatively unsung Disney crew. But a few guys in middle school had to get jealous when the girls called Joe Jonas hot, and wag their little fingers and talk about how cool Green Day is, and why can’t all these girls listen to cool music like I do? These bros and think they are so cool and that they are stopping the Jonas Brothers when in fact they increase the notoriety and make themselves become associated with the very thing they work against; when the topic of Stephen Douglas is drawn, there are few that avoid the connection between Abe Lincoln, and there is hardly a doubt that the debate raised Lincoln’s celebrity.
This may sound like the classic defense used by countless older sisters in the back seats of countless minivans, but it is not the instigator at fault; Disney has committed no sin. There is no reason to be angry. Most culture is low culture, and giving countless little girls tales of vampires that get their hearts beating is no offense, and in fact provides a service invaluable to a sizeable demographic. At least it gets people reading. Nothing good, however, can be said for lashing out against light hearted and morally sound entertainment.
There is an argument to be made against all the entertainment that, as Michael Chabon said “trades in cliché and product placement,” but that is far from the argument being made by the hypocrites who laud Journey and manly trash that provides similar levels of insight and is established as comparably valuable as art. There is a self-defeating anger present in those that attack teen-pop and teen fiction, an allergic reaction to a basic product, designed to benefit some, but also plaguing others. All the reaction does is enflame the problem and cause discomfort to those affected, but this reaction can be avoided, it is possible to escape Disney. Just ignore it.