Theory on why our microgeneration is so fucked up
Posted by cak3crumbs@reddit | Xennials | View on Reddit | 313 comments
I think she’s right My Girl and Scary Stories had me all kinds fucked up, and like her I’m pretty sure My Girl was my first exposure to child death
dstommie@reddit
They weren't bees.
Small pet peeve of mine. Beehives don't look like that, but lots of people think they do probably because that's how they've been portrayed in cartoons for like 100 years.
Those cartoons were probably based on a mix of a skep ( which was a basket people used for beekeeping before we developed better methods) and how wasp nests look.
robotsects@reddit
I don't think we are fucked up. I actually think we are the most sane and well-adjusted of all of the generations.
SeanWoold@reddit
We had quite a vantage point, that's for sure.
SilentMulberry9441@reddit
Many in American society are looking for reasons to explain some sort of perceived inadequacy. This is a byproduct of having very little struggle in younger years and being told you are special by society. This will manifest later in adulthood as a blatant and unavoidable contradiction, which will need to be reconciled psychologically. The result can look like a lot of the near constant Millinial bitching i see on reddit. There are genuine grievances of course, but many are just the result of not reconciliation between who society told you that you were and reality.
flipzyshitzy@reddit
Look at this guy with his parents that have a shit about him.
FestiveArtCollective@reddit
I had terrible parents and I would say that I am the most sane and well-adjusted of all the people I know in different generations because those terrible parents led to me getting so much therapy.
sarabridge78@reddit
I'd say it was 50/50 in my friend group. I was lucky, and my parents cared, but looking back, it is crazy to think how many of my friends' parents really did not. I'm mostly picking up on some of it now. Like, I had so many friends whose parents were the stereotypical movie parents. They would go out of town, leave them at home alone, and some would even get kegs for the party. At the time, I thought my friend was so lucky, and their parent was so cool. Being a parent of a teenager now, I am like WT actual F? I actually had one friend whose mom moved out of state at the beginning of junior year. She left him in the house by himself. She paid the bills and gave him $200 a month for food/incidental. I was so jealous, but now I see that for what it was and wonder why none of us thought we should report it to someone.
inthemadness@reddit
The case I knew of this, the teachers knew. They were super worried about the kid and checked in a lot but I think they figured that having them ripped out of their school and stuff would be worse.
BoD80@reddit
Wait report what? This was my teenage years and it taught me a lot about how to support myself. I also rode a motorcycle to school and work everyday.
TangledUpPuppeteer@reddit
I think it depends on how old you are. If you’re 17 or 18, it’s less troublesome than if your 14/15.
yggdrasil76@reddit
I agree, so much of the problems kids have these days is being over-loved; smothered to the point they never learn to do anything for themselves and then one day "Boom!" Hey kid, you're an adult now! Go take on the world. Deep down they know it. It's no wonder they're anxiety is so high and so few of them are ever learning to drive or move out of the house. And even so many of the ones that do end up still dependent on their parents for all kinds of basic things well into they're 30s or later.
ToeJam_SloeJam@reddit
I know it’s fun to shit on kids these days, and we are aging into that inevitable demographic that has done the shitting since the beginning of time.
Buuuuut people who are currently hanging with their parents “well into they’re (sic) 30s or later” would be Millennials. Not kids these days. Us. Well, the younger Us-es. But for sure not Gen Z or Gen Alpha or the Covid Babies that we’re supposed to be wagging our fingers at.
If we can’t break the cycle of shitting on the youngsters, let’s at least be better at math than the generation that elected two Bushes and a Reagan
mtron32@reddit
I don’t shit on the youngins, but it feels like we are parenting them in a way that leaves them I’ll prepared for the world. I’m trying to balance that now with my toddler, just let her play alone half the time so she can do her own thing.
sweet_pickles12@reddit
I spent some time working with kids and the things we had to report to CPS… but really you probably shouldn’t be entirely alone as a teenager. I think realistically 50/50 kids are coddled now/we were neglected
BoD80@reddit
I don’t look at as neglect. I was given opportunity to make good decisions. I didn’t always do that but in the end I’m still doing ok.
reapersritehand@reddit
One of my friends mom did kinda the same thing married a new guy and moved outta of state, paid the bills but left my friend and his little brother a few years younger then us the house
Xx_SwordWords_xX@reddit
Was your friend Jeffrey Dahmer?
Comprehensive_Tie431@reddit
I was a latch key kid. Parents were workaholics and wouldn't get home until late. I was responsible at 4th/5th grade to walk me and my little sister home from school, get food ready and help with homework, of we were lucky my mom would have a crockpot going. On the weekends I was told to get out of the house and find something to do until the street lights came on.
As a parent now, it is INSANE! I share stories of my childhood with people and laugh only to notice red flag looks on their faces that it was not normal. 🤣 I think it was for us Xennials.
me-1985@reddit
My friend’s (junior in high school) mother left him and his 7 year older brother living by themselves in a 3 bedroom house. It was a lot of keg parties and pot smoking. The brothers and two virtuosos also had a Metalica cover band. One of the brothers went to prison maybe 7 years later for drug trafficking but they are both doing well now. Lessons learned I guess. I had fun. Much debauchery.
cowboycoco1@reddit
Shit. It was 50/50 in my home. Like, I know my parents cared, at least somewhat. But they both had so much going on. My mother worked and went to school working on her PhD until she died, in the middle of what was going to be a divorce. My father worked 2 jobs post navy retirement. Which meant for part of my life he was gone for 6 months at a time and for another part he just wasn't home. Latchkey kid taking care of my sister and barely because, shit, I was a kid myself. I had a roof. I was fed. They even tried pushing me into sports. They did some of that parenting stuff...when they were around.
