Worst 21st century phenomenon so far (pop culture edition)

[Bossy Monkey]

So no GWB, no PNAC, no neo-conservatism, no outsourcing, no Fox News. Any or all would be the correct answer over any of the fripperies below.

Also, most or all of these predate the 21st century by some degree or another. Just roll with it.:)

If you want to vote Britney or Christina, just lay out a while and I'll add them to the JLo option most likely.

[BigMcLargehuge]

1. WHERE THE HELL IS MY FLYING CAR DAMMIT!!!!!

:argh:

[underpants]

6. We WERE promised flying cars

:grr:

[BigMcLargehuge]

9. and invisibility clothes, and home nuclear generators

and... and .... and.... jet packs..

WHERE THE HELL ARE THE JET PACKS!!!

[ironflange]

Damn right!

I remember reading Popular Mechanics back in the '60s where they said we'd be driving flying cars, like George Jetson's, by 1980. Nuclear powered, to boot. It's 2004, why are we still using wheels, god damn it?

[northzax]

2. but...but there are flying cars

see?

[terrya]

3. SUV's. They're patently absurd. And every car company has their own

version. A Mercedes SUV?? A Cadillac SUV? A Lincoln? When will the Rolls-Royce SUV be coming out?

SUV's are the worst phenomenon so far.

[JCMach1]

7. Totally sick of them... too bit, too gas-guzzling, too dangerous

Yes, I said it... unless you have a Hummer, you are MUCH more likely to roll an SUV than a car.

They are NOT safer for your family.

In fact, the idiots who do drive them THINK they are safer and so DRIVE FASTER!!!

[Mr. Blonde]

30. I would say

that the Suburban and Excursion would both be safer. I rolled my small truck the other day, and if you have ever done something like that you know time slows down, anyway mid roll I was thinking I bet this wouldn't have happened in my dad's excursion. Then I could have just gone over monster truck style right :).

[Doctor Smith]

14. You forgot Porsche.

[JCMach1]

18. yeah, those CAYENNE things are popular here

:(

[Bossy Monkey]

33. At least it's stylin', at least relatively speaking n/t

[VOX]

38. There is no good reason for SUVs to exist; they're just so wrong...

in so many ways.

[ChompySnack]

4. Reality TV will be what kills television

In their attempt to make TV appeal to the lowest common denominator and do it on the *ultra* cheap, the networks will drive people into other forms of information and entertainment. The internet will reap the benefit of this crap-fest.

SUV's were a '90s thing that has just carried over until gas prices reach $4/gallon. They will not last the decade.

[Kid_A]

5. Take Star Wars off that list, dammit!

Those movies rule! All of them!

But reality TV is by far the worst trend of the century so far. American Idol is maybe the most obnoxious piece of pop-culture that this country has shat out since minstrel shows.

[THUNDER HANDS]

11. Star Wars?

You liked the first two prequels?

Really?

When's the third coming out...I need to torture someone.

:)

[Kid_A]

16. Hell yeah, I liked them.

I can admit that they're not the best movies ever, but I'm willing to forgive anything Star Wars. Except for the Ewok movies, they were terrible.

And Episode III comes out next May.

[Gildor Inglorion]

20. I liked them, too...

and can't wait for the 3rd prequel. I only wish the last three would be made, as we were promised when the whole thing started. There were supposed to be 3 more episodes following "Return of the Jedi." I've actually read a book or two that would have carried the story line forward nicely. Maybe someday...

[WhiskeyTangoFoxtrot]

44. Right on that

George doesn't even have to think about it, just get a screenwriter to toss some scripts together based on Timothy Zahn's Heir to the Empire trilogy and it would be done.

[No2W2004]

35. check this out!

[Kid_A]

49. Is that for real?

That rules! Although are you sure it isn't a Bush 2004 poster?

[Bossy Monkey]

29. Well at least I misspelled it! :)

Goodness knows how; it was definitely an accident. Didn't notice until editing period had passed, though.

For my part, I hated Episode 1 so much that I didn't even see Episode 2. Darth Maul was appropriately alarming, however.

[Jim Sagle]

8. Tarantino.

[afraid_of_the_dark]

10. If I hear "Atkins" or "low carb" one more time, I'm gonna scream!

:nuke:

[emulatorloo]

15. Try my new "low carb" post!

It is Atkins approved!

[WindRavenX]

26. ditto

As my SO says, "We're just not discovering what third world countries have known for centuries- malnutrition causes weight loss!"
:crazy:
JUST STOP EATING SHIT ALL THE TIME AND YOU CAN EAT WHATEVER YOU WANT IN MODERATION DUMBASSES!!!
This is a HUGE setoff for me. People want to eat crap ALL the time and NOT pay the price. Oh, and never exercise. Jesus.
I could not live without my Sunday morning bagel w/cream cheese and the NYTImes and a huuuuuuge cup of coffee. Fawk it, I love my carbs!!

