Originally Posted by rousseau (Post 9510512)

Well, the GenXer stereotype was that we were cynical, sarcastic and non-aspirational. Per movies like Slacker, Reality Bites, Singles, Trainspotting. Yeah, I was conditioned by my upbringing to question striving for wealth and power, an ideal of the 60s that was filtered through the cautionary tale of the 80s. We weren't going to change the world through peace and love (or by buying the world a Coke, more like!), as we'd seen how the Woodstock generation had turned into pastel-coloured corporate whores. Rather, we were stymied by what the point was of working for all of that if you just ended up coked out and divorced.

We wanted meaning. And we were left wanting.

I bought into that mentality hook, line and sinker. I really am a walking, talking GenX stereotype, I admit it. Naturally, it goes without saying that the Westerners pontificating about our meaningless existences were pampered middle class types who'd never had to worry about having food on the table. In 1994 I spent a month in Thailand contemplating the meaning of life and the boundless emptiness of the universe while being served mouth-watering curries by the children of cooks running beachside restaurant huts under towering palm trees.

Hindsight makes everything so easily caricatured!

Anti-heroes have been around for decades. The 90s weren't anything special in that regard. The other day I rewatched Taxi Driver. That was made in 1976. GenXers weren't rebelling against their parents. In fact, the Boomers were generally sympathetic to the GenX reticence to embrace corporate trappings.

Originally Posted by Architype (Post 9510641)

^ Every ascending generation tries to find new and better meaning through clarification, it's an explicating quest but it isn't effectual or absolute in resolution or people like Timothy Leary & Alan Watts would have huge religious followings rivalling Jesus. There is only so much you can do to figure out existence in a lifetime, short of hanging pictures of ones navel on the wall to facilitate such contemplation with ease of viewing. Relax & enjoy the ride. ;)

Originally Posted by thewave46 (Post 9510662)

When one reads about the Beat Generation searching for ‘it’, or Timothy Leary peddling enlightenment through acid for $3 a hit, or the jaded cynicism of Gen X as they already knew of the dead-ends before they even came of age, the theme is constant. The theme of searching for something more to life.

Originally Posted by MolsonExport (Post 9512189)

I was born in 1969. Back in the late 80s, I recall reading articles about how Gen-X was totally screwed: Squeezed out of the lucrative job market (and housing market) by the (greedy) boomers, but with likely higher tax rates to pay for all the boomers once they retired en masse. No doubt, the boomers (especially the ones born in the early 50s) had it easier in terms of access to jobs, education, and housing, coupled with lower taxation rates. I fear that the current generation will be even more screwed; however, given the insane price levels of housing coupled with stagnating, below-inflation wage/salary increases, and (the day of covid-spending reckoning will come sooner or later) higher taxes/reduced social spending. Oh, and something called climate change.

Originally Posted by JHikka (Post 9510001)

The Simpsons were the most popular show in the world for years - a mundane, normal family that contrasted heavily against wholesome families as they were portrayed in the 80s (Full House, Cosby Show, etc.). They swore and failed and weren't affluent. Ren & Stimpy, Beavis & Butthead. It's easy to see why these would be appealing considering what came before them and the mold that had been set and expected. The Simpsons weren't perfect and they displayed something which was very counter to the American Dream that had been set up for decades on American TV.

Originally Posted by biguc (Post 9512448)

Bingeing Seinfeld when it showed up on Netflix made this transition really apparent. The first few seasons felt like they were treading lightly around the censors and a sensitive, socially conservative society. Hence they'd talk about "the naked channels" and pretend not to drink alcohol. But that's also the surprisingly rich earth from which classics like "master of your domain" sprang.

By the middle of the series they're shouting about pornos like it's nothing. As the series progresses the characters get worse; they lose a lot of their charming traits, their flaws become glaring. By the end it's kind of nasty. The finale reflects it.

The thing is though, TV in the '80s was a regression from TV in the '70s--at least from what I've seen. I'd love to hear what some older forumers think, but my impression is that shows like All in the Family and Taxi were way more challenging and liberal than anything in the '80s.


I mean, this; https://youtu.be/j-c4cd_Lm-Q is a lot even for the '90s.

Originally Posted by O-tacular (Post 9512468)

I think the show shifted from being about banal situations (i.e. a show about nothing) to focus more on how neurotic the characters were. I loved the later seasons. Not surprisingly George is my favourite character.

Originally Posted by biguc (Post 9512511)

Dude, George eating the eclair out of the garbage...



Yeah George is the best. It's pretty great; I've gone almost directly into Curb from Seinfeld and contrasting George with his fictionalized IRL inspiration is delightful. George never met a lie he wouldn't triple down on; Larry just quits on life itself every time he's caught.

Originally Posted by biguc (Post 9512511)

Dude, George eating the eclair out of the garbage...

Originally Posted by biguc (Post 9512448)

Bingeing Seinfeld when it showed up on Netflix made this transition really apparent. The first few seasons felt like they were treading lightly around the censors and a sensitive, socially conservative society. Hence they'd talk about "the naked channels" and pretend not to drink alcohol. But that's also the surprisingly rich earth from which classics like "master of your domain" sprang.

By the middle of the series they're shouting about pornos like it's nothing. As the series progresses the characters get worse; they lose a lot of their charming traits, their flaws become glaring. By the end it's kind of nasty. The finale reflects it.

The thing is though, TV in the '80s was a regression from TV in the '70s--at least from what I've seen. I'd love to hear what some older forumers think, but my impression is that shows like All in the Family and Taxi were way more challenging and liberal than anything in the '80s.


I mean, this; https://youtu.be/j-c4cd_Lm-Q is a lot even for the '90s.

Originally Posted by O-tacular (Post 9512468)

I think the show shifted from being about banal situations (i.e. a show about nothing) to focus more on how neurotic the characters were. I loved the later seasons. Not surprisingly George is my favourite character.

Originally Posted by O-tacular (Post 9512536)

I'm guessing part of it also had to do with Reaganism.

Originally Posted by Acajack (Post 9512548)

Which was also hugely related to the mellowing out of the 1960s flower children.

Originally Posted by O-tacular (Post 9512550)

I wouldn't call it mellowing out so much as lifting the drawbridge now that they had entered the promised land.

Originally Posted by O-tacular (Post 9512536)

I'm guessing part of it also had to do with Reaganism.

Originally Posted by Proof Sheet (Post 9512540)

George was great. Elaine as well and easy on the eye. Kramer was Kramer...good to have across the hall..not necessarily as your room mate.

Jerry was bland and couldn't act his way out of a paper bag. His Coffee with Cars show is boring I find other than the occasional car he drives. His narrow outlook on the world and his general un-worldliness comes across loud and clear in the show.