Diss. Abstract : The Myth of Gen X Film, Media, Culture, and the evolution of a Generation

*The myth of Generation X: Film, media, literature, and the evolution of
a generation*
by /King, Lynnea Chapman/ , Ph.D., Texas Tech
University, 1998, 201 pages; AAT 9912768

*Abstract (Summary)*

Generation X, those individuals born between 1965 and 1997, has spent
much of its existence under the scrutiny of the media, first as the
"baby busters" in the 1970s and 1980s and then as "Generation X" in the
1990s. As the attentions of the media and Madison Avenue now begin to
shift from Generation X to Generation Next in the late 1990s, it is an
opportune time to examine the history and culture which contributed to
the formation of Generation X and produced the films which both
reflected and impacted their lives.

Following a working definition of the generation for the purposes of
this discussion, this study examines the relationship between the media
and Generation X and argues that the negative image which is often
associated with the generation is due not to the media which devoted so
much attention to it in the late 1980s and early 1990s, but instead to
the self-propagated image which the generation itself presented through
the literature, film, and nonfiction works of the first half of the 1990s.

In addition to an examination of the print media treatments of
Generation X, this study focuses largely on the films which depicted the
generation, first in the 1980s and then in the 1990s. /The Breakfast
Club / (John Hughes, 1985) is used as a representative film for the
1980s, as is / Reality Bites / (Ben Stiller, 1994) for the 1990s. These
two films likewise support the argument that the generation's negative
image was based not on baby boomer depictions of the generation as
demonstrated in / The Breakfast Club / , but was based instead on
artistic statements like that in /Reality Bites / and Douglas Coupland's
1991 novel /Generation X / , which came from the generation itself.

The study concludes with a discussion of the films and resultant image
of the next generation, an image which is in the process of being
constructed through the teen films and advertising strategies of the
late 1990s.

*Indexing (document details)*
*Advisor:* Schoenecke, Micheal K.
*School:* Texas Tech University
*School Location:* United States -- Texas
*Keyword(s):* Myth , Generation X
, Film , Media
, Literature
*Source:* DAI-A 59/11, p. 4192, May 1999
*Source type:* Dissertation
*Subjects:* American studies , Mass media
, Motion Pictures , American
literature
*Publication Number:* AAT 9912768
*ISBN:* 9780599111202
*Document URL:*
http://proquest.umi.com/pqdlink?did=732998191&Fmt=7&clientId=1564&RQT=309&VName=PQD
*ProQuest document ID:* 732998191




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