Keli Goff: 7 Reasons You Don't Care About the Royal Wedding (and I Don't Either) (1548 hits)
A whopping 75 percent of those under 30 describe themselves as "not interested" in the royal wedding. Why are so many joining me on the grinch list this year? Allow me to posit a few theories.
There have been nonstop stories about when they met, how they met, their number of breakups and make-ups, what she wears, when she wears it and most of all, round-the-clock speculation about who and what she will wear on her wedding day. (Click here to see a list of some of history's most fashion-forward princesses.)
There seems to be only one question that hasn't been asked about the royal wedding: Who actually cares?
According to a recent poll, not nearly as many people as the media seems to think. When asked to describe their feelings about the royal wedding in a Vanity Fair and 60 Minutes poll, 65 percent of those surveyed described themselves as "Not interested." You might assume that interest level might be a little higher among young women, those likely to still be dreaming of their own prince and royal wedding someday. Well you'd be wrong. A whopping 75 percent of those under the age of 30 described themselves as "not interested."
So what gives? Why are so many of my fellow countrymen and women joining me on the royal wedding grinch list this year? Allow me to posit a few theories:
7) More options = less interest.
In 1981 750 million people worldwide tuned in to watch Prince William's mother and father wed.
In 1981 there were also far fewer media options and distractions than we enjoy today. Without hundreds of cable channels to surf and no high-speed internet for all of us to enjoy, it's likely that instead of watching a Law & Order rerun or Mad Men on DVD I might have actually gotten sucked into some of the wedding coverage myself or even tuned in on the big day, but not going to happen in 2011. (I have my fingers crossed for a Golden Girls marathon that day.)
6) The decline of marriage means the decline of interest in any fairytale wedding that's not your own.
It's official. Marriage rates are at an all-time low, not only here in the U.S., but in the homeland of the prince and soon-to-be princess. The reasons are in part generational. Living together has lost much of the stigma it held in previous eras. But economics plays a role too. The recession and generations of young people saddled with student-loan debt makes getting married a challenge, and a fairytale wedding beyond the reach of all but a privileged few. There's a reason that wedding shows like Bridezillas find an audience. Watching someone wig out while planning their tacky wedding might be mildly entertaining if you can't afford your own, but watching someone plan a real-life fairytale wedding when you can't? A bit cringe-inducing and painful.
5) The Kardashians, Snookie, and every other reality star you hope your daughter doesn't grow up to be.
In an age in which the likes of the Kardashians and the cast of Jersey Shore became famous millionaires for s*x tapes and reality show brawling, why on Earth would any young woman, or man, aspire to a position in which they would be...
