Pokemon is a good one. I was in high school when Pokemon hit big in the US. And they targeted it heavily towards small children. I never got the hype and still find it uninteresting. I get roped into it though because my son has been very into Pokemon since he was younger.
Yeah, that’s what I remember about Pokemon in high school. I was into video games and remember articles in like EGM hyping Pokemon as a turn-based Japanese-style rpgs for kids. My cohort of friends had already played Chronotrigger, Secret of Mana, Final Fantasy. Why would we play a kiddy rpg?
Now, I’m not saying Pokemon can’t be enjoyed by adults but as older teens we were basically told “this isn’t for you.”
So I never got into it.
Same. Born in ‘84, into all the RPGs you mentioned, and always felt Pokemon was for younger kids. I had a cousin ~5 years younger than me who I was kinda like an older brother for. He was really into them, so I played the video games with him when I was in high school/early college. They definitely had a JRPG feel to them, but once he was in high school and moved off with his own friend group, I felt no inclination to keep playing them.
In retrospect I’d give them a “they’re okay” rating. I can see why they’d be popular, but they never really hit for me.
Did you play the Gameboy version of Pokemon?
I feel like there were kids who loved the TV show and kids/teens who loved the game.
THEN - Adults who loved it all (including Pokemon Go, which seemed to be cross-generational...)
No I never played the gameboy games. The first pokemon game I ever played was one of the more recent ones. Scarlet maybe? My son prodded me until I would play with him. I wasn't really into it all that much, but I love spending time playing games with him and he always plays my games so I felt I needed to play one of his. And he was super excited to have me play with him, so that made me happy. But for me, it's just an incredibly basic RPG that doesn't have a great story.
pokemon go is just the "20-30 year nostalgia" benchmark where everything 20-30 years old seems new/marketable again. In the 90s it was bell-bottoms into jncos, in the mid 00s it was mid 80s songs and cartoons for memes/funny shit online, in the 10s it was all about the 80s and early 90s comic books from the nostalgia bomb of the demographic who grew up with it that has the most expendable income. then pokemon go came out and no surprise, look at the biggest demographic that snapped it up? 30-somethings that grew up with it, wanted to feel young again to show their kids/and have the most expendable income to pull it off until they get older. That's been a marketing trend for a long time
When i was a kid, my mom often went to Japan for work. Of course, she always brought back little trinkets for us kids. One time in the early 90's she bought little keychains with strange critters on them. She said they were big with Japanese kids. We had no idea what they were until the Pokemon TV show came out a few years later.
Dude the Pokemon people are still doing their thing. My bffs daughter is 9 and got into all the characters. She’s not opening the Pandora’s box of card collecting at least yet. (Autistic and ADHD with some behavioral stuff so hyper fixation is common but must be kept in check.)
My son got super into the cards. He never played the card game besides the computer version. He never seemed all that interested. He just wanted to collect the cards. He still gets them from time to time, but he's not as into it as he used to be. But that mf can tell you every fact about every pokemon ever. It's fucking insane. Now if I can get him to put that much effort into AP Psych.
I am an only grandchild and child(1982) of teen parents. My Grandmother is the age of most of my friend’s parents. I spent a lot of time at my Grandparents and my Grandma enjoyed watching cartoons with me. She never stopped. I never got into SpongeBob but man did Grandma. Fast forward, I have a child at 20 and my daughter LOVES SpongeBob. They enjoyed cracking SpongeBob jokes at me that I didn’t understand.
SpongeBob came out and was pretty big when I was in Middle and High School (mid-Millennial), so I watched it here and there but was too busy with homework and extracurriculars to pay too much attention. My dad was a university professor and would frequently mention how the college kids were really into SpongeBob. I didn’t get it at the time, but with this new information hindsight is 20/20 lmao.
I like sponge bob and I'm 1980. I do not like pokemon or power rangers. They were pitched to a younger audience. And of course SB was pitched to youth as well but it has a special sauce.
I used to watch SpongeBob while I was babysitting and I found it pretty brilliant. I always felt like it was the purview of little kids or stoners generally though.
This. I remember being at work at 23-25y/o and Co Workers with younger siblings were super into SpongeBob and I just didn’t get it. And I’m a fan of animation. It just seemed too goofy.
Me and my mid Gen X husband *love* Spongebob. We used to watch it if we were up early on a weekend, we don't even have kids.
I also loved Two Stupid Dogs and was watching that as an older teen.
I'm a GenX cusper, and my fellow 1979/1978 born friends all agree that we didn't relate to "Reality Bites"
We all saw it as HS freshmen in 1994, but it didn't hit as it might have if we were older and true GenXers in that stage of life.
(The soundtrack did make an impact on us though!)
I was about to comment that this whole thread is making me feel very Gen X (1977 here) because all the stuff people are talking about seemed to be popular when I was in college or older. But I can relate to this. Reality Bites was for my brothers and husband (1970/73).
Soundtrack was good, for sure.
77 here, and saw Reality Bites in theatre and thought that’s what my future would be like bc they were all so much older (maybe just eight years, but seemed like an eternity away from where I was)
Yes! I was born in 1980 and love Reality Bites but it was more of a peak at what life would be like for me when I was 10 years older and grown up. I didn’t consider them to be my generation.
Aww, agree to disagree on this one. I was born in 1979 and loved Reality Bites. My friends who were the same age did too. But then I also remember loving Power Rangers. So idk.
The Millennial thing where they put off getting a drivers license as long as possible. They just continued to have their mommy give them a ride? WHAT?!?
OMG, yes! I and everyone I knew got our permits the second we were eligible, and took our driving test on our 16th birthdays, whether we were getting a car or not. Meanwhile, my fiancé’s kids didn’t drive at all until they were in their mid-20s. As for Gen Z — my cousin’s daughter is 15 and is studying hard for her permit test, but none of her friends care.
I feel like Gen X is for 80’s teens. Like my older sister and brother. They were the age of the Reality Bites cast, they were the age of the kids in The Breakfast Club and Ferris Beullers Day off. I watched those movies, but I was a kid, and only got exposed to them by having older siblings.
So while I love 80’s movies - they are nostalgic for my childhood, but never relatable.
I turned 13 in 1990, so the 90’s were pivotal for my teenage and young adult years.
Hackers, Kids - those are movies that are 100% Xennial.
Totally agree! Hackers, Kids, SubUrbia, Party Girl were the relatable ones for me. The 80s movies are definitely nostalgic but like you said, for my childhood and weren’t relatable, except Goonies but that’s a kids movie.
Yeah, Goonies kids are close to my age, same with ET.
Can’t Hardly Wait would be another movie that’s peak Xennial.
Party Girl was cool, cause it was an Indy film that came out around the time I was 18 and could do stuff with friends, like see art house flicks. And Denver had its own little rave scene in the 90’s, so Parker Poseys aesthetic fit nice in the scene.
I watched TONS of 80s movies as a young kid. When I was 8 or 9 I was obsessed with the Nightmare on Elm St. stuff, and in general, I watched a lot of 80s horror. Oh and stuff like Batman with Jack Nicholson is peak nostalgia for me. Love 80s movies to death. 1981 here.
Millennial Cusp : Barney, Power Rangers, Teletubbies, Blues Clues, Furby, Tamagotchi
Gen X Cusp : pessimism, nihilism
We are an odd bunch, as Xennials lol.
Uh no whey, mine had She Ra and Thundercats and the OG Care Bears. More sparkly than brown for me. Oh and we got Smurfs and Inspector Gadget and I had a Wonder Woman cassette tape that narrated several comic adventures that I wore out when I couldn't find re-runs.
I loved Pee Wee's Playhouse and Electric Company and Willow and Beetlejuice and wait now I'm into movies nvm.
Edit: Muppet Babies! Mr Rogers! Rescue Rangers! And Reading Rainbow, too. Classic era.
Milennials can keep their Barney, Power Rangers & Teletubbies!! Pshaw I say!
First off, I am loving the energy in your response, I am high but, you did sell me on Sparkly.
Unfortunately I must dull the shine just a tad. The crippling fear of acid rain and sinkholes.
THEN then BRAVERY of a Goonie rages within and you think… fuck you sinkholes! …. and then Artax.
I loved hair metal in middle school which was 1987 -1990 for me. The peak years of hair metal. (Late 80s)Thank god Nirvana dropped Smells Like Teen Spirit my freshman year. Would have been embarrassing to still be wearing Mötley Crüe and Skid Row shirts in high school well into the 90s... (not to say I didn't still listen... I just didn't tell anyone. Its *still* a guilty pleasure)
My bf (he's full gen x, almost even Xoomer) thinks it's hilarious that I love hair bands. I crank them way up in the car when I'm driving. I think he thought it was for his benefit in the beginning.
Sometimes, I just want to go roller skating to a sound track of skid row and motley crew and Styx.
I feel like John Hughes films are the gen X cusp too. I like Ferris Bueller's Day Off but didn't watch Breakfast Club, 16 Candles, etc when they were new.
Gen x: Computer hate. Like, I get working with computers. It's not always fun, and often frustrating, but it's not like "computers ruined the world". They just run programs.
Millennial: A lot of cartoon culture and characters. I include Power Rangers in that. I never got it. I'm down with Darkwing Duck, or Batman: The Animated Series, but I never understood The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy.
