Wikinomics - Latest Comments in Wikinomics » Blog Archive » What movie speaks for your generation?

Re: Wikinomics » Blog Archive » What movie speaks for your generation?

Left with crumbs — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 21:32:39 -0000

Fight Club -

The Baby Boomers was the Simpson Trial, while Gen X was the beat down on Reginald Denny and ensuing chaos. Gen Y is Obama.

Most related films based off of J.G. Ballard novels.

Re: Wikinomics » Blog Archive » What movie speaks for your generation?

Scott — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 18:10:31 -0000

I think finding a film that defines a generation all depends on how you see yourself and your place in the generation as a whole... I mean I hate sex and the city but it really seems to have struck a chord with a lot of people in my generation... same thing with fight club... I would likely go with movies like American Beauty, Empire Records, Garden State, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless mind which all contribute to shed light on the way generation Y thinks... Hell for the sake of argument I'll even throw out pleasantville... but I think the most defining art of Gen Y has to, HAS to be the Simpsons

Re: Wikinomics » Blog Archive » What movie speaks for your generation?

E-Man — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 15:21:59 -0000

Almost 50 here. T-2, Aliens, Die Hard, Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein. Action, adventure and laughter!

Re: Wikinomics » Blog Archive » What movie speaks for your generation?

Stuart — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 18:37:19 -0000

Although Gandhi is a close second.

Re: Wikinomics » Blog Archive » What movie speaks for your generation?

Stuart — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 18:36:25 -0000

Man on the Moon, surely.

Re: Wikinomics » Blog Archive » What movie speaks for your generation?

Sandy — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 16:53:32 -0000

I paid to see The Princess Bride 11 times while it was in theatres, and I watch Groundhog Day and It's a Wonderful Life at least once each year. My favourite movies include Citizen Kane, The Iron Giant, Stranger Than Fiction, The Muppet Movie, The Mighty, and everything Pixar has released. (Well, maybe not the short film Boundin' - what was THAT about?)

Born in 1966, I'm officially an early Xer, but never identified with the Generation X label. I remember being annoyed when Coupland's book came out. I wasn't cynical and didn't appreciate being known as a slacker. Still don't. (We weren't lazy, honest; most of the good jobs were taken.)

Before the boomers, there was no NEED to define generations. No group of people before or since the boomers had the same influence. By sheer weight of numbers, their needs and wants changed the world.

Hollywood has always catered to the boomers because that's where the money was/is (and fair enough - it's called show business for a reason). When I was a kid there were good movies for teens. When I was a teen there were good movies for young adults. The 30something TV series was a cautionary tale about my near future, not a slice of my life. I was behind the boomers. I hope they will revolutionize the retirement home industry, and I hope there will be room for me when I'm ready to go there.

I think it's a mistake to assume that other generations are like the baby boomers in any way. That includes the idea of generational influence or homogeneity. No political scandal was like Watergate, but every political scandal since has been tagged as a "gate." This is the kind of thinking that assumes there are generations of people who think and behave like each other.

I don't know if The Big Chill speaks for a generation, but no movie speaks for me.

Re: Wikinomics » Blog Archive » What movie speaks for your generation?

john yorke — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 16:36:58 -0000

"I don't want to sell anything, buy anything, or process anything as a career. I don't want to sell anything bought or processed, or buy anything sold or processed, or process anything sold, bought, or processed, or repair anything sold, bought, or processed. You know, as a career, I don't want to do that."
a quote for the grunge generation. the soundtrack was two years ahead of its time.

Can you ever listen to "In your eyes" by Peter Gabriel and not think about Lloyd Dobler?

YOU CAN SAY ANYTHING TO ME...

Re: Wikinomics » Blog Archive » What movie speaks for your generation?

Roy Youngman — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 14:42:53 -0000

Interesting and fun dialog. I'm a boomer, but didn't really care for The Big Chill but bought the CD in any case (music-great, movie-boring). Loved the original Star Wars trilogy but am enjoying the Harry Potter series just as much. Also love The Maltese Falcon and laugh at the Austin Powers nuttiness, so what can that mean other than I'm a confused individual? So what I like probably has nothing to do with my generation.

If I think about movie characters and how they correspond to people I knew growing up, I guess The Big Chill is as accurate as any. But so is Kelly's Heros and the nut cases in that flick. It also seems like all my buddies wanted the relationship Butch and Sundance had.

It seems that the makers of movies tend to be a generation older than the largest group that watches them (whoever is still in school at the time they come out). So, maybe instead of movies, music speaks for generation better? Or maybe even sports?

Re: Wikinomics » Blog Archive » What movie speaks for your generation?

