The Saeculum Decoded
A Blog by Neil Howe

Gen X Evolution

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Jul 212010
 

This article in the LA Times about Sean Combs seems to be a characteristic Generation X (born 1961-1981) evolution: Starting out with a desperate and edgy and alienated and violent image and gradually morphing into something nicer and funnier.  Diddy is following the path of Ice Cube, who went from NWA to “Are We There Yet?”  For slightly older examples, think of Eddie Murphy (actor) or Robert Rodriguez (director).  Anyone care to comment on the significance of this?  I’m wondering about parallels in the Lost Generation — Humphrey Bogart or Jimmy Cagney, for example, who definitely trended “nicer” from the 20s and early 30s to the late 30s and 40s.  Instead of just gunning other “mugs” down, Cagney even went back  to his Vaudeville roots and started singing and dancing.

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  • http://longgame.org/ Matt Warren

    I definitely need to read your books on Gen X. Though I've read Generations and The Fourth Turning (twice, at least, on that one), I'm curious to read more on your take.

    I was born in '73 and grew up very alienated. I know that every generation grows up hearing the usual parade of negativity from older generations, but I swear – everyone hated me and my peers. We were worthless.

    But many of my contemporary Gen-X'ers seem like they're more fun that I would have thought. We watch cartoons and have a rapport with adolescents that defies my own expectations.

    Thanks for sharing (yet again).

  • pbrower2a

    Part of that reflects that the (largely Lost*) gangsters and super-criminals of the 1920s and 1930s were disappearing from the scene thanks in no small part to such Lost enforcers of the law as Elliott Ness and J. Edgar Hoover who had them incarcerated or killed, as well as themselves being killed by each other. Cagney's “Rocky Sullivan” character in Angels With Dirty Faces exemplifies what was happening to gangsters in the 1930s: they were the equivalent of the witches of the late 17th century, except that the witches were innocent. The Rocky Sullivan character eventually goes deeper into corruption of the community and eventually commits a murder for which he eventually gets the electric chair. By the late 1930s the remaining gangsters were so vile that they couldn't be portrayed on screen (the Hays code) even with clever writing. By the late 1930s the gangster menace had largely disappeared from the public consciousness, and an actor from the gangster era who had the versatility to take on other characters — like Cagney — also did so. There would be plenty of arch-villains in the 1940s — fascist war criminals — but they would be seen much like gangsters of the 1920s and 1930s, if on a bigger scale and in different countries. Jimmy Cagney seemed either unwilling or unable to take roles as, for example, Nazis.

    If the current time corresponds with the 1930s in accordance with the generational cycle, then we are going to see Generation X super-criminals increasingly end up dead because of each other, mowed down by law enforcement when they resist arrest, incarcerated, or even executed. Take note that the first Generation X President has not shown any leniency toward criminals of any kind. That is exactly what one can expect of a Reactive leader, whether a President, Governor, or Cabinet official; no excuses for bad behavior solicited and none accepted.

    *Some of the super-criminals were early-wave GIs like John Dillinger and the infamous couple Bonnie and Clyde. Those three were “ventilated” by law enforcement and exploited as examples of the message, “Whatever you do, don't be a criminal”.

  • Jim Goulding

    I did not write the following. I cutnpasted it from the 4T forum, back in 2003.
    I thought it was brilliant. I do not know who the author was. Perhaps our author will appear and enlighten us all, on Neil's comments, above.
    Take care,
    Jim Goulding
    http://www.jamesgoulding.com/generations.htm

    From the FourthTurning.com forum, circa 2003:
    “…pick up generation shifts and Turnings alike. In some recent research I summarized movies across the last several Turnings, beginning with the Depression/WWII Crisis, continuing with the postwar 1950s High, 1960s-1970s Awakening and 1980s-1990s Unraveling.

    Most of these films are about their own time, and describe their current Turning. A few interesting ones describe the Turning just ahead, meaning the writers somehow “sensed” the next Turning about to come – John Hughes and Mike Nichols are directors with this gift. Some of the science fiction films look one full Turning beyond their current time. As an example, note the recent change in science fiction – we've dropped our dark, edgy, punkish broken-down crisis world images (e.g. The Road Warrior, Bladerunner, the Matrix) for a vision of somewhat sterile postwar calm (GATTACA, Minority Report, A.I.). Clearly our SF writers are starting to look beyond the looming crisis to the “postwar” High world of 2040.

