Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Educating Michael

So, I promise that I am not jumping on the "blogging as validation of happy marriage" micro trend bandwagon, but it really must be said that I love my husband. I am a lucky woman in many, many ways. And, apart from a brief obsession with raising pack goats, Mike has great taste and we are pretty much simpatico in our thoughts and feelings. Yet, despite all his greatness, he is sorely lacking in a knowledge of pop culture, particularly seventies and eighties pop culture. He had one of those enchanted childhoods in a forest and never watched TV growing up. You can't blame him. You certainly can't blame his parents. They were doing what they thought was best by sending him out into the woods to play. But now we are all suffering because Mike can't appreciate a well-placed "Facts of Life" reference. Every time I refer to some TV show or movie from the seventies or eighties, Mike just gives me a blank stare until I say, with sincere disbelief, "you mean, you've never SEEN Footloose???" It surprises me how well he turned out, considering that the words "Roseanne Roseannadanna" mean ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to him. I mean, how do you get through life without knowing who Gilda Radner is!?? I guess it wouldn't be a big deal if she weren't among my top ten heroes of all time.

To be fair, most of the time Mike's lack of pop culture knowledge is not a problem. He knows a lot of stuff, most of which is highly useful. But it would be nice to know that I could say my new shirt makes me look like Mrs. Roper on "Three's Company" and he would know immediately what I mean and be able to laugh at the reference (and then spend the next ten minutes disabusing me of the belief). You just want to know that the person you plan to spend eternity with has a favorite Monkee (mine is Mickey). And, perhaps more shocking than his lack of seventies and eighties wisdom, is the fact that he has no recollection whatsoever of the whole Michael Jackson/Lisa Marie Presley marriage, the HIStory comeback, the "You Are Not Alone" music video, etc. Where was he for all of that? Why can't he dredge up as much disgust and outrage as I can when that whole disaster comes up? Because he never watched VH1!!!!

So, I have decided to make a list of movies, television, and music to help Mike learn a little more about the stuff that pretty much makes up 60% of who I am. We can pick something to study each week. I can rattle off more than 20 shows to make him watch without batting an eye, but the question is where to actually start?? I was thinking the best would be to start with the first 15 years of Saturday Night Live. I mean, he did watch some SNL growing up, but he knows little about the early episodes. I think that's a good place to start. Then we can talk like Buckwheat in our home, which was always something I dreamed of doing with my husband. Imagine an eternity of "hi, I'm Buhwhee, amemba me?"

10 comments:

  1. Oh, Carly. I can relate. It's like Christian was raised in a barn! Or, more like a house. . . without cable.Have Mike start memorizing all the pink questions on Trivial Pursuit--at least that's a start.

    Take heart, Christian has acquired a good chunk of pop culture since we've been married. That's going on 15 years of Behind the Music!

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  2. You know, as disquieting as it must be to have a husband not know pop culture I find it weird that Matt remembers the beginning of the Facts of Life song and CONSISTENTLY finds moments in which to sing it. We're talking at least once a month. And often his eyes fill with "fake singing tears". You know what I mean Car Car.

    He also knows every last word in Ice, Ice Baby. With the bass kicked in and everything.

    So I guess things could be worse for you.

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  3. Don't blame the parents. There was no cable TV available amd we lived behind a hill which made it so an antenna didn't work. I'm illiterate on the 70-80's TV stuff too. I will stand by my Bro and say we are functional people w/o having experienced that era of the tube. DMP

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  4. Oh, DMP. You don't know what you are missing. I don't think a human being could possibly be considered functional unless they have a working knowledge of eighties sitcoms!!

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  5. Ahhhh...and then you can sing "Lookin pa nub" just like a good couple should.

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  6. Neil knows his pop culture, but unfortunately this is the one time where our age difference sometimes shines through. He never had a Saved By the Bell phase and I will never relate to his Rush phase.

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  7. This is the cross you must bear. The upcoming years will be hard ones. But, you can work through this.

    Honestly, he should be ashamed.

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  8. I have to confess that it's me that always shocks my husband by how culturally ignorant I am. I suppose my excuse is that I spent many years living in the wilds of Montana and, when we finally moved to "civilization" and got things like cable, the TV was never turned to anything that didn't have some sort of ball involved. So, if you ever do decide the best place to start educating people, please, fill me in!

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  9. I had to ask my husband "Michael Jackson and Lisa Marie Presley were married?" I think Matt and I may need to use your advice and I will have to start studying.

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  10. For what it's worth, if you sat around watching Mork and Mindy or Love Boat reruns it would be a waste of time. However, there are several Beastie Boys songs that would be worth memorizing.

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