Brian Gillooly — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 10:51:22 -0000

Like Matthew, I consider myself on a "cusp" of generations ('61) -- I don't feel like a boomer and I definitely am not a Gen Xer. So, to me, a "bridge" film (bridging the generations) best represents the people I associated with, and there are two that came to mind immediately. No question that "Animal House" had a huge influence culturally on (if not my entire mini-generation) me and my friends. The irony is that it was about the mid-boomer folks (mid '50s), but it resonated like hell with us. Maybe it was because we were at a rebellious point in our lives (late teens) when it was released, or maybe because as people on the cusp of the generations we needed something rebellious and fun to identify with since we didn't really identify with either generation bookending us. We all had the toga parties (yeah, I know, real rebellious), we quoted the film endlessly, we left our alligator shirts in the closet in favor of torn gray sweatshirts -- we felt a sort of release after that film came out. The parade-scene denoument was our big-display, in-your-face rejection of authority -- you just loved how they used their ingenuity to craft a bigger-than-life scheme to stick it to the man -- and that summer we metaphorically jumped in our big convertibles and drove off with the pom-pom girl (so maybe it was more of a guy flick).

But I can't leave out another one that I also think represented the "bridge" group I was in and that was The Exorcist. I know it's odd to equate the devil with a generation, but we were totally captivated by that movie. Again, maybe it was just my group of friends and not the whole mini-generation, but we watched it dozens of times. I remember one of my friends at the time summing up why that movie scared/entertained us so much more than any of the other classic horror films. He said, "You don't mess with the devil." Jason, Freddy Kruger, etc. -- they were just Hollywood creations and fake blood. They weren't scary so much as occasionally startling ("Kid, can't you hear the screeching violins?!? Just RUN!") But the devil was "real" to us, especially the children of old-fashioned Catholics. I think The Exorcist represented whatever "boogeyman" was dogging the latter part of the boomer generation -- unlike our parents and the early boomers with their nuclear families and white picket fences, this was post Vietnam War and we still suffered that angst; the economy was heading south; the big bad Soviet Union and nukes were always a threat; it was the waning era of the Organization Man, so long-term jobs weren't guaranteed as we started entering the workforce. Maybe I'm overstating things and we really just liked a good scare, but I've identified with that movie as part of a coming of age.

I'm surprised no one's mentioned Napolean Dynamite. I seem to remember all the articles about how it went from unknown indie to cult classic because kids identified with it so much. I liked it well enough, but I remember thinking "this is what they want to be known as??"

Re: Wikinomics » Blog Archive » What movie speaks for your generation?

Cam Marston — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 07:18:46 -0000

I love that my book has been linked in any way to a movie of a generation. And as a Gen X'er myself I think the movie that fits is Breakfast Club. For me, at least. The one most often associated with Gen X is Reality Bites but I've never seen that. I guess I'm not too up on my research. But Breakfast Club hit me in the gut when I watched it much like Rebel Without A Cause hit a previous generation much the same way. Each generation has their own rebellion movie and that is the one that rings true for me.

Re: Wikinomics » Blog Archive » What movie speaks for your generation?

Troy Dyer — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 13:48:56 -0000

What's wrong with Troy Dyer? http://legalpad.typepad.com...

In 2005, the real Troy Dyer (a financial planner from Wisconsin[10]) sued writer Helen Childress, producer Danny DeVito and director Ben Stiller.[11] Dyer claimed that after the 2004 release of the tenth anniversary DVD of the film he had "inquiries from potential clients as to whether he was the fictional Troy Dyer".[11] Universal, Childress, DeVito and Stiller attempted to seek shelter under California's anti-SLAPP statutes but in early 2007 the appeals court denied them SLAPP protection with the following decision: "In sum, assuming the issues facing Generation X at the start of the 1990’s are of significant interest to the public, Dyer, a financial consultant living in Wisconsin who happened to have gone to school with Childress, was not connected to these issues in any way. Thus, the defendants failed to meet their initial burden of showing the activity underlying Dyer’s lawsuit was in furtherance of the defendants’ constitutional right of free speech in connection with a public issue or an issue of public interest".[11]

Re: Wikinomics » Blog Archive » What movie speaks for your generation?

Lenni — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 22:02:55 -0000

"Reality Bites"! (which girl in her mid-thirties hasn't dated a Troy Dyer? C'MON!)

And,

"Heathers".

Re: Wikinomics » Blog Archive » What movie speaks for your generation?

Ben Letalik — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 20:35:13 -0000

Although it's very recent, I'm a little surprised that Juno hasn't been mentioned so far. It's a movie universally liked not only by my generation (Y), but I feel others as well.

It tackled a very tough issue in what I feel a fairly realistic way. Juno's parents' reaction, especially, was apt considering my generation's relationship with our parents.

While the dialog was a little unrealistic, (and made me cringe at times) I still think the movie has its place in defining our generation.

I think with Arrested Development, Superbad and Juno, Michael Cera has done a pretty good job of representing our generation.