    If you're particularly interested in the transition to a Crisis, my best recommendation is the cheeseball 1990s flick Independence day – it does a great (if somewhat silly) job showing the Fall-Winter transition, particularly in the first half of the film. The image of the rave party rockin' out under the alien death ray (in Los Angeles of course) is a great metaphor for the current time…

    ——————
    High (beginning of Millennial Cycle) – Society

    The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
    - Won Academy Award for Best Picture. Returning G.I.s (Heros) struggle to make sure that the present, rather than WWII, are the 'best years of their lives'. Coping with their changed places in society, physical disability, grown kids. Filmed when America still feared a return to a 30's style Depression.

    It's A Wonderful Life (1945)
    - unsung G.I. Hero is shown how much his individual life matters to society — and society in turn, recognizes him as well.

    The Third Man (1949)
    The G.I. Hero is stunned to find out that his old friend is an amoral free agent, competing against the system! Horrors! Orson Welles is a true bad guy rather than admirable anti-hero. This is true of much of Film Noir.

    When Worlds Collide (1950)
    G.I. Heroes show team effort and super science defeats the ultimate threat — the destruction of the earth. A cynical older (Lost Generation) moneybags finances the escape spaceship. However, at the climax his self-interested amorality is refuted and GIs move to a new world. Watch out Gen-X, you could be this old guy some day! The original story (in which the old guy is cool) is from 1932.

    GATTACA (1997) – looking forward to the NEXT High
    This film's subtle vision is not simply a anti-utopia — it is a vision of the next 21st century High. The exploration of space is presented as a beautiful and heroic event that society has dedicated itself to. But the
    'glass ceiling' of genetic purity is also characteristic of the sterile, rigid social structure of a High. The hero does not reject or destroy society — instead he strives to participate in its most noble aspects. A true triumph of the will, non-cynical in its faith in the human spirit. Compare to 1930's films about the future, e.g. “Things to Come.”

    Please Don't Eat The Daisies (1960)
    Silent generation wife wants to settle down in the suburbs, while husband still fooling
    around with sophisticates in NYC. The Silent nuclear family in full flower.

    ——————————
    High – Generational Makeup

    The Searchers (1956)
    - As a Civil War veteran spends years searching for a young niece captured by Indians, his motivations become increasingly questionable. Analyzes the stoic G.I. male personality & its limitations

    The Wild Strawberries (1957)
    - After living a life marked by coldness, an aging professor is forced to confront the emptiness of his existence. A vision of loss as the old man confronts questions of God and meaning posed by young Silents. His age puts him as a elderly member of the alienated Lost generation, who match Generation X in our current cycle.

    High – Transition to Awakening
    Vertigo (1957) – Small-time Silent players confront their “lonely crowd” mentality in an achingly empty world. Ordinary people trapped and corrupted by a social machine they didn't create.

    The Manchurian Candidate (1963)
    - Paranoia, witch-hunting and anti-female sentiments find their voice in this crazy vision of brainwashing and a secret invasion. G.I.s at their paranoic wackiest. People took this movie seriously when it was released! Compare to Alfred Hitchcock's Torn Curtan (1966).

    Dr. Strangelove (1964)
    - the absurdity of the overplanned, rationalistic G.I. command economy balanced on the brink of ultimate war is lampooned in this great work.

    ——————————
    Awakening – Society & Generations

    The Graduate (1967)
    - Adult G.I. and Silent Philistines attempt to co-opt and seduce a youthful spiritual (Prophet) Boomer. Awakened, he and his true love escape into a new, uncertain world.

    Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid (1969)
    - A classic anti-hero film, and a telling deconstruction of the G.I.- based Western by Boomer/Awakening era ethics.

    The Day The Earth Stood Still (1951, vision of the next Turning)- A young, Christ-like alien Prophet brings a message of doom to the G.I.'s — total destruction unless the world changes its evil ways. Robot sidekick supplies divine retribution.

    The Prisoner (1968)
    - The only TV series listed, but a masterpiece showing the Awakening-era rejection of “The Establishment”. A secret agent resigns to 'free his mind'. He is kidnapped by nameless powers and sent to a mysterious “village” — a parody of High stability. In the village, he proves that freedom is a state of mind. 'Why did you resign, young Boomer?' The GIs will never understand.
    ————–
    Rise of the “Evil Child” archetype during the Awakening (boy, they sure didn't like Gen-X kids when they were little tykes!)

    Rosemary's Baby (1968)
    - Nice (Silent) lady is forced to have a really bad (Gen-X) infant by nasty(Lost/Nomad?) old people. Interaction of Nomad/Artist archetypes.