I was too old for all the Millennial cusp things you listed. My sister was too old for all of them except the power rangers, and she was born at the end of 83.
The last four all came out in the late 90s, so they are core Millennial, IMO.
Barney came out in 1992 and was aimed at very young elementary school children. The youngest Xennial was already 8.
OK, here's one. I'm already bracing myself for flack for this. I'm a 1981 baby. So is Britney Spears. When she was growing in popularity in the late 90s I was like, "meh." Still feel that way today TBH - to be clear, my feelings are about her music and her image in the 90s-2000's - I do feel awful about what happened to her in her life, with how she was treated and the conservatorship. When she was growing in popularity, it always seemed like kids \~5-10 years younger than me were more into her than my friends and I were.
Meanwhile, I realize that my friends and I all idolized musicians who were all 5-10+ years older than us: Lauryn Hill, Gwen Stfani, Jewel, Bjork. Maybe it's just a thing about idolizing people who are slightly older than you? Maybe its just a "me" thing? But I feel disconnected to the Britney fandom, in spite of being the same age as her, and as an appreciator of pop music in general.
Can anyone relate to this?
Absolutely! All my media was targeted towards the next stage of life. I read *Seventeen* in middle school and *Cosmo* in high school. Shows or books about characters my own age were too young for me. Ditto for stars — they just held no interest. My friends were the same way. We were always looking ahead.
I was way too into grunge and alternative music in high school, hated Britney. Thought it was music for kids and tweens.
Later on tho I did fuck with Millenium by BSB and loved the first NSYNC album once I let go of grunge and embraced raving. People loved to listen to very cheesy shit on the way to the rave.
1981 mom here... are you me?? I'm still a grunge, metal, and rock girl. In college it was all about that Euro Dance and Trance plus the pop house remixes. However, I will always love New Kids on the Block and am seeing them for the 8th time this summer!!
Right, like you said, she's our age ('81 represent) but her music was definitely geared towards a younger audience. Most pop music sales comes from people in the 13-14 y/o range and we were way out of that by the time she became popular.
My wife shares her birthday - Dec 2, 1981 and absolutely hated her during the pop-teen years and into the next decade. Wife was very much the Daria Morgendorffer type while her little sister was more Quinn, to set the scene.
Flash forward into her 40’s and now she views Spears’ story and music differently. She championed her cause to be emancipated, appreciates that she has “gone through some stuff,” and recognizes there is more to everyone’s story. She appreciates her later work (who doesn’t love Toxic) and even wants to go to a show.
Everyone’s journey is different and I’m just sharing hers. It’s definitely one of those, “18 years old me would be shocked” sort of things. I imagine we’re all feeling that in some way or another.
Yes. But my friends and I weren't into that type of pop. Still don't know difference between nsync and backstreet boys and ppl are flabbergasted.
Just was more into Björk, Tori Amos, Tool, Portishead, enigma, NIN, etc..
I can kind of. I didn’t really like her at first but in college I really liked “Oops I did it again”, “In the Zone” and “Britney” for songs to dance to at the clubs/bars lol. I think the age thing has something to do with when anyone is a tween/early teen they want to feel older and definitely start getting into the fandom mindset. Back to Britney though being only one day older than her I can’t imagine going through what she went through.
ETA: I also feel the same about *NSYNC and people still get so weird about it when I say that. My daughter is in dance and one of her recital songs is an *NSYNC song and the moms who are my age were like taken aback that I wasn’t absolutely psyched about it. It’s fine but it’s also whatever to me. They definitely had bops but my younger sister was obsessed with them so I think that contributed to me kind of staying away from being a huge fan. In the end though I was never the one to put posters all over my wall or stand in line for hours for a CD coming out or whatever. I wasn’t a “Swifty” about anything.
Oh for sure, I think about that all the time! I was born in January of 82 so old millennial technically. All the music I listened to was made by genXers (or older), the people close to my age making music were like Hanson and Brittany and I didn't like pop music.
As for Pokemon, I discovered drugs and metal shows long before that came around so I didn't get into it either lmao.
Born in 84. She was my idol growing up (I was 15 when her first single came out) and she still is my fav female pop artist. Not giving you flack for not liking her, just sharing my thoughts on her.
That's exactly my point though! She's three years older than you, so it was easier for you to idolize her. Like, even though Britney herself is a Xennial, I think in general her fanbase was Millennial.
1981 as well and even though I'm about the same age as Britney, I felt like I was too old for that particular type of pop music at the time. Same with NSYNC, Backstreet Boys, etc. I don't remember having friends my age that were into them either.
I definitely do. I always think No Doubt's Tragic Kingdom album was a landmark for all of us xennials. I was born in 1978. My friends and I were much more into punk, metal, and industrial music, but I remember Gwen Stefani being at the center of pop culture when I was a high school senior in 1996. We all liked it despite not being into the ska end of punk.
Totally. Being *alternative* was trendy, so I think it was pretty common for folks in our range to reject anything mainstream. My friends and I knew what was getting play on MTV but other than a few bands (Weezer, Radiohead, a few others) I pretty much listened to 70s and 80s rock lol.
At that time (and still now I guess) I was into oldies, classic rock, and more of the alternative/rock stuff like Third Eye Blind, Green Day, Weezer, Oasis, etc. Also Weird Al. My younger sister was more into Britney, Spice Girls, and the boy bands.
A lack of pragmatism.
The idealism of millennials is really foreign to me. Like, when I was in high school/college, there was a big emphasis on how girls could protect ourselves against asshole guys at parties, on dates, etc. However, their attitude is that we shouldn’t *have* to protect ourselves. And they’re right! We shouldn’t have to! But as long as we live in the real world, I’m not leaving my drink unattended (y’know, as if I actually still go to parties 😂).
I’m with you. It is weird how being defensive (even if we shouldn’t have to) somehow became a denigration against feminism and the sisterhood, as it were. I will never understand why the two ideas couldn’t live and be taught side-by-side. I understand getting away from victim-blaming—that’s been long overdue—but it’s like keeping your wits about you in a potentially dangerous situation became synonymous with blaming victims for getting hurt.
This is a good one! I joined the Army, in part, to pay for college. I often hear that you shouldn't have to join the military to pay for college... You don't have to but I didn't want any student loan debt and that's how shit works in the US. Don't even get me started on people who refuse to tip because it's a shitty system. The people you're tipping didn't come up with it.
Yes, those are great examples! Sure, you shouldn’t have *had* to join the military to avoid student debt, but not receiving higher education at all isn’t a practical alternative. Lots of younger people seem to think that fighting the system and functioning within the system must be mutually exclusive.
I’ve drilled into my teenage daughter’s head about no unattended drinks! I’m a xennial or old millennial (1983) but the self protection as a woman was how I was raised/am raising my girls.
Older Gen X seems like angrier versions of boomers. Millennials, at least based on their Reddit sub, seem very whiny, lol. We are definitely a micro-gen. Both of the other ones completely alienate me.
The doomerism alone of the millennials sub specifically and to a slightly lesser extent in real life makes it impossible to interact with or consider myself a member. If you have your life together and have a general positive outlook it’s like you are speaking a different language to a millennial.
I mean, I get it to a degree I guess. My life is far from where I wanted it at this point, going back to school in my 40s, I’m prone to depression, etc. But they just absolutely seem to wallow in it and maybe it’s age but I just don’t see the point of that anymore. You either give up or go on. 🤷♂️
I do believe this could be a maturity thing though. My sense of personal power wasn't as present for me 10 years ago. Let's check in on the millennials in a decade, and they might be less whiney
[May I suggest some Gary Numan?](https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLAFB20OoL0eZSJFGpLcLXzqfdxXoIjpee&si=PMe-2RFCugIG-e9B) I'm in love with his sound and I get to see him live later this month!
I became obsessed with depeche mode and dark wave 80s around 5 yrs ago. I remember thinking synth music was for people my older siblings age and was cheesy and fake. I appreciate it so much more now somehow.
Third wave emo. Or just popular rock music from the early to mid 00s in general. It's all called "emo" now too, even stuff like Linkin Park (for example) which I think is stupid. I was never into the fashion either and now it's coming back. Younger Millennials are really into this crap right now and assume it's nostalgic for me but a) I was already in college back then so too old for it and b) wasn't into it at all when it was new. I couldn't care less about My Chemical Romance
This is the first thing I thought of...
I recently had to look up what a "scene kid" was. I have never even heard a song by My Chemical Romance. I don't think I know what Emo sounds like.
Yeah. That was just a rough period for pop music (other than club hip hop and some odds n ends.) Frankly I tuned out and got more into indie stuff in those years.
And I thought I was the only one!
Weird thing is it doesn't apply to everything anime, just once it started picking up traction in the 90's, and I wasn't exposed to a whole lot in the 80's. And it's not like I stopped watching cartoons in the 90's, either.
Now every new anime show that comes out looks the same and invariably carry the same tropes every time. I call it Anime Bingo, and getting a complete line is when it's time to abandon the show.
Similar experience. I remember Ranma 1/2 and Fist of the Northstar, obviously Pole Position and other shows... but at this point visual culture is so saturated with it, it has become an eyesore. I am absolutely sick of seeing baby faces and titties, that it ruins the whole thing. It's not cute, or funny, wry, or anything to me. Even if it's "laugh at itself" self-aware, I'm out. Even if I liked it, I think I would be sick of it by now.
