Talk:Millennials/Original research

Note: This content was moved here from the main article as it is all original research with no citations. I've put it here in case someone wants to work on it to provide the necessary cites. Otherwise, it should not be put back into the main article. --ZimZalaBim ^talk 15:59, 15 August 2007 (UTC)

Music Background

In the anglophone nations, many members of Generation Y have adopted and identified with various modern forms of popular music, including hip hop, alternative rock, emo, metalcore, pop-punk, electronic dance music, and R&B, and bubblegum pop or teen pop. Despite being extant prior to the maturation of most of Generation Y, styles such as punk rock and heavy metal have remained as influential subcultures amongst Generation Y youth. The idioms of rock and metal continue to dominate the musical tastes of the generation.

These musical genres were developed primarily during the same span of years as the span of years often consider the birth years of Generation Y, such as 1976-2001. Notably, Hip-hop had its origins in the late '70s and the '80s, and found widespread commercial success in the 1990s, when many Yers were in their preteens or teens and Gen Xers were dominant.

Most members of Gen Y cannot recall a time when rap, grunge, metal, punk, techno, and synth-pop were unfamiliar to them, whether by conscious choice on MTV or the radio, or from a neighbor's boom box, passing cars, or hits on the loudspeaker in the supermarket aisle (true Muzak was abandoned in the late 1980s).

Although these styles may have seemed revolutionary for the prior Generation X, experiencing them in their infancy, for most members of Generation Y, they have always been a normal part of the musical landscape that is generally been unchanged in many ways since the late 1990s, sounds long since "co-opted" by the mainstream and routinely melded with every type of pop music in an attempt by its makers to attain generational currency because of the slowdown of pop music revolution beginning in 1997 because of the Telecommunications Act of 1996.

Hip hop music, and accompanying movements in fashion and slang, create perhaps the largest musical rift between Gen Y and its forbears. Gen X and the baby boomer generation were both fond of rock and roll, even despite their differences; but while Gen Y also contains many fans of rock, beginning in the 2000s, rock is no longer considered to be "cool" but rather an alternative taste. Hip hop, especially old skool hip hop and the gangsta rap made prior to 1997 does cross into Generation X and that later Xers tend to more tolerant of hip hop than early Xers and the Xers as a whole do not dislike hip hop quite as much as the Boomers do. Also, the early days of hip hop's mainstreamization in the late 1980s and early 1990s was very much fueled by latter Gen X born in the 1970s.

During the 1980s rap was largely confined to the African American community, especially that in large American cities such as New York and Los Angeles. In the late Eighties, however, rap did begin to become mainstream as other cultures began to demand it with artists such as the Beastie Boys, NWA, Ice T, and Public Enemy.

The 1990s represented the assimilation of rap into the mainstream, by 1990 rap was only beginning to top the charts but by 1999 rap was the most popular form of music on pop radio except for perhaps the teen pop groups of that time.

By the 2000s almost all non-rock/punk popular music on MTV and pop radio was either rap or rap-influenced music; while rap and hip-hop were extremely popular for most of the '90s there were many other popular genres of music in that decade while 2000s pop is more musically one-tracked on rap and rap/R&B.

The importance of low-cost or free music for Generation Y should not be underestimated. Generation Y was the primary generation to rapidly adopt peer-to-peer technologies, starting with Napster in order to build up their record collections.

Late 1990s/Early 2000s

During the late 1990s and the early years of the 2000s teen pop became a very heavily consumed form of music. Artists strongly associated with this resurgence include Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, and various boy bands including 'N Sync and The Backstreet Boys. These artists harkened back to artists more familiar to older members of Generation Y, and members of Generation X, including New Kids on the Block, Debbie Gibson and similar artists of the late eighties and early nineties. Arguably, a transition began as early as 2002 in which many of the artists associated with teen pop, bubblegum pop, or the "boy bands" saw waning popularity as more-rock influenced and "adult" pop such as Avril Lavigne took their place. As well as already waning interest, pop music fell to hip hop music, though never actually dying out.

