I find it characteristic of this generation that it is so media-tastic. An
older generation found the sinking of the Titanic to be a defining event,
this generation finds a media release of that historic event to be a
defining event in and of itself. Every defining event they list (except for
maybe the nintendo release) was spectacularly covered in the media -- the
media has chosen the defining events for this generation. Luke Skywalker
rates higher than any real person. They consider media personalities
(Howard Stern, Jerry springer) and fictional characters (Dilbert) to be
greater heroes than JFK, Malcolm X, or the Dalai Lama. They consider a
media personality (Kathy Lee Gifford) to be more villainous (or a more
important villain, at least) than david koresh. They consider Barney to be
their #2 villain!! There is nothing that they really like that has not been
highly marketed: few low-budget, indy or cult movies make the list, no
clothing that is not a marketed name brand. I'm amazed water made it onto
the drinks list. They have a whole section on most important media for the
generation. They are subject to self-defining polls reported in their own
new media, the internet.
Theirs is the generation in which every newspaper every day has an article
somewhere on the media's reporting of some event. Theirs is the generation
in which ads say things like "Ads are stupid. Buy our beer." Theirs is the
hype generation.
It's so media-meta, or meta-media. So meta, anyway.
I love the fact that BG is a hero and a villain.
Lisa
"So we sat, and we watched, all the specially-selected news. And we learned
so much more 'bout the good guys..."
-- The Gulf War song, Moxy Fruvous.
-----Original Message-----
From: I Find Karma [mailto:adam@cs.caltech.edu]
Sent: Sunday, August 09, 1998 6:44 AM
To: fork@xent.ics.uci.edu
Cc: Michelle.Gardner@kp.org; megan.coughlin-next@attws.com;
richardgoodman@juno.com; sbondi@mindspring.com
Subject: Survey of "Our Generation"
Not sure whose generation this is supposed to be. I guess mine.
Snarfed from
http://www.dailyentertainment.com/web/den_subpage_10.html
this is interesting enough to be worth a glance but not interesting
enough to be worth more than a glance.
> Our Generation Survey Results
>
> The Our Generation Study was conducted by the den: daily entertainment
> network from April 28 - May 19, 1998. 16,499 US residents completed the
> entire survey. All responses were collected and tabulated by World
> Research Inc, San Jose, California at their survey location.
> The following results represent the responses of the 15-24 year old core
> study group. For more information about the study, please email Mary
> Firme.
>
> The defining moments of our generation:
>
> 1. Challenger shuttle explosion
> 2. Fall of the Berlin Wall
> 3. Rise of the Internet
> 4. The Gulf War
> 5. Oklahoma City Bombing
> 6. Introductions of the Nintendo Entertainment System
> 7. Death of Princess Diana
> 8. LA Riots
> 9. OJ's slow speed Bronco Chase
> 10. Release of Star Wars
> 11. Launch of MTV
> 12. Kurt Cobain found dead
> 13. Waco Siege (tie)
> 13. Tiananmen Square Massacre (tie)
> 15. Release of the movie Titanic
>
> The heroes of our generation:
>
> 1. Luke Skywalker
> 2. Jesus Christ
> 3. Michael Jordan
> 4. Martin Luther King
> 5. Our parents
> 6. Mother Theresa
> 7. Princess Diana
> 8. Steven Spielberg
> 9. The man in front of the tank
> 10. Bill Gates
> 11. Howard Stern
> 12. Dilbert (tie)
> 12. Jerry Springer (tie)
> 14. John F Kennedy (tie)
> 15. Malcolm X (tie)
> 15. Muhammed Ali (tie)
> 17. There are no heroes (tie)
> 18. The Pope (tie)
> 19. Bill Clinton (tie)
> 20. Dalai Lama (tie)
>
> The villains of our generation:
>
