I’m underinformed about pop culture. Does it matter?

As the oldest Baby Boomers turn 80 this year, a quiz has been circulating online to test how well Boomers know or remember the pop culture of our youth. I could answer only 4 of the 20 questions. 

I didn’t do much better on Mind the Gap, a board game of trivia from four generations, which my family played over Christmas. I answered few of the Boomer questions and drew a blank on those related to later years.

It doesn’t surprise me that I’m ignorant of the pop culture of my younger years. I seldom listened to rock radio and didn’t read books from the bestseller list. I may be the only Boomer who didn’t watch Cheers, Seinfeld, and Friends. The only television series from the late 1900s that I remember watching are All in the Family, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, M*A*S*H, and ER.  

I snobbishly applauded myself about spending my time more profitably than watching TV. I don’t think that way anymore, but I’m still more likely to read classic novels than contemporary fiction, to watch PBS than Netflix. What’s changed is that I no longer feel elevated by my preferences. I feel I missed out. 

Pop cultures creates bonds. It gives people common experiences to talk about. If you aren’t watching the hit TV series or keeping up with new music releases, you may be left out of conversations and feel you don’t fit in. As my teammates answered Mind the Gap questions about which I was clueless, I felt like a bump on a log. 

When I was young, critics divided culture into high, middle, and lowbrow. Lowbrow was considered commercialized entertainment with watered-down standards designed to please the crowd. It does not, however, seem to have harmed my contemporaries who consumed more television and popular music than I. Their ability to talk as readily about hard rock as about current affairs impresses me.

Today the lines between highbrow and lowbrow have blurred. Pundits attribute the change to the vast volume of media available. Mass appeal no long signifies lack of substance. To be both accessible and insightful is recognized as a talent. Academics now examine pop culture’s artistry, themes, styles, intent, meaning, and impact. Not everything produced today is worth consuming, of course, and intellectuals still argue about value, but they cannot deny pop culture’s impact. 

With all that’s available to stream, I could watch TV series and movies I missed. I’d probably like many of them, but it would be a lot to catch up with at this late stage of life. And the truth is, I am not any more tuned in to current pop culture than I was to that of decades ago. My tastes just aren’t those of the crowd. I don’t mean that I’m sophisticated — I’m an ignoramus about classical music, opera, and dance, for instance — but limited. 

If there’s a lesson to take from today’s acceptance of all forms of culture, it’s to enjoy what you like. If I like something that’s popular, it would be fun to talk about it. But to spend time on something to be able to talk about it would not keep me satisfied. As much as happenings in contemporary culture come up in conversation, they are not the only thing with which to connect. I don’t have to have something to say on every topic.