In my last post I bloviated about baby boomers and even made up some brand new categories for them. I came up with four different semi-distinct generations that precede, coincide with, and follow the Baby Boom. But rather than get all sociological and philosophical about the differences between them, it's easier to just use examples.
That is why I've invented the Gen Game. You just have to come up with four related people, groups, events, or things with one belonging to each of my generational divisions. The relationship can be as explicit or as subtle as you want. Here are my examples:
Proto-Boomers (1938-1946)  | Hippie-Boomers (1946-1958)  | Tail-Boomers (1959-1968)  | Generation X (1969-1980)  |
| Eisenhower | Kennedy | Nixon | Reagan |
| Lee Harvey Oswald | Sirhan Sirhan | Squeaky Fromme | John Hinckley |
| Strom Thurmond | George Wallace | John Anderson | Ross Perot |
| Bess | Jackie | Nancy | Hillary |
| Apollo 1 | Apollo 13 | Challenger | Columbia |
| Leave It To Beaver | Brady Bunch | Cosby Show | 90210 |
| Dobie Gillis | Room 222 | Welcome Back Kotter | Saved By The Bell |
| American Grafitti | Animal House | Dazed and Confused | none |
| beer | LSD | cocaine | Ecstasy |
| pregnancy | syphillis | herpes | AIDS |
| AM | FM | MTV | Napster |
| Wham-O | Mattel | Atari | Sega |
| Sock Hop | Love-In | Disco | Rave |
| The Day The Earth Stood Still | 2001 | Star Wars | The Matrix |
| Krazy Kat | Fritz the Cat | Garfield the Cat | Bucky Katt |
| Bye Bye Birdie | Hair | Xanadu | Rent |
| Marilyn Monroe | Jane Fonda | Farrah Fawcett | Kathy Ireland |
| Ed Sullivan | American Bandstand | Sonny and Cher | TRL |
| The Quarrymen | The Beatles | Wings | Paul McCartney |
| Buddy Holly | Jimi Hendrix | John Lennon | Kurt Cobain |
| Diana Ross | Janis Joplin | Madonna | Britney Spears |
| Beatles | Osmond Brothers | Bay City Rollers | New Kids On The Block |
I invite quibbles, substitutions, and additions. Feel free to explain why something does or does not belong.
BlatantCommentWhoring™: Now it's your turn to play. Just leave your Gen Game list in the comments.
I think you're pushing the 'xers' too young.
ReplyDeletespecifically; gen x'ers were at least in grade school when the challenger blew, and mostly out of college when the columbia blew.
further examples: Gen'x people are more MTV, less Napster, and Definitely more Garfield (Bucky came around when the YOUNGEST gen'xer was out of HS). Also, "Dazed and confused", alot of us were in HS or older and yeah...
I think we're back on the same problem, where your generation is just kinda a tragic gap where not much was really going on :P Or maybe The gen-x'ers are the tragic ones, one of the definitions I often see is being raised on the detrius of the boomers.
So heres my question back: Are the tail-boomers leeching off the x'ers culture, or vice versa?!
All good points. Bucky Katt is a real stretch, but I needed something to fill it out.
ReplyDeleteAnd Dazed and Confused isn't about when it came out.
Charlie McCarthy - Howdy Doody - Lamb Chop - Kermit the Frog
ReplyDeleteSadly, today's generation would have to be "Crank Yankers."
Impressive. You've really put some thought into this.
ReplyDeleteI'm also impressed you got the columns and rows formatted so nicely. Blogger isn't that friendly by default.
I agree somewhat with Windie that you are pushing the Xers a bit too young. They really are the MTV generation. It launched in 83 after all. Maybe you can replace Bucky with Bill the Cat? And Krazy Kat should probably be replaced by Felix the Cat.
ReplyDeleteHere's a couple riffing off of some of yours:
45-LP-CD-MP3
Ricky Nelson-The Monkees-Bay City Rollers-New Kids On The Block
Juvenile delinquent-Misunderstood-Gangbanger-ADD
Bill the Cat is a much better choice. How quickly we forget.
ReplyDeleteAnd your other three additions are genius.
I’ve got a couple more and a couple that need work.
ReplyDeleteBill Cosby-Richard Pryor-Eddie Murphy-Chris Rock
Rockabilly-Psychedlic-Prog Rock-Grunge
The Producers-Blazing Saddles-History of the World, Part 1-Spaceballs
That one is interesting, because the next one is The Producers.
This one seems slightly off: Lenny Bruce-Richard Pryor-Andy Kaufmann-Sam Kinnison
This one needs something for the first position:
???-I am not a crook.-Read my lips: No new taxes.-I did not have sex with that woman, Ms. Lewinsky.
I thought about “You won’t have Dick Nixon to kick around anymore,” but a) he wasn’t president at the time and b) it seemed unfair to ding him twice.
And speaking of incomplete lists, your list that starts with American Graffiti will probably be completable in the next 5 years. Yes, 80s nostalgia is just around the corner.
I agree with Jeff...how on Earth did you get that all formatted nicely? I can barely understand what blogger is doing with paragraph and line spacing sometimes.
ReplyDeleteIt's a good list and I have no complaints with it at all which is highly unusual.
Nice post...
jeff and VE,
ReplyDeleteThe miracle of hand-coding HTML tables. It's one of my secret formatting tricks.
D-x,
I looked up some LBJ quotes and nothing worked, so I think the Nixon one works best.
Hey, yello, I'm right in the "Hippie-Boomers," having been born in 1948. I still listen to Jimi and Janis, and Kennedy's assassination affected me and most of my generation profoundly. But you totally skipped other seminal events of my young adulthood. I'd add Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement (Bull Connors, fire hoses, murdered Civil Rights workers lunch counter sit-ins, the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts). Then there's Betty Friedan, Gloria Steinem, et al and the Feminist Movement. The Anti-Vietnam War Movement- Kent State, the Chicago 8, Eugene McCarthy, the March on Washington, the SDS, Bobby Kennedy, etc. (Let's also throw in the Black Panthers, Patty Hearst and the Symbionese Liberation Army, Charles Manson.) I could go on all day. As you might guess, I was more politically oriented, rather than being into the "sex, dope and rock and roll" thing, and I do remember the 60's quite well, thank you very much. ;-)
ReplyDeleteRight on! Must've taken a lot of work to put this together.
ReplyDeleteI was initially confused about American Grafitti-Animal House-Dazed&Confused until I realized it was referring to the time periods depicted in the movies, not when they came out. Heck, I'm a Tailer (1960) but I was at the first ever showing of Animal House (the legendary Denver preview). That was also my first R-rated movie.
I would definitely put myself in the MTV generation, as I was in college when it started up and was endlessly fascinated by it, even going so far as to go to the bar just to watch it (and drink, of course). That was back in the day when they actually showed music videos. (As people from my generation endlessly point out.)
GAH! I'm part of the X generation :(
ReplyDelete