As you are all walking around jamming on your mp3 music devices, discussing the latest iTunes download, I'd like to tell you about a simpler time. This was a time when that television channel you know as MTV actually had something to watch besides a bunch of Jersey monkeys and knocked-up teenagers. They played music videos.
What's a music video, you ask? (though I'm sure you might not know what a "video" is) A music video is when an artist makes a mini-movie to go along with their popular song of the day. They would spend a lot of money bringing in crews, hiring directors, and perfecting their set in order to create a visual representation of what their song meant.
So once these videos were made, the channel known as MTV would play them, or show you how they were made, or be on set while the videos were being made. The channel was about music and originally, it was called Music Television.
During this simpler time, MTV was the center of the teenage universe. After school, the kids your age were rushing home to watch TRL, also known as Total Request Live. That's when all of the top new videos were shown. And of course you had to watch the top new video in order to discuss with your friends at the lunch table. This was the thing to do. (Rest in peace, TRL.)
And when MTV wasn't showing videos, they were taking you on tours of rock stars houses, or they were showing you how your favorite videos were made. Every thing on the station was about music. At the end of the year, they gave out awards for the best music video. As if MTV's music overload wasn't enough, their sister station VH1 would take you "Behind the Music" to tell you about the crazy antics of some of the country's top bands. They would also tell you a little more about your favorite videos during "Pop-up Video". Do you see the theme hear, young people? Both stations were about music. And it was great.
But then, in 1992, everything started to change. MTV created this show that took "real" people and put them in a house to see what happens when people "stop getting polite, and start getting real." The Real World was born, and it wasn't that staged bullsh** that you watch now. It was quite real. There were no formulas. There was a guy with AIDS. Reality hit this little pop network and the folks at MTV decided to keep running with it.
That's when the reality TV star killed the video star. The MTV you watch today, young people, is nothing like it once was. The original MTV fought hard to get a place in the cable network packages. The original MTV pissed off some moms and politicians. It was a rebellious station and it was proud of that. It brought together all of those who liked music. Now, it is helping to create a generation who wants to be famous by getting on a reality television show.
When MTV started, it created something new, something that had never been done before. And while its shows are still new concepts — like following around a teenage girl while she's pregnant — they abandoned their roots. Hopefully, MTV will return to its music foundation again because there are only so many Jersey kids that you can put on a reality show.
