Four Stages of Pop Culture Savviness; Turtles

Four Levels of Pop Culture Savviness
An arbitrary list, although nowhere near as arbitrary as most of the lists, or anchors, on VH1 shows.

1. You find out about the latest trends directly.

2. You find out about the latest trends from your hipster friends. Not that anyone in this stage uses the word hipster.

3. You read about the latest trends from television shows or newspaper articles.

4. You see headlines about the latest trends from newspaper articles or your kids, and don't care enough to pay attention.


I have sunk to level 3. I was never cool enough to be at level 1. Level 2 used to be my home, but now my friends have adult lives and must not have time to keep up. For how else to explain the lack of notice about the "I Love Turtles" kid?

I heard of him from my new source of coolness, The Washington Post Style section (article link). The story is one of the WP's semi-annual "What hath the Internet wrought?"pieces.

I fear though that I am on the beginning of spiral to level 4, a abysmal pit sheltered and disconnected from anything cool. I don't get the I Love Turtles kid. The only thing humorous about it is that it vaguely echoes the "I Didn't Do It" episode of the Simpsons.

If that doesn't sound cranky enough (level 3 people have gobs of self-awareness, clinging to it as our way of staying the irreversable descent into uncoolness), here is why I don't think the clip is funny, at least on the first viewing: it's too fast.

There isn't enough time to let the mind process the absurdity of the situation and laugh. It's a 20-second joke compressed into 17-seconds. Watch it first, then imagine the clip with a pause after the reporter asks him the question, and another pause after the boy answers. Old Man Walther would find that funnier.

That's why I enjoyed the description in the article more than the video. The article teases and extends the funny details of the video that fly by upon the first viewings. The timing of the video may also be why it became a viral video. The details fly by so fast that one may have to watch it several times to find it funny, incorporating another detail into the jokework after each viewing until they gain a familiarly in the mind so we can process everything all in one moment and laugh.

If you watch the video once and didn't think much of it, watch it a dozen times and let me know if/when it becomes funny.

There are a few mashups of the video, which I find funnier than the original, partially because the timing is expanded. The Bill O'Reilly interview is one of the funny ones.