The Day After Death

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It's the evening after the morning that sent us reeling in disgust and horror as I write this. We've had a bit of time--not nearly enough--to come to grips with the fact that the unfathomable happened. . . again. We know who pulled the trigger so many times, and we can put faces to the victims. There are plenty of stories that go along with each of those faces, all of them tragic. It should be a time of mourning and respect, shouldn't it?

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One would think.

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Sadly, what has happened instead is the horror that happened at Virginia Tech has become a springboard in some quarters to relaunch political agendas across the board. Certainly a disaster of this magnitude warrants a reexamination of our core values. It's even understandable to ask how could we as a society allow this to happen--it's part of the grieving process.

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The short answer, of course, is we didn't allow it to happen, and we could never have prevented it. No matter how much we wring our hands and wail in retrospect, there is no way anybody could have seen this coming. Even though we know now the shooter wrote some terribly constructed, plotless and very twisted fiction, that's hardly enough to lock him away before he could have the opportunity to possibly kill.

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Advocates on both sides of the gun issue have attempted to weigh in on the tragedy with a "see-told-ya-so" rhetoric that makes proponents on either side of the fence sound like schoolyard rivals. This is not a Second Amendment issue, anymore than the "constitutional right" not to wear seatbelts is. To suggest if students and faculty had been armed, they could have cut the shooter down before he ever got off a round is ludicrous. By the same token, banning handguns outright as a preventative measure is also a pipedream. I will say, however, a restriction on how much ammunition anybody can buy at a given time might not be a bad idea. After all, nobody's had a problem with Sudafed purchasing restrictions.

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We've gone beyond denial and shock at this point. We're at the anger stage, and we're grasping at straws to make sense of it all. It will never make sense. Madness is not something that can be rationalized. We'll feel the pain in some part of our hearts forever, and in that part of our hearts, it will never subside. But this is not a time to advocate kneejerk responses.

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The Battle of Imus: Lessons Lost

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If the so-called Imus controversy taught us anything, it's that we Americans have way too much time on our hands--that, and we love a good brawl. Give us a few ill-chosen words on an early Friday morning, and we're pretty much set for at least a weekend of drunken punditry. In the Imus case, though, we just can't seem to shake the hangover.

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It's a hotbutton issue that has about as much meaning in the scheme of things as Avril Levigne getting married. Yet, we're fascinated by it, outraged by it, devastated by it and in a state of denial by it. Here's why: it forced us to look at ourselves.

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And we didn't like what we saw.

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While most of us nursed our wounds after the initial brawl, bullies from all corners smelled blood. And bullies being what they are, they made alliances. It's the way bullies work--it's how gangs are formed. It doesn't matter about your personal ethics--all that matters is a common foe. Once that's in place, you become invincible. And once that happens, there's no stopping you.
Your foot soldiers will do the rest, and you can sit back and reap the spoils.

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That's what's happened here--and what better time than an election year? Hilary Clinton was outraged, so Condoleeza Rice had to be indignant, also. Black conservatives with political aspirations suddenly spoke of a need for civility, and white liberals had to jump on that bandwagon, also. Snoop Dogg even weighed in, saying that when rappers say it, they're just reflecting a community that whites can't understand. It's all a matter of proper context, after all.

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Here's the thing: we Americans have no short term memory. We buy whatever message is sold to us, so long as it's served up on a cool soundbite or an iPod. We forget the message of Martin Luther King or Robert Kennedy or even Barry Goldwater, and we purposely divide ourselve according to race or ethnicity. This is 2007, and we've run out of ideas. Rather than forge ahead, we want to retreat to the idealized version of the 1950's, where nobody ever said a cross word, and blacks and whites lived happily in their segregated neighborhoods.

