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Talkin' 'bout My Generation

post #1 of 20
8/14/00 at 11:14am
Thread Starter 
I was reading this article months back in EW. In it, the magazine and MTV took a poll of members of my generation(13-18 year olds) and asked them what films best defined their generation.

Their answers? "The Matrix" and "American Pie."

See, this is what I don't get. The films that define my generation will have to be made by members of my generation. Case in point: American Grafitti, made by baby boomer George Lucas and perhaps the greatest film to come out of New Hollywood and define the baby boomer experience(as well as my second favorite film of all time) So, how can you say that pie-fucking and techno-godsdom define my generation now when the bulk of us haven't even been to film school?

Your thoughts?
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post #2 of 20
8/14/00 at 11:59am
Also, how does a movie about a computer that runs the world that we all live in "define a generation"? I don't think the kids that said it "defined" them have gone out and learned to hack, or learned kung fu. That's just silly.

But as far as the pie-fucking goes, I'm sure most of them know how to do that. God knows I do.
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post #3 of 20
8/14/00 at 2:57pm
Thats probably true

Personally I loved Citizen Kane.....

and I am in the 13-18 bracket!!

The world is coming to an end, as they say

That is all
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post #4 of 20
8/14/00 at 4:02pm
Well, Mainstream America is the devil now, not only is pop music gone to crap, but the GQ world has invaded everything. The influx of teeny bopper movies is astounding, and everyone looks like a fucking backstret boy in them. I saw the previews for "Loser" and the sarcastic, cynical room mates had like heavy makeup and fruity hair. So go figure, hell has finally occured on earth.
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post #5 of 20
8/14/00 at 4:06pm
Hell occured when Barney appeared. Armageddon will appear when Richard Simmons and Barney have a kid.
The Matrix defined this generation because they figured out us old farts are using them as batteries.
Or not.
This pointless post brought to you by Jake Speed's Boyscout Troop 113.
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post #6 of 20
8/14/00 at 4:26pm
i commpletely disagree with the matrix being picked as a movie that defines my generation.since when does a movie about a computer controlling the world have anything to do with life. i mean please.you gotta be outta your mind to think that.i somewhat agree with American Pie being chosen,because the things that were happening in that movie pretty much show what life is like for a lot of teenagers.
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post #7 of 20
8/14/00 at 4:43pm
Thread Starter 
um....no.
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post #8 of 20
8/14/00 at 4:46pm
These kids today...
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post #9 of 20
8/14/00 at 5:03pm
The only movies that has ever defined myself as a person are Joe Versus the Volcano and Star Wars Episode One...
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post #10 of 20
8/14/00 at 6:11pm
I'm in an age group that I think makes up a large part of this little online community

I'm 22, and I would include people from 18 to 28 in my age group.

The bad part is, that I can't think of a single movie that defines this generation as a whole.
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post #11 of 20
8/14/00 at 6:22pm
Thread Starter 
To clarify my last post...

"American Pie" is a film that could be applied to any generation as prevously stated. There are no cultural references, and it has nothing to do with how American life has affected these teenage characters.

For a film to clearly define the 13-18 generation, it must deal with several things.

The biggest is the Columbine school shootings. 20-30 years from now we will still be feeling the repercussions, and it's the closest thing to a generational tragedy I can think of. The film must adress how the shootings affected us, and we must wait to see how it affected us. Thus, one cannot make a film about our generation now.

The film also has to adress the growing feelings of dissilusionment in my generation. I feel many are angry that there is "nothing left" for us. It's sort of a wasteland, and I know all generations feel this, but I suspect this feeling will grow and have national repercussions. As a result of this dissilusionment, you see the flocking towards so-called "shiny happy" music(BSB, N'Sync, Britney) in order to hide from these feelings of anger and pain.

Once these feelings(which tie into the Columbine massacre) take their course and are faced, then can the film that defines my generation be made.

If you have any other ideas, or think I'm an idiot, post them.
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post #12 of 20
8/14/00 at 6:39pm
Fight Club
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post #13 of 20
8/14/00 at 6:57pm
fight club is a pretty decent answer, as it deals with our cultural oversaturation of commercialism, male ennui, hopelessness, violence piercing the mainstream american way (ie. columbine, world trade center bombing, timothy mcvey, crazy postal workers)... but i don't know if it defines _my_ generation (me being age 23, i fit chenzzo's age group definition)...

fight club is more like a snapshot of late 20th/early 21st century american male society, twisted and skewed darkly through a magnifying glass. i mean, the average guy who works at your local coffeeshop isn't probably willing to go and join a fascist cult organization, but what rings true about the flick is how it echoes sentiments that many guys our age, like joe coffeeshop, have felt.

but matrix? american pie? c'mon! i wouldn't even say that the holy trilogy would define a generation, why should the matrix do any better? and american pie is what -- a rehash of porky's or animal house for pre-frosh! shit, these kids nowadays don't know nutthin'. oh, wait. i'm still part of that age group. damn.

/willko.
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post #14 of 20
8/14/00 at 8:34pm
Actually, the FACT that they voted for The Matrix as the film that defined their generation, DEFINED THEIR GENERATION. Note that it's my generation, too. I am surrounded by frickin idiots.
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post #15 of 20
8/14/00 at 10:41pm
...and I thought MY generation was screwed up when we were defined by The Wall!
Or Tommy.

Are these kids saying that they define themselves as "energy suppies" for an ever-increasingly "power-hungry" world, where the "energy" and "power" are defined as wealth? Hmmmm......

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-KRONOS
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post #16 of 20
8/14/00 at 10:53pm
Even tho Dazed and Confused was the 70's
It was an awful lot like my HS in Louisiana circa late 80s early 90's
Even the hazing...

Time never really changes
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post #17 of 20
8/14/00 at 10:57pm
Cube Farm Hell - now there's either a movie title or album title, preferably an album by [your favorite Heavy Metal here].

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-KRONOS
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post #18 of 20
8/14/00 at 11:25pm
That's the new one from BandBert.
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post #19 of 20
8/14/00 at 11:42pm
Cobra! Starship Troopers? Are you sure you wouldn't rather be one of the bugs? They are a lot cooler and they had a lot more depth of character that the kids.

There's a great line in the movie "10" where Dudley Moore is talking to Brian Denahey (sp) about "playing our song." He says that in the future, when kids from that time are dancing with their sweethearts, wifes or lovers and one of them says, "Darling! They're playing our song." That song will be "Why don't we do it in the road!" (Beattles for those of you under 20 years old) Years from now when someone who is from the current younger generation says, "Now, there's a movie that defined my generation." They will be talking about "The Blair Witch Project."

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"A mind is a terrible thing to waste and I'm afraid I've done a terrible thing."
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post #20 of 20
8/15/00 at 12:11am
Tibbs brought up a good point: A movie should not "define" a generation. But a movie can "reflect" a generation.

The generation who came back from Europe after WWII were defined by the things they did. Not by the popular culture or a production thereof. I would like to think there's more to us - whoever we are - than what can be said in the space of 90-120 minutes. Otherwise we are only that deep, and I refuse to believe that.

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-KRONOS
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