    The Exorcist (1973)
    - What an awful Gen-X kid this Silent mother has to endure!

    The Omen (1976)
    - An American (G.I. or Silent) ambassador learns to his horror that his Gen-X son is the literal Antichrist.

    The Brood (1979)
    - A whole buncha of awful Gen-X kids popping out everywhere!

    Mimic (1997) – out of sync
    - Kids are the source of all suffering in this film. All children are sickly, ugly, stupid, forcing parents/caretakers to die for them and tamper with nature(!) One kid even wears fake buck teeth. Two snotty kids killed onscreen. The idiot kid gets his guardian killed. Heroine is childless. No wonder it tanked – it should have been made in 1976!
    ——————————
    Awakening – Transition to Unraveling

    The Deer Hunter (1978)
    - First treatment of the Boomer Vietnam vet as a victim rather than an oppressor.

    The China Syndrome (1979)
    - despite Three Mile Island, Jane Fonda, and a good screenplay, this film is the swan song for 60's Boomer activism. Fonda already looked middle-aged. Today, Fonda is a born-again Christian and nuclear is being reconsidered as an energy alternative. There was no one 'movement' after the nuclear issue died down.

    Apocalypse Now (1979)
    - A personal journey to confront anarchy. A collapse of all form and structure into madness. Ideology leads to collapse rather than 'liberation.' Still very head-trippy Awakening in spirit. Lead character is transitional between Boomer and X, and meets a crazy old GI at end of journey.

    Firestarter & Children of the Corn (1984) – A few more evil kids, with conflicted rather than purely evil motives. The “evil child” died out quickly as a new crop of “beautiful baby” films appeared in the 1980s.

    Halloween (1978) As Gen-X grows up, society's attack shifts from devil children to teens deserving of destruction. Some have argued that the entire slasher genre is related to the unwanted, latchkey/child of divorce experience of Gen-X in their youth. Note the complete lack of help from parents and adults – these kids have to survive on their own. As in Highlander (1986) and Survivor (2000) there can be only one left standing.
    ——————————
    Unraveling – Society

    The Gold Rush (1925) – The Unraveling of the last cycle. The mining camp chaos mirrors the Jazz Age's chaotic free-agent Lost society. Future movies about the 'dotcom' era may look similar to this film.

    Metropolis (1927) – Great corporations rule the world and run roughshod over their workers (note the lack of a central government) — and plant an evil robot spy creating disunity and rebellion. Ends with a pledge to unite a society splintered between heart and head.

    Pandora's Box (1929)
    - G.W. Pabst's film that catapaulted Louise Brooks to international acclaim and made her 'the' icon of the Jazz Age. The tragic, edgy story of a prostitute destroyed by her surroundings. These type of films died out quickly as the 1929-1947 Crisis hit.

    The Blue Angel (1930, German)
    - In her breakout film, Deitrich adjusts her panties onscreen. This film will stun anyone who thinks that film has only become edgier and sexier with time. Has things in common with Desperately Seeking Susan (1985), Madonna's breakout film.

    Blade Runner (1982)
    - The ultimate disintegration of everything — cannot be matched for its amazing vision of total collapse. A linear extension of Unraveling trends. Deep economic divisions, non-government, free agents, product placement, globalized corporate domination, wild mixes of diverse lifestyles, everything cracked, compromised, altered, darkened. Compare to the light-filled SF visions from the 1930s.
    ——————————
    Unraveling – Generational Makeup

    E.T (1982)
    - Speilberg was practically the only pro-kid voice in film between 1960 – 1990. Here, the kids know better than the adults who try to 'cure' E.T. The divorced mom family is an early victim of the consequences of Boomer freedom. The 'demon child' fears are beginning to lift.

    The Last Starfighter (1984)
    - A latchkey kid who saves the universe – alone. The Cinderella story here is standard Nomad, and the film itself is remembered by many Gen Xers as a great film of their youth — until they see it again!

    The Breakfast Club (1985)
    - Whatever is true of these kids, they aren't political or 'hippie.' Aimless, amoral, suspicious of everything, seeking no higher cause, their only solace is each other. An unflattering depiction of early “Generation X”.

    St. Elmo's Fire (1985)
    - In the 70s they were demon kids. Now they're older, self-centered and obnoxious. Society certainly doesn't like this X generation!

    The Princess Bride (1987)
    - One of the first films made for Xers rather than about them. Ironic, edgy, wonderfully comic, gentle, self-referential take on a fairy story. Story is read by an indulgent kindly grandfather from the Silent (Artist) generation to his Xer grandson – the equivalent of the fairy godmother in Cinderella. Compare him to the stern moralizing Prophet elders of Star Wars – I think I like this guy bettern than Obi-wan.

