MTV Misses Old Energy

I think Patrick Goldstein has it a little backward when he says that “staying cool is hard-wired into the DNA of MTV” (“Keeping Its Cool,” Aug. 21).

I was born the year MTV took off, and as I watch the 20th anniversary bash, seeing for the first time MTV blast off to the countdown of a rocket launch and then jump into the Buggles’ “Video Killed the Radio Star,” I can’t help but feel regret for losing something so fresh and idealistic without having ever known it.

The MTV of 1981 seemed to be something new, a rock ‘n’ roll odyssey with real energy and ideas. Now, in 2001, the odyssey is no longer an adventure in music. The raw energy turned into mere hype. And ideas? MTV is brain dead.

MTV could have kept up with cutting-edge pop-culture while maintaining a degree of intelligence and class, but because it’s “not afraid to flex its muscles,” as Goldstein politely puts the network’s monopoly-like bullying, it can dumb down its content, and much of America, without fear of competition.

Maybe Goldstein should spend more time questioning MTV’s position as a “global beacon of American youth culture” instead of lauding it.

ERIC BENJAMIN HANSON

Santa Monica