Today's Urban "Creativity" - Part IV (Final Entry)

by Lawrence Raysor

Part IV

If you’ve made it this far, then pat yourself on the back. You’ve traveled with me on a journey through mediocrity, a lack of education, and poor innovation. We’ve made it, and despite my doubts, we’ve survived. The journey isn’t over yet though, people. Now we have to figure out the overall reason for this lack of creativity, and later see if we (by we I definitely mean “I” but I’ll give you guys some credit only because I get lonely all the way up here on the social and intellectual totem pole-yes I’m a jerk, I know this) can come up with a solution.

The overall lack of creativity could be due to the poor relationships that have existed between parents and their children. Nah, that’s too easy. Plus, a lot of creativity has come out of dysfunctional-family backgrounds. How many times do we turn on the television and see an old photo of a battered and homely looking child, only to find out that the child before us is now one of our favorite movie or music stars? Of course the show starts off by telling us how the child featured in the photo was either abused, abandoned, bounced around, or mal-nourished. Then, the second half of the show talks about all of his/her successes and new found struggles, now that he/she is famous. Notice how the voice always starts off as some serious, yet monotone news anchor’s voice. As the mood and the lighting (yes, they even change the tint or brightness depending on your television set) change however, so does the voice. Now the show features pictures of nice cars, big houses, extravagant outfits and parties all to the tune of some has-been actor/actress from a show we used to watch when we were kids; and that actor is usually uncharacteristically bubbly as though this is going to bring him/her back (dream on, Rudy it aint happenin‘). Anyway, long (VH1) story short: That parental thing is not a good enough reason.


Let’s not stray too far away from the parental influence, however. I will agree that a lot of what’s happening is due to influence. The influence, however, is from the overall culture. I’m sure I have your attention now (this is the part where you grab your pencils and pads and say, “Uh huh…go on, master Raysor”). As a culture we are now geared towards the adult. Whereas we used to be all about instilling great, core values in our children such as: hard work, mental independence, community, commitment, responsibility etc, we’ve become focused on what pleases the adult. For example, there are more than a few cartoons that appeal to the youth but are geared towards the adult. I, for one, am a fan of these cartoons, but I don’t like the fact that some of my younger people are as well. A great number of these children are skipping an integral part of the maturation process. It’s like going from Junior High School 104 to the N.B.A. Sure, a young man may be able to play and keep up as far as talent is concerned, but he doesn’t understand all of the risks involved in pushing his growing body to the limit, nor does he have the mental bumps and bruises to shape and prepare him for all that this new world has to offer. Essentially, he, like many of our younger people in urban society, is underdeveloped. A well rounded person will bring about a well rounded performance, a majority of the time, given that he/she goes through the checklist that has developed over time through experience. An underdeveloped person, however, will eventually fall victim to mediocrity.

Let’s make sure we (this time we means “you”, because I knows what I be talkin’ bout) understand that I’m not blaming cartoons for the lack of urban creativity. I’m blaming a society that has become more concerned with making things easier and more attainable for its adults. The bi-product of such a focus is children who don’t understand the value of the things that mental - independence entails (I.e. hard work, research, a well rounded education, a knowledge of credible resources, awareness and foundation etc). All of our inventions make things easier to carry and easier to achieve. Don’t get me wrong, I would love a “remote control finder” so that I don’t have to actually look all over my bedroom for the remote control (and no, I’m not sure it would make more sense to actually change the channel manually, I‘m just trying to find this damn remote). Why wouldn’t I want a Wikipedia website? I absolutely hate going through the internet on my own when I need the answer to a question. With this new idea, I can simply get the answers that all of these other people found for me, when the batteries in their remote finders died and they gave up on television. It‘s like a breath of fresh air. Now I don’t have to actually find out where my local library is and figure out how this whole “crack a book open” thing works. Phew, that could have been a nightmare, I haven’t opened a book since I signed up for this website that allows me to read my books online. One website even tells me what the books are about and gives me the major themes, characters, and literary notes on the author. I’m in convenience heaven now! I dare a professor to ask me if I’ve read a book, I’m going to tell him just like this, “Like get with the times, Prof. No one reads these silly books anymore. I mean come on, that’s so like pase.” Seriously, I absolutely love the fact that I can get a date or even have (cyber) sex with a woman without ever meeting her or hearing her voice. Of course when I meet her she’s probably 200lbs bigger than envisioned, with a long weave and some serious fashion issues. I know, I should have ignored the “athletic” description and focused on the “more to love” and “eccentric” part of her profile right? By now we (by we I mean “you” and “me” so relax, stop being so paranoid) can see where this is going. This silly internet has both catered to and hindered our culture at the same time.

The internet isn’t the only one to blame, however. I can now go weeks without hearing my sister’s voice and still be aware of everything that’s going on in her life (would it be inappropriate to give a shot out to my older sister and my wonderful niece and nephew…yea it probably would be). Thanks to text messaging, I not only can carry on entire conversations and never even once worry about grammar. For example: Me: watup? Sis: chillin makin sure these kids do they hw Me: like u had to do with me?I didn’t 4get dat Lol Sis: yup u already kno lmao Me: wats good wit moms Sis: She strait workin as usual Me: aight gtg lataz Sis: Wow okay ttylNow I know damn well, many people understood that conversation, and that lets me know that I’m right when I say many people are comfortable speaking like that. Just imagine how the younger generation is communicating on their phones and in their AIM messages to each other. Grammar isn’t really a priority now. Incorporate all that is geared towards mental dependence in today’s urban society and imagine how this failure to keep grammar in the forefront of our writing will affect our future and/or current literary world. All in all a majority of us use all of this technology and it works wonders for us. I’m not complaining about how convenient my life has become, but I am concerned about how its affecting our creativity. The urban area is becoming a scary world devoid of true emotion and expression. I’m worried about you creativity, we haven’t seen you in the ‘hood in a while.

See, the beauty of the urban (urban being used interchangeably with the not so politically correct term: “ghetto”) atmosphere is the creativity and the innovation. The ability to make something out of little to nothing. Make syrup sandwiches or mayonnaise sandwiches when there’s no lunch meat. Putting sheets in the window when there aren’t any shades. Using water when there isn’t any milk for cereal - be careful with that one, I can’t say I was ever a fan, but we do what we have to at 3 a.m. on a broke Wednesday morning. Making a son or daughter do the dishes if there isn’t a dishwasher - that’s not innovative at all I just wanted to take this opportunity to express how much I hated having to do the dishes when I was tired; I worked (perhaps yours and my teacher’s last nerve) too, mom. The point is this: creativity isn’t just using someone else’s style and calling it your own. It’s coming up with something out of nothing, and if you have to use someone else’s style as a building block, put such a spin on it that people can’t even say it’s original person’s style anymore. Be bold, be daring, be careful, be willing to hear laughter, but most of all be (say it with me people) creative.


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