Quote: “Golden Age Never Was the Present Age”

Idea Prompt for 10/16/2009

THE SOURCE: Prentice-Hall Encyclopedia of World Proverbs, page 167.

What the quotation is saying, in other words, is “There’s no time like the past.”

WHAT WAS I THINKING… Think of the various “Golden Ages” that social historians refer to: the Golden Age of Comics, Golden Age of Hollywood, Golden Age of Porn.

Did you notice that every Golden Age is in the past, not the present? Nobody says “The Golden Age is Now.” (Well, Sports Illustrated has said that, but that was in 1954.)

The sentiment was amusingly presented in a show tune, as the devil from Damn Yankees, lamenting how the good guys seem to be succeeding against his wishes, pined for the “Good Old Days.”

What would you say this is the Golden Age of?

IMAGINE…. a future history that looks back on our present time as the Golden Age.

Just what would this be a golden age of? A future where we look back on the Bush II era as ‘the good old days’. How bad would things have to get for future historians to take that view.

…THE POSSIBILITIES:

CGI Films: Just as the 1940s were the epitome of hand-drawn animation, so, too, will our day be seen as the Golden Age of CGI film. Soon we’ll experience the Hanna-Barberization of Pixar’s craft, all for the sake of saving a couple million bucks.

American Football Running Backs: With talk of longer football seasons, there is an attendant discussion of redesigning training regiments to produce lighter, tighter players who will better withstand the longer season. Rather than scampering around slow, heavy linemen, running backs will soon be running for their lives against equally fleet opponents.

THE EXERCISE: Write a couple paragraphs from a future history outlining just how the early 21^st Century was the “Golden Age…”

NOTE: If you’d like to develop these Ideas further, just leave a Comment and share your work.