"The Death of the Grown-up"

[Paisley]

The Wall Street Journal has an article on a new book called "The Death of the Grown-Up" by Diana West. Here is part of the article:

Arrested Development
Blame the '60s for America's perpetual adolescence? Nah, blame the '20s.

BY JOHN LEO
Tuesday, August 21, 2007 12:01 a.m. EDT

In the 1990s, most people who played video games were teenagers. Now the average gamester age is nearly 30. Cultural products aimed at tots and preteens capture the attention of adults. "SpongeBob SquarePants," intended for the 6-to-11 age group, draws almost 19 million viewers from the 18-to-49 crowd. Some famous museums, uncomfortable with their adult role as guardians of historical memory, have gone adolescent, staging exhibits on motorcycles, hip-hop and "Star Wars" movies. Many college courses, even on major campuses, make rainy-day activities at summer camp seem profound.

Such examples of America's descent into perpetual adolescence populate Diana West's provocative "The Death of the Grown-Up." Ms. West, a columnist for the Washington Times, argues that the country is suffering a case of arrested development, with teen tastes and desires eclipsing traditional adult conduct and values. A good deal of evidence supports her. An obsession with play and self-expression and a resistance to limits--conventional hallmarks of adolescence--are increasingly strong "adult" themes too.​

 

[texasgirl]

There's also another book about this called "Rejuvenille"
and here's the website

http://www.rejuvenile.com/

Once upon a time, boys and girls grew up and set aside childish things. Or so the story goes. Nowadays, adults buy cars marketed to consumers half their age, dress in schoolyard fashions and play with their children in ways adults of previous generations would have found ridiculous. Most have busy lives and adult responsibilities. They are not stunted adolescents. They are something new: rejuveniles.

 

[Starius]

Starius hops in and starts to sing:

Oooooooooooh, I don't wanna grow up!
I'm a Toys Я Us kid
There's a million things at Toys R Us that I can play with!
Like whips and chains and vibrating things-wooooops, wrong song!

Sorry sorry, I'll go put on my dunce hat and sit in the corner now...

 

[Fletch]

Blame the 20s?

If Ms. West is advocating a return to Edwardian formality and gravity, she can go sit on a flagpole. In a whalebone corset.

Then again, no one ought to pay too much heed to anyone who writes for the Washington Times, the newspaper that's also a delicious powdered drink mix.

 

[Miss Neecerie]

If Ms. West is advocating a return to Edwardian formality and gravity, she can go sit on a flagpole. In a whalebone corset.

ooh that might be fun to watch....someone can take pictures of her 'sporting' outfit!

 

[jamespowers]

I see this all the time. Its ridiculous to not acknowledge that you are not 15 anymore.
Before you had rites of passage like marriage and then father/motherhood. Now everything is upside down and backwards. Responsiblity is shirked and You have people making stupid, spur of the moment decisions that were ill fated from the beginning.
That's why we have boomerang kids who just keep coming back to live in their parent's basement after every failure. Perhaps we need to take time to tell children over and over that life is what you make it. Life is a series of stepping stones to success and playing hopscotch with those stepping stones leads to failure more times than not.
For instance, you cannot just walk away from your high school graduation and into the boardroom as a CEO. That should be a goal not an immediate gratification expectation. This involves stepping stones like education, working your way up and accomplishing tasks to meet the goal.
To say that the man is against you and you will never get anywhere is a big joke unless you actually try. :eusa_doh:
I think the definite avatar of our society seems to be representative in the baseball cap. It is more prevalent than anything else on heads today. This a hat that was for baseball players and children has become the uniform of the forever child along with shorts/sweats, sandals and T-shirts. Their mind and their clothes never change. :eusa_doh:

Regards,

J

 

[Undertow]

Starius hops in and starts to sing:

Oooooooooooh, I don't wanna grow up!
I'm a Toys Я Us kid
There's a million things at Toys R Us that I can play with!
Like whips and chains and vibrating things-wooooops, wrong song!

Sorry sorry, I'll go put on my dunce hat and sit in the corner now...

lol
I want you to know I didn't read that all the way...

And made the sudden decision to sing it out loud...

And was surprised at what was coming out of my mouth...
lol

Wow, now all my coworkers think I'm insane.

 

[Paisley]

Sadly, I see much of this in a friend of mine. She is nearly 40 and is moving back in with her parents and plans to get a job answering phones or serving coffee. [huh]

The happiest people I know have some self-restraint and discipline and lead orderly lives. They impose some rules and limitations on themselves, such as diet and exercise and fiscal responsibility. They don't say everything they think. They don't run after everyone they're attracted to.

