Happy Birthday MTV!

I was seven the first time I remember MTV. It was either a Devo or Queen video, promptly followed by a man on the moon planting, not the American flag, but a flashy flag bearing the MTV logo. Ah, memories!

Next week, MTV turns 25 years old. Chances are, though, you won’t see any celebration. MTV knows their market-teens and 20-somethings. They are one of the few entities that still holds true to their roots: entertainment for the younger generation. Since their 20th anniversary of the beginning of MTV didn’t really make a big difference to the average viewer, they’ve realized that promoting their longevity doesn’t really matter to their viewership. Smart marketing move on their part, don’t you think?

I am one of the first of the MTV generation. And, I know this is hard to believe, but MTV has benefitted my life greatly. How, you may ask, can a station that is famous for Ren and Stimpy and The Real World and Beavis and Butthead do anything positive for anyone? Easy – MTV has, for years, made me laugh. Laughter is precious. MTV has, in my days as a sighted person, shown me visual art mixed with music – a combination that, surprisingly enough, wasn’t fused until the 1980s. MTV has shown me different cultures, lifestyles and people-something that wasn’t real prominent when I grew up in a small mid-western town. For all the bad press MTV and the entertainment industry gets, I just want to say that my life is better off for having been part of the MTV generation.

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