Post by Uesugi-dono on Dec 14, 2017 14:52:27 GMT
Think about modern day Geek Culture. The video games, Star Wars, Comic book Heroes in movies...
Yeah, that's us.
Modern Geek culture, which is presently mainstream culture, owes its prominence to Generation X. We were the generation that first started playing video games, we were the generation that immortalized Star Wars with an unquenchable thirst for merch, we were the ones who grew up reading comic books and jumping off roofs clad only in underoos and a red towel tied around our necks.
I always hated the label "Gen X." After all it sprang up during the Malcolm X craze of the 80s. With all the black kids wearing X shirts everywhere being called Generation X made me feel like we were all being lumped in with these radical, racist, black supremacists. Later I realized it was because our Boomer parents felt like we just didn't want to participate in their 50s nostalgic ideals. That we wanted to "X" ourselves out of society and just be left alone.
And X ourselves out we did. Society has largely passed my generation by. There aren't many of us in positions of power; Congress is still largely filled with decrepit Boomers and upstart Gen Y people who are trying to out-Boomer Boomers. Everywhere I look only handfuls of Xers are prominent. We seem to like to be behind the scenes. But one place where we seem to be in force is in the gaming industry.
As we Xers have aged video gaming has aged right along with us. Our Boomer parents saw games as things for children. Atari, Nintendo; these were fancy toys to them. Even the moniker 'game' makes this form of entertainment appear childish and unimportant; a way to pass the time for simple entertainment. But as Xers entered the industry gaming matured. It began to get darker, more adult, and much more interactive. Think about the Daddening of Video Games. Storytelling became much more deep and intricate. Games really stopped being games and became interactive experiences, such to the point that passive entertainment like watching Television started to feel, to me, like wasted time.
I was in the movie theater in 1977; little 3 year old me, for Star Wars. My only memory of the movie being the looming Star Destroyer Devastator dominating the screen. I have seen every Star Wars movie since in the theater. Star Wars was my childhood, as was Voltron, as was GI Joe, as was He-Man... all of these having been rebooted into the modern day. Star Wars made Lucas a billionaire because of us Xers. Our appetite is what drives Star Wars. He tried to recreate it with the Prequels for the Millennials but it didn't really take. Even though their Xer parents took them to see it, even though their Xer parents bought them the toys, Millennials don't 'own' Star Wars like we do. Most of them haven't even seen the original trilogy and they certainly don't have the connection to the Prequels like we had to the originals. (Who can blame them?) While Gen Y grew up watching the Special Edition on DVD and also have a love for Star Wars, it is still Generation X that drives the new Trilogy. We were the ones who longed to continue the Adventures of Luke Skywalker, we fueled the Expanded Universe and a ton of video games that younger generations played as kids. Without Generation X would Star Wars have been worth 4 billion dollars to Disney?
Think about the superhero movies and TV shows of the past. There were some good ones. Lou Ferrigno made a great Hulk of our youth but Ang Lee's Hulk was not quite as well received. Sam Raimi gave us two fantastic Spider Man movies but that's because Sam Raimi is a funny director and Xers love Evil Dead 2. But who gave us the Best Goddamn Batman? Christopher Nolan... an Xer. Nolan proved that Superhero movies could be believable; that fantastical previous versions of characters could be reinterpreted to fit into a realistic framework. Boomers gave us Batman 66; a spandex-clad pedophile lovably BAM SOCKing his way through a campy comedy. Generation X gave us Batman the goddamn NINJA. Nolan gave us the Joker we never knew we needed.
The entire Marvel Cinematic Universe panders to Generation X. From flawed and believable Iron Man movies to Flash Gordon reincarnations of Thor; these appeal to MY generation. Our appetite gave birth to the most connected, successful movie franchise in history. Sure others enjoy them, but make no mistake: without Generation X, the Geek Generation, super hero movies would still be stigmatized and marginalized.
So what's my point here? Call it self-affirmation. For a good portion of my life I waited for Generation X to rise to prominence; to finally get our 'turn' at running this country that I felt like the Boomers were ruining with their selfish greed. Instead I watched as a wave of Gen Y and even young Millennials swept into office riding a waves of misguided Tea Party bullshit and Social Justice hogwash . "Were were my people?" I wondered.
