Generation X: Fight Club Revisited
This interesting article from Huffington Post suggests that the movie Fight Club was "prescient" by showing just how cynical our society has become. It's great to see this movie (one of my favorites of all time) to receive credit for capturing the spirit of Generation X (born 1961-1981).
And watching Fight Club, ten years later, with all that we have available to us, it seems even more prescient. For better and often for worse, we've become even more disconnected from ourselves. And even more narcissistic. People text, they twitter, they communicate online instead of talk on the phone or in person.
Fight Club is one of my favorite movies of all time and I think many Gen X'ers (males especially) feel the same way. It captures both the survivalism and nihilism that were the bread and butter of those times. One particularly strong theme is how the young men in the movie are so emasculated that the only way they can feel alive is to beat each other senseless.
The author of the book that the movie was based upon, Chuck Palanhiuk, is the proto-typical Gen X'er himself (he is a Portland native). Check out his wikipedia entry.
He worked as a tech writer (for an old-guard technology company in Portland) for many years, and I think many of the scenes in Fight Club are drawn from that experience. He is a pretty twisted guy, and he definitely goes for shock value. Note this part of the Wikipedia entry:
While on his 2003 tour to promote his novel Diary, Palahniuk read to his audiences a short story titled "Guts", a tale of accidents involving masturbation, which appears in his book Haunted. It was reported that to that point, 40 people had fainted while listening to the readings.[14] Playboy magazine would later publish the story in their March 2004 issue; Palahniuk offered to let them publish another story along with it, but the publishers found the second work too disturbing. On his tour to promote Stranger Than Fiction: True Stories in the summer of 2004, he read the story to audiences again, bringing the total number of fainters up to 53, and later up to 60, while on tour to promote the softcover edition of Diary. In the fall of that year, he began promoting "Haunted", and continued to read "Guts". At his October 4, 2004 reading in Boulder, Colorado, Palahniuk noted that, after that day, his number of fainters was up to 68. The last fainting occurred on May 28, 2007, in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, where 5 people fainted, one of which occurred when a man was trying to leave the auditorium, which resulted in him falling and hitting his head on the door. Palahniuk is apparently not bothered by these incidents, which have not stopped fans from reading "Guts" or his other works. Audio recordings of his readings of the story have since circulated on the Internet. In the afterword of the latest edition of "Haunted", Palahniuk reports that "Guts" is now responsible for 73 faintings.
David Fincer did an amazing job directing the adaptation of Fight Club. If you read the book you would swear there is no way they could make a movie out of it. But I wonder if Fincer can capture the Millennial (born 1982-200?) theme with The Social Network. The author of this article seems to think that the Millennials are the ones living out the Fight Club nihilism, when it is in fact the X'ers heading into middle age.
Fantastic Site: News from 1930
There are many correlations between present day US and the 1930's. Although I don't want to get into the argument of recession vs. depression, the parallels between these times goes beyond just economic strife. According to the theories of Neil Howe and William Strauss, we are going through a generational shift that is similar to the one experienced in the 1930's (they call it a "The Fourth Turning" and wrote a book about it in 1997).
According to Strauss and Howe, we are entering a time that is analagous to Winter: a time of hardship and scarcity. Eventually we will arrive at "Spring" (they call it the "High"), probably between 2020 and 2025. For more explanation of their generational theories, see my "Start Here" section which has a few short tutorials.
I recently discovered a blog that provides a wonderful service: summaries of the news from the Wall Street Journal from 1930. Each day the author reads through the news from that day in history and summarizes it, along with weekly highlights. Some of them are eerily similar to today's headlines. Definitely worth a read:
Generation X: Bad Parents?
The over-scheduling, over-achieving and stressed-out parenting style that has been the hallmark of the Boomer (born 1943-1960) generation may finally be coming to a close now that Generation X (born 1961-1981) is fully taking over as parent of young children. There is a backlash developing in the form of the "Bad Parent" who isn't willing to sacrifice everything to be the perfect Mom or Dad. And, like everything suggested by Generation X it was initially reviled but now starting to gain acceptance. This short (2.5 minute) video on CNN give a quick picture of the shift:
While they seem to understand that the parenting style so dominant when the Millennials (born 1982-200?) is coming to a close, there is little awareness of what comes next. The Boomers dove into parenting like everything else they did, with idealism and righteousness. By the time that Gen X'er started to have kids they got overwhelmed with the expectations (that were unrealistic, especially for Moms) and are finally starting to rebel.
