So today let's spend a little time talking about fads and trends!
Pop Culture is in essence encompasses everything that is popular, whether it be what was popular yesterday, what is popular today, or what will and is expected to be popular tomorrow. In today's society
fads and
trends are two words that mean the same thing, but it shouldn't be so, but we can think of them as an indicator of what is popular at the time. Let us browse why these two words are not interchangeable. A fad is something that comes into popularity very quickly, and then disappears just as suddenly as it appeared, whereas a trend is something that comes into popularity, it can be quickly, it can be a slow process as well, and stays within "mainstream" for quite awhile, be it years or decades, and then disappears. Allow us to delve into my fads and trends and on the way I will explain why each one fits into each category.
Trends:
First and foremost would have to be World of Warcraft. World of Warcraft, or WoW for short, is an online game in the
MMORPG category, standing for Massive Multi-player Online Role Playing Game. Now from the name, it is not a traditional RPG in the sense that I am not truly role playing (including dressing up, acting out the parts, etc.), but it is an RPG in the sense that there is a random roll generator within the game, similar to the randomness of dice, you are represented with an
avatar, you choose race as well as classes (
priest,
shaman,
druid,
warrior,
paladin,
death knight,
warlock,
mage,
hunter,
rogue) and can customize, to a degree, the look of your character. Now, within the video, the
Tauren Warrior is my character and the little
Blood Elf Paladin is my wife. I put this into the trend category because I have been playing for eight years, as long as it has been out. So with the definition of a trend in mind, it has been a long term activity, making it a trend. But has the game
grown to show a trend, or has it leveled off and maybe even a decline to show a fad?
I'll let you be the judge.
The second trend that is apparent in my life is my choice in computers. I used to use Windows computers only, but then
Windows ME came out. I had a very hard time with the software and after sometime I gave up with Windows. This was in 2000 that I bought the software, about 6 months after the purchase I bought my first
Mac, and I was floored at how superior it was. The biggest thing that really drew my attention was the GUI, or Graphical User Interface, it was so different and so much easier to use than a Windows. I have been a firm Mac supporter since then, making it twelve years of utilizing
Mac products, and I don't foresee going back to Windows (even with the release of
Windows 7) anytime in the future, making it a definite trend in my life. But we can see this in the world, everyday computers play an integral part in life, from workplaces, to leisure, to the home, they are everywhere and they assist in everything we do, with few exceptions. I don't foresee a future where the computer no longer assists us in our lives.
Marriage is another trend that is apparent in my life. While only in the second year of marriage myself, I do not foresee this ending in the future (or at least am hoping), but this is not the point that I am trying to make here. The point is that I am married, a
tradition that spans centuries in the past, making it, arguably, the oldest trend that I have taken part of. Although today people are getting married at a later age, due to women's roles in the workplace, it is still a tradition that many people take part in. So, while my marriage is in its infancy, and hoping that it continues to grow for a very long time, it is not so much my marriage that is the discussion, but more of the act of marriage that is.
Books are a huge trend in everyone's lives. I read the Dragonlance series written by
Tracy Hickman and
Margaret Weis. What is interesting about this series is that while written long ago, they have begun collaboration on a new series using the children of the older series' heroes, effectively spanning it from one generation's readers to the next. I have been collecting these books since I was in high school (13 years ago), and finding out that they had a new series coming out was actually really quite a surprise, making it a trend within my life.
One trend that is apparent in today's society, not my own just yet, although following the path so far, is the age at which people are deciding to have children. Throughout history it has been pushed that people need to start procreation as soon as they can, usually by the age of 18 to 20 a family needs to have a child. This is not the case anymore within society. Today people are
waiting until later in life to have children, or they are not having children at all, opting instead to live without the child aspect of life.
Fads:
Let us take a look at the fads that have taken place in my life.
The first that I can remember is clothing, but more specifically the Chuck Taylor's. This shoe style started in the 1950's, by the name of Converse All Stars, and were only worn for basketball, but soon found that they were no longer in demand, only to reemerge in the '80's as Chuck Taylor's, with little success they disappeared and appeared again in the '90's, when I bought my pair they were the "in thing," if you were somebody, you had them. This lasted for all of a year and then they disappeared once again. I have yet to see them reappear, but at the same time, I don't think that I would buy some if they did become the cool shoes again.
There was a time in my life that I was caught up in the rodeo crowd. Even though rodeo's themselves are not fads, the time of my life spent as a "cowboy" was very brief. I believe that it spanned all of a year, and it came just as suddenly as it went. I remember it like it was a switch, one morning I woke up and wanted to be just like a rodeo roper, and then I woke up and hated everything to do with the rodeo, including country music. Setting it as a fad in my list because of the quick on and off, with the short lived duration.
Another fad that I have experienced is old movies. This happened all within a 5 month period (last semester), and I just dove into watching movies made before the '60's. I really did enjoy it, but I think I had overloaded, because now I really can't stand to watch anything made before 2000. Definitely putting it into the fad category of my life.
The
Legend of Zelda has got to be one of the biggest game series that Nintendo has ever released, besides
Super Mario Brothers. When
Zelda: Ocarina of Time hit the market I bought it and played it forever, still do actually, but that wasn't the only thing that I bought, I was really into the Zelda pocket watches. This only lasted for about a year before I didn't much like it anymore. Although I still have them, they don't work and are in a box in the closet. :( So, even though I still have the items, I do not actively pursue them anymore. The time frame that I did would have to be about a year, and it really was an over night issue, I got the game, loved it instantly and immediately began collecting the pocket watches, definitely making it a fad.
Ok, I had to do my favorite fad of all time! Even though I have never, nor will I ever, owned a pair of bell bottoms, I have to say, favorite fad of "what-ness" (something that makes you exclaim "WHAT!?") I have ever seen in history! The bell bottoms were pants that went up to the hips, usually not higher, and were relaxed to tight fitting around the thighs and finally flared out just below the knee. These pants were worn in the '60's and the '70's, and were an over night sensation, and disappearing just as quickly. But they are on the rise once more today, making them a fad with a come back, but not as strong as the original time in the "lime-light."
