0973: "MTV Generation"

[-KF-]

Mouseover: "If you identified with the kids from The Breakfast Club when it came out, you're now much closer to the age of Principal Vernon."

And by the time we are complaining about their grandchildren, MTV will be completely unrecognizable compared to the present day, much less the way it was when it started.

[legopelle]

TL;DR

People getting mature when getting older. Or old will always look down on new.

[xkcdfan]

Obligatory "MTV doesn't even show music videos anymore" comment.

[myoilu]

TL;DR

People getting mature when getting older. Or old will always look down on new.

did you just TL;DR the first post?

[GregSucks]

Obligatory "MTV doesn't even show music videos anymore" comment.

I registered an account to just say that MTV /never/ showed music videos, as far as I (generation MTV's child) am concerned.

[Dinoguy1000]

TL;DR

People getting mature when getting older. Or old will always look down on new.

I think of it more as "holy crap I'm how old?!" =D

[eaglef2]

I feel like this is BHG's alternate persona...

[Hofstadter'sLaw]

TL;DR

People getting mature when getting older. Or old will always look down on new.

did you just TL;DR the first post?

See, that's the problem with the MTV Generation's kids--no attention span. =/

[pbnjstowell]

White Hat Guy?

[Quicksilver]

It just sounds like the arrogance of old age, and ignorance of youth culture.

[atypicaltexan]

Substitute alt-text for people who are a bit younger: The original cast members of All That are now in their early-to-mid-30s.

[Copper Bezel]

I feel like this is BHG's alternate persona...z

Aren't we all, though? Deep down?

[Phil_hi]

I think the comic would have been more funny with the use of the alternate "they're", rather than "their". Then you're being condescending of all youth rather than just the progeny of a specific generation.

[zd0]

I think the comic would have been more funny with the use of the alternate "they're", rather than "their". Then you're being condescending of all youth rather than just the progeny of a specific generation.

B'oh! I'm glad you mentioned this as I actually thought it was the other way around at first and would have preferred it if it was the way it actually is listed. This saddens me, as I'm usually painfully aware of their/they're shenanigans.

*mumbles something about 3:00 in the morning*

[Murphy2112]

I'm only 20, so I guess I'm a part of the generation in question, but the alt-text is just depressing.

[Andromeda321]

White Hat Guy?

My reaction too. Who's White Hat Guy? Because he's clearly not Black Hat Guy, and he could just as easily be the normal dude sans hat.

[UniqueScreenname]

I guess even though I would be included in this generation also, I still think it's fine to hate us. As long as Jersey Shore is popular, that is.

Also, what is TL;DR?

[pareidolon]

White Hat Guy?

I think he's a stereotypical Florida retiree wearing a white leisure hat and complaining about terms that haven't been seriously used in decades.

Obligatory "MTV doesn't even show music videos anymore" comment.

I never was able to watch music videos on MTV, but I'm amazed at how much production quality goes into some of them when nowadays I have no clue how they make that money back.

[MichaelKarnerfors]

To those that say MTV never showed videos.... suck it up:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTP2RUD_cL0



A modern variant of it...

I want my revenue...

Now look at them bloggers. That's the way you do it.
You post some nonsense on the web with glee.
That ain't working. That's the way you do it.
Money for trolling and the clicks for free.

Now that ain't working. That's the way you do it.
Let me tell you. Them trolls ain't dumb.
Maybe get a blister on your mousing finger.
Maybe get a blister on your thumb.

We got to post and do some more flaming.
Get TradeDoubler and some Google ads.
We got to click these ads and banners.
We got some mighty big trolls to feed.

That little spammer with the adverts for Viagra.
Yeah buddy that's his own site.
That little spammer got his own web startup.
That little spammer he's a millionaire.

We got to post and do some more flaming.
Get TradeDoubler and some Google ads.
We got to click these ads and banners.
We got some mighty big trolls to feed.

Ooh I click my...

Got to post and do some more flaming.
Get TradeDoubler and some Google ads.
We got to click these ads and banners.
Got some mighty big trolls to feed.

