If you're unhappy and you know it...

The Times of London Online ^ | June 16, 2005 | KEVIN MAHER

[Tamar1973]

. . . clap the board. Generation X has become Generation Zzz — a new gang of mature, cinematic whingers.

THERE is a spectre haunting Hollywood. It’s a terrifying vision of well-dressed fortysomething urbanites drifting aimlessly around city streets, staring at total strangers and ruminating on the nature of human intimacy, then returning home to sham marriages and alienated children, eating their dinner in silence and spending most of the night staring into the bathroom mirror, wondering in quasi-poetic internal monologue about the fact that we are all, on some unspeakably profound level, like, totally connected to everyone else.

This angsty archly reflective world view, once the preserve of the occasional Hollywood ensemble piece like Magnolia, is becoming common currency at the multiplex. We Don’t Live Here Anymore and Thirteen Conversations About One Thing (note unwieldy titles , often a dead giveaway of philosophical project contained therein), both reviewed on pages 12 and 13, are typical examples, according to The New York Times, of “a genre that has been flourishing in recent years, but still lacks a name”. ...

[Tamar1973]

In other words, Gen X are supposed to grow up? We are supposed to be video store clerks forever? As a less than 40 something Gen Xer that is ludicrous. These critics read too much of their own press.

[pabianice]

But... but... movies are, like, so relevant and integral to, like, life and everything...

[spinestein]

[...well-dressed fortysomething urbanites drifting aimlessly around city streets, staring at total strangers and ruminating on the nature of human intimacy, then returning home to sham marriages and alienated children, eating their dinner in silence and spending most of the night staring into the bathroom mirror, wondering in quasi-poetic internal monologue about the fact that we are all, on some unspeakably profound level, like, totally connected to everyone else.]



I don't want to know people like this.

[Millee]

Me either. They're called liberals.

[Red Badger]

Leading lives of quiet desperation...........

[RegulatorCountry]

"well-dressed fortysomething urbanites drifting aimlessly around city streets, staring at total strangers and ruminating on the nature of human intimacy, then returning home to sham marriages and alienated children, eating their dinner in silence and spending most of the night staring into the bathroom mirror, wondering in quasi-poetic internal monologue about the fact that we are all, on some unspeakably profound level, like, totally connected to everyone else."

Blue staters.

[2banana]

HOW TO TELL X FROM Zzz

WEARS

Gen X: Old jeans, ironic Phantom of the Opera T-shirt (Slacker), greasy hair, goatee if male, “wacky” nylons and Doc Martens, if female
Gen Zzz: Permanent expression of careworn angst because of baffling nature of the Universe

LIVES

X: In parent’s house, but it’s only temporary until recording contract kicks in
Zzz: In suburban community with brood of money-sucking yet essentially life-affirming rugrats (We Don’t Live Here Anymore)

WORKS

X: In dead-end McJob at Gap or Burger World (Reality Bites), while playing in crazy grunge band on Friday nights
Zzz: In the District Attorney’s office (Thirteen Conversations), but listens to Coldplay at weekends

DRIVES

X: A battered ’56 Ford
Zzz: Gas-guzzling guilt-inducing and (in the case of Crash) eminently car-jackable SUV

READS

X: Heidegger’s Being and Time in local café (Reality Bites). Otherwise just watches I Love Lucy repeats.
Zzz: The Death of Ivan Illyich by Tolstoy (We Don’t Live Here Anymore), then bores companions to death with personal musings on the essence of truth

SAYS

X: (Sneering) “I’d like to live forever, but only for a little while” (Stephen Dorff in SFW)
Zzz: (Whining) “I want what everyone wants. To experience life, to wake up enthused, to be happy.” (John Turturro in Thirteen Conversations)

BLAMES

X: The parents. “Everybody’s parents f**ked them up. Rich kids’ parents gave them too much, poor kids not enough. Too much attention, not enough attention. They either left them or they stuck around and taught them the wrong things.” Jesse (Ethan Hawke) in Before Sunrise
Zzz: Urban planning. “In any real city you walk. People brush past you, people bump into you. In LA, nobody touches you. We’re behind this metal and glass.” Graham Waters (Don Cheadle) in Crash.

[taxed2death]

I can't say that I know anyone (gen-xer) who fits that description. What planet is this guy writing from?

[dakine]

I understood absolutely nothing in your post except the "battered ’56 Ford"....

I need to get out more...

[Tamar1973]

Blue staters.

If these people are Blue state Gen X, how would you describe Red state Gen X?

[Tamar1973]

I can't say that I know anyone (gen-xer) who fits that description. What planet is this guy writing from?

Maybe he has been in contact w/ too many British Gen X folk.

[RedRover]

Film critics also assume that movies that no sees actually count as a popular phenomenon.

[badpacifist]

Eating their dinner in silence and spending most of the night staring into the bathroom mirror

Thats the way I picture most of Hollyweird

[Tamar1973]

Gen X ping material?

[Tijeras_Slim]

What planet is this guy writing from?

[qam1]

A rare 3rd in one day

Xer Ping

Ping list for the discussion of the politics and social (and sometimes nostalgic) aspects that directly effects Generation Reagan / Generation-X (Those born from 1965-1981) including all the spending previous generations (i.e. The Baby Boomers) are doing that Gen-X and Y will end up paying for.

Freep mail me to be added or dropped. See my home page for details and previous articles.  

[RegulatorCountry]

"If these people are Blue state Gen X, how would you describe Red state Gen X?"

Fortysomething suburbanites in business casual attire, careening manically around from mall to school to subdivision and back again, smiling vacantly at total strangers and ruminating on their mastery of human interaction, then returning home to second marriages and overscheduled stepchildren, eating their dinner to a daily pop quiz and spending most of the night staring into the laptop monitor, wondering in quasi-poetic internal monologue about the fact that we are all, on some profoundly spiritual level, like, totally connected to everyone else.

[Army Air Corps]

My moments of introspection go something like this:

How can I be a better disciple?

How can I be a better son, nephew, cousin, etc.

Why the hell didn't I buy K-Mart stock when it was at pennies a share?

Basically, I do not engage in the selfish twaddle that is angst. Such silliness is a waste of what precious time we have.