By the early 2000s rap was clearly the most popular genre of music, at least in the United States, outselling rock and roll for the first time in history in 2002, although post-grunge bands such as Nickelback and punk-influenced pop like Avril Lavigne still periodically topped pop charts. In 2002 Nickelback's How You Remind Me was the #1 song of the year; a year later in 2003 50 Cent's mass hit In Da Club was released.

Rock during the early 2000s was mostly numetal, rap metal, and grunge-influenced rock bands. There were several attempted post-punk revivals by bands such as The Vines, The Strokes and Interpol initially meeting success but ultimately failing to gain commercial traction.

The mid 2000s (2004-2006)

The term emo is often used to describe a rock movement associated specifically with Generation Y, peaking in 2004-2005 with websites such as MySpace, but the term's meaning is controversial and arguably inept. The genre is producing a pseudo-counterculture with bands such as Hawthorne Heights, Taking Back Sunday and My Chemical Romance through mediums such as Fuse and MTV2. Mainstream rock radio, however, is slower to pick up on the trends as they find post-grunge bands (such as Nickelback) to be a much safer bet for their listeners as the genre generally refuses to die even despite being around so long.

Rap music of the post-gangsta and crunk subgenres were widely favored, almost entirely dominating the charts by 2003 as the teen pop explosion of the late 1990s phased out and post-grunge rock began to fall out of style to emo ("grunge-pop" like Lifehouse is still quite popular among some). Lil Jon becomes the most popular crunk figure.

In late 2005 a new rap genre becomes popular called snap music, emphasized by the style of D4L and Dem Franchize Boyz, ultimately phasing out the crunk genre as other southern rappers adapt to this new style. Snap rap remains dominant as of 2007. However, beginning in 2005 some rap fans slowly began to tire of hip hop for being formulaic. It is possible that similar to the way the hair metal of 1990 caused backlash against the genre in the early 1990s that the hip hop songs of 2006, such as Nelly's "Grillz" and D4L's "Laffy Taffy" may precipitate backlash against the current trend of glam/bling rap.

Kelly Clarkson, Gwen Stefani, and Jessica Simpson are respectively popular, showing that while pop of the late nineties variety is no longer as favorable as of 2007 (e.g. the Backstreet Boys endeavor at a comeback in 2005 was a relative flop in comparison to previous records sales in the United States, even despite going platinum), pop still upholds its place in the twenty-first century.

Following the brief post punk movements, there is a bit of new wave revival and synth pop influence emphasized by bands such as The Bravery, The Killers and Franz Ferdinand.

As MP3 downloads and iPods became popular and the increase of the Internet's use for propagating culture greatly increased during this period, many Gen Y'ers developed very eclectic, international tastes. Examples of this would be the rise of flapper type styles, and the burgeoning popularity of reggaeton throughout the United States. However, record companies claim that internet downloads have negatively impacted their sales.

The late 2000s (2007-2009)

The late 2000s includes less music in the R&B and hip-hop genre and more music that is in the alternative rock and the dance-electronica genre. Hip-hop still remains popular with artists such as Jim Jones, Mims, Fergie, Huey, Crime Mob, Down AKA Kilo but these artists were not as popular as it was in the early to mid 2000s. Also hip-hop music is currently starting to get a more or less 1990s sound with artists as Kanye West. Hip-hop is also currently adding more pop and dance hooks in it, such as the artists Timbaland and Kanye West.

Rock music is continuing to rise in popularity, especially with the rise of artists that are on MySpace. Artists such as Linkin Park, Fall Out Boy and Daughtry peak the charts. Many Christian rock artists, such as Relient K and Switchfoot, are starting to pitch in, especially after major world events such as 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina. A post grunge revival takes place as well with artists as Daughtry, Nickelback, Smashing Pumpkins and The Used.

Pop music is having a more pure pop sound as it was in the early 2000s, but it is still keeping its reputation of having hip-hop and rock like influences. Many new pop artists are bred by many TV series that are on the Disney Channel such as High School Musical and the popular hit series American Idol.