Look at him, look at...

I should've learned to post on Wordpress.
I should've learned Blogspot too.
Look at that mama. She's got it stickin' in the webcam.
Man, we can have some.

And he's up there. What's that? A shocker website.
He's banging some gorilla while he's in a tree.
Oh that ain't working. That's the way you do it.
Get your money for trolling and the clicks for free.

We got to post and do some more flaming.
Get TradeDoubler and some Google ads.
We got to click these ads and banners.
We got some mighty big trolls to feed.

Listen here. Now...

That ain't workin'. That's the way you do it.
You post some nonsense on the web with glee.
That ain't workin'. That's the way you do it.
Money for trolling and the clicks for free.

Money for trolling
and the clicks for free.

Get your money for trolling
and the clicks for free.

Look at that, look at that.

I want my...
I want my...
I want my revenue.

I want my...
I want my...
I want my revenue.

[nathanmacinnes]

what is TL;DR?

Too long; didn't read.

[jonadab]

I guess I'm somewhere between the MTV generation and their kids: I remember the eighties, but I wasn't a teenager yet and didn't watch MTV.

In keeping with the title text, here's another nugget: the kid from Home Alone is now over thirty years old. Also, M.C. Hammer is fifty. HTH.HAND.

[Spaztaztic]

White Hat Guy?

My reaction too. Who's White Hat Guy? Because he's clearly not Black Hat Guy, and he could just as easily be the normal dude sans hat.

Normal dude sans hat means normal dude without hat, which probably means normal dude. Normal dude avec hat is what you want, I think.

[madjo]

Don't mess with the bull, young man, or you'll get with the horns!

btw, I liked it when janitor Carl Reed tried to blackmail Principal Vernon.
And does anyone else think that Brian got the short end of the stick? He didn't get any of the girls, and got to do the detention work for all of them. That bunch of freeloading scumbags.

[Lazar]

As a Millennial, Iet me take this opportunity to say that I dislike those John Hughes high school movies. Ferris Bueller is a jerk, and The Breakfast Club is a muddle of stereotypes that ends up endorsing the very conformity it pretends to reject.

[madjo]

As a Millennial, Iet me take this opportunity to say that I dislike those John Hughes high school movies. Ferris Bueller is a jerk, and The Breakfast Club is a muddle of stereotypes that ends up endorsing the very conformity it pretends to reject.

Young whippersnapper! Heretic! Get off my lawn.

[SamSam]

The real question is, how many of XKCD's core audience thinks of the "MTV generation" as referring to kids? That phrase has hardly been used in the past ten years. If you're under the age of 25, WHG's reaction isn't going to be a GOOMHR moment -- your reaction is going to be "huh?"

[SamSam]

I think the comic would have been more funny with the use of the alternate "they're", rather than "their". Then you're being condescending of all youth rather than just the progeny of a specific generation.

B'oh! I'm glad you mentioned this as I actually thought it was the other way around at first and would have preferred it if it was the way it actually is listed. This saddens me, as I'm usually painfully aware of their/they're shenanigans.

But that would have missed the whole point of the strip.

"Your problem with the MTV generation is they're kids?" No. They are not kids. That's what the strip is establishing. Instead, WHG's problem with the MTV generation is the kids that they produced, who have no attention span.

_{...of course, the they're/their confusion could have been made even more confusing if she was addressing the kids, and said "Your problem with the MTV generation is there, kids."}

[Aelfyre]

Obligatory "MTV doesn't even show music videos anymore" comment.

I registered an account to just say that MTV /never/ showed music videos, as far as I (generation MTV's child) am concerned.

I am smack dab in the middle of Gen X and the MTV Generation.. and you obviously never watched Yngwie J Malmsteen and ead... bangahs... bowl!

[Socks]

Did you know that MTV launched closer to when Alaska became a state than to present day?
*snicker*

[KShrike]

When I think about how old CGI is... I actually start to freak out.

[Yoduh]

But that would have missed the whole point of the strip.

