Happy Hour
The First In A Series
If you have ever listened to the 'RxRated Podcast' (http://rxrated.libsyn.com/), or follow me on Twitter @JWingerPharmD, then you know that I have a certain modus operandi. My schtick is very similar to that of Dennis Miller's where I rant using irreverence, a sardonic wit, and sarcasm. However, I do like to shake it up from time to time so as to keep things fresh and not too 'one note.' In that vain, this blog will be the first in a series that I will title Happy Hour. Today I will be discussing comedy and how it is presently being ruled by Generation X.
Seriously, look at movies, television shows, and stand-up today. It appears to me that, as far as comedy itself goes, everyone is in their forties. Here is a short list of funny people from GenX: Rob Riggle, Rob Cordry, Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn, Owen Wilson, Ben Stiller, Will Ferrell, Melissa McCarthy, Ryan Reynolds, Mark Wahlberg, Joel McHale, Adam Carolla, Sinbad, Steve Carell, Bill Burr, Dan Harmon, Matt Groening, Adam Sandler, Kevin Smith, James Franco, Kevin Spade, Chris Rock, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Seth Rogan, Seth MacFarlane, Paul Rudd, Danny McBride, Robert Downey Jr., Chris Pratt, Adam Scott, Amy Poehler, Tina Fey, et cetera.
The question I have, and maybe you can help me, is why are Gen Xers so damn funny? The World War II generation were pretty stoic, but that is because they lived through some serious shit. The Baby Boomers are just a bunch of narcissistic spoiled brats who had to invent their problems, my parents excluded. Millenials have been popping Ritalin and antidepressants since they could crawl (which is actually Gen X's fault), and are too busy being offended by their own shadows to have any sort of a sense of humor.
Generation Xers, on the other hand, saw their parents' angst and constant railing against 'the man' all of the time, and so they developed a sense of humor as a way to combat that. You might say that their sassy wit became a means of rebellion. Besides, let's face it, the '80s were just terrific.
We had the perfect balance between real and fantasy. With VCRs and VHS tapes we could watch Hollywood blockbusters at home, and Atari brought the arcade into our bedrooms. Yet we were not plugged in 24 hours a day like kids are able to do nowadays with their cell phones, personal laptops, ipads, and various social media sites. We still went outside and 'played' all day, and there were no helicopter parents who obsessed over safety so we took risks, got injured a lot, and sucked it up. We had genuine friends and friendships that developed naturally, not as a result of 'playdates.' Our parents disciplined us and we dealt with our problems as opposed to popping a pill and running to the nearest 'safe space.'
Reagan made us feel good about being Americans and we felt lucky to have been born here. The USSR were clearly the 'bad guys' in the world, and communism was regarded as a bad thing. We had fun pretending to be Indiana Jones, Rocky, or Rambo. Alex P. Keaton had us cracking up on TV, especially when conflicting with his ex-hippie parents. The economy was good, the Space Shuttle had us in awe, and the fall of the Berlin Wall made us proud.
Steven Spielberg movies had us believing in aliens, George Lucas had us flying through space, Sylvester Stallone has us believing we could overcome the odds, Arnold Schwarzenegger had us anticipating the next one-liner, and Clint Eastwood made us cheer when criminals got what they deserved.
I guess what I am saying is that times were good and we had fun. Our boomer parents were a drag, and so we cut wise with our buddies. It was the era of the class clown. We felt we could accomplish anything and we liked poking fun at stupid shit. Today you have to mince your words and constantly be on guard for fear of offending some #snowflake. It really has gotten ridiculous.
I know that I am not quite nailing the reason why, but I think I am on the right track. Perhaps it was simply just a natural result of a booming era for the entertainment industry. I would really love to hear other theories and perspectives on this, so please leave a comment. The bottom line is, Generation Xers are just really frickin' funny.
