The early 90s and the period just before the Clinton boom years, that is what Generation X, a generation widely regarded as a bit apathetic in the first place, that was what they had waiting for them when they began graduating from college. Many have wondered when Generation X was going to step up and take charge of things. Well, we had just graduated from college, the Boomers didn't just take over the world right after they graduated, either. Maybe due to sheer numbers and relative lack of "competition", their way was much more paved, while Generation X has had to first shake off it's collective cultural slackerism, begin clawing it's way up AND wait for the Boomers to start retiring. Which, now that we have hit the teens of the Twenty-first Century, it looks like it has finally started to happen, slowly but surely.
Right out of college, though, we did have a few who did want to make their mark. In Reality Bites, this is represented by Lelaina Pierce (Wynona Ryder), a young grad looking to forge a career in television, starting out with an "assistant producer" position, one that she hates. Eventually, she is fired. This creates stresses with her friends, such as Vicki Miner (Janeane Garafalo), the one "gainfully employed" in their apartment, as a manager at The Gap. As Lelaina films her friends for a documentary she is building on her generation, she deals with other conflicts, like her attraction/friendship with Troy Dyer (Ethan Hawke), a philosophy major and dedicated nihilistic slacker. Eventually, she meets Michael Grates (Ben Stiller, who also directs), a young executive with a cable video channel, who offers her friendship, love and even a potential direction for her professional ambitions.
Finding your path and juggling all those other elements in your life, especially when you are young and trying to get traction, can be a frustrating experience. Heck, this is my generation and though my situation is unusual, trying to build my civilian career at 45 (and finding good success early on), we did have it a bit rough going earlier on. Our assumed generational apathy didn't help. And now, some say Generation Y and the Millenials will zoom past us as we finally await to assume the crowns worn by the Boomers.
But you know...nuts to that. Cool movies, cool books and some folks coming up in executive position and politics, our generation is making their presence felt. Even in the 90s, this started to happen and I'm thinking the twenty first century will be ours.
Took us awhile to realize we care...but we do.
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