[Newsbot]

Filibuster Cartoons
Title: Memories of a Millennial (click to view)
Date: February 4, 2012
I like having older friends. Conversations can be fascinating, and they can be such a tremendous wealth of vivid historical insight into the eras before yours. Having dinner with a significantly older friend the other other night, I was, as usual, interrogating her about all sorts of stuff. Do you remember a time when divorce was still taboo? When did gambling start to catch on? Was it scandalous when you started wearing pants?

Yes yes, she replied, I've seen a lot. But not all social change takes 100 years to unfold. Can't you think of a few major cultural shifts that have happened in your own lifetime?

It was a question that really got me thinking. I guess cultural and social attitudes have changed a bit in the 27 years I’ve been alive, though I feel anyone under 30 is instinctively disposed to pretend they haven’t. True social change is something only old people witness, after all.

Since then, I've been digging far into my earliest memories to try and dredge up revealing case studies of the past. If I ever live to be an old man, after all, it will be the memories of my youth that will likely prove the most interesting to others, since, as I mentioned in an earlier post, by the time we "millennials" die, I imagine our births in the 1980s or early 1990s will seem as quaint and distant as those of the late-era Victorians, when they died in the 1970s and 80s.

As the cartoon suggests, one of the main cultural evolutions I can honestly say I’ve witnessed thus far has been a steady lessening of what constitutes a "crude" or "offensive" act. I vividly recall that one of the first articles I ever read in the "adult newspaper" was an angry editorial documenting why Tiny Toon Adventures was among the “worst shows on television,” on account of all the gross-out humor and sass-mouth it contained. And of course anyone who grew up in the 1990s will remember the long national psychosis that followed the release of the original Mortal Combat in 1993, a game so monstrously gory that blood actually came out of characters when they hit each other.

To the extent I’m as square and squeamish as I am today when it comes to things like profanity and violence, I think a lot of it dates back to those heady days, when there were still significant social taboos against polluting the airwaves or video screens with content deemed morally subversive. Now, of course, when you look back at the first few seasons of The Simpsons the back talk seems positively heartwarming by modern standards. The once "wickedly subversive" Calvin and Hobbes is now venerated for its maudlin bourgeoisie sensibilities. Even last year’s re-release of good ol’ Beavis and Butt-head generated considerable skepticism that the duo were “edgy” enough for today’s teens.

Being gay, I suppose the other main social trend I'm obligated to acknowledge is the widespread revolution in gay rights that happened during my early years. In practice, however, I’ve always felt that the broader phenomenon of homosexual acceptance by mainstream society unfolded in such perfect sync with my own, internal acceptance that the larger societal evolution was barely noticeable until the conclusion.

I can certainly remember having no clear idea of what homosexuality even was until high school, and even then, it was mostly something discussed in a sort of confused, quiet way by even the most progressive teacher. Kids teased each other about things being "gay," obviously, but it certainly wasn't something I remember any of us being lectured to stop saying — as I understand today's kids constantly are. Despite my own bias, I agreed with the majority on the student council that a “gay straight alliance” club seemed needlessly provocative and pointless in a small school such as ours, where obviously no gays existed. Now, of course, I just take it for granted that there should be openly gay people everywhere, but I do often wonder what it would be like to be a modern child growing up with the same knowledge.

But beyond gays and vulgarity, I've really had a hard time conjuring up conscious, surviving memories of social values that have visibly deviated over the last couple of decades. Asking other friends my age about the topic, I've found it's a question that really has a tendency to stump. So I thought I'd open it up to you guys, my readers.

If we put aside the obvious spectacle of technological advancement (which, really is something every generation experiences in a broadly similar way) what would top your list of ways in which the 2010s are noticeably different than the 1980s or 1990s of your youth? I realize we all don't have photographic memories and that evolving politico-cultural trends were hardly interesting to young kids in the first place, but in some ways that makes the whole question all the more poignant.

What left enough of an impact in your youth to give you the confidence to say "this is different now" in young adulthood?

[Canadian_Mind]

22 years old.