Re: Wikinomics » Blog Archive » What movie speaks for your generation?

ute — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 14:42:31 -0000

I was a kid in the German 70ies and a teenager in the 80ies. In the 70ies we "Annie" was our girl and "Asterix and Obelix" our guys. In the 80ies "Top Gun" rocked, "Footlose", "Flashdance", "Dirty Dancing", "Rocky", "Rambo" and pretty well everything that was big in America.

Re: Wikinomics » Blog Archive » What movie speaks for your generation?

Martin Bakner — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 14:08:10 -0000

Like Mathew, I am stuck between Boomer and Gen-X (b. 1960)... so my picks are a bit eclectic.

From my youth: 2001... the ultimate SF film for the Apollo Age.
My teens: The Godfather... better than Tarantino in use of gratuitous violence.
Young adult: Apocalypse Now... thank you, Robert Duvall.

Special recognition: A Christmas Story... real kids acting like real kids.

Re: Wikinomics » Blog Archive » What movie speaks for your generation?

Brian Magierski — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 01:17:50 -0000

What a great thread ... nice job Mike!

As an X-er, I can identify strongly with the anti-establishment / maverick films already mentioned - Top Gun, Ferris Bueller, Breakfast Club (though this one has really wore thin on me now). Adding one more, how about Broderick as the maverick computer nerd in War Games?

Reality Bites was certainly a generational flick too .. and a hip soundtrack to boot.

I gotta say, I loved Tammy Erickson's comment about The Devil Wears Prada and how she tied together the generations on the ending of that one ... what a great call.

On the timeless classics, I am a huge fan of the Godfather Trilogy (particularly I and II of course) ... don't know what that says.

Extending that, I'd add the maverick gangster Chilly Palmer (John Travolta) in Get Shorty - love that one.

And I'm writing this while watching Harrison Ford as Jack Ryan in Clear and Present Danger tell the President of the United States 'Sorry Mr. President, I don't dance' ... what a maverick!

Re: Wikinomics » Blog Archive » What movie speaks for your generation?

Thusenth Dhavaloganathan — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 23:31:43 -0000

Matrix I - techno thriller
Fight Club - break out of the mold
40 Year Old Virgin - a new type of comedy that holds nothing back
Lord of the Rings - epic
An Inconvenient Truth - rally the GenY's to fix GenX's mistakes
The Notebook - who says romance is dead

Re: Wikinomics » Blog Archive » What movie speaks for your generation?

Mike Dover — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 21:07:15 -0000

Interesting that Repo Man came up again.

Awesome movie and it's soundtrack was pretty much the opposite of the Big Chill's.

For those that haven't experienced the early Emilio Estevez film, here is a link that explains why it is a classic. Warning: the language gets "a little blue"

http://www.acidlogic.com/mm...

Re: Wikinomics » Blog Archive » What movie speaks for your generation?

Mathew Ingram — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 20:32:21 -0000

Some great suggestions for all generations.

I guess I've always felt kind of in-between generations (born in 1962) -- not really a Boomer, but not really Gen-X either. So I really liked the Big Chill, but it didn't feel like watching my friends and I -- Breakfast Club was closer, and Ferris Bueller's Day Off. But the one I identified with the most was probably Repo Man, for whatever reason.

Re: Wikinomics » Blog Archive » What movie speaks for your generation?

Alexandra Samuel — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 17:39:45 -0000

My first blush response is to back up Rob re: Singles -- when it came out, that movie really did feel like it was "about" my friends, from the hopeless pursuit of inappropriate guys to the fact that the appropriate guy was a green transit geek.

And in a COMPLETELY different vein, I might also nominate "Demolition Man" -- because while it's not an Xer movie per se, I sure know a lot of people who share my fondness for the way its futurism commented fondly and ironically on our present.

But I have to admit that while I'm a great movie lover, there are damn few movies that I'd say really speak to & for me. Reading some recent coverage of the Sex & The City phenom -- the general tone of which is, omigod! women want movies about THEM?!!? -- has encouraged me to reflect on how few movies are about women, largely (I gather) because women don't drive ticket sales. Even in our generally egalitarian home, we tend to see guy flix, because while I am delighted (really, genuinely, shamefully delighted) to see an action flick or dorky comedy, Rob isn't usually up for the let's-talk-about-our-feelings movies. (He gave at the office, I guess.)

Sex & The City certainly didn't fit the bill -- I enjoyed it, but it bares just about zero relationship to my reality. Probably the filmmaker who comes closest to capturing women of my particular demographic is Nicole Holofcener -- both "Walking and Talking" and "Lovely and Amazing" had moments and characters that felt very evocative.

Re: Wikinomics » Blog Archive » What movie speaks for your generation?

Jack — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 17:23:38 -0000

Mike- Very interesting post. We're looking into some of these same things.

