A Different World….Or Is It?
Sometimes when I’m browsing the guide on the TV, I notice that the show A Different World is on, and I tend to say the same thing to my children each time, “Y’all should watch this. It’s really good and motivating.” I’ll either talk about how motivating the show is for young people and teenagers, or I’ll share with them how much my generation liked the show – those who watched it. It was a show that I think that was kind of ahead of its times, or maybe it was ahead of the people around my area. I had never been exposed to that kind of college life before, and for me it was motivating and inspiring in many ways. I like it because it didn’t show hardy partying, but yet they had parties. It didn’t show extreme sex, nor did it glorify multiple sex partners, although it was realistic about relationships – the ups and downs and hook-ups and break-ups. Hooking up didn’t have the same meaning that it has for some individuals today.
Today when I watching the show I thought to myself, wouldn’t it be nice if young people were keeping up with shows like this instead of shows like Keeping up with the Kardashians? That’s not the only show on television that doesn’t influence young people in a good way, but it’s definitely the first one that comes to mind when I think of keeping up with the wrong thing. Today’s shows influences us and especially young people to want so much more in life ahead of time. When I say ahead of time, it shows that they can skip the necessary steps that majority of people have to take in life. Only a rare few gets money and fame with what they do with their bodies and not their brains and hard work. I’m not talking about getting out there being an entrepreneur when you’re starting businesses with money received in other ways. I’m talking using your God given gifts and talents and going through the process to get there.
I can’t number how many times I’ve had to tell my niece(s) about going after that which is quick and degrading, but society is telling them differently. That’s why shows like A Different World isn’t a hit to our young people today, because they’ve been taught by television and internet that that’s not the way to go. I know college isn’t for everybody – I believe that. That show enticed our generation to want to experience the college life. Where are the shows of today that should be promoting that life? There’s a couple on BET and Aspire, and I’m glad they’re on, but where are the shows that a young person can watch without having to be desensitized to sex. I’m talking young people under the college age, but can still enjoy the aspiring thoughts of ‘one day’ going to experience campus life – studying together, the woes of relationships and building friendships? Where they at? Lol
I don’t think it’s so much of the fact that we live in a different world, we are choosing to treat it as a different world.