I credit them with my independence and self-reliance as well as my crippling detachment and avoidant attachment.
mtron32@reddit
I don’t know why this just made me bust out laughing
doyoulikemyladysuit@reddit
I wholeheartedly agree with him and my parents were super fucked up and I spent 5 of 7 nights a week alone or taking care of my younger siblings by the age of 10. I honestly think we are the most empathetic and caring of the generations and to me that makes us the best.
Ant_Cardiologist@reddit
I don't think I ever even met my parents.
_buffy_summers@reddit
My mother was a tv and my father was a radio.
Live-Syrup-6456@reddit
My babysitter was the Waldenbooks in my neighborhood mall.
cherrycolaareola@reddit
You may be entitled to compensation.
toomanycookstew@reddit
It’s my money, and I want it now!
Santos_L_Halper_II@reddit
Found the straight person with boomer parents!
robotsects@reddit
Yeah, to a fault sometimes. They were hardasses and we didn't really reach an understanding until I was in my early 20's.
Gotmewrongang@reddit
Agreed, we are the lucky ones. Anyone born post iPhone is toast
ammonthenephite@reddit
Eh, depends. All the Gen Z'ers I know are far more in touch with themselves, far less bigoted, etc. But they struggle a bit in the real world. Our generation does well in the world but there's still a lot of bigotry, lack of self awareness, unresolved mental health issues, etc etc.
No single generation is 'best', we all do some things well and others not so well, and with more time the rising generations will eventually do it all better, having learned from previous generations.
robotsects@reddit
We are the bridge generation. And as such, we are highly sought after by businesses because of a refined mix of education, skepticism, and experience with analog and digital technologies. This will only increase as the final Boomers and older Gen X'ers exit the workforce.
ammonthenephite@reddit
I think we think a little too much of ourselves in this sub, lol.
Rare_Bumblebee_3390@reddit
Also X-files at 11. You know, the show about the government doing genetic modifications on humans disguised as aliens then it actually being aliens. Yeah, that one. I’ve thought about this stuff a lot. The movies, the books, the being left alone, the imagery, the messages. Us 81-84 kids are fucking strange but at least we can track how it happened. What a weird childhood.
EyelandBaby@reddit
Which is so fucked up, lol (like, unfair to us)
laternerdz@reddit
Wow I bet you hugged your parents
Orgasmic_interlude@reddit
Yeah but what generation isn’t going to say that though?
RockItGuyDC@reddit
I agree. However, to many from the other generations, that is fucked up.
"Wait. You mean to tell me you are self-aware, skeptical yet not overly cynical, and you demand that society approach issues from a basis of honest rationality, even if it's uncomfortable? That's fucked up!"
I remeber recognizing, from like age 12, that my Boomer parents much preferred comfortable lies to uncomfortable truths, and they just did not like it when I pointed that out during arguments.
thisismynamesilly@reddit
This is it. My parents always were frustrated with me for being too ‘adult’ and serious from a young age. It’s like we all just saw the world for what it was.
RockItGuyDC@reddit
I blame it on Artax dying in the swamp.
EternalMehFace@reddit
Omg, your last paragraph is 100% essentially why I gradually became the scapegoated and emotionally abused kid. Had a narcissistic mother who REALLY hated logic.
djsynrgy@reddit
I "logicked" myself into missing nearly all of my 8th and 9th grade social opportunities. High-five!
General-Reserve9349@reddit
Yeah, alarmingly cognizant. Self awareness that acts as a mirror that makes people want to scream.
That and being told “only you can prevent forest fires / fix the ozone layer / save the polar bears / save the planet” constantly, everywhere.
RockItGuyDC@reddit
Word.
It makes me think of how much I just love being told that I "hate America" when I, as a patriotic person who wants my country to be the best it can be and live up to the promises I was fed about it, dare to point out situations where our country isn't living up to those lies that were told about it.
How can you make something better when you don't even allow yourself to be truthful about what's wrong? Well, according to my Boomers, you lie to yourself and everybody else and believe that everybody else's problems, but not your own, are due to moral failings.
BlacksmithThink9494@reddit
This is very true
Evening_Ad_1099@reddit
Thats what i keep telling my Drs!!!
SBSnipes@reddit
My hot take is that those aren't mutually exclusive
BigFatBlackCat@reddit
On one hand, I completely agree with you. On another, we are so fucked up.
jaeldi@reddit
Not afraid to face problems and find solutions whether that be a personal mental health issue or climate stuff or government policy.
My grandmother lived through the depression. She was strong and tough and VERY resourceful. I think these hard times are going to toughen up people as well but without all the weird secret hang ups. Lol
Drcornelius1983@reddit
Exactly. It’s everyone who’s crazy.
OlDirtyTriple@reddit
My friends and I watched GiJoe every day after school. A perpetual war between the US and its enemy. During the cold war this was just after school TV.
There was an aisle at Toys R US that was just guns.
6 - 10 year old boys were being prepped for WW3, ready for the meat grinder. And knowing is half the battle.
_Tiberius-@reddit
Did anyone else have The Ultimator? It was an insane nerf style rocket launcher that fired missiles the size of a 2 liter bottle. So much fun with that thing.
https://youtu.be/cZSEX-_EMjg?feature=shared
SerpentineSorceror@reddit
Holy shit yes! A friend of mine had it, and we'd have NERF wars out in his woods. That damn rocket launcher could friggin fly and if you got smacked by the dart it actually hurt.