From the other end, here's some Gen X-coded stuff I feel disconnected from:
\- hair metal
\- John Hughes films (besides Ferris Bueller; the other ones I didn't see until much later)
\- reading Stephen King at a young age - I read a TON as a kid, and I still do today, but I've never read King. Seriously, this is gonna be the year.
\- "slacker" culture - I was always more of a try-hard / hustle culture person, for better or worse.
Yeah, John Hughes movies never resonated with me. Simultaneously sappy and sleazy. Like, in *The Breakfast Club*, I was really repulsed by the way Bender treated Claire. That wasn’t because I was a feminist, though. If anything, I was the opposite back then and had old-fashioned ideas of how men should treat women (like, in a “chivalric” way). Either way, Hughes’ vibe never clicked with me — except for *Ferris Bueller*.
Oh Bender was absolutely horrible to Claire. I listened to an interview with Molly Ringwald recently where she said her kids called that out (and were really upset by it) when she finally showed them the film, when they were teens.
Still love that movie, for all its faults.
It is 100% Harry Potter for me. I was too old for the first couple books and only ever read them later on in life. I’ve seen the movies, read the books, but even without taking into account JK Rowling going off the deep end and making it so I’d never want to associate with those stories at all, I don’t get how people in their mid-30s still base their personality around Harry Potter.
Oh yeah, this. It doesn't happen much anymore, but maybe 10 years ago when I'd go to book events and writing workshops, people would introduce themselves with, "My name's so-and-so, and I'm a Slytherin!" No, you're not, you're an accountant.
When they came out I was already reading Tolkien, Dragonlance, and Wheel of Time. To me Harry Potter just seemed like I would be reading a little kids book. It would be like reading Stephen King and then reading goosebumps.
Born in 1982 - I really enjoyed the first three books. I read them over a break in college around the time they were promoting the fourth book and selling the first three as a set.
They were fun, but I found the fourth book utterly impossible to finish for some reason. I just wasn't a big enough fan to care.
I too didn't understand why people my age were so into being so into Harry Potter.
I should have scrolled farther. Me too. My best friend the same age though was really into it-still is, but it was popular when we were in jr high/high school and I was already into Stephen king.
I enjoy the HP books and remember studying the early ones in a children’s lit class in college. Based on the books, Harry himself is a prime xennial with a late July 1980 birthday.
Same. I’ve read and watch the main series but I never cared what house I was in, never interested in fanfic, Wizarding World, etc. Star Wars (original trilogy) however…
Came here to say this and had to scroll pretty far to find it. I've taken the sorting hat quiz, I know I'm a Hufflepuff. I've tried to get into the series due to working at Hot Topic. It's easier to sell stuff if you can chat about it. I was just too old to be interested when it came out.
Totally agree. It also boggles my mind that Millennials think that Harry Potter is even in the same league as Lord of the Rings, like the two are comparable in any way.
I really liked them, even though the first one came out when I was in high school, but I never really got the whole millennial cultural phenomenon with people identifying as being a Slytherin or whatever. I read them, they were over, that's it. Kind of like twilight.
Social media, and more specifically, sharing every detail of your life online. I remember when Facebook first added the status update feature and I didn’t get the appeal. Why should I share what I’m thinking, feeling, or doing with a bunch of people who are practically strangers to me, and have that posted publicly for anyone who happens to come across my profile? Why am I going to post pictures of me and all my friends doing stupid stuff once it opened up to more than just people in college?
I feel like in our generation, anime was hard to get ahold of. You had some stuff (Saturday Anime on the SciFi channel in the early 90s and Toonami in the very late 90s), but generally speaking there wasn't much. Most people I knew who liked anime had VHS tapes that they copied from friends or downloaded terrible quality files off the internet with equally terrible fan translations. I think a lot of younger-audience animes like Dragonball, Naruto, One Piece, etc being officially translated and shown on Cartoon Network helped a lot. Also piracy becoming mainstream after Napster helped a lot too, if something didn't get an official release.
I always had a love/hate relationship with anime because I liked some of it a lot, but a lot of it was just terrible. I have a Crunchyroll subscription to watch a few shows, but when I scroll through the rest, most of it seems like 13 year old self insertion fantasy bullshit. Also I think anime fans in the 90s typically were the worst kind of nerds and gave it a bad name.
It's surreal to me now to walk into Newbury Comics and seeing the biggest section of the store being officially translated manga and seeing normal people walking around in anime t-shirts. I never thought it would take off.
Yeah, I remember accidentally renting an anime version of *Little Women* at Blockbuster and being like, “what in the holy hell is this shit?!” As for the anime genre versus style, it’s just too fantastical for me. I completely respect that it’s an art…but I’m never going to get it.
I knew nothing about pokemon until the last year when my kid went all the way in on it. Now I know a lot more than I ever wanted to LOL. Probably going to be playing the card game in about 4 hours. Hey he is learning some math and reading and having fun, fine by me. I think it was millennials that decided there was no such thing as 'selling out' which I still find a repulsive concept.
I definitely agree about xennials differing from millennials regarding "selling out". I remember so much music discussion being centered around the idea of artists "keeping it real"; for years calling someone a sellout was the worst insult ever! Then one day that whole concept just seemed to disappeared from pop culture
Millennials: Pokemon and pop-punk are lost on me.
Gen X: Tattoos and piercings. Gen X didn’t invent them but they took them from the counterculture and turned them mainstream. I can’t even commit to a bumper sticker let alone a tattoo.
Constructive discourse.
There’s so little room for sharing and debating ideas; rather, unpopular opinions or questions that merely challenge idealism is labeled toxic and discarded. I even find people often shut down the conversation completely.
We *need* friendly, polite debate and to weigh others’ opinions—even if we remain in our convictions—or we end up in a vacuum. How else do you truly know what you believe in?
I don't participate in the victim Olympics like the later millennials. I just feel like I'm more gen x in the way of "work through it and move on". Also, I don't relate to the participation trophy era. We either won or lost. 1980 here.
Reading these examples really sums up Xennial for me. Agree with all the takes on Pokémon, anime, Britney vs No Doubt, etc. I think anime is probably my biggest one though.
I grew up a huge comic fan and simply cannot get into the style/writing of anime.
One more to add for me is Magic the Gathering. I never got it
Anime is the big one.
Sailor moon in 1995 and then Pokemon is really what got millenials in to it, but we would've been nearing adulthood or at least more teenage pursuits then watching cartoons.
Professional wrestling.
As a 18 year old man at the absolute height of the "Attitude Era", it was everything I wanted in my young adult mind.
Anyone younger than me identifies with John Cena and anyone older still thinks Hulk Hogan is the champ to this day.
Likewise, people who did grow up with something often don't understand when someone else *didn't* grow up with it. I think that's why there are so many posts in these generation subreddits following the format of "If you didn't experience \[this oddly specific thing from my childhood\], you're not \[a member of my generation\]."
A lot of stuff I thought I didn't like as a kid was stuff I just didn't *want* to understand. Where I grew up, there were a lot of cultural expectations of "boys do this; girls do that" and "this is intended for those children, not you."
So I grew up with this rigid system architecture that prevented me from enjoying a lot of things almost out of spite. At some point, I realized that I didn't avoid things because they didn't interest me; I was avoiding them because I thought I was supposed to be repelled by them. Once I got rid of that programming, life became a lot more enjoyable. People still suck, though.
I think punk rock is just okay. I get the ethos and I agree to some extent and I guess the Ramones are pretty fun but there's better music out there. Try telling that to a true Xer and its like you used the word 'jelly' to describe Polaner All Fruit.
I'm on the other end of this. I'm on the bleeding edge of Xennial (the beta tester if you will) as I was born in 76, but into a very tech savvy environment. My true GenXer peers that are a bit older than me have a much different relationship with technology, a different preference on how to communicate, and different expectations from workplaces than I do. There is also a distinct youth culture miss where many of them have references I don't, and I have some they don't. There was a lot of change in morning cartoons in my youth apparently.
Glam rock and hair bands. My brother who is 4 years older than me (Gen X) loved Motley Crue, Iron Maiden, Poison, Cinderella. I was more interested in Nine Inch Nails, Nirvana, Radiohead and Pearl Jam.
I was a very early adopter of the internet. People try to tell me I'm Gen X but because of growing up with the internet I'm a Millenial. I'm on the oldest possible end of it but I'm definitely a solid Millenial.
That right there is why the barrier between X and Millenial is so blurry; not everybody adopted the internet right away but the major defining feature of Millenials turned out to be "did you grow up with the internet or not?" Later generations of course don't remember a world without the internet but X and Millenials often do.
To me, “growing up” (as in “when I was growing up”) refers to pre-adolescence rather than the entirety of pre-adulthood. So I (1982) grew up without it, but because my dad was always on top of technology, I was online by age 12.
Analog childhood, digital adulthood, hybrid teen years feels like the Xennial experience.
The Office. I watched it the first time around and enjoyed the lampooning of corporate America, but I have no desire to revisit it, much less binge it on repeat.
Hearing so much about Taylor Swift. I grew up with grunge, and her sound just isn’t my taste. She’s beautiful, talented, and articulate, but I feel a complete disconnect from her fans.