"Your problem with the MTV generation is they're kids?" No. They are not kids. That's what the strip is establishing. Instead, WHG's problem with the MTV generation is the kids that they produced, who have no attention span.

_{...of course, the they're/their confusion could have been made even more confusing if she was addressing the kids, and said "Your problem with the MTV generation is there, kids."}

And that's because the generation who raised them are the ones who were originally labeled as the "no attention span" generation when they were themselves growing up in the 80s. So that's to say that either both generations are to blame, or that attention spans are only achieved later in life and the cycle of older generations hating newer generations is never ending. And I can see that, I'm 23 and already find middle schoolers with cell phones to be highly annoying.

[Cosmologicon]

The real question is, how many of XKCD's core audience thinks of the "MTV generation" as referring to kids? That phrase has hardly been used in the past ten years. If you're under the age of 25, WHG's reaction isn't going to be a GOOMHR moment -- your reaction is going to be "huh?"

This. I'm 31, I was 0 when MTV launched, I'm four years older than Randall, and I never thought of "the MTV generation" as referring to kids. I thought it was those old people who complain about when MTV used to play music videos, definitely closer to Gen X than Gen Y. Who the heck would use MTV to identify today's teens? There are so much more relevant cultural icons. I don't see how anyone under 70 couldn't recognize this....

Having said that, I can identify with the comic because of the other character. I like pointing out when people are being dumb.

[prolog]

My wife works as a junior high teacher. I like to tell her stuff like, "All of your kids were born after Toy Story came out." She doesn't think that's very funny.

[belliott4488]

What if I was already closer to Principal Vernon's age than the kids' age when The Breakfast Club came out? Oh, my God ...

[cellocgw]

And by the time we are complaining about their grandchildren, MTV will be completely unrecognizable compared to the present day, much less the way it was when it started.

You might think so, but Beavis& Butthead is about to roll out a new set of shows.

[SirMustapha]

Randall creates a strawman, who behaves pretty much nothing like an average person would, and uses it to deliver a condescending and patronising joke -- and the character who "saves the day" is female. Why am I not surprised?

Alternate post:
Lawl, the guy's so old he's even wearing a hat.

[Richard.]

White Hat Guy?

My reaction too. Who's White Hat Guy? Because he's clearly not Black Hat Guy, and he could just as easily be the normal dude sans hat.

We don't know he's not Black Hat Guy, because White Hat Guy could just be Black Hat Guy in a particularly reflective mood. -ahem-

Randall creates a strawman, who behaves pretty much nothing like an average person would, and uses it to deliver a condescending and patronising joke -- and the character who "saves the day" is female. Why am I not surprised?

Alternate post:
Lawl, the guy's so old he's even wearing a hat.

1) An old person looking at a distracted teenager is a straw man? Nope.
2) He behaves how some people would, and in a common way. "Average person" is a pretty harsh generalization.
3) I sensed absolutely no condescension. And patronizing? ('Treat with an apparent kindness that betrays a feeling of superiority') That's not even applicable.
4) The character happened to be female. In no way did she save the day.

You jump to some of the most bogus and irrational conclusions I've ever had the displeasure of witnessing.

[javahead]

I recall WHG not being new

http://www.xkcd.com/915/

[Zylon]

It's your kids, Marty!

[Adam H]

The real question is, how many of XKCD's core audience thinks of the "MTV generation" as referring to kids? That phrase has hardly been used in the past ten years. If you're under the age of 25, WHG's reaction isn't going to be a GOOMHR moment -- your reaction is going to be "huh?"

It's pretty clear from the context... I'm 24 and knew immediately what he was talking about. I think the joke is not necessarily empathizing with WHG, but laughing at how old he is. YMMV.

I like thinking of white hat guy as an old, mellow version of BHG. Like, his hat turned white with old age.

And also, my conservative grumpy old parents would always blame my generation's problems on the 60s and 70s. GOOTHR!! (T for their)

White Hat Guy could just be Black Hat Guy in a particularly reflective mood. -ahem-

BRAVO GOOD SIR.