Boomers vs Millennials

I was watching the musical "Hair" recently, and I had a thought (sorry for those I know on Facebook who have already seen this, ha ha!)

It would be a GREAT musical to remake/modernize on film for today's audience.

For those who dont know it, it's a rock musical that first opened on stage in 1967, and in film in 1979. It puts a spotlight on hippie culture against the backdrop of the Vietnam War. It follows a young man from the country arriving in New York, having been conscripted into the army. He's waylaid by a group of hippies/draft-dodgers and musical goodness ensues. It deals with a lot of areas that are still of great concern/interest of young people today: sexuality, race, war, conformity/individuality, class disparity/poverty, drugs. And not in subtext - it tackles these topic head-on and unapologetically.

And it made me think... It would seem that Baby Boomers and Millennials may not be so different after all. The Boomers were us (I'm a Millennial so I'm speaking as one) when they were our age. Did they lose faith over time/age and Millennials took up the torch? Are we the new hippies - rejecting the establishment, blurring lines of sexuality, seeking enlightenment, fighting against our involvement in foreign conflict?

It's popular these days for Boomers to bash Millennials and vise-versa, but maybe we're more alike than we'd like to think, ha ha!

What do you think?

Boomers vs Millennials is another Us vs Them. There are countless things we can blame on others, but if one wants to make a success of the situation one finds oneself in stop wallowing on problems one cannot control and start working on solutions for the things one can.

Akkarin wrote: Boomers vs Millennials is another Us vs Them. There are countless things we can blame on others, but if one wants to make a success of the situation one finds oneself in stop wallowing on problems one cannot control and start working on solutions for the things one can.

Who's blaming? I'm suggesting that we're the same.

History repeats itself.

I find Boomers will always be nostaligc of thier prime and the adventures they went on. Those blasted kids on their gameboys and walkmans will never understand how amazing they were in their prime.

The Millennials look at the Boomers and just see old folks that prefer vinyl over digital. Uncool essentially. They see Boomers and they think grandparents, viewing them for what they are and not what they were.

In the end, I see Boomers and Millennials as almost the same, only thing keeping us from being the same is age (duh), but also a tech savvy-ness that the other doesn't have (Millennials know bunches about new tech, but I find it hard to find any that know how to change a tire).

In the end, I see Boomers and Millennials as almost the same, only thing keeping us from being the same is age (duh), but also a tech savvy-ness that the other doesn't have (Millennials know bunches about new tech, but I find it hard to find any that know how to change a tire).

Really?

*ahem*

REALLY?

It's an inane argument, for two reasons.

1. It's wrong (at least as far as I can tell)
Maybe Australian roads are just bad, or maybe people where you come from have learning difficulties (lefty-loosey righty-tighty), but I can think of maybe two people I've met who can't change a tyre, and mostly simply from a lack of interest than a lack of skill. (One of them is my mother, I don't actually know her birthday, but I doubt she's a millennial)

2. I don't know many Millennials OR boomers who can program robots or run a spreadsheet with my boss skills, so I guess both generations must be completely useless by an arbitrary measure of a given skill set.



Some people see millennials as...I don't know, wishy washy people with tumblr accounts who demand validation.
I see millennials as cut throat sharks who'll do anything for a buck, who's main purpose in life should be to hosed out of my radiator.

I'm sure in some countries (ones that probably don't have a word for "millennials" ) the generation is just another few million people likely to die of gastro or starvation.


But, for the OP - I think musicals are something we can all enjoy, but Chicago is more my style

As another thought (I had to do some quick internetting for this, so figures are just whatever I saw)

Over 20 years, around 2.7 million americans went to war in Vietnam

Over the last 13 years, 2.5 million americans have been to war in either Iraq or Afghanistan.


For those 5 million odd americans (and their family, children etc) there is probably a reasonably strong bond of their experiences despite a generational gap.
(Of course, humans being humans, there's every chance the difference in their experiences is made more of a deal than the similarities)


Of course, I have no idea how that affects the other 320 million Americans.


(I am saying American instead of specifying "USA" entirely to upset the Canadian who started the topic :silly: )

Apparently I'm a millennial and so is my (older) husband, but given that teenagers are also called this I say rubbish to that. I'm with akkarin, I wish people would stop assigning blame (and it is always blame) based on arbitrary generation lines. It's a convenient way to say 'oh but it wasn't us' (as a teenager I suffered from this thinking).... Different generations have their own cultures, with similar markers, but they run into each other. I imagine 16 year olds from every generation were quite similar...

Leah Starspectre wrote:

Akkarin wrote: Boomers vs Millennials is another Us vs Them. There are countless things we can blame on others, but if one wants to make a success of the situation one finds oneself in stop wallowing on problems one cannot control and start working on solutions for the things one can.

Who's blaming? I'm suggesting that we're the same.

I'm not suggesting you're blaming, but when I see this debate it is often a form of "How boomers had it so much better than millennials". Even if its true, why obsess on it?

This such a false dichotomy it's barely worth mentioning. These artificially constructed lines have absolutely no reflection in reality. Every generation is concerned with any and all the above mentioned issues. Any distinction in generational lines having any different priorities is ridiculous and i would think any one of us should find it insulting that such distinctions are even suggested. I for one can guarantee that I don't confirm to any one set of parameters as defined by some implied generational mindset.

Kyrin Wyldstar wrote: Any distinction in generational lines having any different priorities is ridiculous and i would think any one of us should find it insulting that such distinctions are even suggested.

Feel insulted? How very millennial of you. :whistle:

I'm kidding, of course.

I'm with Akkarin on this one. Though, put together Leah and musical and I'm down for that.

Magnus Staar wrote:
I'm with Akkarin on this one. Though, put together Leah and musical and I'm down for that.

I would 100% take a role in a modern Hair. Can the Temple fund this with our non-existent riches? LOL!