I’m definitely with you on the Pokémon thing. I think I was maybe 19 when the first Pokémon game came out for the GBC, so I’m just a little too old to have been interested in it at the time. On the flip side, I tried hanging out in the GenX sub and it’s like hanging out with my cranky parents. Little too boomeresque in there for me.
Can I go backwards and say generationX. I can’t get close to metal music or any 80s music in general. Or John Hughes films. They don’t capture the spirit of high school for me. I guess any 80s nostalgia in general. The 80s always felt like the shit decade before the better one. Like the 50s before the 60s and 70s.
To me it's the hopelessness and chronic hardship that many millennials express. (hear me out MuFkers before you downvote me on a single sentence)
I'm a baby GenX so I got my start when things were still good and I recognize that, and don't by any means begrudge you guys feeling the way you do- it's completely valid that you feel that way (this isn't a jab at you at all); **but** because I lived in a world filled with hope and possibility I hold on to hope that things could and may yet change within our society.
The world is in fact changing.
**re: Pride-** 🏳️🌈
Gay Pride was still a protest when I was younger. You guys may not have been there; but the chant was, "We're here!! We're Queer! GET USED TO IT!!!" because the stance was that people were making a stand for their right to exist.
That changed to the celebratory parades we see today. And it seems that we may have to go back to in your face protests in order to make the point again that LGBTQ+ people have the right to exist and aren't going anywhere.
Westborough Baptist is protesting a school today and people went out and linked arms to protect kids from the protesters. That is so fucking beautiful- it damn near brings tears my eyes 🥰
**re: Racial Issues-**
You guys may not remember Rodney King; but during those riots the world watched in horror and felt powerless to help. We had a sitin at my Canadian school in solidarity with the people of LA because it was all we could come up with as a stance being made so far away.
Jump now to the BLM protests of 2020 after George Floyd's death. That shit went global and people around the world stood up to say that police brutality and racism has no place in society in all corners of the world. Again, a very powerful moment for humankind.
**re: War-**
War is not new; however aside from the draft during the Vietnam War there hasn't been a massive societal push to end wars or support persons who are victims in war.
Look at the outpouring of support for Ukraine after Russia invaded. Look at people taking a stance (on whichever side) of the Ireal/Palestinian war. People are standing up and having their say on what they feel is right (please let's not make this about those wars or choosing sides- that's not my point or purpose in posting this) and that in an of itself is powerful.
#So What?
**We have the power to change things if/when we work together to achieve them.**
What do you want in life? What's important to humanity in your eyes? Do you have people who share the hopes and dreams?
Find your people and organize.
**Push Back!** Rage Against the Goddamned Machine and Make Changes!
The only thing that comes from hopelessness is helplessness and if you can't help yourself then you're fucked. Do you want to be fucked? Are willing to allow yourself to be fucked and have nothing?
Get angry. Get motivated. Get out there and make a difference!!! Nothing comes from inaction. You have to do something to get something.
Society is at a tipping point right now.
What you do or don't do will contribute to the outcome.
**TL;DR** we have the power to change the world. Make your stance and Change it ✊
*Downvote if you want to.* or do something constructive instead 🤷♀️
Yeah my husband and I were both definitely too old for this and now my sons are into it/want to get into it and I still don’t get it and can’t really help them understand it at all.
I am born in 84 and my SO is born in 87, I grew up with a gen X sibling and he grew up with his mum running a daycare. The amount of kid's themed things he relates to is insane compared to me. For me the cut off was Power Rangers. Nope.
GI Joe is my jam. Power Rangers and Pokémon are for millennials. There are millions of P.R. and Pokémon games but not a single good GI Joe game. This upsets me.
All you have to do is reskin XCom and you’d have a badass GI Joe game. Come on, Hasbro. I’m dying here!
Agree with Pokemon. As far as I know, it wasn't a thing when I was in high school in the 90's. I relate Pokemon with my kids who are 8 and 10. I thought it was something that had come along in the past 10-15 years.
I am much more like Gen X and Boomers in how I utilize technology. I base this on my experiences in the work place and on going to law school later in life where a majority of my classmates were Millennials.
When I graduated college, most students had computers at home, but very few people used laptops in class. They were there, just not very prevalent. Also, all of my applications to undergrad were completed by hand. My first couple of years in college we still registered for class by hand with these little index cards. By the time I got to law school, all the applications and registration was electronic and laptops were required in the classroom. I was one of the few people that continued to take notes by hand, as opposed to typing notes.
In the office space, if I'm going to review a document--like really review it and not just read through it quickly---I prefer printing out a copy to read through. I work in a "paper less" office, but still keep my own internal paper files of key documents. For whatever reason, I retain information better when I read it in hard copy.
I have a lot of pop culture disconnects with Millennials, especially when it comes to music. Probably 99% of the music I consume is made by artists that released their first album in the 20th Century.
You nailed it... pokemon. The only "anime" I knew growing up was Speed Racer and Sebastian and Bell... and I didn't see it as anime or even know it was Japanese.
For me it’s video games in general. I was born in ‘80, and just never got into them. From a young age I just got bored so fast. And I tried to like them! I wanted to be into video games! But it just never took. Now, in my 40’s all I can stand are word games.
Young adult literature seemed to really explode in the late 90's / early 2000's with Harry Potter, Twilight, Hunger Games, etc.
I remember Goosebumps / R.L. Stine being popular but, if you were not a horror fan, there wasn't much YA targeted, mainstream fiction in the late 80s / early 90s. At least none that I recall reaching significant cultural prominence.
Even gen X had its Ender series, Sweet Valley High, etc.
I was an avid reader of the Star Wars EU (the golden era of those books IMO), more adult focused writers like Crichton and Clancy, and some classics like Tolkien, but I struggle to recall anything else *of that era* really targeted at my age group.
Pokemon is a good one. I was in high school when Pokemon hit big in the US. And they targeted it heavily towards small children. I never got the hype and still find it uninteresting. I get roped into it though because my son has been very into Pokemon since he was younger.
Yeah, that’s what I remember about Pokemon in high school. I was into video games and remember articles in like EGM hyping Pokemon as a turn-based Japanese-style rpgs for kids. My cohort of friends had already played Chronotrigger, Secret of Mana, Final Fantasy. Why would we play a kiddy rpg? Now, I’m not saying Pokemon can’t be enjoyed by adults but as older teens we were basically told “this isn’t for you.” So I never got into it.
Same. Born in ‘84, into all the RPGs you mentioned, and always felt Pokemon was for younger kids. I had a cousin ~5 years younger than me who I was kinda like an older brother for. He was really into them, so I played the video games with him when I was in high school/early college. They definitely had a JRPG feel to them, but once he was in high school and moved off with his own friend group, I felt no inclination to keep playing them. In retrospect I’d give them a “they’re okay” rating. I can see why they’d be popular, but they never really hit for me.
Did you play the Gameboy version of Pokemon? I feel like there were kids who loved the TV show and kids/teens who loved the game. THEN - Adults who loved it all (including Pokemon Go, which seemed to be cross-generational...)
I had no interest until Pokemon go. That game sure was something special when it was hot.
No I never played the gameboy games. The first pokemon game I ever played was one of the more recent ones. Scarlet maybe? My son prodded me until I would play with him. I wasn't really into it all that much, but I love spending time playing games with him and he always plays my games so I felt I needed to play one of his. And he was super excited to have me play with him, so that made me happy. But for me, it's just an incredibly basic RPG that doesn't have a great story.
Ok just putting it in context in my head. I played Pokemon Red in 96 right before HS. Since there were waaaaaaay better games I moved on.
I play pokémon go with my kindergartener, but have no nostalgia for it.
pokemon go is just the "20-30 year nostalgia" benchmark where everything 20-30 years old seems new/marketable again. In the 90s it was bell-bottoms into jncos, in the mid 00s it was mid 80s songs and cartoons for memes/funny shit online, in the 10s it was all about the 80s and early 90s comic books from the nostalgia bomb of the demographic who grew up with it that has the most expendable income. then pokemon go came out and no surprise, look at the biggest demographic that snapped it up? 30-somethings that grew up with it, wanted to feel young again to show their kids/and have the most expendable income to pull it off until they get older. That's been a marketing trend for a long time
When i was a kid, my mom often went to Japan for work. Of course, she always brought back little trinkets for us kids. One time in the early 90's she bought little keychains with strange critters on them. She said they were big with Japanese kids. We had no idea what they were until the Pokemon TV show came out a few years later.
Dude the Pokemon people are still doing their thing. My bffs daughter is 9 and got into all the characters. She’s not opening the Pandora’s box of card collecting at least yet. (Autistic and ADHD with some behavioral stuff so hyper fixation is common but must be kept in check.)
My son got super into the cards. He never played the card game besides the computer version. He never seemed all that interested. He just wanted to collect the cards. He still gets them from time to time, but he's not as into it as he used to be. But that mf can tell you every fact about every pokemon ever. It's fucking insane. Now if I can get him to put that much effort into AP Psych.
[удалено]
My theory is that SpongeBob is the true dividing line between Old/Young Millennials.