Gonna_do_this_again@reddit
I had a desert camo style .50 Desert Eagle that had a fake recoil with the firing noises. It was the coolest fake toy gun for children ever made.
Mr_Perfect22@reddit
I had a realistic machine gun with sound effects and a place to put lamp oil so the barrel would smoke.
higglesworth@reddit
Red Dawn and making IEDs out of cut apart rocket engines and empty CO2 cartridges. We were built for war lol
dipietron@reddit
I was at Goodwill and a kid shot off a loaded cap gun by mistake. He freaked out thinking it was real. That smell of burnt powder ahhh
mrtwrecksDEV@reddit
Goodwill is an extremely exploitative organization, top to bottom. Their entire business model thrives on taking advantage of vulnerable people.Through their career centers, they funnel individuals—often with criminal records or limited options—into underpaid, overworked positions in their stores.Once there, these workers face poor treatment, unsafe conditions, and little to no support. Many of these workers have limited options and are stuck in a cycle of exploitation.
Goodwill claims that ~89-93 cents of every dollar (varies by location) spent in their stores goes toward vocational training and employment services. That’s a complete lie.All their programs are funded by/through government grants. Look at their Form 990 filings on ProPublica. At the location where I worked, only about 9 cents per dollar actually went to those services.
Orgasmic_interlude@reddit
Yeah but nobody died or was seriously injured.
I think that it’s moreso that we straddle the analog age that would be familiar to boomers where it took a lot more effort to do everything and information was strongly gatekept and the post-internet age where now everything is dopamine micro-reward driven and there is a profusion of information but most of it is trash designed to sell you things or mislead you.
We don’t really “fit in” with either but can relate to both.
Critical-Weird-3391@reddit
Not to mention the games we'd play: manhunt, rumble-fumble, bloody knuckles, doorknob, and when we were older...hacky-sack with "beats" as a punishment. Fun times.
djsynrgy@reddit
"Punch-bug!!"
Shinespark7@reddit
That aisle was pretty awesome
heartscockles@reddit
I was lucky enough to have an arsenal of first gen super-soakers! 😂
BoD80@reddit
I only had the TG&Y water guns. I always lost.
Checked_Out_6@reddit
Pro-tip, fill said super soaker with gasoling, duct tape a propane torch to the front. Its awesome for about 30 seconds followed by sheer terror. We were latchkey kids.
SoCalChrisW@reddit
When Super Soakers came out, they were incredible.
Remember the Enetec squirt guns? They looked like real guns, and shot something like 20-30' with batteries. They were so awesome, but then Super Soakers came out and instantly made the Enetec ones comparable to garbage.
Freakin_A@reddit
First gen were great, but the original CPS series were unbelievable. The CPS 2000 was the ultimate weapon on the battlefield, until someone figured out if you filled it with BMW windshield washer fluid and put a short metal pipe on the end with some nylon rope attached across the face of the pipe you had an incredible flame thrower.
Squirrel_Master82@reddit
Sunny's Surplus was even better. They had all kinds of cool shit.
kalitarios@reddit
Fuck yeah it was
Global-Jury8810@reddit
I’m having that moment with my nostalgia thinking about going wait a minute why was I a fan of that crap? What the hell was I thinking? This was cool?
ThePerfectSnare@reddit
I'll buy that theory. I'll even add to it.
The first Nerf "gun", the Blast-A-Ball, was released in 1989. It was that bazooka thing that shot round Nerf balls.
You know what else was first released in 1989? The Super Soaker.
1877KlownsForKids@reddit
And if you didn't turn the water off while brushing your teeth, Cobra would win!
DUNETOOL@reddit
The half is extreme violence. Seen it.
Kahnza@reddit
To continue the Macaulay Culkin thing, there was also the movie The Good Son.
Abundanceofyolk@reddit
Nobody remembers Elijah Wood from that film.
Conscious-Agency-782@reddit
Thanks for unlocking that core memory. If I can’t sleep tonight, it’s u/Kahnza’s fault.
codebygloom@reddit
And a few months later we got to watch him be a complete psychopath in The Good Son.
Abundanceofyolk@reddit
Underrated chemistry between Mac Culkin and Elijah Wood.
prosequare@reddit
Filmed up where I live! I was so excited. Then it came out and I wasn’t allowed to watch it lol.
codebygloom@reddit
So you didn't get the elder millennial/zennial treatment of having nobody monitoring what you watched? I don't think I was ever told I couldn't watch a movie. Honestly, I don't remember ever asking for permission to watch a movie lol.
My babysitter used to sit us down and watch slasher movies, lol. The 80s were a crazy time!
prosequare@reddit
Couldn’t go to the theater without their help, couldn’t watch it on the family tv without them knowing. Couldn’t rent it (R) without their permission. Eventually I could have, but it faded into memory quickly enough. Still haven’t seen it.
melodic-abalone-69@reddit
I actually thought that's where this vid was headed
drawgs@reddit
Right? It should have followed that he was then reincarnated as a demon child.
alwaysleftout@reddit
Don't forget about Land before time killing the mother on screen.
runrunpuppets@reddit
And Old Yeller
slimscsi@reddit
Secret of nimh, never ending story, American tail. Transformers. We were taught death and tragedy were part of life.
Asconce@reddit
“Your dog is going to die. Let’s make a movie about it!”