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Sure, it would be nice if we were a little more civil and polite. But who in their right mind believes a government can mandate civility? We face innumerable challenges as a nation. Slips of the tongue and coarse language only divert our attention from the real dangers we face. To paraphrase Jay-Z, "I got 99 problems, and the bitch ain't one"

We can go down that road, and ban everything we find personally offensive. Of course that will also mean not only an end to hip-hop, but those bare midriff commercials for everything from Slimfast to Bally's, all those adolescent fantasies disguised as body spray commercials, every program that may inadvertently slander a group — say Irish or Germans — ditch every politically offensive program — depending on your point of view — and, hell, get rid of almost all the programming we've come to love. We can create our new Mullah class, and we'll all be protected — or else.The other option is to shed our eggshell skins, and realize even a bad joke is better than no joke at all.

Where Were You That Night in June?

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We don't recognize the days that shape our lives until the moment has passed. They're just days, like any other day, unless some unexpected something comes along with such overbearing force that a particular day becomes seared in our memory-- where we were, what we were doing-- suddenly takes on an otherworldly significance.

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Bobby is a film about such a day. What writer/director Emilio Estevez attempts to do here is present June 4, 1968 as just another day that happens to culminate with the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy. It all takes place at the Ambassador Hotel, where Kennedy would be mortally wounded before the day's end, and focuses on the ordinary travails of staff members and guests at the Ambassador that fateful day. It's an ambitious, if uneven, effort that teeters between melodrama and significance.

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At its worst, Bobby plays like a cross between The Love Boat and Crash. The ensemble cast, featuring Anthony Hopkins, Sharon Stone, William H. Macy, Lindsay Lohan, Harry Belafonte, Laurence Fishburne, Christian Slater, Elijah Wood, Demi Moore, Freddie Rodriguez, Ashton Kutcher and a host of other rising and fading stars, often distracts from the intent of the film. Their substories are mostly banal--the alcoholic diva (Demi Moore) and her cuckolded husband (Emilio Estevez), the philandering hotel manager (Macy) and his silently suffering hairdresser wife (Stone), the reminiscing hotel retirees (Hopkins and Belafonte)--and don't add to the weight to which the film strives. They serve more as counterpoint to the more interesting stories interspersed with them. Lindsay Lohan is surprisingly good as an idealistic girl marrying Elijah Wood to keep him from having to serve in Vietnam. Martin Sheen and Helen Hunt portray aging liberal socialites representing the passing of more civilized culture, and the interaction between Fishburne and Rodriguez are quiet testaments to the evolving socio-racial awareness among minorities.

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The first third of Bobby establishes all these characters and their stories, and it's a bit haphazard at first, more a game of "spot the star" than anything else. But as the film progresses, their stories intertwine in remarkably subtle ways that reflect the timbre of the times. Kennedy himself is more metaphor than character through most of the movie, with archival footage of him punctuating the film's main point of how a single moment can alter the shape of a society.

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When it works--which it mostly does, once the establishing sequences are out of the way--Bobby is a compelling statement. Estevez doesn't dwell on conspiracy theories or political machinations. By taking the sociopolitical climate of 1968 and viewing it through the eyes of people unaware they were microcosms of the upheaval taking place all around them, he makes the assassination of Robert Kennedy deeply personal and moving. When he was killed, the dreams of many Americans for a more tolerant society were all but shattered. Yet, the senselessness of it, coming so soon after the assassination of Martin Luther King, united us in some ways, if even for a short time.

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As a film, Bobby sometimes overreaches its ambitions. But as a snapshot of American life and how we viewed ourselves on the day that RFK was shot, it's a powerful achievement. The DVD release has special features that enhance its significance, including a "making of " documentary and eyewitness accounts by people who were there the night it happened. It's not a masterpiece, but it is a movie that stands repeating viewings.

Imus Must Go! And So Must You, And You. . .And Me

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We all know by now Don Imus made an unfortunate comment the other morning on his radio program. It's been oft repeated, so if you don't know what he said by now, you obviously don't have CNN, MSNBC, FOX or even a working television. It was one of those dumbass remarks, the sort of which shock jocks say every morning. But somebody just happened to be listening at the right time, and a media firestorm erupted.