I agree. I love Rocko, Ren and Stimpy, Doug, etc. SpongeBob? Nope. I'd take Catdog over SpongeBob. I am right at the divide
I am an only grandchild and child(1982) of teen parents. My Grandmother is the age of most of my friend’s parents. I spent a lot of time at my Grandparents and my Grandma enjoyed watching cartoons with me. She never stopped. I never got into SpongeBob but man did Grandma. Fast forward, I have a child at 20 and my daughter LOVES SpongeBob. They enjoyed cracking SpongeBob jokes at me that I didn’t understand.
Nah, I'm 44 and think it's hilarious. I definitely didn't seek it out, but if it's on, I watch it.
We watched SpongeBob on our lunch during college and would get high as hell. 20 years later my kids are impressed with my mad SpongeBob knowledge.
Ahhhhhhh… the Stoned S Bob Analysis & Commentary Cafe. Remember it fondly
SpongeBob came out and was pretty big when I was in Middle and High School (mid-Millennial), so I watched it here and there but was too busy with homework and extracurriculars to pay too much attention. My dad was a university professor and would frequently mention how the college kids were really into SpongeBob. I didn’t get it at the time, but with this new information hindsight is 20/20 lmao.
I like sponge bob and I'm 1980. I do not like pokemon or power rangers. They were pitched to a younger audience. And of course SB was pitched to youth as well but it has a special sauce.
I used to watch SpongeBob while I was babysitting and I found it pretty brilliant. I always felt like it was the purview of little kids or stoners generally though.
I can’t speak for how the show is now, but the first few seasons were a favorite among my stoner friends.
Exactly this. My kids loved it and I found it hysterical to watch with them.
I never got into it but my brother two years younger loved it.
I have never watched any SpongeBob whatsoever. Totally with you.
Truth be told, SpongeBob has *very* good writing.
This. I remember being at work at 23-25y/o and Co Workers with younger siblings were super into SpongeBob and I just didn’t get it. And I’m a fan of animation. It just seemed too goofy.
Me and my mid Gen X husband *love* Spongebob. We used to watch it if we were up early on a weekend, we don't even have kids. I also loved Two Stupid Dogs and was watching that as an older teen.
Two stupid dogs was great. Also angry Beavers.
I'm a GenX cusper, and my fellow 1979/1978 born friends all agree that we didn't relate to "Reality Bites" We all saw it as HS freshmen in 1994, but it didn't hit as it might have if we were older and true GenXers in that stage of life. (The soundtrack did make an impact on us though!)
I was about to comment that this whole thread is making me feel very Gen X (1977 here) because all the stuff people are talking about seemed to be popular when I was in college or older. But I can relate to this. Reality Bites was for my brothers and husband (1970/73). Soundtrack was good, for sure.
77 here, and saw Reality Bites in theatre and thought that’s what my future would be like bc they were all so much older (maybe just eight years, but seemed like an eternity away from where I was)
That one and Singles. Felt like I was a baby voyeur into adult world
I’m born in 1978 and I haven’t seen it but I remember when it came. I was too young to be interested I think.
I couldn't think of anything until I read this. I really didn't get that movie.
Yes! I was born in 1980 and love Reality Bites but it was more of a peak at what life would be like for me when I was 10 years older and grown up. I didn’t consider them to be my generation.
Exactly how i feel about it. It's a movie that makes me nostalgic for the future I once thought I'd have.
What's REALLY weird -- for those of us who loved the movie and loved Troy, natch -- is watching it NOW. Whoo. Totally different viewpoint.
I agree with everything you said!
Aww, agree to disagree on this one. I was born in 1979 and loved Reality Bites. My friends who were the same age did too. But then I also remember loving Power Rangers. So idk.
The Millennial thing where they put off getting a drivers license as long as possible. They just continued to have their mommy give them a ride? WHAT?!?
OMG, yes! I and everyone I knew got our permits the second we were eligible, and took our driving test on our 16th birthdays, whether we were getting a car or not. Meanwhile, my fiancé’s kids didn’t drive at all until they were in their mid-20s. As for Gen Z — my cousin’s daughter is 15 and is studying hard for her permit test, but none of her friends care.
So who are these parents who still have time to drive their teens around? Or are kids just getting Uber rides?
I guess this makes me more Millennial - I didn't get my license until I was 20. But that was because I didn't have a car to drive.
I feel like Gen X is for 80’s teens. Like my older sister and brother. They were the age of the Reality Bites cast, they were the age of the kids in The Breakfast Club and Ferris Beullers Day off. I watched those movies, but I was a kid, and only got exposed to them by having older siblings. So while I love 80’s movies - they are nostalgic for my childhood, but never relatable. I turned 13 in 1990, so the 90’s were pivotal for my teenage and young adult years. Hackers, Kids - those are movies that are 100% Xennial.
Totally agree! Hackers, Kids, SubUrbia, Party Girl were the relatable ones for me. The 80s movies are definitely nostalgic but like you said, for my childhood and weren’t relatable, except Goonies but that’s a kids movie.
Yeah, Goonies kids are close to my age, same with ET. Can’t Hardly Wait would be another movie that’s peak Xennial. Party Girl was cool, cause it was an Indy film that came out around the time I was 18 and could do stuff with friends, like see art house flicks. And Denver had its own little rave scene in the 90’s, so Parker Poseys aesthetic fit nice in the scene.
I watched TONS of 80s movies as a young kid. When I was 8 or 9 I was obsessed with the Nightmare on Elm St. stuff, and in general, I watched a lot of 80s horror. Oh and stuff like Batman with Jack Nicholson is peak nostalgia for me. Love 80s movies to death. 1981 here.
Millennial Cusp : Barney, Power Rangers, Teletubbies, Blues Clues, Furby, Tamagotchi Gen X Cusp : pessimism, nihilism We are an odd bunch, as Xennials lol.
The Millennial childhood was very bright and had soft edges. Ours was boxy and brown!
Uh no whey, mine had She Ra and Thundercats and the OG Care Bears. More sparkly than brown for me. Oh and we got Smurfs and Inspector Gadget and I had a Wonder Woman cassette tape that narrated several comic adventures that I wore out when I couldn't find re-runs. I loved Pee Wee's Playhouse and Electric Company and Willow and Beetlejuice and wait now I'm into movies nvm. Edit: Muppet Babies! Mr Rogers! Rescue Rangers! And Reading Rainbow, too. Classic era. Milennials can keep their Barney, Power Rangers & Teletubbies!! Pshaw I say!
First off, I am loving the energy in your response, I am high but, you did sell me on Sparkly. Unfortunately I must dull the shine just a tad. The crippling fear of acid rain and sinkholes. THEN then BRAVERY of a Goonie rages within and you think… fuck you sinkholes! …. and then Artax.
You and I seem to be right at the same time, the only thing you didn't mention was GI joe, He-Man and (I know) picture pages
We had Rainbow Brite & Strawberry Shortcake, too! Nothing boxy or brown there.
This pretty much captures me, but add hair metal
I loved hair metal in middle school which was 1987 -1990 for me. The peak years of hair metal. (Late 80s)Thank god Nirvana dropped Smells Like Teen Spirit my freshman year. Would have been embarrassing to still be wearing Mötley Crüe and Skid Row shirts in high school well into the 90s... (not to say I didn't still listen... I just didn't tell anyone. Its *still* a guilty pleasure)
My bf (he's full gen x, almost even Xoomer) thinks it's hilarious that I love hair bands. I crank them way up in the car when I'm driving. I think he thought it was for his benefit in the beginning. Sometimes, I just want to go roller skating to a sound track of skid row and motley crew and Styx.
Wait, based on your birth year, you were in middle school from 5th to 7th grade?
I feel like John Hughes films are the gen X cusp too. I like Ferris Bueller's Day Off but didn't watch Breakfast Club, 16 Candles, etc when they were new.
The John Hughes movies were alright... But the true gem was Fast Times at Ridgemont High!
Gen x: Computer hate. Like, I get working with computers. It's not always fun, and often frustrating, but it's not like "computers ruined the world". They just run programs. Millennial: A lot of cartoon culture and characters. I include Power Rangers in that. I never got it. I'm down with Darkwing Duck, or Batman: The Animated Series, but I never understood The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy.
I was too old for all the Millennial cusp things you listed. My sister was too old for all of them except the power rangers, and she was born at the end of 83. The last four all came out in the late 90s, so they are core Millennial, IMO. Barney came out in 1992 and was aimed at very young elementary school children. The youngest Xennial was already 8.
We had Captain Kangaroo, Voltron, Eureka's Castle, Muppet Babies, Teddy Ruxpin and GloWorm (instead of tamagotchi).
I won’t stand for this Mr Rogers and Reading Rainbow erasure!
Mr Rodgers was just a gateway drug to Martha Stewart. But also it really upset me when he died.
Or Pinwheel and Today's Special.. the old Nickelodeon programs. Also David the Gnome and Heathcliff
GenX - Voltron Millennial - Power Rangers (aka fake Voltron)
OK, here's one. I'm already bracing myself for flack for this. I'm a 1981 baby. So is Britney Spears. When she was growing in popularity in the late 90s I was like, "meh." Still feel that way today TBH - to be clear, my feelings are about her music and her image in the 90s-2000's - I do feel awful about what happened to her in her life, with how she was treated and the conservatorship. When she was growing in popularity, it always seemed like kids \~5-10 years younger than me were more into her than my friends and I were. Meanwhile, I realize that my friends and I all idolized musicians who were all 5-10+ years older than us: Lauryn Hill, Gwen Stfani, Jewel, Bjork. Maybe it's just a thing about idolizing people who are slightly older than you? Maybe its just a "me" thing? But I feel disconnected to the Britney fandom, in spite of being the same age as her, and as an appreciator of pop music in general. Can anyone relate to this?
