GEN WHY?: Stuff Y People Like, Vol. 2

A few weeks ago in this space, we discussed how much people in Generation Y love college, the Internet and Andy Samberg. This week, a new installment in the long list of things that obsess us:

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GEN WHY?: Stuff Y People Like, Vol. 2

POSTED: Tuesday, August 16, 2011, 3:00 PM

Filed Under: Critical Mass

Matt Cantor puts Generation Y-ers on blast.

A few weeks ago in this space, we discussed how much people in Generation Y love college, the Internet and Andy Samberg. This week, a new installment in the long list of things that obsess us:

Free stuff. Man, we hate paying for things. We don’t think we should ever have to. It all started, of course, with Napster; once we got used to getting music for free, there was no going back. Then came torrents and streaming video; we found ways to get our movies free, too. Now we’re shocked when a newspaper asks us to pay for it.

Shows and movies involving swords and dragons. It sounds nerdy, but it’s actually quite mainstream. While previous generations gobbled up Star Wars, Star Trek, and other futuristic fare, we’ve rushed to cinemas to see Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter, and we’ve stayed home to watch The Tudors and Game of Thrones. Sure, we enjoy Star Wars, too, but we prefer our epics set in the olden days. In the past two decades, how many epic blockbusters set in the future have captured our imaginations — and dollars — to the extent that these quasi-medieval legends have? I wonder if it’s because the present has already gotten too futuristic: We go to the movies to get away from our gadgets, not to ogle fictional ones. Which brings me to another thing Y people like:

Woodsy acoustic music. Nick Drake was from my parents’ generation, but when I first put on his CD, they had no idea who he was. In 2000, Drake “sold more records” in a month “than he had in the previous 30 years,” notes Wikipedia. We helped revive Drake, with his rich fingerpicking and imagery inspired by nature. These days we’re into Fleet Foxes, who sing of meadows and mountains, and Bon Iver, who won’t shut up about the woods. Again, my theory: escapism from our complicated modern lives.

(matt.cantor@citypaper.net)

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