Perpetual Adolescence: Jungian Analysis of American Media, Literature & Pop Culture | Psychological Exploration of Youth Archetypes in Modern Society

It's no secret that American culture has grown increasingly more adolescent in the past couple of decades, so much so that supposedly grown adults in their 30s, 40s, even 50s, do their best to remain adolescent. Unfortunately, this seldom means retaining the fresh, curious, engaged enthusiasm that defines a childlike quality of wonder & discovery. All too often, it simply means refusing to grow up, accept responsibility, and get on with the business of becoming a whole, complex human being.In Jungian parlance, this is known as the archetype of the puer aeternus -- but as this collection of essays shows, rather than being the "eternal youth" of that phrase in literal translation, it's more like arrested development. Given that our culture glorifies & worships youth to such an extent that people will do just about anything to remain young -- or at least be perceived as still young -- it's hardly surprising that so many resist the natural life cycle that leads to maturity.These essays delve into the problem of perpetual adolescence from a Jungian perspective, with the focus on popular culture in its countless manifestations. From movies to music to TV shows to advertising, immaturity & irresponsibility are depicted as the goal of life. Old age, on the other hand, is something both pathetic & horrifying, a fate to be avoided at all costs. Except that it can't be, of course -- and in taking the path of denial, people eventually find themselves totally unprepared for maturity. In fact, maturity is regarded as rigidity & misery, rather than a time for reflection, inner growth, and the development of genuine wisdom.I won't go into every essay gathered here, but mention just a couple as examples.Anodea Judith's "Culture on the Couch" is practically worth the price of the book alone, looking at Western Civilization as a client entering therapy, with a thorough analysis & diagnosis of symptoms, possible outcomes, and potential routes to working through immense problems to reach greater self-awareness & the ability to cope with the worldwide crises it has created.Craig Chalquist's "Insanity by the Numbers" examines our culture's obsession with metrics, quantification, and pigeonholing every aspect of existence in neatly labeled niches that never allow for the human messiness of nuance, ambiguity, paradox. He pinpoints this desire for a black-&-white model of human life as the insecurity of immaturity, the sort of desperate need that inevitably feeds & leads to fundamentalism of every stripe.Other essays look at pop culture heroes & figures such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, James Bond, Kurt Cobain, Sylvia Plath, as both models of current behavior & human beings shaped & victimized by an adolescent culture. They also delve into the reasons our society has sought out & created that adolescent culture -- what people have hoped to find in it, and what it has actually done to them -- often with their acquiescence & uncritical acceptance. Above all, the reader is invited to think of the culture in which we usually swim without question, taking it for the real world rather than an arbitrary & artificial framework -- our own Matrix, if you will. And like the denizens of the Matrix, most people wouldn't want to leave it even if they knew the truth about it. These essays help explain why we should & must leave it.Most highly recommended!