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Yeah, Imus shot off his mouth once too often at the wrong time, and for that, he should be banished to some broadcasting netherworld. The Reverend Al Sharpton has said as much, adding that forgiveness does not absolve a perpetrator from penalty. Jesse Jackson has echoed this, although I'm still not sure how NYC is "Hymietown," or what penance should be paid for referring to the Big Apple as such. Stevie Wonder and Jay-Z, who have used the exact same words Imus used, have thus far had no comment on the remark.

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Look. Imus shouldn't have said what he said over the airwaves. He's admitted that. You just can't use barroom language on the radio. What you can do on the radio, however, is promote gun violence, advocate death for outspoken foes of Bush ala Dixie Chicks, hustle yo' hos and discuss questionable ways of scoring big, so long as you put it to a bitchin' dance beat.

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I'm not defending Imus. I'm also not jumping on his execution cart. There are larger issues at play here. The American culture has become dysfunctional--rehab has become the new magic pill for everything from depression to homophobia, and it's a cure-all that's becoming more than a little frightening. It more than homogenizes us--it somnabolizes us. When we strive to make everything politically correct, we render independent thought impotent.

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Alas, we're approaching that point, if we haven't already crossed it. By all means, fire Imus. We can't have those kinds of ill-chosen words polluting our collective mind. But let's don't stop there--let's fire all the shock jocks and political commentators, be they from the left or right, from Tim O'Reilly to Jon Stewart. And while we're at it, let's pull The Jeffersons and All In the Family--who ever knew people like that? I'm feeling better already, aren't you? Rap has to go, of course, what all that street jive, and country, to, with all those songs promoting cheatin' and drinkin'. Oh hell, let's just burn it all.

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It will be a perfect world. Everyone will live in perfect harmony, and nobody will offend anybody else. Until one early morning, somebody just has to open his mouth. . .

Medieval Machinations, More and Machiavelli

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The Tudors is not a series given to bombastics. Why would it be? We tend to remember history as a series of dramatic events, forgetting what led to those events. In reality, history is comprised of little moments that culminate in something the participants could never have seen coming. That's how life works.

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The second episode of The Tudors moves at a deceptively leisurely pace, drawing on the premises of the first episode. War with France still appears to be imminent, despite Henry's summit with the French king. Cardinal Wolsey is still trying to connive his way into the Papacy. The Duke of Buckingham is still insisting he's the rightful heir to the throne. And Queen Catherine's lady in waiting is pregnant with Henry's child.

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It all rings of soap opera, I know, and even though it wasn't nearly as glamorous as portrayed here, the fact remains-- it all happened.

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What The Tudors does, so far, is examine the beginnings of Henry VIII's monarchy .and we see him as reckless, unruly and ruthless when needs call for it. He's young, and plays the monarchy as a rock star, going for the groupies with elfin abandon. He goes mano y mano with the French monarch in a wrestling match (which he loses), he treats Cardinal Wolsey as a Colonel Parker mentor, he regards Buckingham as a trivial rival and he relishes in the birth of his son, illegitimate though he may be.

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In episode 2, we begin to see how resolute King Harry 8 was in redefining England's role in Europen affairs. He's no longer a mere playboy, as portrayed in episode one, but a man who's not to be trifled with. Buckingham's claims to the throne result in his beheading. Henry claims his son, Henry Fitzroy, much to Catherine's dismay. And war with France seems inefvitable.

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While it plods at times, The Tudors is a program that bears watching. Think of The Sopranos, set it in the 16th centurty, and go from there.

A Darkly Delightful Carnival of the Soul

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Think of those calliope sounds that wafted just over the horizon when you were a kid, and how your heart skipped a beat when you realized a carnival was coming to town. Now remember the first time you saw The 7 Faces of Dr. Lao, and how it made you just know that the next carnival that stopped in your little town was going to be that magical, that ominous. Now imagine Tim Burton and David Lynch pooling their resources for the purpose of making that carnival actually happen. Swirl all that around in your head for a moment or two, let your mind evolve a soundtrack that's part Raymond Scott, part Merrie Melodies, part Oingo Boingo and part Kurt Weill. Let all of it sink in, congeal and morph, and you have a rough understanding of Ego Plum and the Ebola Music Orchestra.

