Like Slaw, I'm not sure I agree with your first premise. Xers weren't exactly hipsters, but they were definitely ironic.
Your second point is spot-on though. Every generation DOES go through this, since the beginning of time...or at least since the beginning of mass consumerism. It's not unique to Millennials at all. Although saying so is…
Like Slaw, I'm not sure I agree with your first premise. Xers weren't exactly hipsters, but they were definitely ironic.
Your second point is spot-on though. Every generation DOES go through this, since the beginning of time...or at least since the beginning of mass consumerism. It's not unique to Millennials at all. Although saying so is pretty damn Millennial!
Freddie posits that everyone liked Star Wars, but did they? I'd be willing to bet that people over 40 back then (Silent Gen and Greatest Gen) thought Star Wars was a bunch of silly laser nonsense devoid of a soul.
Disclaimer: I like Star Wars, was never bullied for it.
However.
I don't see a contradiction between Star Wars being massively successful and kids being bullied for liking it 30+ years ago. Bullies will attack whatever the kids they target seem vulnerable about. So if you're an earnest dork who would run around on the playground being Luke Skywalker or whoever, I can absolutely see bullies targeting that.
No, it won't because Star War sitself was the underdog, but that degree of earnestness about it might have been.
I think the difference is that in the late 70s/early 80s, Star Wars was just mainstream culture, with people who were really into it being kind of superfans rather than people who had a non-mainstream interest. I also remember that there was a strong Star Wars vs Star Trek rivelry in fandom - I'm not sure if that's still a thing today.
"Xers weren't exactly hipsters" I'd argue that Xers weren't any one thing. But as I outline in the above comment, the key figures in hipsterdom were definitely GenXers.
Like Slaw, I'm not sure I agree with your first premise. Xers weren't exactly hipsters, but they were definitely ironic.
Your second point is spot-on though. Every generation DOES go through this, since the beginning of time...or at least since the beginning of mass consumerism. It's not unique to Millennials at all. Although saying so is pretty damn Millennial!
Freddie posits that everyone liked Star Wars, but did they? I'd be willing to bet that people over 40 back then (Silent Gen and Greatest Gen) thought Star Wars was a bunch of silly laser nonsense devoid of a soul.
Disclaimer: I like Star Wars, was never bullied for it.
However.
I don't see a contradiction between Star Wars being massively successful and kids being bullied for liking it 30+ years ago. Bullies will attack whatever the kids they target seem vulnerable about. So if you're an earnest dork who would run around on the playground being Luke Skywalker or whoever, I can absolutely see bullies targeting that.
No, it won't because Star War sitself was the underdog, but that degree of earnestness about it might have been.
I think the difference is that in the late 70s/early 80s, Star Wars was just mainstream culture, with people who were really into it being kind of superfans rather than people who had a non-mainstream interest. I also remember that there was a strong Star Wars vs Star Trek rivelry in fandom - I'm not sure if that's still a thing today.
"Xers weren't exactly hipsters" I'd argue that Xers weren't any one thing. But as I outline in the above comment, the key figures in hipsterdom were definitely GenXers.