MYTH
Continued from Page 1
milments or having families Time c laimed ihnl twen
tysomethings were obsessed with entertainment, set
they had not made any substantial cultural contributions
of their own.
One \ ear Inter. Canadian author Douglas Coupland
released his first novel titled Generation X Tales for an
Accelerated Culture The book < hronicled the lives of
three ox-yuppies, who, fed up with their fast-paced
urban lives, abandoned their professional jobs and their
fat salaries to "cut themselves adrift on the California
Desert."
The book wasn't so much about the baby-busters that
Time's article had < hronicled. but the name stuck any
way. Twenty somethings were grated with a now title
and a category of their very own
The media ate it up. And like a tumbleweed, the Gen
X idea gained momentum and built upon itself. The tag
soon infiltrated the media at large, including newspa
pers. magazines, books and films
A small independent film called Slacker added fuel to
the flame and paved the way for other television pro
grams and movies Newspapers now use the term liber
ally: "Generation X Doing Heroin." A rock star who had
killed himself became the representative of the dis
traught Generation X."
The newest group to jump on the bandwagon has been
the advertising agent ies Realizing th.it the baby boomers
would not live forever, ad agent ies have re< entlv bom
herded the airwaves and print with their own idea of
what the Generation X is all about
Denise Hall, a 2B-year-old ret ent graduate, mother and
supposed Cam Xer. tails the media s interpretation ot her
generation "total bullshit "
Hall says that the media, in particular the nd agent ies,
have picked up on a t atoh phrase that does not apply to
anyone but have perpetuated the image to exploit the
Gen X market.
Mike Ifealy, a 22-year-old student, musician, comput
er freak and alleged Gen Xer, also sees the perpetuation
of the stereotypical slacker character to be completely
without ground
"Generation X is a marketing tactic." he said. It
offends me Kveryone I know works really hard ”
Mealy believes the books, the movies, the commercials
and the like are not about his generation at all "It's
advertisers trying to define us.” he said "It's just a per
suasion tactic
Advertisers don't deny their interest in the Gen X mar
ket. It's a -tf> million person. $125 billion market Until
they woke up to the Gen X. advertisers had been focus
ing on baby boomers. They realized that unless they
removed their baby-boomer blinders, they would risk
alienating an important and potentially lucrative market
group.
Anti so the pursuit began. anti advertisers bought into
the Gen X notion lock. stm k and barrel.
TtMlay. it is not tin* suit-t Inti businessman who is tr\
mu to soil you n t ar on television; it is the flannel riati,
long-haired, head-banging grungester
Muscle-bound hunks are a continuing presence in
beer commercials. but joining them in the kingdom of
beer ads are the pale, intellectual, skinny Gen Xers. who
would rather reminist e about TV shows than plov vol
leyball on the beach. After all. television is a defining
fort e in the lien Xcr’s life, right '
‘Gen X is a conception brought on
by the baby boomers. It is an
explanation of how their
generation is better than
everyone else. I've always felt
like my generation is defined as
not bright and motivated. It's not
true, and I resent that.’
Denise Hall.
supposed member ot Generation X
Wrong, cry this target audience
"I'm not on thi> Gen X tra< k." claims Hen Moebius. a
J l \ ear-old student, newspaper reporter and suspected
Gen Xer.
Moebius secs some ei oimmii. < hanges that have afft* t
ed the working world. He agrees w ith the (ion X sent!
merit that a suffering oconomv has i hanged the wav his
generation thinks about certain things, lint notes that this
phenomenon is nothing new
If anything. Moebius believes that finam ial hard tunes
and a tight job market have made him and his peers
more ambitious, not passively lazy as the stereotype
implies
Moebius notes that his is not the first generation to be
labeled as lost
"There's a lost generation in every generation." lie
said In the loads. Krnest Hemingway and his fellow
expatriates were targeted as a lost generation They were
a generation shattered by a horrifit war. a generation that
was somewhat estranged from the previous generation.
Moebius said The same applies to the beatniks and the
hippies
Moebius says that of course his generation is differ
eilt from others, but does not understand why they have
been labeled an empty generation
1 he Generation X. slacker tag is not appropriate."
Moebius said It would In' a lot more productive to call
us twentysomethings."
Just what qualifit utions warrant entry to the ranks of
Gen X is a mystery to some Mealy has seen the Camera
lion X defined as people 18-29. people ami'll 20-34
and (host' aged 20-30.
He t ails liis supposed generation "a generation with
no name, no bat kgrnund and no similarity a main
stream conglomeration of people that has too many
variables and is defined only ns having no definition."
A recent studv by the Roper ('.enter for Public Opinion
Research found that the (ieneration Xers are "no more a
real demographic phenomenon than the tree nymph "
1 he studv found that the slat ker moniker uas nothing
more than a myth
The studv et hoed the t ries of tvvelltv somethings, vv ho
found themselves unwillingly (tainted as lazy, cynical
deviants "Survey data don’t show anything - anything
generatiomilly tiistmt live Any sense that the wink
ethu is less vital among Xers is just not home out "
Still, some t went v somethings do believe that tht<
slat ker lifestyle is alive and well in 199-1 jenttifer l.ar
son is a 2 1 -year old recent grailuate, lab Its hnician and
at t usetl Gen Xer I hough she does not see herself as a
typo al slat ker, she sees people around her living a semi
Gen X life "I tmlievc in Cam X." she saitl
lake Mot'hius. 1.arson believes that economic hard
ships hav e rohltetl her generation of some of their poten
tin!
Ilii! ImIiv boomers havi' all ihf jobs." she said
Mam t>f her tollegi' educ .cited friends art' unable to
find work in tlu-ir fields lhcv takr whatever they < an
get Larson said, ami perhaps this adds to thi) disillu
sionment and dissatisfac tion that (.mi Xers ari> known
for
Larson believes, hownvor, that tin1 intidia interprcta
turn of twenty-somethings has gotten out of hand Whih;
( am Xi-rs may represent a small portion of today s youth,
they arc by no umaris indicative id the inajoritv of
today s twenty-somethings
Larson believes the media has so amplified the (am X
idea (fiat it is ai i opted as nullity Lint media shapes this
reality in many wavs." she said
Hall believes that the (ant X myth is a sort of genera
tional sibling rivalry between baby boomers and their
younger brothers and sisters Instead of the traditional
sibling weaponry lists, nails and teeth the older
brothers and sisters are using a more powerful Weapon
the media
"Lien X is a conception brought on hy the baby
boomers. Hall said "It is an explanation of bow their
generation is better than everyone else I've always felt
like' mv generation is defined as not bright and motivat
ed It s not true, and I resent that
Heulv worries that the media's influence will leave an
indelible mark on Ins generation, a mark hi' does not
w ish his generation to hear He. like many other report
ed (ten Xers. does not want to he known as an empty
generation whose only c ultural identity < omes from a
television set
1 le.ily know s that Ins is a v ihrantly creative generation,
but if tin* media c ontinue to define them as the Camera
lion Lmpty, perhaps the definition will stic k
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