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On their first full-fledged album, The Rat King, Ego Plum and the Ebola Music Orchestra not only recreate the sullen dangers of the carnival--they reinvent them. The resultant work is a twisting thrill ride through Jungian corridors that leave the listener a little woozy, but panting for another trip. The cartoonishly eerie "Introduction," replete with Salvation Army trombones and marching bass drums, lures you in like a spider awaiting prey. Then, the carnie barker entices you to enter into the labyrynth with promises of sights never before seen, and "all questions answered inside the carnival show."

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This is a carnival, though-- and carnivals being what they are, success depends on sleight of hand and misdirection. Ego Plum is a master of both. He promises a journey into the darker realms of the psyche, and because the music teeters somewhere between cabaret and outright psychosis, we believe him. We want to believe him, so even when the illusion wears thin, as on "The Death of Cannibal Chimp" (a reworking of Poe themes), we can't wait for the next pause on the ride. Instrumental interludes of juxtaposed xylophones, mellotrons, trombones and guitars lull us into a dreamy trance before we're jarred into the next Daliesque exhibit. Everybody has "Something To Hide," he assures us towards the beginning of the ride, and proceeds to gleefully expose those frailties as another part of the natural order of life. In Plum's world, irony, guilt and redemption are helpmates to one another, with none of them emerging as a victor. "Hansel and Gretel" finds Hansel riddled with angst over the traumatic aftermath of the fairy tale, practically sobbing to Gretel, ". . . on my knees, I promise that I'll never put you back in harm's way."

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But like any good carnival ride worth the price of admission, The Rat King lets us know in the end that it's all been a bit of a lark, that it's all been an elaborate joke. When the master of ceremonies finally appears in "The Rat King," he's all drool and sarcasm as he taunts and toys with us one last time. "There's a time to harm 'em and a time to P.T. Barnum--exorcise all the shames and insecurities--in me."

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And as the strains of "Ebola Music Orchestra Theme" usher us, a bit shaken but none the worse for wear, into the light of everyday reality, it dawns us that we've been taken. As rides go, it was good while we were traversing that tricked out artificial river. But once the ride came to its inevitable end, we realize we've been the rubes all along, and we actually paid to feed the Rat King's own neuroses.

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The Rat King ultimately works best if not taken seriously. Unfortunately, it too often defends itself as being "art." It's not. But if taken straight up as a cartoon shot with a bitchin' soundtrack, it's one amusing ride. There are enough musical references to make the mind reel, and enough stop and go cartoon lurches to make you anticipate the next pratfall. It's the kind of shot that hits you in the gut and brain, and leaves you wondering. . . what just happened?

The Dance Floor As Metaphor

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Generally speaking, techno dance music is not the first solution that comes to mind when debating global strife. Frequency, the full-length debut album by Naked Rhythm, proposes just that as a possible first step to achieving world unity. According to founders Alex Spurkel and Avi Sills, "We are trying to get people to open up and think outside of their own cultural reference point, to be more accepting of cultures and people they might normally have conflict with. We are trying to present a model for the world. There's a lot of war going on in the world right now, and a lot of healing that needs to be done. . . and music breaks down walls instantly. "

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Lofty aspirations aside, Frequency does an admirable job of fusing world music and electronica. By taking native rhythms from the Middle East, Africa, India and Brazil, and beefing them up with techno dance effects, Spurkel and Sills generally deliver an end result that's palatable across a wide cultural spectrum. The problem is there are times when it's too agreeable. "Samba Bionic" for instance, relies too much on trance remixing to be interesting beyond the club dance floor.