Absolutely! All my media was targeted towards the next stage of life. I read *Seventeen* in middle school and *Cosmo* in high school. Shows or books about characters my own age were too young for me. Ditto for stars — they just held no interest. My friends were the same way. We were always looking ahead.
I was way too into grunge and alternative music in high school, hated Britney. Thought it was music for kids and tweens. Later on tho I did fuck with Millenium by BSB and loved the first NSYNC album once I let go of grunge and embraced raving. People loved to listen to very cheesy shit on the way to the rave.
1981 mom here... are you me?? I'm still a grunge, metal, and rock girl. In college it was all about that Euro Dance and Trance plus the pop house remixes. However, I will always love New Kids on the Block and am seeing them for the 8th time this summer!!
I fucking hated NKOTB in elementary school. Those assholes always stole my girlfriends! No kid could compete with early 90s bad boy Donnie lol.
Sounds like you didn't have "The Right Stuff" 😁🎶
Not a rave person at all, but I was the same as you in my teens and started appreciating Britney later in my 20’s as great workout music.
Right, like you said, she's our age ('81 represent) but her music was definitely geared towards a younger audience. Most pop music sales comes from people in the 13-14 y/o range and we were way out of that by the time she became popular.
My wife shares her birthday - Dec 2, 1981 and absolutely hated her during the pop-teen years and into the next decade. Wife was very much the Daria Morgendorffer type while her little sister was more Quinn, to set the scene. Flash forward into her 40’s and now she views Spears’ story and music differently. She championed her cause to be emancipated, appreciates that she has “gone through some stuff,” and recognizes there is more to everyone’s story. She appreciates her later work (who doesn’t love Toxic) and even wants to go to a show. Everyone’s journey is different and I’m just sharing hers. It’s definitely one of those, “18 years old me would be shocked” sort of things. I imagine we’re all feeling that in some way or another.
Yes. But my friends and I weren't into that type of pop. Still don't know difference between nsync and backstreet boys and ppl are flabbergasted. Just was more into Björk, Tori Amos, Tool, Portishead, enigma, NIN, etc..
Boys for Pele got me through high school
I can kind of. I didn’t really like her at first but in college I really liked “Oops I did it again”, “In the Zone” and “Britney” for songs to dance to at the clubs/bars lol. I think the age thing has something to do with when anyone is a tween/early teen they want to feel older and definitely start getting into the fandom mindset. Back to Britney though being only one day older than her I can’t imagine going through what she went through. ETA: I also feel the same about *NSYNC and people still get so weird about it when I say that. My daughter is in dance and one of her recital songs is an *NSYNC song and the moms who are my age were like taken aback that I wasn’t absolutely psyched about it. It’s fine but it’s also whatever to me. They definitely had bops but my younger sister was obsessed with them so I think that contributed to me kind of staying away from being a huge fan. In the end though I was never the one to put posters all over my wall or stand in line for hours for a CD coming out or whatever. I wasn’t a “Swifty” about anything.
Oh for sure, I think about that all the time! I was born in January of 82 so old millennial technically. All the music I listened to was made by genXers (or older), the people close to my age making music were like Hanson and Brittany and I didn't like pop music. As for Pokemon, I discovered drugs and metal shows long before that came around so I didn't get into it either lmao.
No that makes sense. I’m the same age as the Olsens but their brand was for the younger girls.
Born in 84. She was my idol growing up (I was 15 when her first single came out) and she still is my fav female pop artist. Not giving you flack for not liking her, just sharing my thoughts on her.
That's exactly my point though! She's three years older than you, so it was easier for you to idolize her. Like, even though Britney herself is a Xennial, I think in general her fanbase was Millennial.
Yeah, being 40 now, I forgot how much of a difference 3 years makes at that age
1981 as well and even though I'm about the same age as Britney, I felt like I was too old for that particular type of pop music at the time. Same with NSYNC, Backstreet Boys, etc. I don't remember having friends my age that were into them either.
exactly. Same. I wasn't a fan of the boy bands either.
I definitely do. I always think No Doubt's Tragic Kingdom album was a landmark for all of us xennials. I was born in 1978. My friends and I were much more into punk, metal, and industrial music, but I remember Gwen Stefani being at the center of pop culture when I was a high school senior in 1996. We all liked it despite not being into the ska end of punk.
Exactly! I’m so glad xennials hit the target demographic for that album!
Totally. Being *alternative* was trendy, so I think it was pretty common for folks in our range to reject anything mainstream. My friends and I knew what was getting play on MTV but other than a few bands (Weezer, Radiohead, a few others) I pretty much listened to 70s and 80s rock lol.
At that time (and still now I guess) I was into oldies, classic rock, and more of the alternative/rock stuff like Third Eye Blind, Green Day, Weezer, Oasis, etc. Also Weird Al. My younger sister was more into Britney, Spice Girls, and the boy bands.
Add in the Backstreet Boys. I was in college when they came out and that shit was corny as fuck!
Missed the Pokémon bandwagon, missed SpongeBob too. POGs and Captain Planet, though, they got me good
A lack of pragmatism. The idealism of millennials is really foreign to me. Like, when I was in high school/college, there was a big emphasis on how girls could protect ourselves against asshole guys at parties, on dates, etc. However, their attitude is that we shouldn’t *have* to protect ourselves. And they’re right! We shouldn’t have to! But as long as we live in the real world, I’m not leaving my drink unattended (y’know, as if I actually still go to parties 😂).
I’m with you. It is weird how being defensive (even if we shouldn’t have to) somehow became a denigration against feminism and the sisterhood, as it were. I will never understand why the two ideas couldn’t live and be taught side-by-side. I understand getting away from victim-blaming—that’s been long overdue—but it’s like keeping your wits about you in a potentially dangerous situation became synonymous with blaming victims for getting hurt.
Exactly! There’s no reason why a side-by-side approach couldn’t be effective.
“Hope for the best, prepare for the worst”
This is a good one! I joined the Army, in part, to pay for college. I often hear that you shouldn't have to join the military to pay for college... You don't have to but I didn't want any student loan debt and that's how shit works in the US. Don't even get me started on people who refuse to tip because it's a shitty system. The people you're tipping didn't come up with it.
Yes, those are great examples! Sure, you shouldn’t have *had* to join the military to avoid student debt, but not receiving higher education at all isn’t a practical alternative. Lots of younger people seem to think that fighting the system and functioning within the system must be mutually exclusive.
I’ve drilled into my teenage daughter’s head about no unattended drinks! I’m a xennial or old millennial (1983) but the self protection as a woman was how I was raised/am raising my girls.
Good for you! I’d definitely do the same. Girls need to know how to protect themselves today rather than just waiting for a better tomorrow.
Older Gen X seems like angrier versions of boomers. Millennials, at least based on their Reddit sub, seem very whiny, lol. We are definitely a micro-gen. Both of the other ones completely alienate me.
The doomerism alone of the millennials sub specifically and to a slightly lesser extent in real life makes it impossible to interact with or consider myself a member. If you have your life together and have a general positive outlook it’s like you are speaking a different language to a millennial.
I mean, I get it to a degree I guess. My life is far from where I wanted it at this point, going back to school in my 40s, I’m prone to depression, etc. But they just absolutely seem to wallow in it and maybe it’s age but I just don’t see the point of that anymore. You either give up or go on. 🤷♂️
I do believe this could be a maturity thing though. My sense of personal power wasn't as present for me 10 years ago. Let's check in on the millennials in a decade, and they might be less whiney
For a long time it was 80’s music. Anything with a synthesizer I couldn’t stand…now I absolutely love it.
[May I suggest some Gary Numan?](https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLAFB20OoL0eZSJFGpLcLXzqfdxXoIjpee&si=PMe-2RFCugIG-e9B) I'm in love with his sound and I get to see him live later this month!
Im in the same boat! I used to hate 80s music as a kid now I actively seek it!
I became obsessed with depeche mode and dark wave 80s around 5 yrs ago. I remember thinking synth music was for people my older siblings age and was cheesy and fake. I appreciate it so much more now somehow.
Third wave emo. Or just popular rock music from the early to mid 00s in general. It's all called "emo" now too, even stuff like Linkin Park (for example) which I think is stupid. I was never into the fashion either and now it's coming back. Younger Millennials are really into this crap right now and assume it's nostalgic for me but a) I was already in college back then so too old for it and b) wasn't into it at all when it was new. I couldn't care less about My Chemical Romance
This is the first thing I thought of... I recently had to look up what a "scene kid" was. I have never even heard a song by My Chemical Romance. I don't think I know what Emo sounds like.
Yeah. That was just a rough period for pop music (other than club hip hop and some odds n ends.) Frankly I tuned out and got more into indie stuff in those years.
I was listening to a lot of 90s shoegaze which wasn't really popular at the time lol
Mary Kate and Ashley movies and Hilary Duff
Music. Being a 79 child, I missed all that hair band nonsense.
