# Generation X Movies - Let's Find Some Good Ones **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 28, 2019, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/generation-x-movies-lets-find-some-good-ones/834645 "2019-05-28T15:02:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![journeyman\_southpaw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5e9695/32.png) [@journeyman\_southpaw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/journeyman_southpaw)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2019, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/generation-x-movies-lets-find-some-good-ones/834645/21 "2019-05-28T22:33:35Z")
Garden State seems like a Gen X movie to me. It’s from 2004 so it’s a little bit after the films being named, but the main characters are 26 years old so they’re late Gen X-ers. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2019, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/generation-x-movies-lets-find-some-good-ones/834645/22 "2019-05-28T22:41:30Z")
> [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > Swingers defines the decade and my 20s for me, and I never even lived in LA, aspired to be an actor, learned how to swing dance or dated a girl named after a quiche. Yes, Swingers is a good one for this list! ETA: Oh, Office Space would work, too. Came out in 1999, but definitely has a Gen X vibe to it; the characters are certainly Gen Xers in it, and not Millennials. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2019, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/generation-x-movies-lets-find-some-good-ones/834645/23 "2019-05-28T23:21:45Z")
I wonder what the record for “most careers launched by a movie” in the Gen X genre is? I was going to guess Reality Bites, but not really as many as I was expecting; Winona Ryder and Ethan Hawke were known before that movie. I don’t think you can say Ben Stiller’s career was really taken off by that movie. So that leaves us with Janeane Garofalo, Renee Zellwegger, and Steve Zahn and, for extra soundtrack points, Lisa Loeb, who wasn’t in the picture but her song sure was. (Note that I am not saying the movie was the FIRST movie for those people – it was not, in the case of the actors - just that it was arguably the performance that really got them going.) Not bad. Can any top that? ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2019, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/generation-x-movies-lets-find-some-good-ones/834645/24 "2019-05-28T23:27:08Z")
[_Career Opportunities_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Career_Opportunities_(film)). ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2019, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/generation-x-movies-lets-find-some-good-ones/834645/25 "2019-05-28T23:30:36Z")
The Lost Boys ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2019, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/generation-x-movies-lets-find-some-good-ones/834645/26 "2019-05-28T23:35:44Z")
> [@Jonathan\_Chance](#): > > You see, I’m really looking for films that try to define the generation here. The sorts of things that show Gen X and our communal personality. > > For instance, from your list I’d argue that both Top Gun and Rain Man are really boomer-era Reagan style movies. While we were teens in the 80s we weren’t fighter jocks or whatever sort of hustler Tom Cruise played in Rain Man. Um, a lot of us actually weren’t quite teens yet in any part of the 80s. This in mind, my recs are probably most representative of those of us who are from the youngest end of Gen X…though approximately the same age as part of the main cast of **Empire Records**. Go Drive Me Crazy Clueless Some Kind of Wonderful (or are the “kids” too old here? 2 of the 3 stars were born in 1961) Trojan War American Pie She’s All That Dangerous Minds The Last Supper The Faculty Scream . . . Kids Nowhere The Doom Generation ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2019, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/generation-x-movies-lets-find-some-good-ones/834645/27 "2019-05-29T02:48:17Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > Um, a lot of us actually weren’t quite teens yet in any part of the 80s. I would consider them Generation Y, but I love your list of movies. Particularly Go. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2019, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/generation-x-movies-lets-find-some-good-ones/834645/28 "2019-05-29T03:24:35Z")
> [@EllisDee](#): > > I would consider them Generation Y, but I love your list of movies. Particularly Go. Millennials/Gen Y didn’t begin until the early 80s by virtually all definitions of both Gen X and Millennials; there is that one guy who thinks the generation is only 12 years long and from 1964-1976, and people who think micro-generations (i.e. Xennials born from 1977-1983) supersede the regular generations, but other than that… ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2019, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/generation-x-movies-lets-find-some-good-ones/834645/29 "2019-05-29T03:30:27Z")
> [@EllisDee](#): > > I would consider them Generation Y, but I love your list of movies. Particularly Go. Actually, I would consider many of those right at the very edge of Gen X. For me, the cutoff is around 1981. American Pie just sneaks in. Clueless is definitely fine. Kids is _right_ on the cusp. I considered mentioning it, but it may be more early Millennial that late Xer. I mean, these things don’t have hard cut-offs, anyway. It’s all a continuum, and there’s a new term for the cuspers—what the hell is it-- I have to look this up … Xennials–that’s it. (ETA: Actually, I just had to literally look up, i.e. the post above, to see that, but I missed it as I was typing this reply before it was posted.) Defined as '77 through '85 it looks like. My brother was born in '81, and he’s definitely much more an Xer than a Millennial, at least from my perspective. I was born '75, and always thought of myself as a later Xer. To me, the middle of the generation was born around 1970. ---
**Author:** ![Telperion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telperion/32/509_2.png) [@Telperion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telperion)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2019, 10:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/generation-x-movies-lets-find-some-good-ones/834645/30 "2019-05-29T10:10:35Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > I wonder what the record for “most careers launched by a movie” in the Gen X genre is? I’ll be flabbergasted if it isn’t Fast Times at Ridgemont High. The movie isn’t great, but the cast list is filled to the brim with future stars. ---
**Author:** ![BeagleJesus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5daacb/32.png) [@BeagleJesus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeagleJesus)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2019, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/generation-x-movies-lets-find-some-good-ones/834645/31 "2019-05-29T12:02:49Z")
Friday ---