All Dogs Go To Heaven
ghandi3737@reddit
Stand By Me. Where they find the missing kid dead.
esmerelda_b@reddit
We knew that was coming, at least
laternerdz@reddit
Fuck I forgot about that
JustChillFFS@reddit
My girl
Pensively@reddit
HE WAS GOING TO BE AN ACROBAT
bentripin@reddit
Brave Little Toaster
tenro5@reddit
And Fern Gully
TangledUpPuppeteer@reddit
I think for us, the issue is actually Tim Curry. I love him and I’m keeping him and I’ll fight to the death anyone that disagrees, but he was a massive part of all of the most fucked up movies of our childhoods. He broke all of us. We are this way because he decided to scare the shit out of us in every possible way.
I just think he never gets the credit he deserves. He shaped an entire micro generation as much as Mr Rogers, he just did it a different way.
GuttedFlower@reddit
Or finding out that Ducky's dad murdered her irl. All dogs go to heaven was pretty brutal, too. Jesus.
SAT_1701@reddit
Or even Ricky being sit in “Boyz ‘N The Hood”.
Santos_L_Halper_II@reddit
Did y’all not just expect every cartoon to have a horrible tear-jerking death?
djsynrgy@reddit
See also: Approximately 85/100 animated Disney movies.
Hoptrovert@reddit
And the Neverending Story watching Artax die.
BigHobbit@reddit
That shit still haunts me. Grew up on a farm and always had to help dig cattle out of mud. Sometimes we'd find one that has been chewed on by coyotes. Artax death hit hard
PaperFlower14765@reddit
This, Bambi, and The Fox and the Hound are 100% where my abandonment issues came from 😅
BlacksmithThink9494@reddit
Bridge to terabithia
specks_of_dust@reddit
Not to mention the Ducky and Petrie death fakeouts.
ghandi3737@reddit
Yup yup yup.
SableShrike@reddit
I got to watch The Challenger explode on live TV in my pre-school. It was pretty much our Oswald Assassination moment.
lordskulldragon@reddit
Pet Sematary was my first exposure to kid coffins. I never watched My Girl in its entirety, I only caught clips of it when my mother had it on. One day years later she had it on again and said the kid died from a bee sting. I had no reaction. I didn't even know which kid it was until this video, I thought it was the girl.
churningpacket@reddit
Being taught stranger danger in school and then being a latchkey kid among other mixed messages.
esmerelda_b@reddit
I remember watching America’s Most Wanted and then being afraid of my 4th grade teacher
churningpacket@reddit
And Unsolved Mysteries. I thought aliens were floating outside of my bedroom window ready to scoop me up.
jebinabox@reddit
Basically. We were taught the world was dangerous, and yet it was our own responsibility to keep ourselves safe.
Drcornelius1983@reddit
https://i.redd.it/tnhnaviokfmf1.gif
jebinabox@reddit
Philly_3D@reddit
Yeah. As a person who works with large groups of young millennials and Zs throughout my career so far, it's an accurate description of reality at any age.
Critical-Weird-3391@reddit
...with your rape van?!
Philly_3D@reddit
🤣 I guess i never considered that option. I'm not really a van guy, ya know?
Critical-Weird-3391@reddit
I hear you, I also prefer chainsaws.
churningpacket@reddit
Let's not get started on DARE.
toomanycookstew@reddit
Yeah, nobody is just handing out free drugs to us like we were promised. That shit is expensive as hell at the dispensary I usually go to.
BigFatBlackCat@reddit
And girls got the messaging everywhere they looked that if they were assaulted, it was probably their fault. Oh and also being a size four is too fat.
_buffy_summers@reddit
Stop eavesdropping on my past.
For real. "When I was your age, I weighed less than you!" She wasn't allowed to leave her front yard when she was in high school. I biked and walked everywhere. I had more muscle than she did.
ElectricPenguin6712@reddit
I had all that themi had a career in the military. My brain is a new category of fucked up
y2k2009@reddit
I saw My Girl in the theatre and thought it was going to be a comedy like Home Alone. Boy was that night depressing.
aubreypizza@reddit
And then I started reading Clive Barker in middle school. 😆
GladosPrime@reddit
…because of Watership Down😱
BeenisHat@reddit
Speaking of Xennials, I almost didn't click this but at first glance, she reminded me of Tiffani Amber Thiessen and young me was like ooooh, Saved by the Bell girl!!!
Large-Inspection-487@reddit
I’m a middle school teacher and the Scary Stories to tell in the dark reprint (now with ORIGINAL artwork!) is a sought after read every year. That shit still hits
VoteForLubo@reddit
If you’re going with the Macaulay theory, you also have to consider:
Practical-Juice9549@reddit
Yes…yes you are correct.
chadork@reddit
Yay, Liz!
NotEvsClone81@reddit
Right?! Just a couple weeks ago she popped up on a YouTube channel I watch occasionally
chadork@reddit
I've known her for, going on, a few decades now. Always been a real one.
NotEvsClone81@reddit
Almost 30 years since she came to the Academy my senior year, her junior
chadork@reddit
Hmm. You and I might know each other too.
NotEvsClone81@reddit
Possibly. I was an art major, and we tried so hard to make everyone notice us, lol. From the Sexy Men of Art Calender (Mr. December here), to our dance routine we got to perform for the school. We were so dumb
(Replied to you yesterday, but it posted it as its own comment)
Agreeable-Chart-5561@reddit
My school library had those and it was like winning the lottery if you got to check it out because they were always gone.
Jammy_the_Dodger@reddit
I think Americans are just generally fucked up. Is there any American that isn't obsessed with celebrity?
Scrapla1@reddit
He can't see without his glasses, where are his glasses?!
bentripin@reddit
rickitytick@reddit
GarminTamzarian@reddit
lostmybackupcode@reddit
😂😂😂
EternalMehFace@reddit
LOL I'd seen the Ozzy one before but not this, bwhaha! 🤣
Kahnza@reddit
JFC 🤣
Scrapla1@reddit
lol wtf
IceCoughy@reddit
That's awesome.
