"Up and comers," go away!
http://www.NewsAndOpinion.com | Once a year or so, desperate feature writers decide to write profiles of young up-and-comers in various fields. Two of them popped up in my narrow field of vision this last month, one in my local source of news, the San Francisco Chronicle, an outlet that sometimes strikes me as having the same relationship to a newspaper as Tang does to orange juice, and another from the Utne Reader, which is kind of a Reader's Digest for people who drive Volvos.
The Chronicle took a look at 17 young artists and entertainers, "poised for success," including a documentary filmmaker, a dee jay, video artists, a stand up comic, and even a sportscaster. And in the Utne Reader, sandwiched between articles on how to feng shui your Birkenstocks, profiles were offered of, uh, documentary filmmakers, an organic grocer, a digital story teller, whatever the hell that means, and, of course, activists, activists, activists.
Keep in mind that I'm old and bitter. But I remember a lot of activists when I was a tad, and who did they grow up to be?
Now, I like documentaries. I have even shelled out good money to watch them, but I believe I am alone in this. People will watch a fake documentary, like SPINAL TAP, but a real actual documentary? No, by and large, I think the American attitude is, "Give those sincere unshaven young people an Oscar, and leave me alone." All of this goes triple for video artists. Tell the truth, museum-goers, don't the words "video installation" send a shudder down your spine?
Now, I have been a young entertainer, and tasted a certain amount of fame, and I believe I can share a few things with today's youth, as they go back to school, or embark on a fruitless spamming of resumes.
Remember: today's pratfall or pas de chat could be tomorrow's knee surgery. The digital story you tell today could be tomorrow's dead platform. Stock options are not money. For you deejays out there, right now the media have deemed "turntabling" a skill and an art form. What about six months from now? I hope you know how to make a latte. Kids, whatever you do, stay away from satire. Belive me, it will only break your heart.
To the media, I would urge you to be more realistic. Next time, focus on the middle managers of tomorrow, tomorrow's admins today! Unless you support these kids after the page is turned, you re just setting them up for a fall. When the grants run out, they'll be back in Starbucks like the rest of us.