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Whatchu talkin' about, Willis?
We see Gary Coleman's scrunched-up little face saying that now-famous line and we think, how adorable! And then we see him on some Cash Call commercial at 1am on the UPN Network bellowing, "I needed some cash, BAD!" and we think, how sad. Why didn't little Gary invest his money, or why didn't he find a job?
Kudos to Jeremy of lifestylism, who always seems to extract the very best the Blogosphere has to offer on meaningful work. This time, he calls out a fascinating piece by fellow BlogHer danah boyd that hints at one of the potential reasons for Gary's--and other formerly successful young people's--demise.
I don't normally read danah with the career cap on, but her take on liminal stage of childhood development hints at some hardwired issues that people have with work--why many of us view work, and more specifically, career success, as elusive.
To set this up, the liminal stage is a period when adolescents begin to take on adult responsibilities (say, driving) while maintaining childhood parameters (curfews). Currently the liminal period for teens has expanded. More needs to be done before teens are "ready" to take on the working world. As danah explains:
When the idea of teenagers was created during the depression, schooling became mandatory. In some senses, this was ideal because it meant that a larger portion of the population was prepared for the future. But over time, a high school diploma no longer served as a ticket to a better life. And then it was college. And then it was graduate school. What next? And what about the fact that we no longer have a construct of "success" for working class kids? By removing unions and life-long well-paying factory gigs and government jobs with pensions, we've turned "success" into a game that can only be acquired through pre-existing privilege or a lottery (becoming a "star"). This really marginalizes a huge chunk of today's youth culture. What if you aren't really meant to be college bound? What then? The service economy is not exactly appealing. No wonder drugs are continuously rising both because using them lets you escape and dealing them provides a way out.
I've noticed this discrepancy in perception--young people either want to "make it" or "drop out." Instead of providing a means of discovering passion, young people cling to the shortest route to security or wealth. While danah points specifically to working class teens, or people who don't go to college, this phenomenon could affect anyone who doesn't think beyond an initial dose of success--he hit record, the profitable start-up. They may have figured out how to make it quickly, but have they found a passion for work that will sustain them?
What happens to youth who don't make it to college and don't go Platinum? Will they have the skills to pursue something other than what they can do for a quick buck?
And for those like Gary that do go Platinum and then fall out of the public eye: Is Celebrity Fit Club the only answer?