Rich_Celebration477@reddit
🙏
belunos@reddit
Jesus Christ you just slayed me with that one
cedarvalleyct@reddit
My goodness that brought me back 😱
bikeonychus@reddit
Add Ren and Stimpy, Animaniacs, Goosebumps, and the fact a lot of our parents seemed totally ok with us watching Predator/Rambo/Total Recall/whatever after they had taped it off the TV the night before.
Total Recall was the movie that scared me and gave me some awful damn nightmares for years. I still can't watch it to this day.
captcraigaroo@reddit
And our dad showing us The Thing and Cujo when we were under 5yrs old
timbreandsteel@reddit
Or staying up to watch Tales From the Crypt, The Outer Limits, etc
seche314@reddit
I loved Saturday nights and staying up to watch tales from the crypt!
sick_of-it-all@reddit
HELLO KIDDIES!!
Bad-Moon-Rising@reddit
My oarents never had go worry about me going to bed. Tales from the Dark Side came on at 11PM and I was terrified of the theme song, so I'd go hide in my bed. I'm almost 44 years old and it makes my heart race. I don't think I have ever listened to the entire thing.
NightshadeTraveler@reddit
Watching Freddy’s Nightmares and Wicker Man when I was frigging 4 years old.
ajk244@reddit
How about Edward scissor hands. Scared the piss out of me. It's the only thing I remember as a kid that made me run away crying.
john-treasure-jones@reddit
They had Robocop Toys! You know, for the kids.
churningpacket@reddit
Unsolved Mysteries
drawgs@reddit
All these younguns lol. Just a few years before you all watching that stuff and I was watching Alfred Hitchcock presents with my dad or The Fly original. I can still hear that little man fly screaming. For years I couldn’t look in any reflective surface thanks to Mr Hitchcock.
Dustbowl83@reddit
I started reading Stephen King novels in 5th grade. In retrospect, that was probably a questionable decision. Spooky weirdos unite!
Moogle_Messiah@reddit
I went to preschool with kids whose parents let them watch Gremlins and Poltergeist
cheerful_cynic@reddit
I watched the entire horror wall at the video rental & read every single Steven King book on Mom's shelf
dart51984@reddit
My dad brought me to see Species in the theater. On one hand, boobs. On the other, NIGHTMARES FOR THE NEXT 5 YEARS.
Tealightzone@reddit
I don’t mean to one-up anyone but I watched HBO nonstop in the eighties as a very young child.
throwback842@reddit
I wanna be like this…with her. Good golly miss molly 😍
Immoracle@reddit
I remember The Good Son changed how I saw McCauley Culkin.
ADeleteriousEffect@reddit
I was 100% convinced she was going to say Bridge to Terebithia before she went to with Scary Stories. Which is on my shelf.
too_old_to_be_clever@reddit
Don't forget our animated trauma:
All Dogs Go to Heaven
The Brave Little Toaster
The Land Before Time
trillianinspace@reddit
I still sometimes think every zit might actually be a spider egg in my skin that will erupt in to hundreds of spiders 🥲
Silver-Awareness-799@reddit
Holy shit I had forgotten that I do too! Thanks for that!
dopescopemusic@reddit
I didn't agree with any of that. '81
IndependentLove2292@reddit
Wait! She's our age? Damn. I'm gonna need some botox.
NotEvsClone81@reddit
She was a year behind me in high school, and I'm 43
IndependentLove2292@reddit
As am I. You'd be forgiven for mistaking my forehead for an arial shot of the Sahara.
skinnarbox@reddit
lol good stuff
MeatPopsicle10@reddit
A movie wasn’t my first exposure to child death: 2 friends died in a plane crash & 1 from leukemia (due to a medical mistake) when I was 6 & 7. Also at 7, my uncle (who lived with us so he was like my brother) died from AIDS.
MajesticEmergency@reddit
I also always think about how intense the first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie was. Man, they really took that kids cartoon and turned it into that movie with some heavy themes. I think we’re better and stronger in many ways though because of this sort of thing.
Mel_bear@reddit
That movie just had its 35 year anniversary, and was in theaters. We saw it and it's actually such a good movie, I haven't seen it since I was a kid. I love when splinter is a regular lil rat learning jujutsu
tgerz@reddit
Did you all watch movies like Cage with Lou Ferrigno or Homer and Eddie with Whoopi Goldberg and Jim Belushi? I got the kid stuff and the adult stuff watching movies at home. I was the youngest of 7 kids and I just watched whatever everyone else was watching. Faces of Death, Nightmare on Elm Street, The Fog. I think My Girl and Cage had the biggest impacts on me emotionally. The Neverending Story didn’t make me feel traumatized I think it reinforced how important creativity and imagination were.
ShitPostsRuinReddit@reddit
Also Stephen King books. I know it's not super specific to our age time line, but it was before as much attention was paid to what media kids were consuming. Me reading IT at 12 shouldn't have happened.
Abidarthegreat@reddit
Sounds like someone should speak for themselves. Between Boomer and Gen X whining about everything and Gen Z/A being oh so random, I often feel like I'm the only adult in the room.
drawgs@reddit
Right? Why are we there ones having to be responsible and take care of everyone else right now? Is it just our age or is it our generation?
letharus@reddit
Well we’re all in our forties which means we’re in our peak mentally.
