Great essay, thanks Johanna! It seems to me that cringe falls into the broad category of discomfort -- which is being avoided at ALL costs by all ages, but particularly by the upcoming generations. God help them!
Nice! I'm glad to see what you make of the term "cringe," since you seem to recognize it but not accord it the same weight as "the young" (a wise vantage point). One thing: I'd guess that the actual environment of marriages and relationships which younger people experience probably plays more into the choice to pursue them than diffused, technological peer pressure. Why dive into the mediated, confusing, rejection-ful romance thicket if the supposed goal of doing so is to wind up like your divorced parents, uncles, or grandparents? And (to tempt polemic, my apologies) the abundance of failed marriages might put the lie to the earth-shattering, all-earnest romantic love you reference from previous media. Hence, that romantic love is hollow, not just embarrassing.
Anyway. Generational discourse is something I feel deeply but rarely want to engage with. It's strange to be 26 and hear the rolling panics over Gen Z. It's a group I don't know or fully understand (my older brothers are millennials, rendering me a "Zillennial" [truly, the worst portmanteau I've heard lately]).
Yeah, Kevin, Gen Z and Boomers did not set a great precedent, marriage-wise. So you're right, it's totally understandable why Gen Z would be leery of marriage and consider romance as a genre pure cheese. Having said that, I'm still watching my Jane Austen movies and loving them!
I think it's just a reaction against millennials, who tend to be quite earnest (and often prided ourselves on being earnest), which was itself a reaction against the anomie and anhedonia and anti-establishment vibe of Gen X culture
Great essay, thanks Johanna! It seems to me that cringe falls into the broad category of discomfort -- which is being avoided at ALL costs by all ages, but particularly by the upcoming generations. God help them!
Nice! I'm glad to see what you make of the term "cringe," since you seem to recognize it but not accord it the same weight as "the young" (a wise vantage point). One thing: I'd guess that the actual environment of marriages and relationships which younger people experience probably plays more into the choice to pursue them than diffused, technological peer pressure. Why dive into the mediated, confusing, rejection-ful romance thicket if the supposed goal of doing so is to wind up like your divorced parents, uncles, or grandparents? And (to tempt polemic, my apologies) the abundance of failed marriages might put the lie to the earth-shattering, all-earnest romantic love you reference from previous media. Hence, that romantic love is hollow, not just embarrassing.
Anyway. Generational discourse is something I feel deeply but rarely want to engage with. It's strange to be 26 and hear the rolling panics over Gen Z. It's a group I don't know or fully understand (my older brothers are millennials, rendering me a "Zillennial" [truly, the worst portmanteau I've heard lately]).
Yeah, Kevin, Gen Z and Boomers did not set a great precedent, marriage-wise. So you're right, it's totally understandable why Gen Z would be leery of marriage and consider romance as a genre pure cheese. Having said that, I'm still watching my Jane Austen movies and loving them!
Plenty of romance to enjoy in Austen, one way or another! No matter who is coming of age, they will always have period romance films.
I think it's just a reaction against millennials, who tend to be quite earnest (and often prided ourselves on being earnest), which was itself a reaction against the anomie and anhedonia and anti-establishment vibe of Gen X culture
Interesting! Makes sense if millennials are the ones that embraced the Twilight Saga, which seemed pretty over the top to me.