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For the most part, though, the fluid collective of musicians that is Naked Rhythm build a sea of sound that ebbs and flows ethereally between cultural and musical idioms. The opening tune, "Deep Lotus," lures you in with a light jazz feel imbued with Indian roots, only to jerk you into an almost cyberpunk world with "Babylon", combining hip-hop and traditional Arabic rhythms in an otherwordly setting that demonstrates the universality of music.

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Since Spurkel and Sills are both accomplished drummers, the entire album is heavily percussive, and it's their driving beats that keep the album cohesive. But it's their uncanny ability to meld traditional global music with electronica, coupled with the drive of the musicians with whom they surround themselves, that makes Frequency stand above most dance albums. Talents featured here include Abhiman Kaushal, known for his tabla work with Ravi Shankar, Lebanese spiritual singer Tony Khalife, Oakland-based rapper Brutha Los, soul songstress CC White and Woroud Antabal, best known as a traditional Muslim vocalist.

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Despite its decidedly urban nightclub flavor, the music on Frequency is more organic than electronic. Overall, the album is a celebration of cultural and ethnic diversity, and how the commonalities of music weave us all together as a human race. And while I'm not totally convinced that therein lies the key to world peace, I have to think it couldn't hoit.Naked Rhythm's live shows are celebrations in themselves, replete with belly dancers and accoustic instruments from various cultures. This disc also includes a bonus DVD performance and interview segment that provides you with a more complete picture of the band.

Rock Star Royalty in the Sixteenth Century

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You might think a ten-part series about a young Henry VIII would be a stodgy affair, given our popular perception of the English King as a man of considerable girth with a bad marital track record. The Showtime series The Tudors, premiering tonight 10 PM EST, handily shatters any such notions. As portrayed by Johnathan Rhys Meyers, Henry is a vibrant, athletic sovereign as consumed with his libido as with affairs of state.

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The series opens with the assassination of Henry's uncle in Italy by French assailants, thus setting the tone for what follows. Henry and a hastily called council decide there is no course for England but to war against France. The King leaves it to his councilors, particularly his Chancellor, Cardinal Thomas Wolsey (Sam Neill) to work out the details. Henry has more pressing matters to attend, mostly involving sex with various ladies in waiting, tennis matches with assorted dukes and earls, and the occasional joust against pretenders to the throne.

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Actually, it's a bit more complex than that. The first episode, by necessity, loosely sketches a tableau of palace intrigue, ambition and deceit, with characters whose agendas seem oddly familiar to a modern audience. Henry is in a loveless, questionably legal marriage with Katherine of Aragon (Maria Doyle Kennedy), whose loyalties appear more rooted to her Spanish relatives than to Henry. Cardinal Wolsey has Papal ambitions that appear to outweigh his loyalty to the King, while Sir Thomas More (Jeremy Northam) envisions a Utopian future for England. The Duke of Buckingham (Steven Waddington) sees himself as the rightful heir to the throne, and conspires to thwart Henry.

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This would all seem a bit on the soap opera-ish side were it not for the fact it's all rooted in historical fact. This is not a 21st century version of the early reign of Henry VIII, as some have suggested. By all accounts, Henry was a robust, athletic man at this stage of his life, and Rhys Meyers plays the king with a nonchalant air that belies his steely resolve in maintaining his throne. In fact, all of the principals play their parts convincingly, shunning the melodrama frequently seen in historical dramas. The dialogue may be modernized, but it only serves to make the story flow more smoothly. This is a story that moves at a pace sinilar to The Sopranos, with plot twists happening when you least expect them.

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If I have any quibbles about the premiere, it's only that 16th century England looks too pretty--even the peasants look robust, and the skies are always azure blue. Still, that adds to the regal nature of the show, and somehow lends an aura of credibility to the dark intrigues simmering just beneath the pastoral facade. You just know that bad things are about to happen.

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If the premiere episode is any indication of where the next nine episodes are headed, Showtime may have a major hit with The Tudors. Expect Emmy nominations all around.

