Gen X musings

As most people have probably figured out, I am an unabashed member of Generation X. The small generation, the cynical generation, the slacker generation. But in my mind, we are the group that throughout it all has remained true to ourselves. (As opposed to the baby boomers, who will tell you how they saved the world and then complain about the state of the youth today and complain about how dumb they are. Excuse me, but weren’t you the ones that were supposed to be teaching the next generation? Oh I’m sorry, you were too busy at Studio 54 listening to Donna Summer songs to you know, teach my friends how to count. Thanks. When we cancel social security you’ll know why.)

Here is what I mean when I say that we remained true to ourselves. We always knew that we were going to lose the culture wars. We’re too small of a generation, we didn’t have the buying power to sustain any type of pop culture movement. Plus, we are not a generation that would ever buy in to a huge movement. Gen X is a group of individuals who pretty much feel that everyone should do their own thing and if something is popular that probably means that the kid who sat next to you in high school with slightly more brain capacity than a turnip likes it so you by definition can’t like it or you’d be just like him. You can’t have the alternative movement be the mainstream.

Everyone knew that when Nirvana broke that our moment in the sun was going to be very fleeting. Once the alternative was popular you would soon seen the corporate imitators (hey everybody, remember Silverchair?) and then the inevitable baby boomers wearing flannel. Within five years of Smells Like Teen Spirit the Spice Girls were at the top of the charts. And I’m not sure if that surprised anyone, really.

But I don’t think that Gen X every really gave up on what it holds dear. We have always been a generation that defines itself through our individual actions. We don’t define ourselves on money or power (greed is good is the baby boomers again, who never remember that part when they talk about flower power), we look to what is important to us whether that is music or art or religion or the environment. And with that I think that we’ve remained true. Sure, we may have gotten jobs and put away the flannel but we are all still slackers at heart. We know that the world is fake and that we are the last real ones left. We’re just going to hold on to the last remnants of what is real. It could be a Wilco concert or an art show or an independent film. Just something that is real. Made by people and not corporations with a message that wasn’t built for a target audience but was what the artist felt at that instant in time. That is what Gen X still embraces.

When people talk about the downfall of American culture (and I’m not arguing with them for the most part), don’t blame Generation X. We’re all that is left of what is true. Blame the boomers, blame Gen Y for making Brittney Spears a star, but remember that when our music ruled the airways it was unique.