From Potter to iPods: Millennial Pop Culture

A boy wizard tromps through adolescence, battling dark magic along the way. Amateur singers participate in the world's most glorified karaoke contest in hopes of becoming the next Kelly Clarkson. Jon and Kate Gosselin rear their brood of eight while America eagerly stands by TVs and tabloid stands in anticipation of their next move. What do these three have in common and why have all of them struck solid gold among American main-stream popular culture? According to generational experts William Strauss and Neil Howe, all appeal to the ideals of the Millennial Generation, the newest generation to drive the forces that dictate popular American pop entertainment. In their book Millennials and the Pop Culture the two authors first describe this burgeoning generation before outlining how their values and beliefs shape popular culture today.

One of the aspects of the book that I found to be particularly interesting was the description of the Millennials' values. I had previously learned from reading some of Jean Twenge's Generation Me that the post Gen-X generation has grown up with constant reminders by everyone from their parents to the government that they are indeed the most special people in the world. But what surprised me was how the Millennials are the least rebellious and best protected generation in recent memory. Based on every hysterical article I have read bemoaning youth today, I had always assumed that each generation becomes a little more wild and gets in a little more trouble. Strauss and Howe exposed this inclination toward expecting the worst from each young generation by posting a chart of youth trends since 1955. For each trend listed, for example "tobacco use among high school students" the reader was supposed to guess whether it had increased or decreased. Shockingly, for every single "bad" trend such as suicide rate, violent crime rate, and alcohol use among high schoolers, the numbers had in fact decreased. Meanwhile, "good" trends like average SAT score and percentage of teens who share their parents' values had all increased. This use of statistics revealed that this may be the most wholesome and family values orientated generation since the GI Generation.

In the second part of their book, Strauss and Howe explain how the family values and self-absorption shared by Millennials have dictated pop cultural phenomena. For example, Millennials love stories about youths who are predestined for individual greatness. Sound like a certain boy wizard we all know and love? Self-loving Millennials identify with shows featuring non-celebrities rising to greatness. American Idol perhaps? And Millennials crave shows featuring families and children. Jon and Kate may not depict family values, but they sure have a lot of kids. Overall, the authors extensively expound upon how each of the different traits of this generation guide what we listen to, watch, read, download and ingest in anyway from the media.