Bat Men

With the release of Batman vs Superman begins the fourth new film version of Batman in the last 50 years. In those four versions, views of this superhero can be seen changing as societal attitudes do. Generational turnover, too, appears to play a role.

If you haven't been here before, please take a look at the Introduction to Generations, the Generational Attributes and the Four Stories in order to get up to speed on how all this works, and the terms being used.

Batman: The Movie (1966 movie and television series)

This Batman is hardly hidden at all. He has a secret identity that he protects, but spends time on the streets, and works directly with the police. Robin is by his side throughout. Only criminals bring up his status as vigilante - the dangers of the day (and obvious government support) are sufficient to overlook that otherwise. He is effectively invincible, always ready with an unexpectedly specialized tool from his utility belt. His personal flaws are not even glossed over, but completely ignored in favor of his positive role as a savior of society in difficult times. 

Batman (1989 Tim Burton movie)

Michael Keaton's Batman is always in the shadows, trying to solve crimes without letting people know he exists. He fights mob corruption in the first movie, political corruption in Batman Returns. While his sanity is questioned by other characters, it's clear enough to the audience that he's the good guy.  He is more vulnerable than before, not always able to protect himself and others. although rarely outwitted or overcome. Robin shows up in the second sequel, Batman Forever, although having a sidekick doesn't seem to work well in this incarnation. 

Batman Begins (2005 Christopher Nolan film, start of The Dark Knight trilogy )

Bruce Wayne here has flaws that are shown from the start, and he needs to overcome many - including, in this origin story, a mentor who is not all that he seems.  His struggles are not only with unstoppable super-villains but with his own issues, inadequacies, and weaknesses. His vulnerabilities are specifically noted in this film and its sequels, where he is frequently injured and captured. Robin is absent, only suggested as a possible successor near the end of the third movie. 

This can be seen as a progression from a working-within-the-system Silent Adam West (b. 1928) to  an outside-the-mostly-corrupt-system Boomer Keaton (b. 1951) to completely-outside-and self- supported Generation X Bale (b. 1974). At the same time, Batman's flawed nature is being amplified, and whether the man himself is really good is questioned more.

This latest version of Batman is supposed to be a reboot, definitely different and separate from The Dark Knight. What can be expected from it? With Ben Affleck (b. 1972), it's another Generation X portrayal, so it's not likely to be a Heroic version, yet. It does appear to be a Crisis period, considering the level of destruction threatened by the villain.  While Batman has flaws, more time seems spent pointing out problems inherent in the alien savior Superman. When forced to take on bigger threats than either of them can handle alone, this Gen Xer appears forced to fight as part of a team. The other members of that team are played by Millennial actors Henry Caville and Gal Gadot.  Teamwork comes easily to Millennials, like other Hero generations, and it would make sense to have a strong team anchored by those who are good at working together. The older Batman, meanwhile, will be the one who finds teaming up difficult.  

King Lear

The Tragedy of King Lear by William Shakespeare is one of the Bard's best-known plays.

King Lear: Cordelia's Farewell 

By Edwin Austin Abbey - Metropolitan Museum of Art, Public Domain, 

https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=38699090

If you haven't been here before, please take a look at the Introduction to Generations, the Generational Attributes and the Four Stories in order to get up to speed on how all this works, and the terms being used.

In case you aren't up on the plot, Lear  is a more-tragic-than-usual tragedy. Which is to say, the title character makes one main mistake, one that isn't even that obviously wrong, but which leads to downfall for his family and his land.  Hamlet changes his plans far too often, Macbeth keeps killing to gain the throne, but Lear mostly screws up at the very start.

The king, looking to retire, decides to divide his kingdom among his offspring - three daughters. It doesn't work out well.  He asks for declarations of love, with which the two older daughters gladly flatter him. The youngest daughter, Cordelia, refuses to wax eloquent on her love for him, for which he disowns and banishes her.

Once the transfer of power is complete, of course, the other two daughters abandon him, leaving him to wander the land with his Fool and the disguised Earl of Kent. The daughters eventually go to war, the abandonment drives him insane, and while Cordelia eventually makes it back to her homeland, it's only to be captured and imprisoned. Her rescue does arrive eventually ... just a little too late.

In the generational framework, this story doesn't require much investigation. The possible options appear quickly.

Setting: A tale of civil war, strife in the royal family, and a king overthrown has the marks of a Crisis all over it.

