Was it just me, or did it seem like the largest, most energetic Mardi Gras since Katrina this year?

That aside, a quote from David Kamp’s piece on John Hughes in Vanity Fair came back to me a number of times during Mardi Gras. Kamp wrote, “One of [Hughes’] major hobbyhorses … was the attention-hogging egotism of his own generation, the baby-boomers. In his view, the boomers did not know when to step aside and cede the stage.”‘ I thought about this as I saw two I Love Lucy floats – one in Bacchus – as well as Treasure Island, Ivanhoe and Babar floats. I recognize that the daytime parades always face the challenge of making the rental floats match a theme, but doing so using references that no one born after 1970 would have any primary relationship to only ages Mardi Gras, and even those born 10-15 years before that would have limited relationships to those and a number of other float themes.

Seriously, when we act as if all valid culture is 40 or 50 or more years old, we repeat the alienating, short-sighted attitudes of our parents, teachers and the authorities of our youth. A little self-awareness goes a long way. And under those circumstances, it can’t be a surprise that for many, their primary Carnival expressions are the Quarter, costume parties and parades such as St. Ann – activities that don’t carry with them an implicit, condescending scolding.