Abidarthegreat@reddit
I have hope for Gen A. It may just be anecdotal evidence, but my daughter and many of her friends plus some of my friend's children all seem to be incredibly smart/introspective and with it. If they can keep it up through puberty, they might be able to save us as we get old and they take over.
RuthlessRedEye@reddit
We are not a fucked up microgeneration though? This has always been a positive subreddit. I hate to see it go the way of r/millenials.
GarblingCumfarts@reddit
Yea we're good. We grew up hiding under desk just in case a nuclear bomb went off, being told every windowless van was going to kidnap us, our Halloween candy was poisoned, that Satanist were everywhere, a serial killer could be on our block, and the list goes on. Instead we found Playboys in the woods, was handed bb guns at like the age of 4, and abided by the street lights. Yet, here we are, alive and well.
Connect_Fee1256@reddit
That quitting smoking advertisement with the grim reaper knocking people down with a bowling ball 🎳 … it was a scary time on the tv in general
Adlien_@reddit
Wait til you hear about analog horror and gen alpha
TheLastBoat@reddit
My first exposure to on-screen child death was Pet Semetary.
PizzaDeliveryBoy3000@reddit
I saw The Shining at the age of 5 (by accident, by myself). The bathroom scene with the lady was a recurring nightmare theme for I don’t know how many years
I ate Pet Semetary for breakfast
TheLastBoat@reddit
At least The Shining had boobs!
PizzaDeliveryBoy3000@reddit
Yeah, Pet Semetary had….Zelda lol
BlacksmithThink9494@reddit
Yep. Kids were talking about seeing chucky and Texas chainsaw massacre in like 1st or 2nd grade
Psycosteve10mm@reddit
I jumped from scary stories to Stephen King.
The_Stolarchos@reddit
Imagine making your existence about this
3elldandy@reddit
Reddit causes people to speak in extremes and they exaggerate immensely like I am doing now so no, like all the other exaggerated responses I am diametrically irretrievably opposed and think we are the best generation and now, pretend I just wrote a two page essay on it right here and talked myself out of it. 🙃😂
CountGensler@reddit
Lol getting all dolled up to make a stupid video that could have been a reddit comment.
EfficiencyNew2872@reddit
This is too niche... try having an existential crisis at age 5 after watching Watership Down🐇
RedStar9117@reddit
Everyone is fucked up, just in different ways
Any_Constant_6550@reddit
I just got hit by like 15 yellow jackets. Luckily I don't wear glasses.
SanchoPandas@reddit
The stories were meh but the goddam nightmare fuel pictures were why I had to check this book out more than once. It was so cool.
General_Departure583@reddit
My opinion is that the launch of the internet, 9/11 and the war in Iraq fundamentally altered our generation to all previous. We were the last generation to experience analog media before digital. Our parents and grandparents experienced media through newspapers and spoken word whether in person or television. The source of the news reported was given an infallible and almost irreverent respect as our leaders and journalists wouldn’t lie to us. When the internet launched “truth” was no longer a given. Our beliefs were no longer bullet proof, for every truth we held , there was an alternate viewpoint. One we couldn’t find on tv or in the library. We were young when we learned there really was a man behind the curtain of the wizard. Our parents still rely on news channels and some newspapers to get their truth. We know from living in just our 40+ years that there is no truth, just a narrative .
olive_juse@reddit
Scary Stories to Tell In The Dark, the Unsolved Mysteries theme song, Garbage Pail Kids and Liquid Television.....
There was a lot to unpack pretty early on lol 😅
RandyArgonianButler@reddit
Yeah, none of this compared to watching your parents beat the fucking shit out of each other though.
SlackerDS5@reddit
Umm, the other groups are the ones messed up. Were like that middle kid that just gets overlooked. And I don’t mind it.
Some movies couldn’t mess me up. Sad or shocked for a moment, then I moved on..
Traditional_Cat_60@reddit
I found the AIDS epidemic much more terrifying than Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark.
anarchetype@reddit
I never had a nightmare about Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, but I sure as shit had nightmares about AIDS as a kid. No one really explained the STD part to me because that would mean talking about sex, so I thought you could catch HIV anywhere and end up dying a slow, agonizing death.
On the plus side, that's probably why I've always taken safe sex totally seriously. No STDs yet, huzzah.
mickeltee@reddit
The AIDS epidemic followed by watching Kids, I never wanted to be in the room with another human, let alone touch them.
RepresentativeRun71@reddit
12 years old when I met my father for the first time and I simultaneously found out he had full blown AIDS.
eightdotthree@reddit
Wait… we’re fucked up?
RalphWaldoEmers0n@reddit
I think we are great
I wish everyone else was like us
djsynrgy@reddit
Tricky_Big_8774@reddit
If you compare most of our situations to the copious amounts of drugs and alcohol that were consumed by our micro generation, what are some of the most not fucked up people out there.
Professional_Sea1479@reddit
Yeah, I thought we were okay. This is the first I’m hearing about this.
NightshadeTraveler@reddit
I don’t feel fucked up. This sucks…
intensive-porpoise@reddit
I can't stand these selfie videos where people look up at something and talk in the exact same cadence as anyone else on social media.
Talk, look up, pause talk, look up, pause, variations, attractive person.
Infamous-Thought-765@reddit
I remember hearing the news that Culkin was gonna die in his new movie, and I was actually really eager to see how he was gonna go. I figured he'd be hit by a car.
Never saw that plot twist coming!