Films

Members of Generation Y are maturing during a period where most popular movies are either cult films or renditions of books, comics, graphic novels, other movies, or even other remakes (this has so far remained particularly consistent of the mid 2000s.) Movies released in the summer of 2005 were nearly all remakes or based on old television shows or comic books. This in conjunction with declining box office ticket sales and a greater variety of entertainment choices and mediums. Video entertainment movie sources include cable television as well as rented/purchased/library videos and DVDs. Movies may still be labeled blockbusters since higher ticket prices mean ongoing breaking of sales records; but no meaningful 'blockbuster' (or made-for-TV event), with theater ticket sales (or single-night viewership) has been driven by Generation Y. The closest TV event is perhaps "Survivor: Season 1". Each Harry Potter book release gets greater emotional anticipation than the movie releases. "Star Wars: Episodes I,II and III" are in the running for Gen Y movie blockbusters. Meanwhile, some segments of both Gen Y and Gen X eagerly monitor and indulge in video game releases. (Gen X had the first home videogame consoles and now play games with their children.) Given the lack of a singular point to monitor viewing -- movie and network TV viewing is now more dispersed in time and space via DVDs, reruns, and internet chatroom summaries; it is harder for social scientists to recognize and comment on an entertainment piece with lasting meaning to a generation. To distinguish a simply popular flick versus a shaping one (emotionally or logical) and to distinguish a narrow cult flick from a nationwide or worldwide one increasingly requires some hindsight, rather than recognizing it as it happens. (Products labeled "collectible" will generally not be the best, most valued memorabilia.)

While preference in film inevitably varies from individual to individual, popular films with Generation Y include cult-hits such as Napoleon Dynamite, Mean Girls, Sin City, Finding Nemo, Fight Club and American Beauty as well as main-stream hits like The Matrix, the Lord of the Rings series, and the Harry Potter series. Also, older movies that were released when Gen X-ers were teens, such as John Hughes' The Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, and Sixteen Candles are quite popular, as are Quentin Tarantino movies like Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs and the more recent Kill Bill series. More notorious Gen X films are only now gaining more attention from the Y Generation and iGeneration, as they begin to search for more meaningful, edgy, and thought-provoking filmmaking. Part of Generation Y's self-definition through films occurs by quoting and citing scenes and dialogue from popular films such as Napoleon Dynamite and Office Space. Napoleon Dynamite — a film set in the early 2000s but with a pointed nostalgia for the 1980s — will most likely serve as a reference point for Generation Y nostalgia. Movies such as The Matrix, Memento and Waking Life lead the generation to heavily question the nature of their reality.

One common movie trend of the 2000s is youth turning to indie, avant-garde, and much older films in reaction to the perceived vacancy found in the mainstream movies of the new millennium. Thirteen seemed to have had an enormous impact upon Generation Y teens, as did Ghost World, Donnie Darko, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, I ♥ Huckabees, The Virgin Suicides, Garden State and Sin City. Gen Y has also seen a trend towards music video directors making the switch to mainstream cinema. Directors such as Spike Jonze, Michel Gondry and Mark Romanek, who directed the Gen Y cult classics Being John Malkovich, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and One Hour Photo respectively have gone some way towards helping define Gen Y cinema's abstract, hyper-real style.

Another interesting aspect of Gen Y film culture is that films, while individually successful, are becoming more identifiable by their directors. Many popular Gen Y films include blocs of films done by directors like Quentin Tarantino, M. Night Shyamalan, Peter Jackson, David Fincher, Wes Anderson, David Lynch, Darren Aronofsky, Kevin Smith, Steven Soderbergh, Richard Linklater, Cameron Crowe and Sam Raimi.

It should also be noted that while movie stars' careers are much less fickle than those of musicians, many well-established celebrities such as Tom Cruise have experienced a very noticeable decline in popularity for various reasons while Harry Potter, LOTR, Lost, and the Disney Channel are producing new stars, some of which are part of Generation Y itself.

Television

TV overview

Similar to the case with movies, members of iGeneration and Gen Y at large are purported to watch much less television in comparison to members of past generations. This is largely attributed to the popularity of the Internet, which was formerly relegated to so-called "nerds" or "geeks". In fact, in 2004 internet viewing surpassed television watching. Mundane programming and lacking television series which honestly depict (and thus appeal to) Gen Y are some contributors of this. Although reality shows are viewed by some, it seems most reality series are actually more popular amongst older adults as many are bored with the trend. American Idol however is the only mainstream TV Show in which has a driving force in appealing to Generation Yers. Most shows that appeal to the Gen Y as of 2007 are on Fox, ABC Family, or on Disney Channel , though many Gen Yers are giving sour reviews to many new shows on those channels.