Still Cookin' After All These Years

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Listening to Cookin' With The Miles Davis Quintet is an epiphany of sorts. Even now, more than fifty years after its initial release, it remains a remarkable testament to the potency of jazz, and reminds us how fluid it really is. What makes Cookin' even more amazing is that was recorded as a contractual obligation.

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Columbia had recorded the Quintet in 1955, but since Miles was under contract to Prestige. they couldn't release the tapes. The two labels reached an agreement whereby would record the necessary sessions to fulfill his contract with Prestige, and, in return, Columbia wouldn't release anything until March 1957. Two marathon sessions, recorded in May and October, 1956, satisfied those obligations. The four albums that came out of those sessions--Cookin', Relaxin', Steamin' and Workin' became classics of cool jazz.

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Cookin', although it was recorded during the October session, was the first of the four to be released. It only takes one listen to understand why. This is the original Miles Davis quintet, with John Coltrane's sax playing against Miles Davis's trumpet, Red Garland's piano complementing the two of them, with Paul Chambers on bass and drummer Philly Joe Jones masterfully keeping the whole thing from slipping into utter chaos. There's an energy on these four tracks that strains to break free from all previous conventions, and ironically, set a new standard for the genre.

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Even though only four tracks make up Cookin', it can hardly be tossed off as an EP. These tunes brim with the immediacy of a live club performance, as well they should, considering they were all done in one take. More than that, they're the foundations for "cool jazz", in which Davis redefined the parameters of jazz, and inspired most of which would follow in the genre.

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Opening with the first recording of what would become Davis' signature tune, "My Funny Valentine" works as a sort of preamble for the rest of the set. It's powerful by virtue of its understatement, with Davis's muted trumpet delicately dancing with Garland's higher register piano musings, and the two setting a standard for lonely hearts yet to be surpassed. "Blues By Five," a Garland composition, is a freewheeling jam in the best jazz tradition, showcasing the talents of the bandmembers with solos that seamlessly integrate with the work's intent. "Arigin" ("Nigeria" spelled backwards, for the trivia buffs among you), a piece written by Sonny Rollins, is a complete reworking of the original, with Davis and Coltrane trading trumpet and sax licks like dueling heavy metal guitarists. The marathon thirteen minute combo piece "Tune Up/When lights Are Low" closes Cookin' with a jam that showcases all five musicians, with Coltrane and Davis strongly hinting at where their paths were heading.

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With few exceptions, recent years have not been particularly kind to the evolution of jazz. The current crop of players are more mired in theory than innovation, and the genre is stagnant as a result. Those not obsessed with theory have devolved jazz into a mainstream pop dance medium that has precious little to do with the soul of jazz. As a consequence, we get a lot of recycled runs that sound tired even to the least initiated. And while there exists an abundance of talented players, there's a dearth of musicians willing to stretch the boundaries of jazz.

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Miles Davis reinvented jazz, and then reinvented it again and again. With Cookin' we hear some of the early rumblings. They may have subsided a bit over the years, but somewhere out there, there's a young musician listening to the Miles Davis Quintet, and thinking. . . this could be even better, if. . .

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Cookin' could be that point of inspiration.

Why the Boomers Are a Big Noise

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From 1946 through 1964, America experienced a population growth unprecedented in human history. World War II had ended in 1945, and the country was collectively anxious to enjoy the new prosperity they now had, including rushing headlong into parenthood. Over the next eighteen years, Americans did just that-- with gusto. The result was a baby boom that increased the population by nearly 80 million. I was born right in the middle of that boom, and that may explain in part why I found the new PBS documentary The Boomer Century: 1946-2046 so fascinating.

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The Boomer Century is hardly a nostalgic romp, however. Instead, it looks at the boomer generation's past, present and future in an insightful and entertaining way. The result is a documentary that spans not only the the concerns of the boomers themselves, but addresses the impact they will have on future generations of Americans. Hosted by psychologist and gerontologist, Dr. Ken Dychtwald, The Boomer Century is a fast-paced story in three parts.