Story: Artist. Everyone is Doomed or Damned, almost from the first act, done in by their least favorable attributes. 

Characters: In the midst of a Crisis, there should be older Prophets, mid-life Nomads, and young adult Hero generations. The elder daughters Regan and Goneril certainly work as Nomads, nothing but Bad from the start. (For those who think them Ruthless enough to be Prophets, note that they are driven by greed and jealousy, with principles never having any influence on their actions.) Cordelia, the third and youngest daughter, loyal and unconcerned, seems like a Hero.

We don't have an elder Prophet, though. With "four score years" behind him, in the midst of a Crisis, Lear's age matches that of an Artist. His attempt to settle his kingdom in a just manner ("...that future strife/ may be prevented now") supports this. Additional Artist attributes, such as being neurotic, indecisive and process-driven, make appearances as well.

Taken together, this is another a notable story that has consistency across generational attributes: Story type matches with primary character, and Setting matches with the Characters as a group. Perhaps that's a basic way to keep your story believable and understandable.

Gen X movies by Generational Story

Going through that previous list of Generation X movies, here's a quick and dirty assessment of which of the Four Stories they are. 

If you haven't been here before, please take a look at the Introduction to Generations, the Generational Attributes and (especially for this one) the Four Stories in order to get up to speed on how this works and terms being used.

1)  The Bad News Bears (1976)
Redemption - misfits make good. Even if the championship game doesn't work out exactly as everyone might have preferred. 

2)  Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982)
Cameron Crowe 

This is an ensemble piece with a lot of threads, so it's difficult, but on balance it seems like a Prophet story, with people figuring out who they should be.

3)  Sixteen Candles (1984)

Claire isn't especially flawed, but she is saved - Redeemed - by others, particularly Jake. Although it's reasonable to say that she is finding out who she should be (i.e. a Prophet story).

4) Heathers (1988)

Redemption - Veronica isn't too flawed to start, but she has her issues that she has to work through

5)  Clerks (1995)

Redemption - Dante figures things out by the end.

6) Go (1999)

Hero - People working together, in different combinations, succeeding but with sacrifice (Ronna gets hurt, Simon gets shot, etc.)

7) High Fidelity (2000)

Redemption - flawed Rob figures himself out.

8) The Royal Tenenbaums: (2001)

Redemption, but for the father Royal,  who is of the Silent (Artist) generation. Although the Gen X Tenenbaum children are saved, as well.

9) Up in the Air (2009)

Anti-Redemption - Ryan Bingham (Clooney's character) is unable to be saved.

10) The Big Short (2015) 

Redemption - Flawed people all around, making as good as they can with the skills they have. 

We end up with six definite Redemption stories, plus one story of failed Redemption that is (for reasons we'll come back to) the Tragedy version of the Nomad story. There is one story split between Redemption and Prophet, one Prophet story, and one Hero story.  It's hardly scientific - both the original list and this assessment is too subjective - but it's interesting to see how the story type does seem to match more times than not.

Movies of Generation X

National Geographic has a list of films that purport to "sum up" Generation X as part of their series on those people born from 1961 through 1981.  As a member of that group, I was not impressed with the list.  It's focused on very narrow period of the Gen X lifespan, covering the 1990s plus a year or two either side. It's an important enough period - it shows a recognition of a new, separate identity -  but it misses formative and later adult years.

And most of the films aren't by Xers. 

I've put together an alternative list, with these goals:  

• Characters that are recognizably Generation X, that is, born in the years 1961 through 1981, and displaying common characteristics.  
• Covering as wide a range as possible - Generation X has been around for 55 years, so this should show a majority of that period. 
• As much as possible consists of movies written and / or directed by Gen X. 

Finding a starting point for this was an exercise of its own.  Star Wars influenced Generation X, but it doesn't actually represent them. Devil-child movies - Rosemary's Baby, The Exorcist -  were common starting in the 1960s, and noted by Strauss & Howe as representing society's view of children. Still, rather than being about those children, the films themselves are about society's attitudes towards children, religion, and change. There's no choice but to move forward to when they are starting to get involved in activities with others of their age, which is why we start with:

1)  The Bad News Bears (1976)
A movie about young misfits and delinquents, thrown together on a single Little League baseball team, and coached by an alcoholic. The introduction of a lone female pitcher, Amanda (Tatum O'Neal, b. 1963) represents changes in attitudes towards gender roles. Kids using profanity, sexual propositions involving young teenagers, an adult mentor swigging cheap beer and passing it to his charges - it's a fine introduction to this Generation. 