All of this makes sense in generational terms, but the thing that is being missed is the parenting style that will dominate for the next 20 years. According to Strauss and Howe's generational theory, the next "cohort" or generation began a few years ago, perhaps in 2003, perhaps in 2005 (that will become clearer in time). The next generation (that they have named "Homelander" for now) will be raised very differently than the previous generation (the Millennials). The Homelanders will be raised during a massive crisis, much like the Great Depression and WWII that was faced 80+ years ago. This period of crisis is known as the "Fourth Turning" (the title of one of Strauss and Howe's best, but most difficult, books). We are at the start of the Crisis/Fourth Turning right now (they call it the Millennial Crisis) and it will likely last until 2025.
So how will Gen X'ers (and eventually Millennials) parent during this Fourth Turning? Probably in the same way that the Lost Generation (born 1883-1900) and GI Generation (born 1901-1924) did in the 1930's: by protecting the children from the chaos in the world. This protection will go completely overboard in the upcoming years and the kids will end up in ridiculously cloistered environments ("They stroll in sidewalk versions of sport utility vehicles, learn to swim in U.V. protective full-body suits." from a recent NYTimes article) and will probably turn out much like their grandparents, from the Silent Generation (born 1925-1942). As usual, most institutions (schools in particular) won't be prepared for this shift and will assume what worked for the previous batch of kids (Millennials) will work with this bunch as well. The result will be a very challenging time for schools (and eventually companies) as these stifled, conformist and compliant kids move up through the years.
Of course, as I have mentioned before, their parents (Gen X'ers) will be entirely different (and more difficult) matter...
Sarah Palin of Generation X: No Jokes About My Kid!
What happens when a Boomer (born 1943-1960) makes fun of a Gen X'ers (born 1961-1981) kid? Watch what happened to (Boomer) David Letterman made jokes about (X'er) Sarah Palin's daughter.
As Al Gore discovered a while back you can bash Gen X'ers, but DON'T mess with their kids.
Generation X: My Kid Rocks. Yours? LOSER!
Verizon seems to have a thing for generational themes in their ads. Jessie X pointed it out in her post about a kid in a recent Verizon ad, and now a friend pointed this one out to me:
Kinda sums up the attitude of Generation X as parents.
Millennial Generation Teamwork in Video Games
A viral video of a gaming session that went around a while ago that is interesting to watch from a generational perspective. It is a recording of a "World of Warcraft" session showing the group strategizing before a battle that ends up a disaster. The thing I find interesting is the amount of discussion going on before they go to battle. I don't play video games anymore, and when I did we never had this level of teamwork. Is this the Millennial (born 1982-200?) training ground?
I realize that most gamers today are in the mid-30's and older (Generation X, born 1961-1981), but I bet that the younger gamers are A LOT more teamwork focused.
PS. If you have never browsed www.collegehumor.com, you should. It is the funniest Millennial research you can do...
The 10 Best Gen X Movies, Revised
A few months ago I put together a list of "The 10 Best Generation X Movies Ever" and got lots of comments both for an against my choices. I have taken some of those to heart and created a new list of movies. I tried to focus on films that caught the character of Generation X at various stages of life. There are some very recent films that capture the spirit of our mid-life, but I don't think they are popular enough to really rank on the 10 best yet.
- Breakfast Club – John Hughes (boomer) at his best. All the characters are here. The slacker/stoner, good girl, etc… but each is an individual and all are uncomfortable with being part of anything.
- Swingers - Dating was a minefield for Gen X'ers and this LA based movie has all the embarrassing comedy about the 20-something dating scene. And it introduced the world (or maybe just me) to Vince Vaughn in what was perhaps his funniest role ever ("You're so money and you don't even know it!")
- Fast Times at Ridgemont High - This movie has it all, the jocks, stoners and geeks that made High School in the 70's such a painful experience. Cameron Crowe does it again (this time as the writer). From Jeff Spicoli ("People on 'ludes should not drive! ") to Brad Hamilton ("Jeez. Doesn't anyone fucking knock any more? ") this crew knew how to party. Time to put this one on my Netflix queue again.
- Singles - This list would be nothing without a film from Cameron Crowe (another Boomer who gets Gen X). Life as a 20 something Gen X'er in the center of it all: Seattle during the Grunge movement. I never much liked Curt Kobain, but everyone else seemed to. Pearl Jam has a role the band members of "Citizen Dick".
- Office Space - This one replaces Reality Bites from my first list. The humor here is darker, closer to Brazil with the pointless job in the massive corporation. Probably every Gen X office worker in the US had heard a real life version of: "We need to talk about your TPS reports." during their working life.