**Author:** ![Grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2019, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/generation-x-movies-lets-find-some-good-ones/834645/32 "2019-05-29T12:06:40Z")
Footloose would be another I supose. ---
**Author:** ![LC\_Strawhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e19adc/32.png) [@LC\_Strawhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LC_Strawhouse)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2019, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/generation-x-movies-lets-find-some-good-ones/834645/33 "2019-05-29T13:34:49Z")
Don’t forget that movie culture was extremely vanilla/conformist around this time period. A lot of the films now considered edgy classics were initially drowned out by much more popular movies. The real buzz around that time centered on … Kevin Costner 3-hour epics, Danny DeVito comedies, generic action films starring Stallone/Schwarzenegger/Seagal, the Lambada, Coppola’s Dracula movie, etc… all stuff that’s been deservedly forgotten by now. ---
**Author:** ![LC\_Strawhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e19adc/32.png) [@LC\_Strawhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LC_Strawhouse)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2019, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/generation-x-movies-lets-find-some-good-ones/834645/34 "2019-05-29T13:59:41Z")
How could I forget the “buddy-cop” comedy … **Turner & Hooch** or **Stop or My Mom Will Shoot** could sum up the typical Gen-X movie experience by themselves. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2019, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/generation-x-movies-lets-find-some-good-ones/834645/35 "2019-05-29T14:07:41Z")
_Repo Man_ ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2019, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/generation-x-movies-lets-find-some-good-ones/834645/36 "2019-05-29T18:20:03Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Actually, I would consider many of those right at the very edge of Gen X. For me, the cutoff is around 1981. I stand corrected. For whatever reason, I thought “Generation Y” was the generation between Generation X and Millenials, but it appears that “Generation Y” and Millenials refer to the same generation. And Millenials definitely weren’t born in the late 70s, which would be the cutoff of not quite being a teenager at any time in the 80s. (Which is what I responded to with “I would consider those Generation Y.”) It’s all made up, but for whatever it’s worth, wiki implies the following cutoffs. Each individual generation page lists things like “early 90s” instead of specific years, and they overlap sometimes by more than a decade, but putting them all together yields: 1946 - 1964 [Baby Boomers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baby_boomers) 1964 - 1982 [Generation X](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generation_X) 1982 - 1996 [Millenials / Generation Y](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millennials) 1997 - 2??? [Generation Z](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generation_Z) It kind of feels like we’re approaching the end of the era where we arbitrarily delimit and name generations. I mean, come on, Generation Z? Really? There’s also [this page](https://communityrising.kasasa.com/gen-x-gen-y-gen-z/) that lists the end years as 1964 (boomers), 1979 (Gen X), 1994 (Millenials), 2015 (Gen Z), which is pretty close to the above list. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2019, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/generation-x-movies-lets-find-some-good-ones/834645/37 "2019-05-29T20:53:26Z")
If Gen X starts in 1964, add 16 years to get to prime teenage year and look at releases from 1980. From a [list](https://www.imdb.com/search/title?title_type=feature&year=1980-01-01,1980-12-31&view=simple) off IMDb: 1. The Shining 2. Airplane! 3. The Blues Brothers 4. Caddyshack 5. Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back 6. The Blue Lagoon 7. Friday the 13th 8. Cannibal Holocaust 9. Flash Gordon 10. Raging Bull 1-5 are ones people will remember. 6 … ugh. 7 maybe. 8 & 9 what? 10 should be remembered by old Gen Xers but probably isn’t. Further down the list are things like _Altered States_ and _The Gods Must Be Crazy_. No way would those be considered Gen Xer movies. The goalposts have to be better defined here. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2019, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/generation-x-movies-lets-find-some-good-ones/834645/38 "2019-05-29T21:05:11Z")
> [@EllisDee](#): > > It kind of feels like we’re approaching the end of the era where we arbitrarily delimit and name generations. I mean, come on, Generation Z? Really? No, it takes some time for there to be a consensus around generation names. The name “Generation X” didn’t really solidify until the early-to-mid-90s (thanks to Douglas Copeland’s book). Most Xers were already in their 20s by then, some knocking on 30s. Before “Generation X,” “Baby Busters” was probably the most popular appellation for us. Also, “13th Gen” (as used by sociologists Strauss and Howe, and defined as the group born from 1961-1981, years I more agree with than other cutoff dates). There was also “MTV Generation” and some other ones I’m forgetting. Similarly, during that time, once Gen X gained traction and won the popularity contest, the following generation didn’t have a name, so we went with Gen(eration) Y for awhile, until circa the early-mid-2000s or so, media and popular usage began coalescing around the term “Millennials.” Gen Z, I assume, is a similar placeholder for the moment. I expect in the next 10 years, another popular name will fill in. Right now, the most common one I’ve heard is iGeneration; I’ve also heard the Centennials, as well as the Homeland Generation. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2019, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/generation-x-movies-lets-find-some-good-ones/834645/39 "2019-05-29T21:40:45Z")
What was the name of the generation before Baby Boomers? Not what we call it now, but rather what they called it in the 60s and 70s, after it was well established. (Like Generation X by the mid-90s.) ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2019, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/generation-x-movies-lets-find-some-good-ones/834645/40 "2019-05-29T21:46:19Z")
The Silent Generation ETA: I don’t know if that’s what they called it that then. I don’t know if they named generations before the Boomers. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/generation-x-movies-lets-find-some-good-ones/834645.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/generation-x-movies-lets-find-some-good-ones/834645.md?page=3)