Typically, members of Generation Y do not follow news and current events outside pop culture, as many are bored with the news, and many seem to not care for what's going on -- a reality that is hurting the news industry, since most who follow it are of older age groups and very few young people are replacing them. Anderson Cooper's program is popular amongst Yers who follow news, as is The Daily Show, which has become the most popular news program for the 18-25 demographic despite being a "fake" news program.

Animated sitcoms, such as Family Guy, The Simpsons,, South Park, and Futurama are very popular among Gen Y and latter Gen X. Traditional sitcoms fare less well among Gen Y. American Idol is also popular among Gen Y, as they are the number one group that votes.

Comedy Central, which hosts South Park, and FOX are popular channels among Gen Y. CW is also somewhat popular (e.g. Buffy the Vampire Slayer); but its popularity among teens is below that of its late-'90s peak, and the network began targeting an older audience in 2005.

Other popular networks for Generation Y are Fuse, G4, VH1, Spike TV, Cartoon Network (mostly Adult Swim), Nickelodeon, Disney Channel, MTV, The N, and MTV2. (The children's networks may be of particular note. Previous generations had Sesame Street (PBS), Saturday morning cartoons, and after-school shows such as The Mickey Mouse club and Kids, Inc. Cable first became widespread in the 1980s, with the above children's stations for Gen Y (while Gen X was getting its MTV).

SpongeBob SquarePants seems to be the most popular cartoon currently in this generation, and has the potential to become the flagship cartoon for the Gen Y. Although this is being disputed by Pokemon, as it too has flagship status in certain regions of the world, especially in Japan.

Major professional sports leagues are also struggling to appeal to the mostly music-oriented Generation Y. Because very few Generation Yers tend to follow sports or even play sports, this in turn has made the sports attendance in turmoil in recent years, as many older sports fans blame the Gen Y for not following sports as much as the other older generations tend to do. Generation Yers tend to view sports as "old-fashioned" or "boring", also sports during this time period are beginning to have a bad view among Gen Y members, as with the retirement of Michael Jordan from the NBA, and the Major League Baseball scandal with steroids which has scared off the interest of sports from the Gen Y. However, this is not always the case--many Gen Yers claim to follow football (soccer) at a higher rate than their older peers, for instance, and the meteoric rise of mixed martial arts is largely a Generation Y phenomonon.

Acceptance of adult-oriented media

Although the baby boomers were considered controversial during their heyday in the 1960s and 1970s and Gen X saw the beginnings of looser censorship standards, Gen Y was the first generation that pretty much lived with censorship labels in place — such as the PG-13 rating, the Parental Advisory sticker, and the V-chip — rather than the transition to them. Gen X felt the transition, impacted by these cultural battles but not yet able to influence the outcomes. More appropriate, perhaps, is the Boomer's increasing the legal drinking age to 21, so some Gen Xers were grandfathered while some siblings had to wait the three years from 18 to 21. For early Gen Xers, this waiting period included the College Years, and may have contributed to some party riots.

As technology boomed in the 1990s and the then-young-adults Generation X gained influence over the media Gen Y, at the time children, gained easier access to explicit material. By about 1993 crude language began to become acceptable on television and within a few years television networks such as FOX and cable channels such as Comedy Central pushed the boundaries of what could be shown on TV. This trend peaked in the late Nineties with the rise of the Internet and ultra-controversial shows such as South Park went on the air.

The censorship changes of the 1990s were not all more allowing of explicit and offensive material. While graphic depictions of blood and gore, and certain depictions of sexual activity became more commonplace, swearing is still censored as of 2007. Some curse words (such as "fuck" and "shit") are still quite taboo and censored in various media. While certain forms of disrespectful activity are now at least somewhat acceptable on television and radio, other offensive material such as violence against women, and certain types of racial humor/slurs are no longer acceptable. Children's programming tends to be much more rapid-paced and crude than it was prior to the early to mid 1990s, although children's movies tend to be more politically correct (a rare example of a modern non-PC cartoon is Recess) . Also, during the early 2000s Nickelodeon became less focused on vulgarity, reducing the prevalence of certain institutions such as Slime Time.