The first part focuses on how post -war American society shaped the generation, from the explosion of television culture (In 1946, only 6000 homes owned televisions; within a decade that number had mushroomed to nearly forty million.), to rock and roll, to the social upheaval of the sixties, to the student activism that followed. The second part delves into how this generation reshaped the workplace and redefined lifestyle, for better or worse. The third, and perhaps most important, part examines the impact aging boomers are having on society as a whole. The boomers are such a huge part of the populace, that every eight seconds, another one turns 60. The implications of that are enormous.

Produced and directed by Joel Westbrook and Neil Steinberg, and written by Oscar winner Mark Harris, The Boomer Century offers an incisive look at the generation that has redefined how Americans view themselves, both personally and as a culture. Interspersed throughout the documentary are interviews with a number of prominent boomers, including filmmakers Oliver Stone and Rob Reiner, satirist Lewis Black, novelist Erica Jong, White House press secretary Tony Snow, civil rights pioneer Julian Bond, and futurist Alvin Toffler, among others. They're seamlessly edited into the themes of the program, adding credibility and aiding the fast-paced feel of the program.While this is a program that has an airy aura about it, it challenges all viewers with its questions about what the future holds for American society as the boomers age. It also dispels popular myths about the so-called "Me Generation." Boomers are much more likely to contribute to charities than any other demographic, and have more than 50% more buying power than the coveted 18-39 aged bracket. Eighty percent of boomers intend to keep working after retirement.
On the downside, boomers face enormous challenges in the years ahead. More than a third live paycheck to paycheck, with net assets of less than $1000. Unless a cure or treatment is found, it's projected that 15 million boomers will be stricken by dementia by the middle of the century. And since boomers are living longer, strains will be put on retirement resources over the coming years.For the most part, The Boomer Century remains optimistic about the future of the boomers. While it doesn't shy away from the possibility of "age wars" due to the financial strain that they may put on future generations, it by and large is confident that the boomers will continue to redefine society well into this century.The Boomer Century premieres on PBS March 28, 9 PM EST. Check local listings for schedules. It's a fascinating program that will give you pause to think. Or at least smile.Produced and directed by Joel Westbrook and Neil Steinberg, and written by Oscar winner Mark Harris, The Boomer Century offers an incisive look at the generation that has redefined how Americans view themselves, both personally and as a culture. Interspersed throughout the documentary are interviews with a number of prominent boomers, including filmmakers Oliver Stone and Rob Reiner, satirist Lewis Black, novelist Erica Jong, White House press secretary Tony Snow, civil rights pioneer Julian Bond, and futurist Alvin Toffler, among others. They're seamlessly edited into the themes of the program, adding credibility and aiding the fast-paced feel of the program.While this is a program that has an airy aura about it, it challenges all viewers with its questions about what the future holds for American society as the boomers age. It also dispels popular myths about the so-called "Me Generation." Boomers are much more likely to contribute to charities than any other demographic, and have more than 50% more buying power than the coveted 18-39 aged bracket. Eighty percent of boomers intend to keep working after retirement.
will continue to redefine society well into this century.The Boomer Century premieres on PBS March 28, 9 PM EST. Check local listings for schedules. It's a fascinating program that will give you pause to think. Or at least smile.Produced and directed by Joel Westbrook and Neil Steinberg, and written by Oscar winner Mark Harris, The Boomer Century offers an incisive look at the generation that has redefined how Americans view themselves, both personally and as a culture. Interspersed throughout the documentary are interviews with a number of prominent boomers, including filmmakers Oliver Stone and Rob Reiner, satirist Lewis Black, novelist Erica Jong, White House press secretary Tony Snow, civil rights pioneer Julian Bond, and futurist Alvin Toffler, among others. They're seamlessly edited into the themes of the program, adding credibility and aiding the fast-paced feel of the program.While this is a program that has an airy aura about it, it challenges all viewers with its questions about what the future holds for American society as the boomers age. It also dispels popular myths about the so-called "Me Generation." Boomers are much more likely to contribute to charities than any other demographic, and have more than 50% more buying power than the coveted 18-39 aged bracket. Eighty percent of boomers intend to keep working after retirement.