> 1. Saddam Hussein
> 2. Barney
> 3. OJ Simpson
> 4. The IRS
> 5. Satan
> 6. Bill Clinton
> 7. Bill Gates
> 8. Timothy McVeigh
> 9. Unabomber
> 10. Darth Vader
> 11. Jeffrey Dahmer
> 12. Charles Manson
> 13. Michael Jackson
> 14. The Man (tie)
> 14. Lorena Bobbitt (tie)
> 14. Kathy Lee Gifford (tie)
> 17. Richard Simmons
> 18. David Koresh
> 19. The Chinese Government
> 20. Our parents
>
> Most important TV shows for our generation:
>
> 1. Simpsons
> 2. Seinfeld
> 3. X-Files
> 4. South Park
> 5. Late Show with David Letterman (CBS)
> 6. Married With Children
> 7. Saturday Night Live
> 8. Jerry Springer
> 9. Star Trek: Next Generation
> 10. ER
> 11. Mystery Science Theater 3000
> 12. Baywatch
> 13. Animaniacs
> 14. Late Night with David Letterman (NBC)
> 15. Late Night with Conan O Brien
> 16. A*Team
> 17. Monty Python's Flying Circus
> 18. Cheers
> 19. MacGuyver
> 20. Friends
>
> Most important movies for our generation:
>
> 1. Star Wars
> 2. Braveheart
> 3. Empire Strikes Back
> 4. Pulp Fiction
> 5. Return of the Jedi
> 6. Titanic
> 7. T2: Judgement Day
> 8. Schindler's List (tie)
> 8. Ferris Bueller's Day Off (tie)
> 10. Scream
> 11. Raiders of the Lost Ark
> 12. Aliens
> 13. Die Hard
> 14. The Breakfast Club
> 15. The Princess Bride (tie)
> 15. Akira (tie)
> 17. Clerks
> 18. Batman
> 19. Boyz in the Hood
> 20. 2001: A Space Odyssey (tie)
> 20. Blade Runner (tie)
>
> Most important albums for our generation:
>
> 1. Nirvana: Nevermind
> 2. Metallica: Master of Puppets
> 3. Nine Inch Nails: The Downward Spiral
> 4. Pearl Jam: 10
> 5. U2: The Joshua Tree
> 6. Pink Floyd: The Wall
> 7. Guns N Roses: Appetite for Destruction
> 8. Smashing Pumpkins: Siamese Dream
> 9. Alanis Morrissette: Jagged Little Pill
> 10. Notorious B.I.G.: Life After Death
> 11. Puff Daddy and the Family: No Way Out
> 12. Jimi Hendrix: Are You Experienced?
> 13. Led Zeppelin: IV
> 14. No Doubt: Tragic Kingdom
> 15. Green Day: Dookie
> 16. Wu Tang Clan: Enter the Wu Tang
> 17. Dave Matthews Band: Under the Table and Dreaming (tie)
> 17. Aerosmith: Aerosmith (tie)
> 19. Rage Against the Machine: Rage Against the Machine
> 20. Pink Floyd: Dark Side of the Moon
>
> Most important computer and video games for our generation:
>
> 1. Zelda series
> 2. Final Fantasy Series
> 3. Resident Evil/Resident Evil 2
> 4. Quake/Quake 2
> 5. Tomb Raider/Tomb Raider 2
> 6. Super Mario 64
> 7. Doom Series
> 8. GoldenEye
> 9. Tetris (tie)
> 9. Street Fighter Series (tie)
> 11. Mortal Kombat
> 12. Duke Nukem
> 13. Pac-Man series (tie)
> 13. Donkey Kong (tie)
> 15. Sim City Series
> 16. Tekken 2 (tie)
> 16. Warcraft (tie)
> 18. Metroid
> 19. Command & Conquer: Red Alert
> 20. Asteroids
>
> Our clothing:
>
> 1. Nike
> 2. Levi's
> 3. Tommy Hilfiger
> 4. Adidas
> 5. Calvin Klein
> 6. The Gap
> 7. Doc Marten
> 8. Polo/Ralph Lauren
> 9. Old Navy
> 10. Eddie Bauer
>
> Our drinks:
>
> 1. Coca-Cola
> 2. Mountain Dew
> 3. Pepsi
> 4. Water
> 5. Dr Pepper
>
> Our cars:
>
> 1. Ford Mustang
> 2. VW New Beetle
> 3. Saturn
> 4. Jeep Cherokee
> 5. Jeep Wrangler
> 6. Honda Accord
> 7. BMW Z3 (tie)
> 7. Honda Civic
> 9. Dodge Neon
> 10. Acura Integra
>
> Our media:
>
> most important media for our generation:
> internet 56%
> tv 38%
>
> Online spending:
>
> average amount spent online for all products and services in the last 12
> months:
> men 15-24 $576
> men 17-34 $691
> women 15-24 $490
> women 17-34 $539
>
> average amount expected to spend online for all products and services in
> the next 12 months:
> men 15-24 $644
> men 17-34 $772
> women 15-24 $505
> women 17-34 $550
----
adam@cs.caltech.edu
None of the following actually happened, yet all of it is true.
-- Joe Barrera quoting a book he doesn't remember