Basically all we had to read were really inappropriate books. Fear Street, Christopher Pike, The Face on the Milk Carton, VC Andrews, Stephen King, Sweet Valley High.
oldmilt21@reddit
Nah. We’re just like all of the American generation - filled with an intense desire to feel like unique, special people.
thunderbear64@reddit
I loved that book! It’s one of the few I don’t have anymore
slavegaius87@reddit
I think it’s because we grew up with an analog childhood and then had to quickly adapt to a digital world
suspicious_hyperlink@reddit
Please do not normalize the term “micro-generation”
Regular_Jim081@reddit
Also this
rumhammertime@reddit
Can add that we also watch movies based on real life that depicts Joe Pesci as a hit man that brutally murdered people. He was a wet bandit in home alone.
DJWGibson@reddit
Elementary school librarian who has work as such for 15 years in three different schools and Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark has NEVER not been in my school. It is always there and always checked out at least every other week.
Timotron@reddit
HUNDO
ecoprax@reddit
'Elder Millennial'
Interesting self reference.
One-Earth9294@reddit
She is absolutely mesmerizing.
NotEvsClone81@reddit
Possibly. I was an art major, and we tried so hard to make everyone notice us, lol. From the Sexy Men of Art Calender (Mr. December here), to our dance routine we got to perform for the school. We were so dumb
Raadvonbaron36@reddit
What’s the fascination with wanting to feel “messed up”. I guess it’s more of a why rather than a what. Kids have the internet now and access to virtually anything they could make up in their head. I don’t think any generation needs to boast on how “messed up” they are. It’s just lame…imo
Vox_Mortem@reddit
I loved loved loved that artwork. Don't forget that we were also a generation that a lot of parents were happy to let us consume whatever media we wanted as long as we were quiet and out of their hair. I don't know about the rest of you, but I remember being like 8 and walking by myself to the library over a mile away, where I had to walk through a scary underpass with a narrow sidewalk, to check out Stephen King books. I read It and Salem's Lot when I was far to young, and none of the adults seemed to care at all. There were child characters, how bad could it be?
purplepickles82@reddit
she forgot the movie the good son also with Culkin which was really disturbing in itself
ykeogh18@reddit
I remember seeing his artwork on book covers as kid. For some reason I wasn’t freaked out by it at all because I couldn’t make out what was being drawn
Ohcitydude@reddit
It was in our books too. Old Yeller, just a Heart warming story about a boy and his dog that gets rabies and has to be taken out back and shot.
80cartoonyall@reddit
MeowKat85@reddit
I checked out that book sooo many times.
NotEvsClone81@reddit
Damn, Liz is just showing up everywhere lately. Still spouting wisdoms 25 years on
gooch_norris_@reddit
This doesn’t even mention the movie The Good Son
A_Thirsty_Pagan@reddit
You can't bring up our boy Macaulay and not mention this one. What a wild ride!
Global-Jury8810@reddit
You’re not wrong. We had that in our entertainment. Whoever the powers that be were of the time loved terrifying children.
4stainull@reddit
I think I just fell in love
memorex00@reddit
The Day After, By Dawn’s Early Light, & Amazing Grace and Chuck.
Enough said.
AceUnderTheHole@reddit
I was just thinking about all the anti drug stuff. It was a regular part of the curriculum in my elementary school. I mean, did they really need to tell 2nd graders not to do cocaine? Was that a problem? Can we at least be spared life's horrors til Jr high.
ellecamille@reddit
I was really surprised when I got to high school and absolutely no one tried to get me to do drugs.
Also, we had to sing the creepy DARE theme song.
Strange_Koala5415@reddit
I think we’re the best. Yes I had that book, and I looked at it a lot because it was cool. Our only issue, in my opinion, is that we saw so much change and we were so hopeful for a better future because of it. Now look around us. I’m sure somebody could’ve predicted this, but I just thought the world was gonna be so much better, egg on my face. So now I’m grouchy, as is my right.
Checked_Out_6@reddit
I thought I was messed up because my parents were strangely religious while also selling crack. Saturday nights dad is high and beating the shit out of my mom, Sunday morning everyone put on their Sunday best.
tungy5@reddit
I'm ok, but I wish you the best going forward
burnitdwn@reddit
I'm not fucked it. its the whole fucking world thats fucked up!
curiousitrocity@reddit
The Neverending Story. Never forget.
BlastMode7@reddit
Not only were we allowed to read them, they sold them to use at an elementary book fair. That's where I got mine... still have them.
herseyhawkins33@reddit
I didn't know Maggie Gyllenhaal was on tiktok
this_knee@reddit
I know that’s why I am this way. Lol!
Scary-Ad9646@reddit
We're not fucked up. We're doing pretty good, as we are the last generation to take accountability for ourselves without blaming something or someone else.
Tribe303@reddit
You're fucked up because you whine about things like 'microgenerations'. 🤣
genesimmonstongue415@reddit
This lady is correct & should be a famous scholar of our time. - 1985 man.
jlkb24@reddit
My Girl came out a year before my friend died so I would’ve experienced child death either way.
nopersh8me@reddit
My son has told me that if he grew up with the media we did that he would be depressed all the time. Well....
jizzmaster-zer0@reddit
i hate the term elder millenial. am i… junior gen x?
barefoot_sailor@reddit
She has nice teeth
Dry_Junket_6902@reddit
I think 911 had more to do with it!
BabyJesusBukkake@reddit
Rescue 9-11 maybe?
I was 20 when 9/11 happened.
slimscsi@reddit
Xennials were finishing college and entering the work force in 2001. Kinda exiting formative years.
Dry_Junket_6902@reddit
Or going to the battlefields because of 911.
slimscsi@reddit
Fair
Dry_Junket_6902@reddit
Also I think alot of us felt pretty betrayed by the Bush jr administration for launching forever wars.
