I still remember the day I heard those words for the first time 'Tiger Beat'. It was a Momma Told Me to define my teenage years. See, growing up in an MTV world I relied on shows such as TRL for all my celebrity gossip and gab. And while I was a complete book nerd well into high school, I discovered the addiction of teenage magazines when divulging a superstar crush to Momma. If you'll recall the early 90s (it wasn't that long ago) you'll recall a little family based sitcom with a certain star named Tim Allen. On this show there were 3 siblings, brothers, of varying age, and it just so happened one was (in typical teenage dream fashion) just a few years older than me. Jonathan Taylor Thomas, or JTT, as Tiger Beat and Seventeen knew him, was the chubby cheeked actor who played Mr. Allen's middle child.
Jonathan starred in his fair share of Disney films, from Tom and Huck to the painful Man of The House and Lion King voice acting. He'd put out 1-2 films a year, and show up nightly on my television. I swear I had a crush on that boy from age 5. So you can imagine my excitement when I learned there were magazines with larger than life posters, headshots, and interviews! Momma tried to follow this announcement with a trip down memory lane of her own, discussing how she used to have posters of the Monkees, and how her sister would fight over the Beatles. Within a week I had spent every dime of allowance and savings on subscriptions and editions of all the 'age appropriate' celebrity publications. My walls were officially plastered.
So why do I ramble and reminisce? Well, Momma used to tell me the heartthrobs (there's a word I haven't used in years) of her time were of a higher caliber than those of my generation. Looking back now, I tend to agree- but I was also the generation of Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears, and Backstreet Boys. Which leaves me feeling that Justin Bieber falls flat as a tween idol. I mean, a hair flip, hasn't that been done before? And no icon could ever be as iconic as the knee buckling, teen screaming, crowds swooning, Elvis Presley. I look around our resident 10 year old's room and see the Taylor regime (Lautner and Swift) alongside Bieber, listening to grumbles about Selena Gomez and wonder where teen dreams have gone. Certainly these teen dream are now 'tween' dreams, younger and younger each year- but do they really stack up in impact and talent? Will people 15-20 years from now consider the teen talent of today among the greatest of all time? I think not! Do you recall your first celebrity crush? Is it all subjective, or have teen dream standards fallen?
Jonathan starred in his fair share of Disney films, from Tom and Huck to the painful Man of The House and Lion King voice acting. He'd put out 1-2 films a year, and show up nightly on my television. I swear I had a crush on that boy from age 5. So you can imagine my excitement when I learned there were magazines with larger than life posters, headshots, and interviews! Momma tried to follow this announcement with a trip down memory lane of her own, discussing how she used to have posters of the Monkees, and how her sister would fight over the Beatles. Within a week I had spent every dime of allowance and savings on subscriptions and editions of all the 'age appropriate' celebrity publications. My walls were officially plastered.
So why do I ramble and reminisce? Well, Momma used to tell me the heartthrobs (there's a word I haven't used in years) of her time were of a higher caliber than those of my generation. Looking back now, I tend to agree- but I was also the generation of Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears, and Backstreet Boys. Which leaves me feeling that Justin Bieber falls flat as a tween idol. I mean, a hair flip, hasn't that been done before? And no icon could ever be as iconic as the knee buckling, teen screaming, crowds swooning, Elvis Presley. I look around our resident 10 year old's room and see the Taylor regime (Lautner and Swift) alongside Bieber, listening to grumbles about Selena Gomez and wonder where teen dreams have gone. Certainly these teen dream are now 'tween' dreams, younger and younger each year- but do they really stack up in impact and talent? Will people 15-20 years from now consider the teen talent of today among the greatest of all time? I think not! Do you recall your first celebrity crush? Is it all subjective, or have teen dream standards fallen?
Micky of the Monkee's! OMG! And I just found a channel that actually has reruns of the show! I squealed like a kid when I saw it! Everyone in the house looked at me like I was going nuts and there was a whole bunch of people here at the time lol.
ReplyDeleteAnd of course there was David Cassidy and Bobby Sherman..and Mr.Spock! LOL
You make me laugh...love your blog and look forward to receiving it every day! Teens today are just plain weird! Too much media coverage and information.
ReplyDeleteThis is so weird I was just telling my hubby about JTT last night!! My daughter now has "Victorious" autographed posters & tshirt that I won from Penny Pinchin' Mom blog about a month ago hanging up. I told my hubby that my crush back in the day were JTT & BSB. I told him I had like 1,000 posters hanging up everywhere. All the money I earned I would have to have a Tiger Beat, Bop, Teen-Beat, 16, etc. every week!! I know you remember the movie, "Wild America" well I entered a giveaway through one of the magazines and actually won!! I won an autographed "Wild America" shirt of JTT, Devon Sawa, & Scott Bairstow. I was the happiest camper alive! I was like, "Oh my gosh I bet JTT touched this spot!" lol...Then a couple years later from another one of the magazines I won an autographed tshirt of BSB. It showed them holding the shirt in the magazine and then I received it. I still have the shirts!! lol..I always loved entering the giveaways by mail.
ReplyDeleteCharLuvsAbby3@yahoo.com
no worries - teen dreams and crushes haven't changed. Just social media available to everybody has opened another lane.
ReplyDeletemy teen crush had been Duran Duran, specifically Simon LeBon - and I am still a sucker for their music, 25 laters. The only thing what has changed is the taste of artwork I like to hang up my bedroom walls - no more life size posters