Gori the Grey
The Poster
- Joined
- Jan 5, 2009
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I was out of touch even before it was hip.
My Generation (split from Election 2024)
- Thread starter Kyriakos
- Start date
warpus
Sommerswerd asked me to change this
I've looked up which generation I'm technically a part of, but I always forget
I get that I'm supposed to have more in common with people born during the same decade, but people born in my decade just continually make 80s references and all I remember is Alf and Matlock and I guess Bon Jovi and Quantum Leap. All the other stuff I've had to learn over the years just to understand all of these references from random shows. It's exhausting, this summer I spent most of my time watching Night Court reruns and making notes.
Nothing against my generation, but I honestly find myself more understandings of dogs in general. They're just here to play, eat, and every once in a while hump something. I can relate to that. All that 80s mumbo jumbo and neon colours just gives me headaches
I get that I'm supposed to have more in common with people born during the same decade, but people born in my decade just continually make 80s references and all I remember is Alf and Matlock and I guess Bon Jovi and Quantum Leap. All the other stuff I've had to learn over the years just to understand all of these references from random shows. It's exhausting, this summer I spent most of my time watching Night Court reruns and making notes.
Nothing against my generation, but I honestly find myself more understandings of dogs in general. They're just here to play, eat, and every once in a while hump something. I can relate to that. All that 80s mumbo jumbo and neon colours just gives me headaches
Ah, well, this is a ‘my generation’ moment. There's the Shrub character in GTA Vice City who could really be any Bush.
It really doesn't matter what decade you're born in when it comes to pop culture references. I've never seen Seinfeld, Futurama, The Simpsons, or either show about some guy named Sheldon (just blanked on the name - Big Bang Theory?). Yet if someone on TrekBBS disagrees with me about something unrelated, they'll throw down a gif from one of them, with a smug GOTCHA! attitude... and I'm left wondering WTH it's all supposed to mean.
So I finally told them that it's pointless for them to do this because whatever they're trying to communicate is something I can't relate to, because I've never seen those shows.
And then they accused me of lying, like it's impossible to grow up or even just exist in North America and not be familiar with these shows. I've assured them that yes, it's very possible to do that. Literally the only stuff I watch these days that's been on TV is either BBC Merlin, the CBS reality shows, and the odd news clip. I even gave up on my soap opera, once I realized I haven't watched it in over 5 years and didn't bother keeping up via any of the soap sites.
It would be easy to catch up if YT allowed whole-episode uploads like they used to. I managed to zip through 3 years' worth of episodes in one summer, back around 2010 or 2011. If The Handmaid's Tale ever gets around to showing Season 6 (should have been out last year, but we won't get it until next year; they're going to have to recast the kid character again at this rate, to keep her looking like a 12-13-year-old), I'll subscribe to CTV Drama and probably participate in more YT arguments from hysterical American women who don't understand how "the Canada storyline" part of the show works (some of them have some awfully stupid questions, like "do they even have baby formula in Canada?").
Alf and Matlock and Bon Jovi were overrated. Quantum Leap wasn't bad sometimes. But then it got weird, and I don't miss it.
Great minds think alike.
GenMarshall
High Elven ISB Capt & Ghost Agent
The only two of Gordon Lightfoot's songs that I know and enjoy is the Canadian Railroad Trilogy. In a nutshell, it was a song about building the trans-Canada Canadian Pacific Railway. Of course, it's no surprise since I've been a railfan for most of my life.
The Irish Rovers' version of that one is actually better than Lightfoot's version. It's more animated, less flat.
warpus
Sommerswerd asked me to change this
Well, sure, but what really connects me to somebody born in the same decade as me then? If we have completely different cultural references that we remember from our childhood, what benefit is there to group us all under one term? That was what I was getting at.
I'm not disagreeing with you at all. I've been out of touch with my age-peers for most of my life, other than a few common experiences that are mostly specific to school or a few TV shows (I fully get the whole "I had a crush on David Cassidy" thing, when The Partridge Family was on TV, since I was at the right age for that, and ditto Shaun Cassidy a few years later when The Hardy Boys was on TV).
But then I also had a crush on Will Millar of The Irish Rovers, and the difference there is that I actually got to meet and chat with him, both in person and online, whereas the Cassidy brothers are/were just Hollywood celebrities without much connection to the average person's real life. It's sad that the younger couple of generations of Canadians largely have no idea who The Irish Rovers are (some of them are still alive, though retired now; Will Millar moved to Salt Spring Island in BC and became an artist. When I did an online order for a couple of his post-Irish Rovers CDs, he included a small print of one of his paintings).
All this said, I can relate to everyone who ever stood in a long line, waiting to get into the theatre to see Star Wars in 1977. The line I was in stretched for 3 blocks, in addition to the people who had already made it in. We had to wait for the second show, as I recall, and this was in early September that year.
There's a FB group called "Kanadian Korner" and somebody posts memes that say things like "If you remember this, you just might be a Canadian." Some of it is stuff I can easily relate to, and some is stuff that you have to be from Ontario to relate to, as it means nothing to me. There are age-related posts there as well, including things like rotary dial phones. I've seen YT videos of kids who look at them and have no clue at all as to how they work. For that matter, I've seen young adults stare at them in confusion, not knowing how to use them.
The fact that every individual is a likely exception to the idea of "generations" does not negate the overall similarity of life experiences across such a cohort.
warpus
Sommerswerd asked me to change this
IMO sure you can use the idea that there are similarities between certain people who were brought up in a similar way, but there are so many more variables there than just when you were born. There are so many regional variances in Canada alone, let alone the U.S. and the rest of the western world or beyond.. There are class divisions leading to completely different life experiences, and so much more going on than just when you were born.
So yeah, I get that it makes sense to compare the vague notion of a generation, but I for instance have a very different set of youth experiences compared to a random person from the neighbourhood where I live. And I can tell you that there are many people who live here who would probably say the same. It feels weird being grouped into this generational divide somewhat frequently and often in situations where the stuff being said about you just doesn't apply. There is just so much variety and diversity of life experiences, just being born in the same decade doesn't really tie you together to a very strong degree as well.
I see generations moreso a good indicator of the time in history. If you say "Boomers", you know who is being talked about and when they grew up, and the region is usually implied. It helps you understand the greater historical and cultural context. In that sense such labels make sense. But as a way to equate life experiences in a broader sense than that, I don't think it's useful at all.
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