Monday, January 13, 2014

What the Beatles can teach the selfie generation...

Thanks in part to social media, young people today pursue celebrity as avidly as riches. In the current warp-speed entertainment world littered with marginally talented, vacuous performers, the vanguard appears to be Miley Cyrus, one of the most Googled people in 2013. Her most recent efforts include contributing "twerking" to the common lexicon, and providing the world with a signature Christmas gift, an Instagram selfie emerging from the shower, posed with her familiar tongue.

Kate Winslet, sensibilities shocked, recently told Psychologies magazine "I mean, you think about someone like Miley Cyrus, and I said to my daughter the other day, 'I'm this close to opening my mouth about what's going on with that girl'. Who is actually saying, 'Stop for a second, what do you want, who are you?'"

The classic cautionary tale of "what do you want, who are you?" is soon to be revisited in the upcoming 50th anniversary of one of America's most legendary television shows. On an unforgettable Sunday evening in February 1964, with nearly 75 million watching, The Beatles debuted in America on the Ed Sullivan Show, a performance that made them the most popular performers in the world. Six short years later, the group disbanded amidst acrimony and lawsuits.

If they had it to do over again, would they have left Liverpool to become the western world's most famous people? On its face, it's a ridiculous question. But with the perspective of half a lifetime, perhaps not so ridiculous considering how their lives unfolded. Full story...

Related posts:
  1. If President Obama acts like this, don’t blame teenagers...
  2. Good Ol' Freda, the Beatles' secretary...
  3. The Beatles and the Paul McCartney mystery...
  4. The Beatles' Abbey Road and conspiracy theories...
  5. The Beatles' strangest gig...
  6. Beatles on the rooftop, their last public performance! Wow!
  7. British teacher warns against celebrity culture...

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