[Beware the Beast Man]

12. Reality TV, by far.

It has signaled the death knell of original TV programming. Nowadays there's little to choose from between reality and home improvement. Sadly, it ain't going away soon. As long as these programs are cheap to produce, and as long as people are willing to make complete asses of themselves for even a fleeting shred of fame, we're in it for the long haul. So far the 00's, in terms of pop culture, have been the worst decade in my lifetime.

[NEOBuckeye]

13. I voted for Reality TV, even though I think gas-guzzling SUVs rate higher.

Or at least they will, once the permanent oil shortages really start to kick-in. But the "new season" of gaudy Reality TV-loaded network programming stands out in my mind at the moment. Wonder how long before we'll see bikini-clad beach-body blondes devouring freshly ground-up insect guts on NBC?

Oh, wait...


As for the annoying-celebrities-that-you-wish-would-just-go-somewhere-and-shut-up, I think Britney, Christina and J.Lo will all be passing fads that will be forgotten in a few years. At least we'll want to forget about them, especially 15 years from now when a 250-pound, eleven-time divorcee J.Lo wearing a midriff shirt and hot pants begins her third "has-been" world tour.

[emulatorloo]

17. Plastic Surgery Driven Makeover Shows

I don't mind regular makeovers, but the drive to make plastic surgery seem as trivial as a haircut or manicure really really scares/bugs me.

[MontecitoDem]

23. I'm with you!

Have you seen that MTV show "I want to have a famous face?"

SUPER CREEPY!:scared:

[Parche]

19. toss up

between Stupid Utility Vehicles, and Reality TV

[starroute]

21. Other: Advertising remaking the world in its own image

The constant product placements are bad. I know they go back at least 30 years, but never before have they been so intrusive. I mean -- tv characters posed right in front of large, flashing neon signs?

The blurring out of other companies' logos on t-shirts or views or Times Square is worse, because it starts to distort reality.

But what really shot my sanity was seeing a GM commercial last night in which old black and white "Lassie" footage had been computer-edited to create Kung Fu Lassie. As my son commented, they managed to simultaneously trash both Lassie and Kung Fu in the process. I never did figure out what it was selling.

Please, Mister, may I have my world back?

[StayOutTheBushes]

22. Breast Implants...

Ugh.

[Mr. Blonde]

34. Hooray for Boobies! n/t

[northzax]

24. other: the banning of silicone implants

the new ones just don't feel right from the outside, y'know?

[Liberal Classic]

25. Sport utility vehicles are hardly a new thing. Sheesh!

Chevrolet has been selling a Suburban since before the second world war! In 1936 Chevy introduced a station wagon built on a truck frame, with three rows of seats available as an option. Early Surburbans had two passenger doors, not including the tailgate. Minor updates came in 1941, but as with all domestic manufacturers production was devoted to the war effort. New models began again for 1947. Automatic transmission became available in 1953, an eight cylander engine in 1955, and four wheel drive in 1957.

The Chevy Blazer and Ford Bronco, both short wheelbase sport utilities were introduced in the mid-60s I think.

[Liberal Classic]

27. "Reality" TV is also hardly a new thing

Most "reality tv" are game shows of some sort. Game shows have been around forever. American Idol? The Gong Show and Star Search came before. Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? You Bet Your Life was around long before. The 50s have been called the Golden Age of game and quiz shows.

[jeff30997]

28. Reality TV...

You have to be braindead to enjoy that crap!:hurts:

[Servo300]

31. wearing your pants so low, your buttcrack shows

[NightTrain]

32. As a professional driver, I voted for cell phones.

Not only are those fucking things a plague, they're a DANGEROUS plague in the hands of people behind a steering wheel! :grr::nuke:

[Darranar]

36. SUVs, certainly. n/t

[geniph]

37. I want my f***ing flying car, and I want it now!

my jetpack too! Dammit, I've been LIED to!

[Bossy Monkey]

40. Maybe we could sue Hanna-Barbera

They made Jonny Quest AND The Jetsons. Me, I'm holding out for a flying car that folds up into a briefcase.:D

[Bossy Monkey]

39. I made a political edition, too, here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=1750649
just for fun, if that's the word

[HEyHEY]

41. Disco

[nickgutierrez]

42. Two words: American Idol

"This could be you.

Not really."

[SarahB]

43. pantyhose

invented by the Devil himself :evilfrown:

[Bossy Monkey]

48. They didn't have these in the 20th century? n/t

[flamingyouth]

45. A combination of the two

Makeover-based reality TV. :scared:

[Delano]

46. The total demise of manners & consideration...

...as embodied by the cell phones chirping in restaurants, laser lights on theater screens, mammoth SUVs that will NOT let you move over no matter how much you use your turn signal, rightwingers who think it's clever to shout you down with their preprogrammed Limbaugh talking points rather than to have any kind of reasoned debate, and ON and ON...

[Lauren2882]

47. Online political discussion forums. Especially the kind with polls.

KIDDING! :)