Thursday, March 03, 2005
The Hegemony of the Baby Boomers - (1)
This is just as I see it. I can write from no other perspective than my own.
The Baby Boomers created a new paradigm within which we still live. The influence of this most self-obsessed of generations is all prevailing. Their youth culture, created as disposable, has outstayed its welcome. Listen, old man, just because you liked it when you were young doesn’t make it any good. The relatively simple concerns of teenagers may not have universal significance, no matter how many times you repackage those “classic” albums.
Our world is recognisably that of our parents. Some things have changed, of course, greater female participation in the “public” spheres, greater recognition of ethnic minorities, gay rights… but culturally we are all children of the ‘60s. Perhaps the churning of the twentieth century has quietened and we are returning to a society of strong traditions with a focus on continuity rather than change. Perhaps there will be a shift somewhere along the line, when I’m too old to be anything other than a confused observer. But we are still little kids trying to impress our older brothers and sisters. We still see things through their eyes. The symbols of cool from four decades ago – Dylan (who is rubbish, by the way, I’ll prove it), Kerouac, Burroughs, the Rolling Stones, The Doors, for fuck’s sake – are still accepted as such. Extraordinary. Like our parents digging on Glen Miller. These were either prized for their novelty, or the ‘60s and ‘70s were a pinnacle, a golden age where forms were perfected. More on this in Part (2).
Desperate to prove that our youth is as valid as that of the post-war (or punk) generation, we seek out faded facsimiles of '60s’ phenomena. But we don’t need “our Beatles”. If kids in the 1956 were looking for “their Sinatra” they didn’t get him. They got Elvis and they took it from there. But we need easy comparisons. We need our Vietnam. We need to protest outside the American embassy and place flowers in gun barrels. Don’t we have the right to our fun too? Hoses, riot police, soundtrack by Martha and the Vandellas and Jimi Hendrix… We want to be part of that footage. How about Iraq? Superficially they seem similar. It’ll do.
I’m marching, Momma, I'm marching! Can you see me?!
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This is just as I see it. I can write from no other perspective than my own.
The Baby Boomers created a new paradigm within which we still live. The influence of this most self-obsessed of generations is all prevailing. Their youth culture, created as disposable, has outstayed its welcome. Listen, old man, just because you liked it when you were young doesn’t make it any good. The relatively simple concerns of teenagers may not have universal significance, no matter how many times you repackage those “classic” albums.
Our world is recognisably that of our parents. Some things have changed, of course, greater female participation in the “public” spheres, greater recognition of ethnic minorities, gay rights… but culturally we are all children of the ‘60s. Perhaps the churning of the twentieth century has quietened and we are returning to a society of strong traditions with a focus on continuity rather than change. Perhaps there will be a shift somewhere along the line, when I’m too old to be anything other than a confused observer. But we are still little kids trying to impress our older brothers and sisters. We still see things through their eyes. The symbols of cool from four decades ago – Dylan (who is rubbish, by the way, I’ll prove it), Kerouac, Burroughs, the Rolling Stones, The Doors, for fuck’s sake – are still accepted as such. Extraordinary. Like our parents digging on Glen Miller. These were either prized for their novelty, or the ‘60s and ‘70s were a pinnacle, a golden age where forms were perfected. More on this in Part (2).
Desperate to prove that our youth is as valid as that of the post-war (or punk) generation, we seek out faded facsimiles of '60s’ phenomena. But we don’t need “our Beatles”. If kids in the 1956 were looking for “their Sinatra” they didn’t get him. They got Elvis and they took it from there. But we need easy comparisons. We need our Vietnam. We need to protest outside the American embassy and place flowers in gun barrels. Don’t we have the right to our fun too? Hoses, riot police, soundtrack by Martha and the Vandellas and Jimi Hendrix… We want to be part of that footage. How about Iraq? Superficially they seem similar. It’ll do.
I’m marching, Momma, I'm marching! Can you see me?!
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