The End of an Era

North Korea is threatening nuclear war, the Swine Flu rages on, the Recession is (apparently) in full swing, and Michael Jackson has died. The latter is the buzz around the globe right now, and as we (apparently) sit on the brink of The End of the World, it's raised some questions for me. The most pressing of which is: what is going to happen to the kids of tomorrow? What is Gen-Whatever going to be like?
Michael was the Prince. What he did for pop-culture simply can not be duplicated. I realize this is not a revolutionary thought but all the same it is true. But, like MJ, these "greats" are fading. Or dying of overdoses.
Too soon?
Anyways, I was informed today by my usual pop-culture aid that a movie quite close to our hearts, and a large part of the 90s, is being made into a television series. By Disney. It's "10 Things I Hate About You" and yes, you are allowed to be shocked and repulsed, as you should be. How can this happen? How can something that should be sacred be replicated. This is worse than when Fall Out Boy and John Mayer collaborated on a cover of "Beat It". With all this copy-cat business going around, all future generations are going to be left with are cheap knock-offs of the great things of the past. And everyone knows a cheap knock-off isn't even a tenth as good as the real thing.
I find it really sad that instead of perpetuating what was good it needs to be "updated" for this new, techno-immersed generation. We need... Sorry, I took a short break to watch the "First Look" of the series. Now I am utterly incensed. Check out the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYY8wXaMhLI&feature=related.
Anyways. My point is, amidst all the "serious" world drama that will have a definite impact on generations to come, it's this indefinite impact of pop-culture that has me thrown. Although it's largely North American, it spreads itself around the globe, and soon everyone is doing the "Numa. Numa" dance (a little insider- YouTube joke there). While I think my generation is the last to truly get a taste of the era of pop-culture that was original, new and groundbreaking, the next one is not going to get that luxury. Instead, it gets the Disney Channel.