Finding originality in pop culture isn’t all that easy

(U-WIRE) MANHATTAN, Kan. — If I were a fly on the wall, it is obvious what the single-most… (U-WIRE) MANHATTAN, Kan. — If I were a fly on the wall, it is obvious what the single-most commonly overheard conversation would be.

“Why yes, I, too, enjoy ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.'”

“Hey, guys, did I just hear someone just talking about ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’? That’s a great book.”

“Actually, we were talking about the movie.”

“Oh! Johnny Depp does a great job.”

“No, actually we were talking about the one made before that…”

No one can look me in the eye and tell me they don’t detest this very situation: a pleasant conversation about the young Charlie Bucket, made complicated by a lengthy, Abbott and Costello-esque clarification of exactly which version, of exactly which media, is being discussed.

Today’s pop culture seems to be less a sign of the times than a melting pot of past concepts.

The movie industry is a fine example. When not taking an existing film, altering it to star Lindsay Lohan and re-releasing it to a new generation, executives enjoy taking an existing book, putting their own artistic spin on it, altering it to star Lindsay Lohan and re-releasing to a new generation.

This new interpretation might or might not comply with the work’s original intention. Jane Austen isn’t around to put up a fight, so press on. And I temporarily have forgotten whether it was Hollywood or Dr. Seuss himself that had the Cat in the Hat saying, “Wow! This is just like the carnival, just without the abused animals and the drunken clowns with hepatitis.” But that’s creativity for you these days. Books are fair game. They’re like original scripts, only already written.

Listening to the radio also points out the cyclical rehashing of past successes. Not so long ago, Jessica Simpson felt it necessary to remind us of what a worthless song “Take My Breath Away,” (originally by Berlin) is. Country singer Gary Allan waited only six years to reprise the Vertical Horizon hit, “Best I Ever Had.” And bat-biting, Ozzfest-going headbangers everywhere mourned the day the hook from “Crazy Train” was put beneath a rap beat and ghetto-cruising lyrics in Trick Daddy’s “Let’s Go.”

However, one good thing from all this is the common ground found between parent and teen. Perhaps as a bonding experience, mother and child can listen to old and new versions of songs such as “Drift Away” and “Big Yellow Taxi.” Pop in any version of “The Amityville Horror,” and you’ve bridged quite a gap.

To take a look at the world of fashion, what articles of clothing would be put in a time capsule to represent the 2000s? Capri pants? A prairie skirt? A polka-dotted, tulle-poofed dress? Corset-style tops?

All re-makes or revivals are not terrible. I myself, for example, enjoy Cake’s rendition of “I Will Survive.” And though there are some that are very uninspiring, it is a very insignificant matter, and harmless to be sure.

I’m not suggesting we reinvent the pant. These are merely observations. Obviously it is only through past innovations that the future develops, and even “unique” ideas borrow somewhat from those before. Because of the fact that the pure, raw, unprocessed irony would make my brain explode, I hope I never find out how many times a column just like this one has been written.