Plugged In

Last night, my family sat down to watch the Paul McCartney concert 1-hour special that had aired on Thanksgiving. We followed this up with the 1-hour Beyonce special that had also aired on Thursday night. Both of these got me thinking about cultural phenomenons and what it is that I find so interesting about following pop culture.

Paul McCartney was great, as always. At several points between songs, bits of an interview with him are cut in... and Paul remarks on all the speculation that he will someday retire. He says with a grin on his face, "What am I going to do? Sit at home and watch the telly?" (I love British-speak :P) "That's fine for about five minutes."

In presenting the show, the editors also cut in some original footage of the Beatles playing the same stadium when they first came to New York. That, along with the jubilant faces of the audience members, singing or dancing along, reinforced the amazing strength and force of the mania that I believe still surrounds the Beatles.

It was great to hear Paul play hits like "Hey Jude" and "Yesterday," but equally fun to see the stunning pyrotechnic-laden performance of "Live and Let Die." I was disappointed that Paul didn't do any of his more recent hits like "Nod Your Head" and "Dance Tonight" -- but perhaps he did and they just didn't include them in the one-hour version of the show.

Paul remarks at one point that he loves that parents and kids and even grandparents can all enjoy his music equally. While I have long appreciated the Beatles hits (who hasn't?) I'm sure I don't hear them with the same rush of emotions and nostalgia as people like my parents who were growing up in the midst of their popularity. My mom was talking about what it was like to follow the Beatles, watching them release hits, break up, get back together, not quite knowing where the group was headed or what would happen next.

I think what really struck me was that the night before, Thanksgiving, I got into a rather heated debate with an old family friend about what made/makes Harry Potter the phenomenon it is. I was trying to explain what it was like growing up alongside the release of the books, not knowing when the next book would be released, who was going to die, how the story was going to end. It occurred to all of my family while watching gracious and talented Paul perform that the Beatles was a very similar phenomenon.

Transitioning from Paul to Beyonce was rather odd, but it was great to get a glimpse of what looks like her very energetic and intimate performance from Las Vegas. I admire Beyonce greatly -- she's gorgeous, sexy, talented... She can sing, dance, and is an inspiration to women with her messages of independence and confidence. There's something lovely and almost hypnotic about watching someone so clearly in their prime, loving what they do every minute.

It really hit me when she performed Single Ladies (mainly because she pointed it out) that the Single Ladies video and dance was a kind of mini-phenomenon of 2009. I remember the first time I saw this video and what an impact it made on me. It's cool to think that it was a major part of the pop culture of this year and that I was somehow a part of it -- that I experienced it.

What I realized through all these musings was that I find immense pleasure from the feeling of being "plugged in" to the larger world, particularly when it involves pop culture phenomena. There's something really satisfying for me of understanding and being part of an experience -- whether it's Michael Jackson's death on Twitter, the VMAs and Kanye bashing, or any of the other big events of this year. Every now and then, I question why I care so much, if it's frivolous, how it really impacts my life... But I think what attracts me to experiencing pop culture phenomenons is the feeling of connection and belonging, the knowledge that thousands of other people love the Single Ladies video and have a memory of watching it the same time. It's the same feeling I associate with Harry Potter book releases, and that I'm sure my parents' generation links to the Beatles albums.

So, we're heading into the last month of 2009... the last month of the first decade of the 2000's. Soon we'll have a new year, a new decade, and new phenomenons to experience. I can't wait!