Because modern programming generally does not appeal to this generation, slightly older 1990s television series such as Daria, My So-Called Life, Seinfeld, and Buffy all have their legions of devoted fans. Even early '90s sitcoms such as Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Saved by the Bell, and Full House appeal to some. Additionally, the long-running sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live is fairly popular amongst certain subcultures of Generation Y, despite beginning in 1975, largely because of its relative comeback in the early 1990s and a later resurgence toward the end of the decade with a cast featuring tremendously popular comedians such as Will Ferrell.

Anime and "mature cartoons" are also popular: Cowboy Bebop and Aqua Teen Hunger Force both quickly became cult-hits on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim program block.

Literature

Many critics point to the fact that Gen Y lacks any consistent literary figure [1] that represents the generation, as all previous generations seem to have had. The only possibility is because video games and the Internet have taken up much of Gen Y reading time. The only notable exception may be the Harry Potter series.

Politics

Most have few memories of the Cold War (apart from perhaps action movies, toys, or video games with such themes), or at best remember the end of the Cold War but not necessarily the events leading to that event, and came of age during the technology-driven changes in the years of President Bill Clinton and President George W. Bush. They were the first to grow up with the Internet in a developed, prolific form, including music downloads, instant messaging and cellular phones, which came to fruition at about 2001 . Even before they could type and mouse-click their way through the Internet, they grew up with modern media choices: television remotes to encourage channel flipping; cable, with its wealth of channels among which to switch; and multiple TVs (with video recorders and video game systems) in a household. These TV choices reduced the commonality (and centralized control) of the viewing experience. The 'Who Shot J.R.' (Ewing of the TV series Dallas) experience is dispersed in both place (all the family around the TV, repeated across all households in the timezone) as well as in time (video recorders). Similarly, DVD popularity and large-screen home TVs have dispersed the impact of TV/movie events, while viewer voting shows like American Idol have made media more interactive. They are the Generation that has primarily experienced the War in Iraq and the resulting political devisions it has brought.

Other recent social changes include immigration and developments in race relations. Generation Y members are generally tolerant towards multiculturalism and internationalism. It is also not uncommon for post-1970s-born children to date people outside their race or ethnic group, as well as having a wide range in friends. This growing trend towards interracial relationships sometimes causes friction with their parents or elders, who grew up in a society where interracial romance was considered taboo and even banned in a number of states until the late 1960s. The state of Alabama formally repealed its anti-miscegenation laws only in 2000 . As well, many people in this group are themselves multiracial in background, there being 6.8 million (roughly the population of Philadelphia) Americans of mixed-race ancestry as of the 2000 census.

Opinions on Gay rights and gender roles are also being adjusted and redefined as each generation emerges into adulthood. Generation Y is known for having among the most wide-ranging opinions on such issues, possibly because they haven't yet encountered a personal situation where their actions/reactions cause them to consciously choose sides. Most American youth are largely tolerant of sexual minorities; the frequent depiction of sexual minorities in pop culture may have largely desensitized them to a previously taboo topic. However, Generation Y tends to be more spiritual and religious than their parents, and discourse on social issues exists between the more liberal and more conservative members of Generation Y. With Generations X and Y in their child-bearing years, situations related to these topics will become more observable, hence generationally coherent opinions may become more clear: to adopt or attempt to change then the policies of their Silent and Boomer parents.

This generation was the subject of much concern during the 1990s. The Columbine High School shooting, youth participation in street gangs, hate groups, and problems such as teen pregnancy fueled a wave of action by schools and other organizations, despite youth violence, teen pregnancies, etc. falling sharply throughout the 1990s and into the twenty-first century .

The 2004 Presidential election was the first election in which Generation Y was able to vote in significant numbers. Of the votes cast by those aged 18-29, John Kerry got 54%, George W. Bush got 46%.