The Simpsons was a big one. even with the small age difference between my siblings and I, when I was 10 I was forbidden from watching it, but by the time each of them hit 10, it was considered acceptable.

Data saying "Shit" in Star Trek Generations was considered controversial.

I recall a similar event happening with the computer game "Doom." When it was released in 1993, it was incredibly gorey, and my mother refused to allow me to play it. However by the time Rob hit my age of 4 in 1997, it was far more acceptable to let kids play gorey video games, which were becoming widely available for children to purchase or rent on their own for various gaming systems in the late 1990s.

Velvet, which seemed to be a necessary staple in every woman's wardrobe in the 1990s, has all but vanished. A lot of people consider it tacky and ugly now.

I think the acceptability of being gay has a way to go though, especially in the sticks. While I have no issue with it, if not being comfortable with it, I know a lot of people who were. To the point where one openly gay guy at my highschool was damn near beat to death over it, and ended up getting a sex change so he (well, she now ) could indulge without fear of reprisal.

Funny thing is, this is also a personal change for me. Example being my current roommate is gay. While I never hated gays, I was never comfortable with the idea of people until recently. I'd say I was outright fearful. However, I comfortable enough that I can now live with one and deal with getting checked out every once in awhile. Frankly I have more important things to worry about. None of the bad things I worried about have happened, and frankly if it weren't for him telling me that he was gay, I probably would never have been able to guess.

Parents have become really overprotective of their kids. In some cases for legitimate reasons, in other ways for not so legit reasons.

At least where I spent my early childhood, there was still midways. Might be a technological change in a way, but I miss being able to go to a place and see face to face who you were playing against.

A lot less war now than there was in the 90s.

[raydan]

I'm 58 and can honestly say that I knew no gay kids in high-school... hell, I don't even remember knowing any in college and university. Now I know, I probably met a few but it was "hidden" in those days. I have a cousin who's a few years older than me and he's gay, but I was probably in my late 20s when it was known that he was.

I think the biggest change between when I was young and today is the family. In those times, women with kids DID NOT WORK, at least not until the kids got older. My mom started working when I was about 14. Daycare was your grandparents... or the next door neighbor for an hour or so after school.

[andyt]

raydan wrote:

I'm 58

And it shows - his point is about change that youngsters have seen in their own lifetimes, not some old fart going off about how it was when he was young.

From my old fart view, nothing compares to the later '60's for what felt like a groundswell of change in a brief time. But since 1980 we've seen the collapse of communism and the rise of neoconservatism. Pretty big changes. Films don't seem to have the same meaning to young people as when we were young. Music is everywhere but has no fidelity. People listen to stereo with one earbud in - it's just about hearing the beat. This is technology - but the pervasiveness of social media has changed how people relate, and possibly is even re-wiring people's brains - that might yet come to be seen as having a big impact. Loss of faith in the western democratic capitalist model - that seems pretty new. One reason we protested against it so much was that it seemed pretty solid and we wanted to effect some changes - but not destroy it all together. Islamism seems new to us, I would say. The "Asianising" of immigration and the changes that has brought about.

[raydan]

Mine was a protest post... the nerve limiting this thread to the young ones.

[andyt]

Face it, it's going to happen more and more. You'll wind up talking mostly to yourself or other old farts. Maybe we'll have to start a COFKA section. Or maybe COFWKAITCLTFTH.

[raydan]

As long as I can still beat up most of the young people (or at least scare them enough so they think I can beat them up), I'll continue saying what I think of them.

[Psudo]

andyt wrote:

Loss of faith in the western democratic capitalist model - that seems pretty new. One reason we protested against it so much was that it seemed pretty solid and we wanted to effect some changes - but not destroy it all together.

Hahaha! Irony.

[andyt]

Psudo wrote:

andyt wrote:

Loss of faith in the western democratic capitalist model - that seems pretty new. One reason we protested against it so much was that it seemed pretty solid and we wanted to effect some changes - but not destroy it all together.

Hahaha! Irony.

