Friday, February 23, 2007

Talking 'bout our generations

Ideas editor Wen Stephenson points out that generational signposts and touchstone figures or idols are usually not in fact the exact contemporaries of the generation they shape: the heroes are older.

Speaking for myself, a '75 baby, the folks who have had major cultural impact among my peers were the "Friends" (now in their early 40s), the Seinfeld gang (a bit older), the Simpsons creator (53), Dave Eggers (six years older, but especially popular with those who are/were about 10 years younger than he), the Brat Pack (mid-40s, as Josh pointed out), Yo-Yo Ma (a personal favorite, 51), Springsteen (57!), Conan O'Brien (43), "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" (would you believe Judge Reinhold is 49?). You get the point.

As Wen said, Obama was past college when the Brat Pack flicks came out; he wasn't the target audience at all, especially since the film was so self-consciously about the '80s teenager.

Moreover, as Josh briefly noted, the concept of a generation is pretty hazy and questionable. People are born continuously, and they are each affected by cultural or political events and people slightly differently but also in much the same way. In my own example, Watergate was huge whether you were 25 or 55 at the time. So maybe we should be looking at the people Obama himself actually idolized or defined himself against. Now that would be instructive. Let's ask him that, not "boxers or briefs."

[Revised 1:06 p.m.]

Posted by Evan Hughes at 11:29 AM

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