We’re all pop-culture Frankensteins

Our collections of parts aren’t created equal — and they shouldn’t be

Two editors wanted to change a young writer’s story so that it played off of “Do You Know the Way to San Jose.” But there was one big catch: The reporter didn’t know the song. It came out 26 years before she was born. 

Just for the hell of it, I googled songs from 1930 — 26 years before I was born — and actually recognized a few, but I can’t imagine using them in a story. I’d feel like a fossil if I referred to, say, “Puttin’ on the Ritz.”

OK, bad example. But we’re all pop-culture Frankensteins, a collection of parts that have touched our minds and souls, sometimes with huge differences. Your heart might come from the Golden State Warriors, your friend’s from BTS, your mother’s from “West Side Story.”

The editors left the story alone. Those lyrics weren’t part of our young Frankenstein, who grew up outside the Bay Area, the daughter of immigrants.

A lot of Americans — mostly white, usually Baby Boomers — grew up in a country where Frankensteins were pretty much created equal, so they can be shocked at how different the new models are. Sometimes that shock presents itself in a condescending tone: “I can’t believe you’ve never seen ‘The Godfather’!”

Once it dawns on you that Gen Z started 25 years after “The Godfather” came out, it shouldn’t be that much of a shock. OK Boomer, let’s apply the same math to our generation: How many films from 1921 have you seen? 

One of my earliest TV memories was going to a friend’s house and watching “Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color” when I was 8. His family had this hot new technology: color TV. 

The details are ancient, but the emotions are timeless. Lots of people in Gen Z have bonded with friends over something new and exciting, or have shared Netflix or an Xbox or a nice outfit because only one of them could afford it. That connects us more than whether we’ve seen some TV program.

These days social media might bring us together more than any show. The most-watched TV episodes of all time are from the last century, and the film that has sold the most tickets is still 1939’s “Gone With the Wind.”

(It’s a cinematic masterpiece filled with Hollywood legends. It also has cringe-worthy depictions of Black people and runs for 238 minutes. Wait for the TikTok version to come out.)

Gen Z gets bombarded with more media in a day than my friend and I did in a month, so it’s easy for great stuff to be overlooked. And that’s OK. It’s also entirely possible to live a full life without ever knowing about Kermit the Frog’s tea or Marty Feldman’s hump.

The next time you make a pop culture reference and a friend doesn’t get it, use it as a learning opportunity, not a lecturing opportunity. Pop-culture Frankensteins come with an endless supply of parts from all over the world, so grab a few fresh ones.

“The Departed” and “The Magnificent Seven” both owe their souls to Asian films, just as the original “Star Wars” does to “The Wizard of Oz.” “Frozen” comes from an 1844 Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale. Favorite songs are forever hitting emotional notes from generations past. Your ears would never confuse Olivia Rodrigo’s “brutal” with Janis Ian’s “At Seventeen,” but your heart might. 

I’m enough of a movie geek that some of the best films I’ve seen in the last decade have been from Bollywood, with themes like a father pushing his daughters into wrestling, a teacher helping a troubled student and a man selling feminine hygiene products. You don’t need to be in the target audience to find joy. 

If there’s something great to share, think about how it might appeal to someone of a different race, sex and generation. Make them an offer their emotions can’t refuse, like that movie from a Northern California winery owner about how an immigrant’s three children struggle amid fierce competition as they try to inherit the family business, even though it means sacrificing relationships — and their morals.

Show them a great scene on YouTube, like this one when Ted Lasso quotes Walt Whitman: “Be curious, not judgmental.”

Remember that reference to 1921 films? I googled them. (Told you I was a geek.) Turns out I had seen a Charlie Chaplin one. And “The Sheik,” with Rudolph Valentino in the same role that Leonardo DiCaprio had in “Titanic” 76 years later: Ambassador to the Female Libido.

Some male libidos welcomed those ambassadors, too, of course. We’ve all had a crush (to put it quaintly) on one celebrity or another. Talking about that might be more fun than discussing the plot of some decades-old movie.

There are themes and moments that touch all of us. Watch that movie where the hero’s soulmate is with someone else. Read about the orphan raised by a horrid family. Listen to that song about aching to get back home after your dreams fall apart. 

For me, the movie is “Casablanca,” the orphan is Harry Potter and the song is dedicated to the young Frankenstein in all of us. 

Murphy Slaw 

Something old: Death rates from falling have risen sharply for people 65 and older, for all kinds of reasons — including drugs. The Washington Post cites research showing that In 2017, an estimated 94 percent of older adults got a prescription that increased their risk of falling.

Besides talking with your doctor, there are other ways to reduce risk. Here’s a checklist from AARP, plus some other good advice. 

Something new: Just a guess, but maybe the world’s hot new sport will be a very old playground game: tag. If you want to understand why, just watch. 

Something borrowed: The Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester, N.Y., is adding a National Archives of Game Show History, with all kinds of goodies and footage from shows like “The Price Is Right” and “Jeopardy!” The Strong is also home to the National Toy Hall of Fame. 

Something blue: As our country becomes more diverse, even your best intentions can leave some people feeling left out. Lin-Manuel Miranda found that out with “In the Heights,” when some people said his movie should have reflected the neighborhood’s demographics better. Here he is on “The Daily Show,” discussing the movie and the backlash.