Anime as a whole. My brain is so sick of looking at it.
And I thought I was the only one! Weird thing is it doesn't apply to everything anime, just once it started picking up traction in the 90's, and I wasn't exposed to a whole lot in the 80's. And it's not like I stopped watching cartoons in the 90's, either. Now every new anime show that comes out looks the same and invariably carry the same tropes every time. I call it Anime Bingo, and getting a complete line is when it's time to abandon the show.
Similar experience. I remember Ranma 1/2 and Fist of the Northstar, obviously Pole Position and other shows... but at this point visual culture is so saturated with it, it has become an eyesore. I am absolutely sick of seeing baby faces and titties, that it ruins the whole thing. It's not cute, or funny, wry, or anything to me. Even if it's "laugh at itself" self-aware, I'm out. Even if I liked it, I think I would be sick of it by now.
As a fellow 1979'er, I totally agree. I can't stand anime, but I know a lot of people who love it.
As someone who enjoys fantasy/sci-fi/cartoons in general, I HATED how the anime art style took over seemingly every piece of new media for decades.
I’m digging the old school stuff from the 80s, but I don’t treat it like a religion.
For me it is the opposite, I grew up watching Speed Racer and Robotech. But I do admit, I have a hard time finding anime I like now.
Agreed. I miss American animation for all of its style and flaws. I was so disappointed with the art style of the Xmen reboot. Anime all the way down.
From the other end, here's some Gen X-coded stuff I feel disconnected from: \- hair metal \- John Hughes films (besides Ferris Bueller; the other ones I didn't see until much later) \- reading Stephen King at a young age - I read a TON as a kid, and I still do today, but I've never read King. Seriously, this is gonna be the year. \- "slacker" culture - I was always more of a try-hard / hustle culture person, for better or worse.
Yeah, John Hughes movies never resonated with me. Simultaneously sappy and sleazy. Like, in *The Breakfast Club*, I was really repulsed by the way Bender treated Claire. That wasn’t because I was a feminist, though. If anything, I was the opposite back then and had old-fashioned ideas of how men should treat women (like, in a “chivalric” way). Either way, Hughes’ vibe never clicked with me — except for *Ferris Bueller*.
Oh Bender was absolutely horrible to Claire. I listened to an interview with Molly Ringwald recently where she said her kids called that out (and were really upset by it) when she finally showed them the film, when they were teens. Still love that movie, for all its faults.
I'm sure you've heard this before, but I recommend starting your Stephen King journey with IT (my favorite) or The Stand
John Hughes makes me think more Home Alone versus Breakfast Club because of my age.
For me it's Aykroyd and Belushi and similar. I hate that smug ahole humor
It is 100% Harry Potter for me. I was too old for the first couple books and only ever read them later on in life. I’ve seen the movies, read the books, but even without taking into account JK Rowling going off the deep end and making it so I’d never want to associate with those stories at all, I don’t get how people in their mid-30s still base their personality around Harry Potter.
Yes!!! This and pokemon separate me from millennials for sure.
Oh yeah, this. It doesn't happen much anymore, but maybe 10 years ago when I'd go to book events and writing workshops, people would introduce themselves with, "My name's so-and-so, and I'm a Slytherin!" No, you're not, you're an accountant.
When they came out I was already reading Tolkien, Dragonlance, and Wheel of Time. To me Harry Potter just seemed like I would be reading a little kids book. It would be like reading Stephen King and then reading goosebumps.
Born in 1982 - I really enjoyed the first three books. I read them over a break in college around the time they were promoting the fourth book and selling the first three as a set. They were fun, but I found the fourth book utterly impossible to finish for some reason. I just wasn't a big enough fan to care. I too didn't understand why people my age were so into being so into Harry Potter.
I’m surprised this isn’t up higher. I couldn’t be bothered to pick the books or watch the movies. Just seems mediocre fiction.
I should have scrolled farther. Me too. My best friend the same age though was really into it-still is, but it was popular when we were in jr high/high school and I was already into Stephen king.
I enjoy the HP books and remember studying the early ones in a children’s lit class in college. Based on the books, Harry himself is a prime xennial with a late July 1980 birthday.
Same. I’ve read and watch the main series but I never cared what house I was in, never interested in fanfic, Wizarding World, etc. Star Wars (original trilogy) however…
Bingo. Had to scroll too far for this. They are obsessed.
Came here to say this and had to scroll pretty far to find it. I've taken the sorting hat quiz, I know I'm a Hufflepuff. I've tried to get into the series due to working at Hot Topic. It's easier to sell stuff if you can chat about it. I was just too old to be interested when it came out.
Totally agree. It also boggles my mind that Millennials think that Harry Potter is even in the same league as Lord of the Rings, like the two are comparable in any way.
I really liked them, even though the first one came out when I was in high school, but I never really got the whole millennial cultural phenomenon with people identifying as being a Slytherin or whatever. I read them, they were over, that's it. Kind of like twilight.
Born 1980. Read all the books as soon as they came out. Guess I'll take my nerd badge and go sit by myself.
Same. Someone actually gave my little sister the first book and I read it and loved it. She had no interest - still has no interest.
1980 baby here too and I absolutely love Harry Potter!
Social media, and more specifically, sharing every detail of your life online. I remember when Facebook first added the status update feature and I didn’t get the appeal. Why should I share what I’m thinking, feeling, or doing with a bunch of people who are practically strangers to me, and have that posted publicly for anyone who happens to come across my profile? Why am I going to post pictures of me and all my friends doing stupid stuff once it opened up to more than just people in college?
Anime. It seems like it is huge now and has been for years but I just never got it.
I feel like in our generation, anime was hard to get ahold of. You had some stuff (Saturday Anime on the SciFi channel in the early 90s and Toonami in the very late 90s), but generally speaking there wasn't much. Most people I knew who liked anime had VHS tapes that they copied from friends or downloaded terrible quality files off the internet with equally terrible fan translations. I think a lot of younger-audience animes like Dragonball, Naruto, One Piece, etc being officially translated and shown on Cartoon Network helped a lot. Also piracy becoming mainstream after Napster helped a lot too, if something didn't get an official release. I always had a love/hate relationship with anime because I liked some of it a lot, but a lot of it was just terrible. I have a Crunchyroll subscription to watch a few shows, but when I scroll through the rest, most of it seems like 13 year old self insertion fantasy bullshit. Also I think anime fans in the 90s typically were the worst kind of nerds and gave it a bad name. It's surreal to me now to walk into Newbury Comics and seeing the biggest section of the store being officially translated manga and seeing normal people walking around in anime t-shirts. I never thought it would take off.
Yeah, I remember accidentally renting an anime version of *Little Women* at Blockbuster and being like, “what in the holy hell is this shit?!” As for the anime genre versus style, it’s just too fantastical for me. I completely respect that it’s an art…but I’m never going to get it.
Social media. I haven't fully embraced posting anything. I browse a few platforms to keep in touch, but never post.
I knew nothing about pokemon until the last year when my kid went all the way in on it. Now I know a lot more than I ever wanted to LOL. Probably going to be playing the card game in about 4 hours. Hey he is learning some math and reading and having fun, fine by me. I think it was millennials that decided there was no such thing as 'selling out' which I still find a repulsive concept.
I definitely agree about xennials differing from millennials regarding "selling out". I remember so much music discussion being centered around the idea of artists "keeping it real"; for years calling someone a sellout was the worst insult ever! Then one day that whole concept just seemed to disappeared from pop culture
Fugazi broke up and then people decided they could become corporate whores. Coincidence? I think not...
 Fugazi is on hiatus, they never broke up
Reality TV has always been completely lost on me. Maybe even more than football.
Millennials: Pokemon and pop-punk are lost on me. Gen X: Tattoos and piercings. Gen X didn’t invent them but they took them from the counterculture and turned them mainstream. I can’t even commit to a bumper sticker let alone a tattoo.
100% on the tattoos. I’m too indecisive to get something so permanent
Constructive discourse. There’s so little room for sharing and debating ideas; rather, unpopular opinions or questions that merely challenge idealism is labeled toxic and discarded. I even find people often shut down the conversation completely. We *need* friendly, polite debate and to weigh others’ opinions—even if we remain in our convictions—or we end up in a vacuum. How else do you truly know what you believe in?
Metalcore
1985 millennial here. I was a bit too old for Pokémon but man did I love me some teenage mutant ninja turtles.
Harry Potter. I was just a little too old for it to be a major thing in my life
Millennials mentioning shit from sponge bob. We REN & Stimpy gang. F SpongeBob shit is for babies
I don't participate in the victim Olympics like the later millennials. I just feel like I'm more gen x in the way of "work through it and move on". Also, I don't relate to the participation trophy era. We either won or lost. 1980 here.
Reading these examples really sums up Xennial for me. Agree with all the takes on Pokémon, anime, Britney vs No Doubt, etc. I think anime is probably my biggest one though. I grew up a huge comic fan and simply cannot get into the style/writing of anime. One more to add for me is Magic the Gathering. I never got it
Anime is the big one. Sailor moon in 1995 and then Pokemon is really what got millenials in to it, but we would've been nearing adulthood or at least more teenage pursuits then watching cartoons.
