Death of the MTV Generation

Published on November 23, 2003 By digitalnoiz In Philosophy

I'm a genX'er. I could never really tell if I was too old or too young to be one, but I consider my self a genX'er because that's what they (Media, parents, elders..) referred to when describing issues about the people I was interested in that were close to my age when I was growing up. One of the traits that was observed to be “genX” was a short attention span. The trait was attributed to the cable network MTV that sucked you in with 5 minute montages of images set to pop music but quickly sent you for the remote, twitching for the next stimulus. Well we all know this kind of MTV is all but dead or has re-branded itself as MTV2 (but this too is falling victim to “programing”) but the flicking seemed to remain. But is this instant gratification craving waining?

I think it is.

I look toward the same sources of stimulus that were blamed as the cause in the first place, television, film and Music. Well music isn't doing too well right now because it's become very clique. I don't think this is a bad thing in general because it means that the music appeals to a specific group really well instead of appealing to everyone half assed, but the industry is always looking for the next house hold name that every one has to have, and there's just no one that good right now so they are suffering. The great thing about not having this though is that now bands have a much more loyal fan base that will pay attention more to the progress of the band and support their efforts. Thus the first nail in the coffin of the MTV generation.

So then what about film? There's been a word thrown around so much these days that it's starting to wear on me: Trilogy. Films have gone from an hour and a half weaving of 4-6 poignant or action scenes with some dialog in between, to these gigantic epics that when taken as a whole can last for an entire day or more. Even taken on their own, the chapters of the trilogy can last twice as long as the formula that was adhered to for so long. But these films are considered to be the most appealing to this same generation that has been deemed too inattentive to accept this type of film making. This to me provides the second nail for the coffin.

Lastly there is television. One of the staple shows of the GenX is Friends. Not so much because it adhered to every other sitcom that had the stock characters who get themselves in a new funny situation every week, rather it appealed because of the story arc. Will Ross and Rachael or won't Ross and Rachael was the life blood of the Thursday night for a time with me and my friends. Shortly after this arc became the water cooler discussion it did, you start to notice other shows appearing for the GenX that no longer are new jokes written for the same people every week, but are ever evolving stories of the characters and their growth. They tried to make it appealing so you could join in any where in the story, but in reality you tuned in every week to see the new direction of the characters and the evolution of the characters that could not be observed in a single viewing. This led to a new phenomenon that is is the DVD Box set. Now you can sit and watch the entire evolution of your favorite characters in a weekend commercial free. You could just watch one episode, but like a certain potato chip, you find that you can't watch just one and the next thing you know you've spent an entire day doing noting but watching the DVD set. This new found ability to engage in a single story arc tolls the death bell for the MTV generation.

So if you'll excuse me, I'm going to finish The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers, special edition, watch a disc of Buffy and go out to see The Matrix again.

Comments

Ben Belden

on Nov 24, 2003

Obviously you haven't been to a mall lately. If you think the MTV generation is just about having a short attention span, you are sadly mistaken. In my eyes eyes at least, MTV has always been about commercialism and trying to sell the next big thing. And if you look at it from that angle, MTV isn't dying. It's still on the rise with no end in sight. You've got 12-year-olds dressing like 40-year-old prostitutes because that's what they see on TV. You've got people like Hilary Duff who can open a movie and earn millions of dollars before they can even drive a car. And you've got hundreds of thousands of teenyboppers who avidly watch TRL (if it's still on; I've never watched MTV) and then go out and buy whatever CDs they tell them to. I mean, like I just said, I don't even watch MTV and I can rattle off a list of things that it has spawned recently that have greatly impacted the current culture: The Osbournes, Jackass, Punk'd (basically any show featuring some hack with a camera), TRL, etc. The point is, our culture is degenerating to the point where a large portion of our economy is being controlled by a group of individuals who can't even vote. As for the specfic examples you cite, music has always been clique based. Look at Elvis and the Beatles. Parents didn't listen to them, it was their kids. Movie trilogies? I seem to remember Star Wars and Indiana Jones being trilogies 20 years ago. The fact that we are seeing much more of this type of thing is just the result of movie studios wanting more money and so they take anything that makes them the least bit of money and crank out sequel after sequel. If you look at the movies that made the most money during 2003, the summer of sequels, they were Pirates of the Caribbean and Finding Nemo, two originals. And Friends. Bullshit, for lack of a better word. Friends is nothing but a soap opera with higher production values. And soap operas have been providing long-running stories for generations now. The only reason DVD box sets of TV shows are new is because DVD is new. Syndication has existed since the beginning of televison. And as to the last line of your article, I can't tell if that is a joke or not. I can point out that LOTR was published over 40 years ago, Buffy is a cult show, and The Matrix became so cliched it disappointed everyone.

kthxbye

on Nov 24, 2003

"Buffy is a cult show,"

A cult show based off of a much more entertaining, funny, and original movie, I might add.

digitalnoiz

on Nov 24, 2003

For Ben,

First thanks for your response, it’s always great to hear other opinions.

I never said the MTV generation never evolved because it has. I’ve seen what you refer to classified as the TRL Generation who eat up toilet humor and artist with the most skin showing under the “bling”. Yes music has always been clique but the cliques of Elvis and the Beatles were the kids vs. the parents, not the niche appeal of today’s music scene. Yes trilogies have been done before, but the chapters were episodic. If any one of the movies in Indiana Jones series were the only Indiana Jones movie made, it could stand on its own, the same for the original Starwars. But the trilogies now (especially the new starwars) have to have each other to make sense. As for Friends vs. soap operas I agree, but Friends appealed to the GenX while Soap operas were scheduled while the GenX was at school, but look at the evolution of story arc TV, Alias, 24, Nip/Tuck, The Shield. These are shows that evolve with every episode instead of being the same people in a different situation every week that appeal to what was/is the GenX that were considered incapable of accepting this type of entertainment.

Whether it’s a good evolutionary move or the continued degradation of society is up for grabs because we have to give this generation time to grow up and see what they can do which is my point. Negative traits that are attributed to a particular generation can be over come or become a complete opposite trait of the adult they grow into.

As for the last statement, it was for humor, the books may have been around but the movies are new and REALLY long, the cults of Buffy fans and GenX tended to be the same (I’m not sure about the movie being better kthxbye, but I do sure hope Jos will be doing more films that are as good as the original film), and I didn’t care for the last two matrix films either.

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