2)  Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982)
Cameron Crowe was holding a mirror up for Generation X, even before that label was common. His scripts and (later) directorial efforts, from this debut through Jerry Maguire, were always very aware of the pressures and expectations on the kids who were just a little younger than him.  Fast Times in particular was based on undercover work done by Crowe at an actual Southern California high school, and here already we see conflicts over love and sex, career and success, street smarts and wisdom. 

3)  Sixteen Candles (1984)

John Hughes, while a Boomer himself (b.1957), is identified with Gen X because of the influence of his teen movies. which treated high schoolers as human beings rather than bundles of hormones. The Breakfast Club and Pretty in Pink are perhaps too universal to be considered only about X.  Sixteen Candles, though, starring Molly Ringwald as girl navigating high school tribulations on her sixteenth birthday, is very definitely a product of its time, to the point that it's hardly understandable by millennials.   (How'd they forget her birthday?)

4) Heathers (1988)
Is there any other generation that would suggest a high school movie about faking suicides among the popular kids - much less celebrate such a pitch black comedy? Christian Slater and Winona Ryder became archetypical X representatives on-screen. Written by Daniel Waters (b 1962) it can be seen as the start of Generation X's influence behind the camera, as well. 

5)  Clerks (1995)
Young Xers in dead-end jobs, talking about videos, the future, and yes, sex. Profane, confused, too smart for their own good but not yet able to do anything about it.  Although writer/director Kevin Smith - who shot the film at the convenience store where he worked - did manage to get  himself out of that job, do what he likes to do, and do something about it all. 

6) Go (1999)
Beyond its perfect for the era culture-sub-referencing and non-linear plot, it's also about some very normal people, getting involved in complex, illegal and dangerous schemes, just to get by. That may not be a Gen X  attribute, exactly, but street-smart Xers suceeding in dangerous projects does seem to be a common trope. Writer John August would go on to work with Tim Burton, while Doug Liman (following up on the success of Swingers) would become known for action films such as Mr & Mrs Smith. 

7) High Fidelity (2000)
John Cusack is Gen X's patron saint of romance, in all its forms. He's the ordinary college student just trying to get laid in The Sure Thing, the wise but uncertain recent graduate in Say Anything, the hitman reconsidering his high school prom date in Grosse Pointe Blank. We could probably sum up Generation X just with his movies. Here, he's Rob Gordon, record store owner and music aficionado, in an unusual romantic comedy. This one starts with a breakup, then becomes a one-man history of Gen X relationships, presented via Rob's Top 5 Breakups. ("Only people of a certain disposition are frightened of being alone for the rest of their lives at the age of 26, and we were of that disposition.")

8) The Royal Tenenbaums: (2001)
Wes Anderson shows us siblings dealing with a father who has been a lifelong problem - what's more Gen X than that. It also shows a rarely seen side of Generation X success, which is often fleeting and incomplete. We burn out, but not in romantic ways. 

9) Up in the Air (2009)
George Clooney (b. 1961) plays a modern incarnation of Willy Loman, traveling the country firing people, too focused on the here and now and his 10 million mile goal to realize that life is passing him by - or already has. A cautionary tale, not a how-to guide. 

10) The Big Short (2015)
A fitting end to the list, a caper where our heroes really are the good guys, unable to stop the train wreck as they work to profit from it. Adam McKay moves away from the broad comedies done with Will Ferrell to a more focused and intellectual comedy about the mortgage crisis, its effects, and the people who realized it was going to happen.

Honorable mentions: 

I really wanted to include a film from Quentin Tarantino (b. 1963).  While he is influential, though, his films aren't really about his generation. Even if Butch - young at the end of the Vietnam War - clearly is a member.

Swingers (1996) is significant, all about Generation X, and involved a whole raft of talented folks who went on to shake up Hollywood.

Wayne's World, Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure, Zoolander - Xers made stupid a new word for Cool.

Sound City: This documentary directed by Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl has a great combination of Gen X musicians with earlier musicians that influenced them.

Oceans 11 (2001) Bad guys, mostly Gen X,  treated as the good guys - and on top of that, allowed to succeed with their nefarious plans. Plus it's Steven Soderbergh (1963), one of the earliest Gen X directors.