I guess - maybe the protesters of yesteryear mostly grew up to be Wall St greed hogs. And of course some protesters of yesteryear were intent on bringing down the whole deal. They didn't even come close tho - unless, wait, maybe that's the whole idea behind the financial leeches. There was a lot of talk of changing the system from within at the the time, I just didn't think this is what they meant.

[dodobird]

I was watching mercury rising the other day and the way that bruce willis's character was so unaware of autism seemed odd to me

[Psudo]

dodobird wrote:

I was watching mercury rising the other day

I like that movie. Autistic savantism fascinates me.

[Kjorteo]

The internet. It's so omnipresent that it's sometimes easy to forget that it's something I used to not have as a kid!

I shouldn't have to explain why this level of mass communication is kind of a big deal, but I will point out the whole narrative about social networking-organized protests (everything from the Arab Spring to Occupy Wall Street last year alone.) And if you want to get away from the historically profound perspective and just focus on our day-to-day social lives, the internet has led to an absolute explosion of niche interests and subcultures gaining prominence, awareness, and a community. For example, the year 2011 had no less than eight furry conventions if you only count the ones in the United States with attendance over a thousand. I somehow doubt 80s technology could have pulled that one off.

(80s culture maybe, but then again, maybe not, considering that culture itself is so intertwined with the technological advances when one is referring to the "communities I never knew existed before an errant Google search" scene. Zack Parsons' Your Next-Door Neighbor is a Dragon has quite a few interesting insights on this whole phenomenon, if you can get past the general crassness and sarcasm one would expect from a Something Awful writer.)

[Kjorteo]

Also, one minor cultural shift that has not escaped my attention is (largely thanks to the internet allowing everyone to just stay in their own niche) there's really not much of a mainstream music scene anymore.

I grew up in the late 80s/early 90s and I remember when Seattle grunge bands basically took over the world. Weird Al did his Nirvana parody and it was one of his biggest smash hits to date, because everyone knew Nirvana. It was topical and everyone got it.

Nowadays ... is Weird Al even still around? I think he still puts out albums, but the last one I looked at featured absolutely zero references to anything with which I'm even remotely familiar. Poor guy has no choice but to stick with the top 40 scene, but fewer and fewer people pay attention to said top 40 scene as we're now free to go hit up YouTube for whatever specific music subgenre we actually like from anywhere in the world, and no one actually has to stick with whatever radio stations decide is supposed to be cool anymore. (For example, I like European-style power metal, whose scene is mostly limited to either Germany or one of the Nordic countries depending on which band we're talking about, though there are occasional oddball standouts I like such as Brazil's Angra.)

[Murray_Smith]

Naming conventions are way different now. My name (not my handle) was very uncommon when I was growing up. Now, I work at a place where I see kids a lot, and every now and then I'll hear a customer call my name when she's calling her own kid.

dodobird wrote:

I was watching mercury rising the other day and the way that bruce willis's character was so unaware of autism seemed odd to me

I was diagnosed with Asperger's two years before that movie came out.

No one knew about Asperger's back in those days. Any news report about autism back then was usually accompanied by footage of autistic kids throwing violent temper tantrums for no discernible reason*. I often found myself thinking, "Y'know, we're not all headbangers." Now, autism is treated as more like something of a superpower.

As for what Kjorteo said, I think the top 40 scene is a consensual illusion now.

*To put it very broadly, the reason is because from their perspective, someone else is doing something wrong and it's WRONG and it's-- AUUUGHHH I'M SURROUNDED BY MORONS.

[Psudo]

Technically, it's savantism that seems like a superpower. Mercury Rising didn't make that distinction very clear, nor did it make the process of code-breaking and it's relationship to the little boy very clear. But encryption is generally based on breaking large numbers into their component factors, and there have been a few savants who could factor large numbers seemingly instantly -- exactly the sort of thing that might hold the key to breaking modern encryption. Like the little black box from the movie Sneakers, except it's in someone's head. It's a pretty great premise for a movie, but the actual movie didn't do much with it. It's more about the nature of trust than about autistic savantism.