A couple of months ago I wrote a piece about how movie music was the MTV of my day, but it wasn't until I recently read something about MTV turning 25 that my nostalgia bone was tickled. (It resides right next to my funny bone, but is sometimes a little tougher to activate.)
25 years ago, my kids (a teen and a pre-teen) were the ideal audience for MTV, and, luckily for them, the one-horse cable TV outfit in our small town eventually found a way to bring the new channel into every home. Not so fortunate for me though, because I found myself turning into the world's youngest curmudgeon for the simple reason that the TV got stuck on that channel number — or, at least, it seemed that way. Every time I'd leave the room, it would mysteriously revert to MTV, and usually at a louder volume.
Through the years, I grumbled and the kids wheedled, and MTV seemed to grow stronger and stronger. Eventually, my son left for college and my daughter was left alone to fight the grouchy anti-MTV monster living in the house. (Actually, I used to be more often called the Cookie Monster, named after the character on Sesame Street because of my fondness for... but that's another story.)
Of course, my daughter wasn't afraid of this particular ogre, recognizing that he was actually pretty harmless, and she watched MTV whenever she darn well wanted to. As the years continued to pass, things gradually began to change. I don't know if the music softened or I just got more used to it, but I began to find myself objecting to it less frequently, and — heaven forbid — even enjoying it. Of course, I would never have admitted that, but I have a feeling my daughter probably knew.
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