You know the show -- it's the one where comedians you've either never heard of or totally hate (with the exception of Michael Ian Black, but his continued participation in the series counts as major strikes against him in my book) talk about the "cultural milestones" of decades past. Well, the latest installment follows this formula exactly, except for one little difference -- THE DECADE HASN'T PASSED YET! How can you be nostalgic about something that hasn't ended yet? The show might as well be called "I Love The Present." Call me a stickler for the dictionary definitions if you must, but I expect there to be some actual passage of time before an era is remembered fondly. Yes, I remember the "famous" line from Noah Baumbach's Kicking And Screaming, where Chris Eigemann says that he's nostalgic for the conversation he's having now, but I don't think that the wits at VH1 re referencing the subtle brilliance of that concept. They're more like, "Hey, remember BlackBerrys? Remember texting? Remember "Moulin Rouge? Those things were something, right?"
Another thing: I'm watching "I Love '01" right now, and I just had to sit through Shana Moakler dissection of Shaggy's "It Wasn't Me." Believe me, you've never participated in a discussion with more heft and meaning than watching her repeat the lyric of the song a few times and exclaim "That's what guys are like." Huh. Must be why that song resonated so.
My point (and I do have one) is this: as I sit here, stewing and writing, the date is September 12, 2008. I'm watching a show that remembers the events (Winona Ryder shoplifting, the XFL) of 2001. What's missing, and why might its omission be a big deal? Maybe the flaming deaths of 3,000 innocent people that occurred seven years and one day ago. Remember Al-Qaeda? They were so crazy! The only mention of events of 9/11/01 is in relation to the benefit concert that was held some days later. And I'm sorry, but that treatment, set to a Coldplay song and featuring commentary by Chris Jericho and Luis Guzman, doesn't cut it for me.
Like I said, so fucking angry.
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