Of course, there's no harm in playing video games or watching cartoons now and then, but I wonder: don't grown men and women want something more substantial? However, I can see where some people who are overwhelmed would have an appetite for fluff in their spare time: they cannot digest anything else.

 

[ShortClara]

My hubby plays video games, and it's not because he has nothing more "substantial" in his life or is stupid or anything like that. He pays bills and we don't live with parents. Is an adult who gets together with others and plays cansta or poker a juvenile moron? They are card games. We all play games - it's relaxing and a way to put down the more serious things in life, like a job, and have fun. Why is video gaming looked at like it's so much different than other types of play? It's a technological game. That's it. I know articles like this are about more than just gaming, but really, the assumptions made about people who play video games are obnoxious and, like most stereotypes, often false.

 

[Paisley]

I like video games too, or I used to, anyway. I had to make myself stop playing them a few years ago: I was staying up too late playing them.

I'd like to play cards, but I don't know of anyone to play with.

 

[ShortClara]

However, I can see where some people who are overwhelmed would have an appetite for fluff in their spare time: they cannot digest anything else.

Do you not take a break from life for a movie? Or TV? Or for collecting vintage clothes? Why are those "fluffy" things OK but gaming is not? The assumption that anyone who owns a Playstation or collects Comics is so overwhelmed by life that they cannot cope boggles my mind. Cannot digest anything else? Are you kidding?

Look, I don't want to start an argument. I enjoy that this board is much less combative than most online entities. But really, you just assumed much about my husband (and I guess, me, since I have picked up a joystick and played Sudoku in my time) that is highly insulting.

 

[Paisley]

I think you are reading a great deal into what I said.

 

[ShortClara]

I guess I am - then let my post stand in defense of adult gamers everywhere. They are not all drooling troglodytes

Have a lovely day!

 

[Maj.Nick Danger]

I love video games.
Especially the ones with Lara Croft in them.

 

[Bebop]

I think playing video games is just as legitimate as collecting stamps or playing chess. I don't think it's what you do. It's being able to put it into perspective and prioritizing that matters. Being a "grown up" is a lot different today than it was in the past.

 

[Sefton]

When I read this article I nearly dropped my yo-yo.

 

[PrettySquareGal]

Sadly, I see much of this in a friend of mine. She is nearly 40 and is moving back in with her parents and plans to get a job answering phones or serving coffee. [huh]

I'm of the belief that all honest work is noble. I know lots of maturing and mature people that work at clerical or service positions. Maybe she needs to save some money, or maybe her parents need her around to help? [huh]

 

[Starius]

I live with my parents, as do some close friends of mine. And they're some of the hardest working guys I know. And I will never feel bad about living with my parents because they are the most important people in my lives and I don't ever see that changing. It's hardly a new phenomena, my mother lived with her parents until she got married. Her grandmother even lived with them for while while my mother was in her 30s.

You hear a lot of jokes these days about the kids coming back home and living in the basement or whatnot, but families staying together is one of the most natural things in the world. Recent surveys show more and more that many college graduates return to the family homes, mostly for economical reasons these days. To me, this trend isn't anything new but more of a return to older practices.

Now, young adults acting immature is another matter entirely. But why criticize them anymore anyways? They're just going to do more damage to themselves than anything else. Besides, our popular culture is too busy glamorizing this activity by constantly reporting on the activities of Paris Hilton, Britney Spears, and Lindsey Lohan. Maybe if that kind of behavior wasn't sensationalized, some things would change for the better.

 

[SpitfireXIV]

The happiest people I know have some self-restraint and discipline and lead orderly lives. They impose some rules and limitations on themselves, such as diet and exercise and fiscal responsibility. They don't say everything they think. They don't run after everyone they're attracted to.

i have to agree with you there; "growing up" is a lot more different than "growing old." i've noticed the people around me that don't show much restraint in their spending, or in their actions and seem to be suffering for it.

i pay my bills on time, and in full... but, you had better believe that once in a while i'll splurge on a nostalgic toy from my childhood when i come across it, and that a few microwaved M&M's are a after-work treat

 

[Diamondback]

I think Starius and Ms. Spitfire, between 'em, have nailed it: Balance and moderation.

Having a whimsical side is OK, as long as it's just a side and not your entire life.

As for living with parents, my mother's a workaholic office-camper, so in the long dry spells between research contracts, my other gig is keeping her house together for her. Cheaper'n hiring a professional housekeeper, and we both get something out of it...