    Die Hard (1988)
    - Definitive action film, about an isolated, free-agent cop who combats well-dressed terrorists — whose motivation starts political but is revealed as personal greed. As in many Unraveling films, naked survival replaces moral conflicts.

    Public Enemy (1931)
    - The career of two hoods 1910-1930 in the last Unraveling. These are characters and situations that have now become gangster movie cliche, and what happens to Cagney at the end could stand with any late 90's gangsta flick.

    Menace 2 Society (1993)
    - A young street hustler, fresh from high school graduation, attempts to escape the rigors and temptations of the ghetto in a quest for a better life. Since this breakout effort, Singleton's newer films have taken a decidely pro-family tone.
    ——————————
    Unraveling – Transition – Society

    City Lights (1931)
    - Chaplin's lone, isolated Tramp character has a beautiful, hands-off romance with a blind flower girl in the last Unraveling. The last scene may the least cynical second ever recorded on film. Even Cartman would be struck dumb. One of the Lost making things good in a small way.

    Titanic (1997)
    - A classic romance of young Heroes, and complete rejection of Unraveling action flicks. A “heros' journey” guide for millions of 9-year old Millennials now in college. How to be a Hero, (if you're an upper-class girl).

    Independence Day (1996) A SF film of the Unraveling, looking ahead to the coming Crisis. Arrival of aliens pitch a diverse multicultural society into unity, duty, honor, and country. The best part of the film is the first half, where you seen the terminal end of the Unraveling symbolized by rave partygoers dancing on the top of LA's tallest buildings – right underneath the monster ship's death ray. A police chopper begs them to leave – and is cursed. Then the Crisis descends in avenging fire on the frivolity of the 1990s. There's actually a shot of the World Trade Centers in ruins! By the end of the film everything has changed – before the climactic battle to the death, the President paraphrases the famous speech in Shakespeare's Henry V.
    ——————————
    Unraveling – Transition – Generational Makeup

    Clueless (1995)
    - These brightly colored Millennial high school kids are anything but 'tragic hip' – whatever happened to basic black? The Gen-X edge begins to slip away. The recent (2001) Legally Blond is in the same category, except Girl Power has reached college.

    Election (1998)
    - Gen-X take on the shift to a new generation. An alienated, used-up high school teacher (Gen-X icon Matthew Broderick) confronts his worst nightmare — the shiny new generation (Reese Witherspoon). This leading-edge Millennial is loud, brassy, pampered, always right, and by her own description destinated for greatness. Of course, she triumphs completely. Gen-X catches it big-time (and unfairly) here. A classic ending: As Millennial intern and Clinton-esque Boomer Congressman embrace, Broderick walks away — ignored again. Suddenly, he throws his soft drink, symbolizing Gen-X anger at their own undeserved neglect by our culture.

    Big Daddy (1999)
    - a child Millennial teaches a cynical 30 year old Gen-Xer about responsibility. The edge is over, Mr. Sandler!

    About A Boy (2002) This time, Hugh grant gets “saved” by a child Millennial.

    A.I. (2001)
    - Inhuman kid robots are good, human adults are evil — a complete inversion of the 70s demon kid flicks. The worldof A.I. rejects 20 years of “cyberpunk” for a vision of a changed, sterile but “safe” society – in other words, the High coming after the current Crisis.
    ——————————
    Crisis – Society
    Triumph of the Will (1934)
    - The GI generation in Facist Germany confronts the Crisis. A hybrid between a documentary and a propaganda film, this is one of the most powerful and scariest films ever made. Heroic fascism is the dark possiblity in our response to our own Crisis era.

    Things To Come (1936)
    - SF vision of the next 100 years of human history, with heroic GI scientists rescuing the world from a gaggle of Bohemian politicians, warlords and evil poets opposing progress. Envisioning the next postwar High after the last Crisis. Compare end triumph to 'GATTACA' and the 1939 World's Fair vision of 1960.

    The Wizard of Oz (1939)
    - Depression-era team players, G.I. style, journey to the gleaming city of a hopeful future and encounter a old Prophet with feet of clay. Reminds us that the 1930s featured its own brand of 'girl power' – see a few Betty Boop films and you'll understand.
    ——————————
    Crisis – Generational Makeup

    The Little Princess (1939)
    - Girl power, 30s-s ”
    <<<End>>>

   
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