I know there's a whole big hoo ha of "there's no such thing as grunge!" "Generation X never happened!" and classifications and genres and yappity yap..but ignore that for a moment, and thake the listed films out of whatever context you viewed them in etc.
Would most people agree that many films of the time
ie - clerks, chasing amy, fight club, singles, the novel generation X may well have had a sort of conventional 'femme fatale',
clerks - Caitlin Bree
chasing amy - Alyssa
Fight club - Marla etc etc yadi yadah

but the overall representation of leading female roles in general were moving away from stereotypes of big tits, blonde and no brains? Or at least portraying more idiosyncracies? (sp, i know)
..this hasn't been researched very well. I only listed those texts above as I think I know those best but yeha. They generally escape the hollywoodism of boy meets girl, gets married ideologies I think. Or at least remain some what intangable throughout and in the resolution.

anyway, anyone got any idea what I'm talking about?
I'm particularly interested in speaking to ANYONE who's read (not necessarily enjoyed nor a huge fan of) Douglas Coupland.

Okay,

I have kind of considered myself to be at the tail end of Gen X. I was born in 1974. Most articles on Gen X say it ends at about 1976 or so. . .

The best definition I have been able to come up with is that you grew up seeing Schoolhouse Rock! on Saturday morning cartoons. . .

I have read Coupland's Generation X, and Microserfs, and have seen all the movies on your list (And am a fan of all of them.)

That said, the main common thread that I can find in them is that they are solidly aimed at . . .well. . . geeks.

I say this as someone who:
can quote Monty Python until your ears bleed,
knows what the letters in SHAZAM stand for,
knows what Heisenberg was uncertain about,
knows that John Ratzenberger had a bit part in Empire Strikes Back,
knows who the Knights Templar were, and why the Pope was po'd at them,
knows the 7 Principles of Kwanzaa, and is white,
knows why Vulcans freak out every seven years,
knows what y=mx+b should graph as,
can name the capital of Zaire, without an atlas,
knows that Spock was only half-Vulcan,
knows Dr. Frank N. Furter's home planet,
knows that Triangle Man hates Person Man,
and is *still* not working up to his potential. . .

(Just making sure that my geek credentials are in order and up-to snuff.)

That said, I think that Gen X is the first generation to be pop-culture saturated. If you look at all the works you referenced, all made by "Gen X auteurs," you can see they are obsessed with obscure bits of pop-culture floatsam and jetsam.

Kevin Smith wears it on his sleeve, but even Fight Club has its moments. One of the running lines in it references an old Reader's Digest series on parts of the body. ("I am Joe's Liver" et. al.)

I can see your point about the works escaping "hollywoodism," but maybe I am missing your larger theme.

And now that I am ranting and rambling into incoherence, what did you want to dicuss about them?

Please don't read any of this as a flame at all, I just want to know what direction you want the discussion to take. Let us know!

__________________

"Forget your stereotypes, your fears. Straight people are not what you
have been led to believe. They're a wonderfully diverse bunch, though the flamboyant ones hog all the media attention."

Ummmmmm....... yeah........ what they said! *nodding*

__________________

The practice of putting women on pedestals began to die out when it was discovered that they could give orders better from there.~ Betty Grable

If I wanted your opinion, I'd remove the duct tape and ask you for it.~ Me
<~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~>
One man's dream is another man's nightmare~~~~> §¤ Lilith ¤§
~>My Scribbles<~
==>Gone Shopping<== ~Just a Quickie~ *~A Celebration Vacation~* ~Surprises~ Sleeping With the Window Open
What Did You Do Today? Self Defense Class ~Short Sweet Snippets~ § Summer Spin § Story Challenge Submission Pajamas

All I know is that grunge was started by Neil Young, but my Dad could have been fuckin with me when he said that.

__________________
I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.

Martian you're a genius... i didn't expect anyone to reply at all.

um...I'm not entirely sure what I wanted to discuss either. I'll get back to it though. "eey"

...umm ...I, uh.... *blink, blink* .....huh?

__________________
I'm your Huckleberry.

hands out card

Martian, Super-Genius

__________________

"Forget your stereotypes, your fears. Straight people are not what you
have been led to believe. They're a wonderfully diverse bunch, though the flamboyant ones hog all the media attention."

These will be the main parts of generation x texts I'm investigating i think.

Goals
Relationships and sex
Fears
Vandalism (fight club and generation X novel exclusive)
Locations
Post modern-isms (especially generation X the novel)

I don't know, I know this could be interpreted as me asking you to do work for me. But could you sum up a few brief points of those texts that come to mind when those main themes are stated?

Are you writing a paper?




I don't work for free. . .



At least a cookie . . .

__________________

"Forget your stereotypes, your fears. Straight people are not what you
have been led to believe. They're a wonderfully diverse bunch, though the flamboyant ones hog all the media attention."

*tosses Martian a Scooby snack*

__________________

The practice of putting women on pedestals began to die out when it was discovered that they could give orders better from there.~ Betty Grable

If I wanted your opinion, I'd remove the duct tape and ask you for it.~ Me
<~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~>
One man's dream is another man's nightmare~~~~> §¤ Lilith ¤§
~>My Scribbles<~
==>Gone Shopping<== ~Just a Quickie~ *~A Celebration Vacation~* ~Surprises~ Sleeping With the Window Open
What Did You Do Today? Self Defense Class ~Short Sweet Snippets~ § Summer Spin § Story Challenge Submission Pajamas

Ranks, Ririth!

__________________

"Forget your stereotypes, your fears. Straight people are not what you
have been led to believe. They're a wonderfully diverse bunch, though the flamboyant ones hog all the media attention."

yeah I'm writing a paper. I'm not asking for anything much nor detailed, just what's the first scene..piece of dialouge whatever that comes to mind when I say *love in generation X films* or something. capiche?

cookies used to be a little euthenism between a friend & I for blowjobs so...no.

Oh yeah...

Well I know that not only does Triangle Man hate Person Man,
they had a fight and Triangle won.

__________________
Put me on wheels and I'll turn tricks.

Clever? Nah, I ran out of that years ago. But if you find this, let me know, k?
"The road goes ever on..." ~ Tolkien

In memory of my friend skip...
Go then, there are other worlds than these

could people fill this in please? especially Martian.




Age, sex, location - easy.

marital status - are ya single, seperated etc.

your 3 (or less but no more than) favourite...

books

films

albums


on a scale of one (least) to ten (most)...

how lazy do you consideryourself?

how optimistic are you towards your/the future?

how important are friends, family and relationships to you?

how important is/are money/material posessions to you?



Do you feel that...

Your parents did a good job of raising you/you had a good childhood?

Being female hinders progress in employment/ certain social situations etc.?

You are happy, generally?



What are yr views upon....

Marriage - do you believe it is still valid? do you plan to get married?

Divorce - Do you think it is right or wrong to get divorced? Would you get divorced?

Love - do you believe in love at first sight? Is there someone for everyone? have you ever been in love? are you in love? do you want to be in love?

homosexuals - are you ok with homosexuals? would you care if your friend/family member was?

death - are you scared? do you think anything happens to you after you die?

religion - Do you follow any religion? do you have any beliefs? do you believe in God?

education - is it worthwhile to you personally? what is your highest level of qualification (ie - GCSE - degree, don't state specific subject unless you insist.)