Turns out we are right where we want to be; by ourselves... making awesomeness for ourselves.
The rest of the world can sit and spin.
Yeah, that's us.
Modern Geek culture, which is presently mainstream culture, owes its prominence to Generation X. We were the generation that first started playing video games, we were the generation that immortalized Star Wars with an unquenchable thirst for merch, we were the ones who grew up reading comic books and jumping off roofs clad only in underoos and a red towel tied around our necks.
I always hated the label "Gen X." After all it sprang up during the Malcolm X craze of the 80s. With all the black kids wearing X shirts everywhere being called Generation X made me feel like we were all being lumped in with these radical, racist, black supremacists. Later I realized it was because our Boomer parents felt like we just didn't want to participate in their 50s nostalgic ideals. That we wanted to "X" ourselves out of society and just be left alone.
And X ourselves out we did. Society has largely passed my generation by. There aren't many of us in positions of power; Congress is still largely filled with decrepit Boomers and upstart Gen Y people who are trying to out-Boomer Boomers. Everywhere I look only handfuls of Xers are prominent. We seem to like to be behind the scenes. But one place where we seem to be in force is in the gaming industry.
As we Xers have aged video gaming has aged right along with us. Our Boomer parents saw games as things for children. Atari, Nintendo; these were fancy toys to them. Even the moniker 'game' makes this form of entertainment appear childish and unimportant; a way to pass the time for simple entertainment. But as Xers entered the industry gaming matured. It began to get darker, more adult, and much more interactive. Think about the Daddening of Video Games. Storytelling became much more deep and intricate. Games really stopped being games and became interactive experiences, such to the point that passive entertainment like watching Television started to feel, to me, like wasted time.
I was in the movie theater in 1977; little 3 year old me, for Star Wars. My only memory of the movie being the looming Star Destroyer Devastator dominating the screen. I have seen every Star Wars movie since in the theater. Star Wars was my childhood, as was Voltron, as was GI Joe, as was He-Man... all of these having been rebooted into the modern day. Star Wars made Lucas a billionaire because of us Xers. Our appetite is what drives Star Wars. He tried to recreate it with the Prequels for the Millennials but it didn't really take. Even though their Xer parents took them to see it, even though their Xer parents bought them the toys, Millennials don't 'own' Star Wars like we do. Most of them haven't even seen the original trilogy and they certainly don't have the connection to the Prequels like we had to the originals. (Who can blame them?) While Gen Y grew up watching the Special Edition on DVD and also have a love for Star Wars, it is still Generation X that drives the new Trilogy. We were the ones who longed to continue the Adventures of Luke Skywalker, we fueled the Expanded Universe and a ton of video games that younger generations played as kids. Without Generation X would Star Wars have been worth 4 billion dollars to Disney?
Think about the superhero movies and TV shows of the past. There were some good ones. Lou Ferrigno made a great Hulk of our youth but Ang Lee's Hulk was not quite as well received. Sam Raimi gave us two fantastic Spider Man movies but that's because Sam Raimi is a funny director and Xers love Evil Dead 2. But who gave us the Best Goddamn Batman? Christopher Nolan... an Xer. Nolan proved that Superhero movies could be believable; that fantastical previous versions of characters could be reinterpreted to fit into a realistic framework. Boomers gave us Batman 66; a spandex-clad pedophile lovably BAM SOCKing his way through a campy comedy. Generation X gave us Batman the goddamn NINJA. Nolan gave us the Joker we never knew we needed.
The entire Marvel Cinematic Universe panders to Generation X. From flawed and believable Iron Man movies to Flash Gordon reincarnations of Thor; these appeal to MY generation. Our appetite gave birth to the most connected, successful movie franchise in history. Sure others enjoy them, but make no mistake: without Generation X, the Geek Generation, super hero movies would still be stigmatized and marginalized.
So what's my point here? Call it self-affirmation. For a good portion of my life I waited for Generation X to rise to prominence; to finally get our 'turn' at running this country that I felt like the Boomers were ruining with their selfish greed. Instead I watched as a wave of Gen Y and even young Millennials swept into office riding a waves of misguided Tea Party bullshit and Social Justice hogwash . "Were were my people?" I wondered.
Turns out we are right where we want to be; by ourselves... making awesomeness for ourselves.
The rest of the world can sit and spin.
