When we were first starting "The Sun Also Rises" a question was asked that I've been thinking about and meaning to write about for a while. What is the voice of our generation? We were discussing what exactly is meant by the "lost generation" to which Ernest Hemingway as well as many of his characters belonged to, with ideas ranging from all the people who died in the war to a more specific "lost generation" referring to Jake's war wound.
But anyways, what is our generation? We're not lost, we're not the baby boomers, no one's really identified us as anything specific quite yet. I mean, we're the technological generation I guess. The iPod generation, the Internet generation, the Facebook generation. There's been so much technological growth during my generation, and it doesn't show any signs of stopping yet. Almost every teenager my age has a cellphone, has a Facebook, has a laptop of their own. 20 years ago, this never would've happened, hell even 5 years ago it would've been a rarity. Does this mean that we're the technological generation and Steve Jobs is our voice?
But technology is only one aspect of it. What about politics? A lot of people have classified us as the 9/11 generation, since we were all alive for the tragedy and experienced the repercussions of it. I visited New York before 9/11, and I remember treasuring my little souvenir of the Big Apple with tiny figurines of the Twin Towers after the disaster. I in fact returned to New York very recently, and my hotel was right next to the 9/11 memorial. It was a bit of an eerie thing to see reflective pools where once the Twin Towers had stood, and to know that I had seen both before and after. I remember how airport security used to be, and now I experience the hassle of travel constantly. My life, and definitely the majority of other lives of teenagers my age has been changed by 9/11, so does that mean we're the 9/11 generation? If so, who would our voice be? George Bush?
Ugh, I would not like it if George Bush was considered the voice of our generation. I'd rather it be Obama. And it very well could be! My generation is also the Obama generation. We were all very involved in his election, and I remember sitting in the library crowding around a TV to watch his inauguration. I, and many other teenagers my age, will be able to vote in the 2012 election, and we will have such an impact, having been so involved in the 2008 election, even though we couldn't vote. So, is Obama our voice?
But what about entertainment! I would love it if Lady Gaga was the voice of our generation, and it makes sense considering the impact she's had on teens all over the world. But then again, could we be the "Glee" generation? The Disney Channel and Nickelodeon generation? The "16 and Pregnant" generation? The "Jersey Shore" generation? The list goes on and on.
I guess it's not very clear what sort of a generation we are. I'm just throwing out all sorts of ideas here. Maybe it's possible to be more than one type of generation. I don't know. I guess I'll just have to wait and see 50 years from now what historians label us as.
1 comment:
I remember how much I *hated* hearing the terms "Generation X" and "Gen X" and "slackers" and such to "define" my generation. (Even though, to some outside observers, I may have embodied some of the prime traits these terms were designed to identify.) Most thinking people probably recoil at being identified with an *entire generation* of their "peers," because these terms are limiting and elide all kinds of significant differences. And it's notable that writers themselves typically shrug off our outright reject being labeled the "voice of a generation"--probably for similar reasons. But you bring up some excellent reasons why "9/11 generation" might reflect some real and important defining characteristics of young people who came up during this era (but in my view, that experience could be just as easily defined as being in *opposition* to Bush and what 9/11 represented to his administration--I encountered very few young people who were unqualifiedly on board for the "war on terror" and Guantanamo, etc.). I also think "Obama generation" has some significance, in that this election clearly was a galvanizing and inspiring moment for many people your age. But please not the "Jersey Shore" or "16 and Pregnant" generation! You're so much better than that!
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