On the downside, boomers face enormous challenges in the years ahead. More than a third live paycheck to paycheck, with net assets of less than $1000. Unless a cure or treatment is found, it's projected that 15 million boomers will be stricken by dementia by the middle of the century. And since boomers are living longer, strains will be put on retirement resources over the coming years.For the most part, The Boomer Century remains optimistic about the future of the boomers. While it doesn't shy away from the possibility of "age wars" due to the financial strain that they may put on future generations, it by and large is confident that the boomers will continue to redefine society well into this century.The Boomer Century premieres on PBS March 28, 9 PM EST. Check local listings for schedules. It's a fascinating program that will give you pause to think. Or at least smile.Produced and directed by Joel Westbrook and Neil Steinberg, and written by Oscar winner Mark Harris, The Boomer Century offers an incisive look at the generation that has redefined how Americans view themselves, both personally and as a culture. Interspersed throughout the documentary are interviews with a number of prominent boomers, including filmmakers Oliver Stone and Rob Reiner, satirist Lewis Black, novelist Erica Jong, White House press secretary Tony Snow, civil rights pioneer Julian Bond, and futurist Alvin Toffler, among others. They're seamlessly edited into the themes of the program, adding credibility and aiding the fast-paced feel of the program.While this is a program that has an airy aura about it, it challenges all viewers with its questions about what the future holds for American society as the boomers age. It also dispels popular myths about the so-called "Me Generation." Boomers are much more likely to contribute to charities than any other demographic, and have more than 50% more buying power than the coveted 18-39 aged bracket. Eighty percent of boomers intend to keep working after retirement.
On the downside, boomers face enormous challenges in the years ahead. More than a third live paycheck to paycheck, with net assets of less than $1000. Unless a cure or treatment is found, it's projected that 15 million boomers will be stricken by dementia by the middle of the century. And since boomers are living longer, strains will be put on retirement resources over the coming years.For the most part, The Boomer Century remains optimistic about the future of the boomers. While it doesn't shy away from the possibility of "age wars" due to the financial strain that they may put on future generations, it by and large is confident that the boomers will continue to redefine society well into this century.The Boomer Century premieres on PBS March 28, 9 PM EST. Check local listings for schedules. It's a fascinating program that will give you pause to think. Or at least smile.Produced and directed by Joel Westbrook and Neil Steinberg, and written by Oscar winner Mark Harris, The Boomer Century offers an incisive look at the generation that has redefined how Americans view themselves, both personally and as a culture. Interspersed throughout the documentary are interviews with a number of prominent boomers, including filmmakers Oliver Stone and Rob Reiner, satirist Lewis Black, novelist Erica Jong, White House press secretary Tony Snow, civil rights pioneer Julian Bond, and futurist Alvin Toffler, among others. They're seamlessly edited into the themes of the program, adding credibility and aiding the fast-paced feel of the program.While this is a program that has an airy aura about it, it challenges all viewers with its questions about what the future holds for American society as the boomers age. It also dispels popular myths about the so-called "Me Generation." Boomers are much more likely to contribute to charities than any other demographic, and have more than 50% more buying power than the coveted 18-39 aged bracket. Eighty percent of boomers intend to keep working after retirement.
On the downside, boomers face enormous challenges in the years ahead. More than a third live paycheck to paycheck, with net assets of less than $1000. Unless a cure or treatment is found, it's projected that 15 million boomers will be stricken by dementia by the middle of the century. And since boomers are living longer, strains will be put on retirement resources over the coming years.For the most part, The Boomer Century remains optimistic about the future of the boomers. While it doesn't shy away from the possibility of "age wars" due to the financial strain that they may put on future generations, it by and large is confident that the boomers will continue to redefine society well into this century.The Boomer Century premieres on PBS March 28, 9 PM EST. Check local listings for schedules. It's a fascinating program that will give you pause to think. Or at least smile.