When I was growing up, we didn't have a television until partway through junior high. (One of the best moves my parents made.) I kept hearing these conversations in the hallway: "Did you see Starsky & Hutch last night?" (Yes, I really am that old...) I felt a bit left out based on that.
But I felt left out because of a lot of things. I wasn't a member of the dominant religion. I came into that school knowing nobody, because I didn't attend one of the elementary schools that fed into it. I didn't live in the neighborhood (my parents got me to go to that school rather than the one I was geographically supposed to attend because it had fewer knife fights.) And, I was a nerd.
So the actual amount I was "left out of things" because of not having a TV and therefore being unable to effectively culturally participate was... pretty small.
That was in junior high. Today, it's even less relevant to me. There's a conversation about a movie I didn't see? "Nope, didn't see it." If they are uncaring enough to keep having the conversation about that for the next 20 minutes, well, I'll just do something else. Or I'll listen, learn a bit about a movie I didn't see, go to Wikipedia and read about the plot, and save about two hours and $7.
Thanks for this comment (which is something I can say because I agree with you. :)
I feel like, if you don't know where your local MLB team is in the standings today, you probably don't have a lot of standing to make arguments about US cultural disconnection.
And "popular culture" (whatever that means exactly) is so fragmented today anyway that not being up-to-date on even popular TV shows, movies, or books aren't exactly a recipe for social isolation. I actually feel like I'm at least reasonably plugged into what's going on in culture and I hardly ever see a movie in the theaters, watch a bare handful of TV shows, and don't listen to much current music.
But I felt left out because of a lot of things. I wasn't a member of the dominant religion. I came into that school knowing nobody, because I didn't attend one of the elementary schools that fed into it. I didn't live in the neighborhood (my parents got me to go to that school rather than the one I was geographically supposed to attend because it had fewer knife fights.) And, I was a nerd.
So the actual amount I was "left out of things" because of not having a TV and therefore being unable to effectively culturally participate was... pretty small.
That was in junior high. Today, it's even less relevant to me. There's a conversation about a movie I didn't see? "Nope, didn't see it." If they are uncaring enough to keep having the conversation about that for the next 20 minutes, well, I'll just do something else. Or I'll listen, learn a bit about a movie I didn't see, go to Wikipedia and read about the plot, and save about two hours and $7.