Creativity is dead, and the Met Gala confirmed it.
You can either watch or read my essay below!
The Met Gala carpet has seen many looks in its day and this year was quite interesting. The theme was American Independence and to say I was disappointed is an understatement.
A theme that centers around what makes America such a beautiful country is arguably one of the best themes they’ve had so far, yet the looks were so underwhelming! There are so many things that make America, America! There are endless routes you could take with this year’s theme that it pains me to see the attendees waste it on such boring looks. The celebrities that walked the carpet failed to deliver the power that is American independence. We are the home of free speech, suffragettes, and the Boston Tea Party. People far and wide come to America for independence! You’d think translating that through fashion would bring out the most creativity you can get out of these guests but not quite.
We also have to remember most of the guests are American. They know American independence first hand, they were born here, raised here, live here, work here, vote here. They have US freedom in their blood yet somehow missed the moment with their fashion choices. It is even worse when you consider the fact these aren’t just single people choosing their looks, they have a whole team behind them working to give them any look they could possibly desire. And yet they still fail to really bring it!
“They have US freedom in their blood yet somehow missed the moment with their fashion choices.”
Some of the celebrities took inspiration from previous American icons. For example, Madison Beer recreated a gown Marilyn Monroe wore in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. Although that is a beautiful idea and I could see where she was going with it, it failed to deliver the force that is America. Instead, It delivered Macy’s prom dress section.
“It failed to deliver the force that is America. Instead, It delivered Macy’s prom dress section.”
If you think I might be a little too critical with the looks this year, let’s take a look at the 2018 Met Gala. The theme was Catholic Imagination. The looks people were serving were out of this world! Take a look at Bella Hadid and Taylor Hill. Not only were the looks on theme but they were executed so well!
And these two women were not the only ones showing up and showing out! Every single look was something interesting to look at and was so inspiring! You can really see the time and effort put into the 2018 Met looks. Something that you don’t see in this year’s Gala.
I think that creativity is dead with this generation. Movies are boring, shows are boring, fashion is boring! Do you remember a time where so many things inspired you that you could barely keep up because I do! I can’t help but feel like everything in this era is watered down and mediocre.
I think that creativity is dead with this generation. Movies are boring, shows are boring, fashion is boring!
Here’s my theory on that:
Creative work used to be an escape from the world going on around us. We use our trauma and heavy times to fuel us in our art. But this generation is experiencing something no generation has before, an overload of information. Although this is a good thing and has its benefits, I think it might be draining us. Today we are so aware of everything happening around us. We know about social movements occurring within a matter of seconds. We get a ding on our phones about a bombing in an overseas country. We see on social media that yet another woman was sexually assaulted. All of this awareness can be extremely heavy to take in all at once. We’re thinking about all the traumatic events happening in the world while also having to take care of ourselves!
We have a lot of things filling up space in our mind such as our mental health, our school work, our jobs, our student debt, our relationships, etc. There is so much information given to us daily on all these things that I think we have just become so exhausted we don’t even have the brainpower to give our creative work its all! We have been giving a “what’s the point” attitude towards our artistic work because honestly what is the point? The future for our world looks unpromising, why would we give our best anymore?
“We have been giving a “what’s the point” attitude towards our artistic work because honestly what is the point? The future for our world looks unpromising, why would we give our best anymore?”
Cancel culture also plays a role in our uncreative generation.
People used to be FREELY creative. They made whatever came to their mind and didn't think twice about it. Today, we have the lingering fear of doing something wrong or offending a certain culture, when we don’t even mean to be disrespectful! We’ve seen countless people get “cancelled” for things that aren’t even a big deal, its hard to gauge what will be accepted and what won't! It seems like people are mad no matter what you do with your art! It’s a sucky time right now because people are just waiting in the wings to find what they can be mad about…which is discouraging people from creating art freely.
I think another reason for our lack of creativity is we don’t have the time. Our daily jobs are getting more stressful and demanding and yet the cost of things keeps skyrocketing. Some people work two, three sometimes four jobs to be able to just simply survive nowadays. Where does one find the time to not only be able to do their creative work but to give it their best!
Another reason for #GenerationBoring is our disinterest in taking the time to get to know who we are as individuals. We have so much going on all the time, we rarely experience moments of stillness with ourselves. We are constantly wrapped up in other’s opinions, looks, work, relationships, that we rarely take the time to sit down with ourselves to remember WHO WE ARE and WHAT WE WANT FOR OUR OWN LIFE!
We see hundreds of images daily, is it even possible for us to come up with our own creative ideas? Taking in the world’s trends and opinions can stop us from questioning what we would think if we didn’t have all the noise happening around us telling us what to think! Previous generations got to have more than enough time for stillness. They didn’t have the constant distractions filling their head up with ideas of who they need to be. Our parents just had their small circle in their lives to influence them, not the whole damn world!
“Our parents just had their small circle in their lives to influence them, not the whole damn world!”
In conclusion, it is just sad to see where the world is going. Art used to be our way to escape the world and now we’re too exhausted to even escape! The Met Gala is the perfect example of that. It is supposed to be the most exhilarating night for fashion and yet I can’t help but find myself snoozing off this year.