And lieing there asses off about WMD as a pre text.
slimscsi@reddit
I don’t think lying politicians defined a generation. That’s is a story as old as time.
Dry_Junket_6902@reddit
It defined the current world we live in!
Imagine if we had stayed out of Iraq.
I doubt Putin and all of these other the dicktators would be so emboldened at the moment if we hadn't set the precedent of pre-emptive strikes.
againandagain22@reddit
Thanks, Lizz. She’s cute.
Skurge-Drakken@reddit
I have the whole Scary Stories collection , only good memories from 3rd grade
loganrunjack@reddit
I honestly thought she was going from home alone to the good son.
LemonMeringuePirate@reddit
That art really was powerful. Like anyone who saw those books as a kid remembers the art.
DrJJStroganoff@reddit
Artax dying in the swamp F'ed me up more than Culkin in my girl.
No_Effective_7495@reddit
Doooood. Stephen Gambles drawings for the story “Harold” have reallllly stuck with me.
southsidebrewer@reddit
Well she got the xennial years wrong… so…
prosequare@reddit
I don’t think they’re exactly defined by NIST or ISO.
southsidebrewer@reddit
I know but her range was the very end of what can be considered xennial…
-happycow-@reddit
well, it's a theory
1nationunderpod@reddit
It's her reality so it must be all of ours.
Mountain-Fox-2123@reddit
I mean most people seem to think, their reality is the reality for every person in the world.
ghandi3737@reddit
ONLY MY REALITY MATTERS! CAUSE IT'S REAL!!!!
mustachiomegazord@reddit
Sure Marge, in theory communism works
PetMonsterGuy@reddit
In theory
ghandi3737@reddit
In practice it has the same problems of any government. Greed and corruption.
DrOngoToboggan@reddit
It’s one of the theories of all time.
talkyape@reddit
One of the theories of all time, to be sure
TurtleSandwich0@reddit
A film theory?
they_call_me_Mongous@reddit
Oh boy, I’m down with Scary Stories (and I’m glad they reprinted the books with the better artwork). That’s probably where I got my love for horror, which I guess this makes sense now. People look at me like I’m bat shit crazy when I say Horror is my favorite genre.
allisaidwasshoot@reddit
Have you seen Weapons yet?
they_call_me_Mongous@reddit
I have not, but it’s on my list! My lazy ass will likely wait til it’s streaming so I can enjoy it on the couch, in my sweatpants.
allisaidwasshoot@reddit
I'm going to be honest, it's a film that is meant to be watched in theaters with other people. It's the best horror film in a very long time.
Church42@reddit
I saw it last night myself. It was interesting and I enjoyed it
allisaidwasshoot@reddit
Best horror film made in a very long time. Hell, it might be the best horror movie ever made.
Church42@reddit
At least until Steven King makes Desperation or The Regulators into a movie
TAK!!
OccupyAudio@reddit
Well if we are adding to this... Lets not act like the movie " The Hand That Rocks the Cradle " didnt leave and impression along the way
IceCoughy@reddit
I think it's our parents
BasicReputations@reddit
It never crossed my mind we would be messed up. We are products of our time but I think we are very well adjusted.
cbih@reddit
I grew up with the whole Time-Life series (books), The Enchanted World.
Treadingresin@reddit
I don't think that we are any more fucked up than anybody else. Every generation has its own special spice blend.
Rampasta@reddit
This is great but I hate that it's a tiktak video
Illustrious-Lead-960@reddit
I usually say “Scary Stories” as a joke answer: I wasn’t expecting to actually hear it!
loztriforce@reddit
When I was in grade school I looked a lot like him. I mean, I still get told I look like him, but the resemblance isn’t as much anymore. Anyways, kids in grade school convinced younger kids that I was him, got surrounded by kids asking for an autograph. Good times.
Alarmed_Drop7162@reddit
It’s all of this back here (gestures behind to the horizon).
Jonestown_Juice@reddit
We're not messed up at all. What are you talking about?
DJMagicHandz@reddit
I watched a river turn red with blood in homeroom. Shout-out to Channel One for traumatizing young kids.
algarhythms@reddit
‘83 here and I had never heard of this artist, nor had I heard of those books prior to this video.
But Kevin McCallister getting offed by a swarm of bees 5 minutes after his first kiss?
Existential dread.
CurnanBarbarian@reddit
I loved Scary Stories, but that book had to be out of my room before I went to bed. Those illustrations were CREEPY
-happycow-@reddit
Is she allowed to drive when she can't see anything on the left ?
spderweb@reddit
I wonder if it's still looking for its Talie-po.
miuzzo@reddit
Around the same time I also got access to the internet and became more proficient at covering my tracks then anyone.
Also, I had all three of these books and they were a DAYLIGHT ONLY reading experience.
Lucky_Louch@reddit
I both loved and feared those books so much. I couldn't have them in my room or I would be too freaked out at night but would always analyze the pictures during the day.
terminalaku@reddit
maybe she's not wrong, but she ignores all the weirdo shit we were exposed to by early to late 80s nickelodeon, like pinwheel, today's special and everything under that umbrella. wtf was emily?.
how do you go into this rant and not mention the peanut butter solution or the OG tomorrow people? what about you can't do that on television?
but we can still stand for the pledge knowing that cloak & dagger and monster squad were domestic.
FatReverend@reddit
Are those reasons or are they symptoms of the world in which we grew? Kind of a chicken and egg situation with that one.
colostitute@reddit
lol, I introduced Scary Stories to my kids and they loved it!