Estelle+S’s+Final+AmEx+Speech+2017

By the year 2100, I want to die in a world of combined decades. I want the best and quirkiest parts of each decade in one. Today, we have different social aspects of the 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, but they’re just classified as the oldies...in other words out of fashion. I don’t want to have to drive to Goleta to experience a drive in theater. I want to wear gogo boots without anyone thinking it's halloween. I want to find myself in history class (yes maybe at 100), sitting next to Todd, dressed like Elvis Presley, and my seat partnerBeatrice dressed like a punk. And, all of this would be completely normal, because they were all so “hip”, and still can be. America is known for its unique combination of thought, and has sought diversity of race and religion, but I think we lack diversity of expression. I’m not referring to all the different types of art like speech, drawing, and music. I mean expression about who you want to be, what you like, your body language, or what you want to do. Look at Twitter and Instagram, it looks like the same girl just posted the last 100 some posts. And, before that, the girl was asking someone if it looked cute, or if she should post it. The person she had asked said “hell yeah you look hot”. Too many people are uncomfortable to express their creativeness and individuality. If that person she had asked had hesitated or said ehhh, it most likely wouldn’t have been posted. If you like it, it shouldn’t matter. There is an informal understanding of what is and isn’t socially correct. It’s always been there, but we are defining more and more words for people… beautiful, weird, smart, only to name a few. So, which decades do you belong in? In other words how do you want to express yourself? You could be a flapper, who listens to disco on 105.5, and says “too da loo”. If there were every decade in one, you wouldn’t be able to expect the mainstream. And it’d come down to people being comfortable with themselves. There would be countless lifestyles, dreams, and attitudes. There’d be so many options of trends and people in general. That is why the educational curriculum developed common core. To encourage us to think outside the box and not autopilot through memorized steps of a problem. So we shouldn’t autopilot through our social lives either. It will ultimately make us happier and more interesting. People experience the ranges of possibilities now by traveling. That is why so many writers and painters travel- to be inspired by someone unique, and something unusual. Really, they are just different from our routine of people and things. That is why getting out of our element is something we need more often, so it shouldn’t have to be so far and pricey to get. Every year when I go to France, I hang out with my cousins and their friends. I speak fluently enough that I can seamlessly fit in, but at the same time I don’t. Even if I’m the main one talking, it’s just not the same as if I were to live there. Sometimes when one of them cracks a joke they all find it the funniest thing ever, except me, because they’re humor is so different. Or, shopping. Every girl has dreamed of shopping in Paris. But, if you aren’t going to the French Hollister or Abercrombie, there are some pretty strange stuff that are popular over there. Then again, it’s not weird, it’s just no one here wears fluorescent orange baggy dresses to school, or shoes covered in puff balls that they had paid 100 euros for (so about $112.75). Part of the weariness of authenticity is that people aren’t the most open minded. I’ve seen catwalk models dressed in what looks like a pillowcase, and they look damn serious. It may be debatable whether this or the Marcel Duchamp's fountain, a signed urinal, are art, but they sure stand out. It doesn’t take a genius to be inventive or interesting. Trends have just added on to the rules, laws, rejections, and humiliation, that make people feel self conscience, and their ideas too small. Trends are meant to be directly linked to someone's emotions, but they aren’t anymore. They are hinting how you should feel and what you should want.. If people continue to become more similar and narrow minded, we’re just going to become bored of ourselves. We always talk about living life to the fullest as taking every opportunity, and doing interesting things. What about how fascinating, expressive, and free willed of a person you’ve become? Saying the truth when no one else will, acting weird whenever you want, not caring what others think, that's got to count? Our culture is based off of all these decades, so why is it so categorized? As time goes on, and generations pass, traditions, music, and style will become less known. New ones will continue to come as they should, but it shouldn’t be a cycle of overlapping, pushing great memories and social breakthroughs farther back. In evolution, there is a large piece of the old and the part that has transformed. We should be socially evolved.