The Mysterious Disappearing Conservative Generation
by Thomas M. Sipos
In 1984, TIME magazine reported that young people (defined as 18-24) were lopsidedly supporting Reagan for reelection. The Big Chill crowd was said to be perplexed that voters born between 1960-66 should want to "turn back the clock" on the "idealistic" Boomers' "hard won gains."
The polls were no surprise to me. When I was a child in the Sixties (rather than a child of the Sixties), my mother would point out hippies to us kids, and scowl, "Hippie yippie! Yuck!" Naturally, whenever my sister or I spotted one, we'd eagerly tug our mother, pointing and shouting, "Hippie yippie! Hippie yippie!"
In the Seventies, hippies remained fodder for schoolyard laughs, us kids mocking and mimicking them. "Oh wow man! Groovy! The colors, the colors!" In 1982, NBC officially recognized our generation's rejection of the New Left in its sitcom, Family Ties.
Remember Family Ties's Alex Keaton? Young Republican son to "Woodstock generation" parents. For a few years, Alex Keaton symbolized the younger generation's Rightward shift. Network sitcoms are the last to reflect cultural trends (lagging behind music, film, and cable TV), so TIME's 1984 article only confirmed the obvious.
Manhattan Sharks, my satire about aspiring yuppies ca. 1983 (written as a screenplay in 1987) shares this underlying theme. The corporate yuppies are "idealistic" ex-hippies, pining for Woodstock. The cubicle wage slaves are conservative recent grads in their early '20s.
But mysteriously, Generation Keaton (my term, but not my concept) soon disappeared down the memory hole. Boomers, said pundits, were followed by Xers, cynical slackers eschewing Left and Right alike. Generation Keaton was divvied between Boomers and Xers, erased and forgotten. "Proving" that no demographic group ever supported Reagan, aside from old white men. Sure, maybe a few atavistic stragglers among the young, all redneck trash or blueblood fratboys. But certainly no generational shift Rightward. Nothing to contravene history's inexorably progressive march.
Of course, I don't believe Alex Keaton ever represented an entire generation -- but that's only because no one person or idea can represent a generation. Just as no one person can represent a race, gender, or ethnicity. What's noteworthy is not that the media recognized a "conservative generation," but that afterward, it felt compelled to erase it.
To exploit its strategy of divisive identity politics, the Left must first create a false identity (through "consciousness raising"), which they hope will metastasize into a grievance group led by perpetually outraged, self-anointed leaders. Generation Keaton hindered the Left's attempt to claim youth as a grievance group. They hope to do better with the artificially-created Xers.
Generational labels are a false identity, but hold a seductive appeal. Insecure individuals are comforted by speaking for others (even if no one asked them to). It is frightening to stand alone in a crowd, but empowering to represent a multitude -- especially if, being young, you can also claim to represent "the future" (as opposed to merely representing your tiny part in the future).
In a recent documentary, a dotcom CEO characterized "his" generation as savvy people determined to succeed in corporate America -- but on their own terms. It was, he said, what differentiated Xers from Boomers. Really? Is it what differentiates the "Xer" Mexican migrant farm worker from the Boomer Mexican migrant farm worker? Or the "Xer" Marine drill sergeant from the Boomer Marines? Or the "Xer" urine-soaked bum from the Boomer and Greatest Generation urine-soaked bums sleeping in a nearby gutter?
Or are these generational labels just another self-portrait from a liberal elite, more visions from their relentless navel-gazings? No wonder they balked at Generation Keaton. These narcissists (from every generation) balk at any portrait that fails to reflect their own image.
Artificial generational labels also permit delusions of youth. Regarding the hysteria over Curt Cobain's suicide, one woman said that only those "in their twenties and early thirties" could understand. A 34-year-old watching TV could thus imagine that "really" he was spiritually 20, unlike those old fogies of 35. A twentysomething of 29 can imagine that he's kindred spirit to those of 20, rather than to those of 30. The incentive is to identify youthward.
Because a youthful image is appealing, people tweak generational lines, hoping to shift themselves into younger demos. Perhaps this is why Gen X was continuously redefined as starting at age 18. At first 18-28, later 18-30, then 18-35... (By this logic, Gen X will someday be people 18-108). Others Boomers try to segue young by resurrecting Generation Keaton (cleansed of its dangerous conservatism) as Tweeners or Generation Jones.
I'm sorry Generation Keaton disappeared down the memory hole because Family Ties and Manhattan Sharks reflect cultural truths. Yet I recognize they're only a slice of truth, not the whole cake. Rush Limbaugh is as much a Boomer as Tom Hayden. No one can represent an entire generation -- including hippies, slackers, and dotcom CEOs.
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Thomas M. Sipos's books include Vampire Nation, Manhattan Sharks, and Halloween Candy.
Article copyright 2001 by Thomas M. Sipos