TiVo Lady

More Boomer Bashing

It's normal, I'm sure, for the younger generation to blame the older generation for the ills of the world.  After all, We Didn't Start the Fire, as Billy Joel reminded us in his legendarily bad song, from 1989.  It's just that, as Boomers, we never expected to be the older resented ones.  We were supposed to remain eternal Resentees, the Peter Pans of the Blame Game.  Watching Spring Awakening--which is still disturbing me for some reason--reminded me that I'm now part of the problem, not the solution.

I saw The Namesake last night, the new film adapted from the Jhumpa Lahiri book and directed by Mira Nair.  It's set in incredibly exotic India, Bengal I assume, and also some of the seedier parts of New York and suburban Rockland County.  The movie is a bit too long--it goes on and on and on--but that is almost part of its charm, because it made me feel as if I were living the family saga, generation after generation.  After generation, Amen!  The Indian actress, Tabu, who stars as Ashima, was born in 1970, so she's not a Boomer, but she is completely convincing as a 19-year-old bride and a 45-year-old widow with two grown children.  This kind of simple, non-Hollywood movie, is a great examples of what movies can and should do:  transport the viewer into another life in another place.  I feel now as if I've been to India--only without the hefty airfare and jet lag.  And potential stomach aches.

Here's Tabu, who's been relegated to the star sidelines, as the studio pumps up the young Indian- American co-star, Kal Penn.  As far as I'm concerned though, Tabu is the heart and soul of the film, just as the character was in the book.

The other appealing aspect of this movie, Boomer-wise, is that there is a great deal of respect for elders in Indian culture.  It's the kids who are clueless, even though a large part of the movie seems to be told from the point of view of the son, Gogol.  His youth is not only not glamourized, it's fondly indulged, with the parental units assuming that he'll become a mensch someday.  Or however you express that concept on the sub-continent.

Boomer Bashing

  Here's what I don't like: bashing boomers just because we're, well, older.  Last night, I saw Spring Awakening, a Broadway show adapted from a German play written in 1890, only enhanced with modern rock music and a 21st century outlook.  There were exactly two cast members over the age of 24, one who played all of "The Adult Women," the other who played all of "The Adult Men."  That's how the roles were listed in the Playbill.  (Please note:  the elderfolks are not even included in this press photo.)

The adults in this musical are pretty much responsible for all the bad stuff that happens here, repressing the youngster's sexual urges, forcing them into suicide, commiting near-incest and beating them with belt buckles.  You know, all the usual stuff that we older folks do to our progeny.  I know that there's artistic license, but I'm beginning to resent being the older generation bad guy whenever the youngesters get testy.  Finally, I don't mean to be so persnickety, but these German youngsters are all inspired to make a better world for themselves and their children with their youthful rebellion.  And all I can think of is this:  yes, well, you'll start two world wars, enslave and kill millions of innocent people, and, finally, oppress and torture half of your own people.

By the way, when you buy "stage seats" to Spring Awakening, you get a list of instructions and admonitions and warnings.  They look like this:

Now, back to boomer bashing.

Take Gawker, a site I used to love for its snarky gossip about media and New York culture.  More and more lately, however, I notice that there's a not-so-subtle nastiness in the posts about anybody over the age of, say, 40.  A recent post about Cindy Adams--shooting fish in a barrel this is--called her "gossip dowager," and referred to her as she "emerges from the gerontology ward this morning."  Low blow, way too easy, too.

I'm keeping my eyes open for further egregious instances of boomer bashing.