What's left when all the good things are gone?

I'm going to get real with you all this time around.  No playful banter.  No witty repartee.  Just straight up serious business.

Like the Twilight movies.

Myself and a friend of mine were talking about stuff today and came to a realization that nothing lasts forever.  I know that this isn't news to a lot of you, but have you ever really thought about it?  I don't mean friends, or family, or pets, or even that one banana that you really meant to eat but just never had the time and now it's been pushed to the back of the fridge where it slowly turns blacker and blacker as the last traces of it's little banana innocence fade away leaving only feelings of betrayal and sadness.  I mean real things.  Things that define generations.

Think about it.  Remember growing up with the ninja turtles?  I do.  I know that the ninja turtles are still around and on TV, but they aren't the real ninja turtles.  They're the ninja turtle equivalent of the shopping mall Santa Claus; fun to sit on, but lacking that true magic that makes it worthwhile.  How am I going to explain to my children the wonders of The Shredder's hencemen -- BeBop and Rock Steady?

"There was a Rhino, you see.  And a Warthog.  And one was dressed up in camo pants and the other had a Mohawk, but they were still friends."

If you think that's hard to explain, imagine the Krang talk:

"He was a Brain.  In a jar.  I know how that sounds but he was cool.  And he was the Shredder's boss."
"Yeah right Dad.  Real cool.
"No!  Listen!  He could put his jar in a robot's abdomen and fight with the robot.  Well, he couldn't put the jar there, Shredder had to."

My children will just stare at me with blank looks, waiting for my old person rant to finish.
Sure.  Maybe we could be okay if it was only the ninja turtles we were loosing, but it won't end there.  We've already lost M.C. Hammer and Vanilla Ice isn't too far behind.  Not just them, but their fashions too.  You just can't walk around wearing pants like that anymore.  Society won't allow it.

Remember the Power Rangers?  I mean the good, original, "teenagers with attitude" Power Rangers.  They're being buried under a pile of cheap copies, and not the good cheap copies.  When the old Rangers were in...well, Power...people tried to capitalize on the idea of groups of young people with powers saving the world.  Anyone remember The Mystic Knights of Tir Na Nog? 

How about V.R. Troopers? 




Or even...BeetleBorgs.  

Things were simpler back then.  All you needed was one white guy, one black guy, and a girl.  Throw in a theme song that consists of the show's name repeated for thirty seconds and BAMB!  A hit series.

All I'm saying is if we're not careful, what's next?  How many pieces of our (pop)culture do we need to lose before we take a stand?  Which will be the last straw?
Bill Cosby (Shoobedobop)?

Harry Potter (Bother)?
 
Or, dare I say it...Chuck Norris?

If that's what the future has to offer, than I want no part of it.

Look at me, embedding videos.  Aren't I just too awesome?