What price ones memories? If we are not as individuals, at any one time, the sum of our past, then what are we in any meaningful sense? And, if we place no value upon these memories other than how they may be exploited for financial gain, how severe should the judgement of our character be? These are just a few of the more polite questions raised by the trailer for MTVs new
Teen Wolf television series, led by teen idol
Tyler Posey and set for broadcast this summer following the MTV awards ceremony. And, in a way, no better material, interpretation nor medium could better express the cold, cynical heart of corporate marketing led popular culture. In 1985, for a short but heady time,
Michael J Fox ruled Hollywood; never the finest screen actor in the world, but handsome, boyish, affable, relatable- an archetypal teen movie idol- in spite of being well into his twenties. Fox topped the American box office charts with seminal feel-good sci-fi adventure, Back to the Future and- almost unheard of- also starred in the second placed film, the less celebrated Teen Wolf. At the same time MTV was as a polar opposite to its current being as is possible; a channel that played almost exclusively music videos and rock music videos - younger readers may wish to look up Rock Music on Wikipedia- prior to becoming a corporate dance/hip-hop/pop music station to producing so-called youth culture television programmes that ravage the last vestiges of societies collective intellect. The contemporary realisation of the Teen Wolf franchise is therefore highly indicative.
The most basic premise has been used- but probably not to the extent that would have been necessary to create the programme without purchasing the name- and the tone, narrative and humour of the original completely torn out so that it maybe replaced with a facsimile of the most popular teen-horror franchise of the moment, Twilight. The saddest thing of all is that the shows producer,
Jeff Davis, is of an age that the original movie, and the original MTV, had a hand in shaping his adolescence. It is also probable, that his calling to television production was, in part, shaped by a desire to emulate such things. In a world where the primacy of capitalism and international business models wield such power, however, neither he nor anyone else has the power to create something for the sake of either a fresh or even nostalgic pleasure. No, for Davis and the like to sustain a career, they are willed to be the tools of marketing strategists not their governors, lest they should want to work in another industry entirely. What price ones memories? Thirty pieces of silver.