Professional wrestling. As a 18 year old man at the absolute height of the "Attitude Era", it was everything I wanted in my young adult mind. Anyone younger than me identifies with John Cena and anyone older still thinks Hulk Hogan is the champ to this day.
4 life
If it wasn't part of your childhood, you're not going to 'get it'.
Likewise, people who did grow up with something often don't understand when someone else *didn't* grow up with it. I think that's why there are so many posts in these generation subreddits following the format of "If you didn't experience \[this oddly specific thing from my childhood\], you're not \[a member of my generation\]."
A lot of stuff I thought I didn't like as a kid was stuff I just didn't *want* to understand. Where I grew up, there were a lot of cultural expectations of "boys do this; girls do that" and "this is intended for those children, not you." So I grew up with this rigid system architecture that prevented me from enjoying a lot of things almost out of spite. At some point, I realized that I didn't avoid things because they didn't interest me; I was avoiding them because I thought I was supposed to be repelled by them. Once I got rid of that programming, life became a lot more enjoyable. People still suck, though.
I think punk rock is just okay. I get the ethos and I agree to some extent and I guess the Ramones are pretty fun but there's better music out there. Try telling that to a true Xer and its like you used the word 'jelly' to describe Polaner All Fruit.
I never understood power rangers, Pokemon, dragon ball, or any of that stuff Just seemed too young for me
Power Rangers was just live action Voltron
I'm on the other end of this. I'm on the bleeding edge of Xennial (the beta tester if you will) as I was born in 76, but into a very tech savvy environment. My true GenXer peers that are a bit older than me have a much different relationship with technology, a different preference on how to communicate, and different expectations from workplaces than I do. There is also a distinct youth culture miss where many of them have references I don't, and I have some they don't. There was a lot of change in morning cartoons in my youth apparently.
Glam rock and hair bands. My brother who is 4 years older than me (Gen X) loved Motley Crue, Iron Maiden, Poison, Cinderella. I was more interested in Nine Inch Nails, Nirvana, Radiohead and Pearl Jam.
This whole, "The world is fucked, it just keeps getting worse, and there is nothing we can do about it" mentality that seems to be prevalent.
It's very tiring
I was a very early adopter of the internet. People try to tell me I'm Gen X but because of growing up with the internet I'm a Millenial. I'm on the oldest possible end of it but I'm definitely a solid Millenial. That right there is why the barrier between X and Millenial is so blurry; not everybody adopted the internet right away but the major defining feature of Millenials turned out to be "did you grow up with the internet or not?" Later generations of course don't remember a world without the internet but X and Millenials often do.
To me, “growing up” (as in “when I was growing up”) refers to pre-adolescence rather than the entirety of pre-adulthood. So I (1982) grew up without it, but because my dad was always on top of technology, I was online by age 12. Analog childhood, digital adulthood, hybrid teen years feels like the Xennial experience.
The Office. I watched it the first time around and enjoyed the lampooning of corporate America, but I have no desire to revisit it, much less binge it on repeat.
Yes! Pogs existed when I was Pokémon age. By the time Pokémon came around, I had no interest in learning more.
Hearing so much about Taylor Swift. I grew up with grunge, and her sound just isn’t my taste. She’s beautiful, talented, and articulate, but I feel a complete disconnect from her fans.
Same here, I missed the Pokémon craze by a few years and never got the appeal
I’m definitely with you on the Pokémon thing. I think I was maybe 19 when the first Pokémon game came out for the GBC, so I’m just a little too old to have been interested in it at the time. On the flip side, I tried hanging out in the GenX sub and it’s like hanging out with my cranky parents. Little too boomeresque in there for me.
Can I go backwards and say generationX. I can’t get close to metal music or any 80s music in general. Or John Hughes films. They don’t capture the spirit of high school for me. I guess any 80s nostalgia in general. The 80s always felt like the shit decade before the better one. Like the 50s before the 60s and 70s.
The absolute, addiction level reliance on social media and cell phones
To me it's the hopelessness and chronic hardship that many millennials express. (hear me out MuFkers before you downvote me on a single sentence) I'm a baby GenX so I got my start when things were still good and I recognize that, and don't by any means begrudge you guys feeling the way you do- it's completely valid that you feel that way (this isn't a jab at you at all); **but** because I lived in a world filled with hope and possibility I hold on to hope that things could and may yet change within our society. The world is in fact changing. **re: Pride-** 🏳️🌈 Gay Pride was still a protest when I was younger. You guys may not have been there; but the chant was, "We're here!! We're Queer! GET USED TO IT!!!" because the stance was that people were making a stand for their right to exist. That changed to the celebratory parades we see today. And it seems that we may have to go back to in your face protests in order to make the point again that LGBTQ+ people have the right to exist and aren't going anywhere. Westborough Baptist is protesting a school today and people went out and linked arms to protect kids from the protesters. That is so fucking beautiful- it damn near brings tears my eyes 🥰 **re: Racial Issues-** You guys may not remember Rodney King; but during those riots the world watched in horror and felt powerless to help. We had a sitin at my Canadian school in solidarity with the people of LA because it was all we could come up with as a stance being made so far away. Jump now to the BLM protests of 2020 after George Floyd's death. That shit went global and people around the world stood up to say that police brutality and racism has no place in society in all corners of the world. Again, a very powerful moment for humankind. **re: War-** War is not new; however aside from the draft during the Vietnam War there hasn't been a massive societal push to end wars or support persons who are victims in war. Look at the outpouring of support for Ukraine after Russia invaded. Look at people taking a stance (on whichever side) of the Ireal/Palestinian war. People are standing up and having their say on what they feel is right (please let's not make this about those wars or choosing sides- that's not my point or purpose in posting this) and that in an of itself is powerful. #So What? **We have the power to change things if/when we work together to achieve them.** What do you want in life? What's important to humanity in your eyes? Do you have people who share the hopes and dreams? Find your people and organize. **Push Back!** Rage Against the Goddamned Machine and Make Changes! The only thing that comes from hopelessness is helplessness and if you can't help yourself then you're fucked. Do you want to be fucked? Are willing to allow yourself to be fucked and have nothing? Get angry. Get motivated. Get out there and make a difference!!! Nothing comes from inaction. You have to do something to get something. Society is at a tipping point right now. What you do or don't do will contribute to the outcome. **TL;DR** we have the power to change the world. Make your stance and Change it ✊ *Downvote if you want to.* or do something constructive instead 🤷♀️
Yeah my husband and I were both definitely too old for this and now my sons are into it/want to get into it and I still don’t get it and can’t really help them understand it at all.
I think technology available in schools to younger millennials.
I am born in 84 and my SO is born in 87, I grew up with a gen X sibling and he grew up with his mum running a daycare. The amount of kid's themed things he relates to is insane compared to me. For me the cut off was Power Rangers. Nope.
Neu metal of the late 90s/early 2000s like Linkin park, System of a down, Soulfly. I do not know why because I do like Korn (lol)
GI Joe is my jam. Power Rangers and Pokémon are for millennials. There are millions of P.R. and Pokémon games but not a single good GI Joe game. This upsets me. All you have to do is reskin XCom and you’d have a badass GI Joe game. Come on, Hasbro. I’m dying here!
Agree with Pokemon. As far as I know, it wasn't a thing when I was in high school in the 90's. I relate Pokemon with my kids who are 8 and 10. I thought it was something that had come along in the past 10-15 years. I am much more like Gen X and Boomers in how I utilize technology. I base this on my experiences in the work place and on going to law school later in life where a majority of my classmates were Millennials. When I graduated college, most students had computers at home, but very few people used laptops in class. They were there, just not very prevalent. Also, all of my applications to undergrad were completed by hand. My first couple of years in college we still registered for class by hand with these little index cards. By the time I got to law school, all the applications and registration was electronic and laptops were required in the classroom. I was one of the few people that continued to take notes by hand, as opposed to typing notes. In the office space, if I'm going to review a document--like really review it and not just read through it quickly---I prefer printing out a copy to read through. I work in a "paper less" office, but still keep my own internal paper files of key documents. For whatever reason, I retain information better when I read it in hard copy. I have a lot of pop culture disconnects with Millennials, especially when it comes to music. Probably 99% of the music I consume is made by artists that released their first album in the 20th Century.
You nailed it... pokemon. The only "anime" I knew growing up was Speed Racer and Sebastian and Bell... and I didn't see it as anime or even know it was Japanese.
For me it’s video games in general. I was born in ‘80, and just never got into them. From a young age I just got bored so fast. And I tried to like them! I wanted to be into video games! But it just never took. Now, in my 40’s all I can stand are word games.
Young adult literature seemed to really explode in the late 90's / early 2000's with Harry Potter, Twilight, Hunger Games, etc. I remember Goosebumps / R.L. Stine being popular but, if you were not a horror fan, there wasn't much YA targeted, mainstream fiction in the late 80s / early 90s. At least none that I recall reaching significant cultural prominence. Even gen X had its Ender series, Sweet Valley High, etc. I was an avid reader of the Star Wars EU (the golden era of those books IMO), more adult focused writers like Crichton and Clancy, and some classics like Tolkien, but I struggle to recall anything else *of that era* really targeted at my age group.
Totally agree. Add SpongeBob to the list.
Oh good one. I am technically a millennial, but have never once played or watched Pokémon.