MANILA, Philippines - You could hear the gears shifting the moment a love-struck high school nerd propped himself on top of a cafeteria coffee cart and professed his love for the prom queen. It was 2003, he was Seth Cohen, and this was The OC.
It was just another scene in the short-lived life of a WB teen drama but it was exactly the kind of moment that makes a dent in a generation’s formative years. After years of high school caste system conditioning — with geek-to-chic makeover movies and belly-baring teen dream videos paving the way to many an insecurity and eating disorder — here was a hero to champion. It was just another scene in a teen drama but it may as well have been the zeitgeist’s tipping point, the point the floodgates opened and the geeks were unleashed on a hapless locker room full of football jocks and bimbo cheerleaders.
Seven years later, where’s the Seth Cohen Generation at?
Good Geeks
Today, we live in the kind of moment where a high school wallflower like Taylor Swift lords over the teen scene prom — guitar in hand, tiara on head — on the basis of good old-fashioned qualities like talent and decency. We live in a time where Cohen-come-latelys like Michael Cera, Aaron “Kick Ass” Johnson (well, he actually has abs), and even Ron Weasley get memed and reblogged on the strength of their indelible adorkability. The fact that Lady Gaga’s art piece headpieces are the toast of fashion pages only proves Janis and Damian right. Those art geeks? The greatest people you will ever meet.
Paradigm Shift
The paradigm has shifted and we’re all the better for it. A quick drive around the metro reveals a pluralism palpable everywhere, from the hole-in-the-wall bar to the Fort Strip. There’s a scene for everyone, if not in life, at least on the Internet. This is a generation that prides itself on its individuality, its uniqueness more than anything. We’d like to think ourselves independent thinkers freed from the confines of the high school caste system and marching to the beat of our own drum.
After all, who wants to be part of the Plastics and eating Kälteen bars when you can be yourself and eating a burger with the people who matter to you? In this week’s Supreme, we celebrate this individuality, this uniqueness. This generation, with its Internet-learned savvy, is going to surprise you.
They used to say high school never ends. In 2010, we welcome you to graduation. This is Independence Day.