- Say Anything -Again, Cameron Crowe nails the angst of the young Gen X'er. John Cusack (he's on this list more than once and I left out "High Fidelity") is fantastic as the loner trying to find love in a tough world. Go through the Memorable Quotes for this one and it will all come flooding back to you: "I don't want to sell anything, buy anything, or process anything as a career. I don't want to sell anything bought or processed, or buy anything sold or processed, or process anything sold, bought, or processed, or repair anything sold, bought, or processed. You know, as a career, I don't want to do that."
- Reservoir Dogs - This film was not about Gen X'ers, but it was made by Quentin Tarantino (an early X'er) and features some of the key elements of our psyche. The world in the film is brutal and the group that comes together are a bunch of independent mercenaries, willing to collaborate (as long as the get a cool name) but ready to turn on each other at any time. The movie is all about being cool and surviving, both of which define Gen X.
- Ferris Bueller's Day Off - Okay, I realize this is the second John Hughes film on the list, but the guy really gets Generation X. I wished I could be Ferris and I am not even sure why! He just seemed to make things great wherever he went.
- Fight Club – the book was written by an X’er (Chuck Palahniuk) and it definitely has the feel of the nihilistic world that is unraveling. The closest thing these guys get to community is kicking the crap out of each other. One of my favorite movies of all time, although because of the rules, I can't talk about it.
- Buffy the Vampire Slayer - (quoted from Matthew E who commented on my last post) Didn't have the depth that the TV show did, but the central concept - out-of-her-depth California teen forced to fight unspeakable evil - was already there.
- Clerks – Ultra-slacker film by the ultra-slacker bunch. I think this one represents X’ers well because of the way it was made. They put the production costs on a credit card and filmed it all with a few buddies. No big studios to help and a "fuck it, who cares" attitude. If that is not Gen X in action, I don't know what is!
Once again, the list goes to 11, and they are not in any particular order. Any suggestions of films in the last 5 years?
The Generation X Brat Pack: Where are they Now?
The Telegraph reports on where the quintessential Gen X actors are today
Defend the Honor of Generation X!
Yesterday I came upon this site titled "I Hate Gen X (and Y)". The site has pictures and bios of various Gen X'ers who are, in the authors view, despicable:
Many of the pictures are linked to bios that describe the awful things that these generation X'ers have done and how they have ruined society. There is also a page on the voting history of Generation X (and quite a bit of Generation Y). Much of the thesis of the site is that X'ers are bad citizens because they don't turn out to vote in high numbers:
http://www.geocities.com/ihategenx/Voting.html
Perhaps the site is tongue-in-cheek (it is pretty funny, really), but I need readers help in coming up with content as a rebuttal to this:
The site has this image and asks the question: Name one great Generation X'er.
So this is where I need your help. Can you name great examples under the categories listed above? Generation X is defined as anyone born between 1961-1981. So that includes Barack Obama right off the bat, but we need more, many more. Jeff Gordinier took a shot with his book, "X Saves the World", which I highly recommend, but I think a comprehensive list would be powerful.
C'mon Gen X'ers, do us proud!
While you are at it, pass this post around to other Gen X'ers you know on Twitter and Facebook
I will amend this post with the top candidates for each category:
| Category | Candidate 1 | Candidate 2 | Candidate 3 | Candidate 4 | Candidate 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thinker | Malcolm Gladwell | Mark Kingwell | |||
| Poet | Christian Bok | ||||
| Philosopher | Sam Harris | ||||
| Leader | Barack Obama | Rachel Maddow | Todd Beamer | ||
| Writer | Jonathan Franzen | David Foster Wallace | Michael Chabon | Will Ferguson | JK Rowling |
| Actor | Don Cheadle | Robert Downey Jr. | Jodie Foster | Ralph Fiennes | Natasha Richardson |
| Comedian | Eddie Izzard | Jon Stewart | Dave Chapelle | Seth McFarlane | Eddie Murphy |
| Statesman | Barack Obama | ||||
| Glamor Queen | Princess Diana | Julia Roberts | |||
| Sculptor | Douglas Coupland | ||||
| Architect | David Adjaye | ||||
| Jurist | |||||
| Fashion Designer | Alexander Wang | ||||
| Artist | Matthew Barney | Shepard Fairey | |||
| Film Director | Sophia Coppola | Quentin Tarantino | Steven Soderbergh | Guy Ritchie | Andy Wachowski |
| Enviromentalist | Julia Butterfly Hill | ||||
| Politician | Bernard Lord | George Stephanopoulos | Jim Thune | ||
| Social Visionary | Arundhati Roy | Shane Claiborne | |||
| Labor Leader | Naomi Klein | Lois Jenson | |||
| Economist | |||||
| Musician | Andrew Bird | Garth Brooks | |||
| Athlete | Barry Bonds | Tiger Woods | Wayne Gretsky | Michael Jordan | Steve Young |
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