I would say that in terms of Millennials' angst being reflected in films, per your last sentence, Harry Potter may actually be quite relevant. Harry Potter's "angst" is figuring out how to persevere and generally be heroic in a turbulent and confused world. Whereas Boomers' angst was existential, and Xer's angst was rebellious against a society they felt abandoned them, Millennials' angst is about how to, in some sense, "save the world". This is widely reflected in the films that have been discussed here

This is a fascinating topic; I'm very interested to see where this leads.

Re: Wikinomics » Blog Archive » What movie speaks for your generation?

Tammy Erickson — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 17:19:45 -0000

Hi All -- Fun discussion. Mike, thanks for inviting a Boomer to play.

Okay, first things first. The Big Chill is a GREAT movie. I loved it. My husband loved it (therefore, not a chick flick). It’s not about a group that is pretentiously going after it all; it’s about people who are struggling to figure out how to make sense of a life in which a wide spectrum of options is suddenly possible. Can you balance a career and kids? Where are the boundaries of the new sexual mores? (Remember, Boomers are the only generation that experienced the joys and freedom of a post-pill and pre-AIDS world.) And, with the evil establishment all around, is this a world we can live in?

The movie pretty much captures what it felt like to be a young adult at the time. Optimistic and embolden, yes, based on encouragement from all sides to step up – make a difference – have it all. But confusing, too – and overwhelming. How do you sort out the new roles? How do you deal with the challenge, the competition, the number of things that need to be done or changed or even ignored? Do you become hardened and focused on your career? Simplify and withdrawn, perhaps with an X’er at your side? Or give up completely and pack it in?

We also lived in a world without MTV. This movie was our MTV. It combined our favorite songs; you could have it on in the background, without even watching and enjoy it. The sound track was our iPod.

There were others that captured the Boomer experience: American Graffiti as high schoolers and Kramer vs. Kramer as young parents, sorting out men’s new roles in parenting.

We loved movies about rebels in all forms, because beneath the corporate suites (straight from the Dress for Success manual), this is what we secretly thought ourselves to be – Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Dirty Harry. We identified with the upbeat, optimistic underdogs – Breaking Away, Rocky—and the quirky but free-spirited individuals – Annie Hall, Harold and Maude.

We “played” at cult movies, “wasting” as much time there as X’ers later would on Dungeons and Dragons or Y’s on World of Warcraft. I must have seen The Harder They Come nearly a hundred times. Others dressed up for and shouted along to The Rocky Horror Picture Show over and over again.

And we loved movies that reinforced our belief in the absurdity and even evil of the adult establishment – M*A*S*H, One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest, Chinatown, A Clockwork Orange.

Boomers’ youth was a time of new gender roles (women working, men parenting) that needed to be explored. It was a time of defiance and scorn for institutions, and it struck in most a strong desire to do “something” – something big, to make a difference, rebel, refuse to conform. That expectation set the stage for easy disappointment and angst; many of us soon found ourselves conforming – and lay the groundwork for The Big Chill’s resonance.

Now, on the note of Y films, I’d like to propose The Devil Wears Prada. I think the ending is a great test of the generations. Based on several inter-generational discussions, the folks I know pretty much agree that Y’s love the ending, X’ers accept the ending as a wise move, and Boomers (and certainly yours truly) think the ending is absolutely ridiculous. (Here’s a link to a blog I wrote on that.) http://discussionleader.hbs...

Cheers,

Tammy

Re: Wikinomics » Blog Archive » What movie speaks for your generation?

Venkat — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 17:17:17 -0000

Now that's comment-bait :)

Among American movies, I'd say 'Shawshank Redemption' is far and away the Gen X top movie (I am Gen X).

Someday I'll make up a list of generationally-representative Bollywood movies, though the Indian generations don't quite segment the same way.

Re: Wikinomics » Blog Archive » What movie speaks for your generation?

Mike Dover — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 16:28:16 -0000

One thing for sure, the Net Gen won't allow themselves to be put in a corner.

I don't think that the War on Terror translates into a remake of Red Dawn. Remember Caroline in the City covered in mud? Good Times.

Editor's note: this sets the record for the most references to Jennifer Grey (also Ferris Beuller's sister) in a single Wikinomics post.

Re: Wikinomics » Blog Archive » What movie speaks for your generation?

Rob Salkowitz — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 16:24:54 -0000

Seems like you're selling the Silents short, Sean. How about "The Wild One," "Rebel without a Cause," "The Seventh Seal" (Silents were the first generation to get into foreign films in a big way), "Cool Hand Luke" and "In the Heat of the Night." Generationally, I think they had (and still have) the most complex and interesting taste, and have produced the most literate films and film criticism of any cohort.

I also noticed recently that someone is doing a remake of the Breakfast Club for a NetGen audience. I wonder how that will go over...