One last thing about the end of liberal media: it’s really the end of Boomer media. Boomer coded, Boomer reverential media. What I didn’t understand is that, like said regarding money and power, while conservatives made a lot of money in the ‘80s with Hollywood blockbusters, Boomer liberals still had the seats of power. Academia was completely captured by them at this time. Alternative rockers, while they were mostly apolitical in their lyrics, were still avoiding male-coded jingoism and, again, while not making money, were acclaimed by powerful institutions like Rolling Stone that loved the ‘60s vibe of bands like REM. As said in his latest, for decades, the hippie had a certain nobility. Gen X saw through it, but the liberal boomer media was so powerful that Gen X only had their contemporary contributions recognized during the grunge era, which again was heavily influenced and nurtured by MTV. Kids on the street weren’t listening to Nirvana; they were taught to. Even radio stations were indifferent. MTV gave them the TikTok level boost they needed. Kurt Cobain’s Roger McGuinn hair and Beatlesque melodies made the Boomer press swoon. During the Millennial era, especially the hipster era, Boomers were culturally even more revered. What they became, Millennials hated. But what they were…some hipsters liked The Strokes, some liked Modest Mouse, they all loved The Kinks.
But now, Gen Z speaks a different language from Boomers. The language of violence, between understanding it in the Gaza situation and justifying it in the Mangione incident, alienates Boomers. During the Gen X era, it was easy enough for the press to starve anything that alienated Boomers of legitimacy. Again, many conservative coded films, musicians, etc made money, but they were starved of respect, ensuring they would remain off the historical record. Heavy metal, long the scourge of feminists, is the perfect example. Millennials were called Echo Boomers once for a reason. Gen Z, like Gen X, does not cotton to Boomer thought. Unlike the conservative coded ‘80s though, this time they can’t do a thing about it.
The biggest irony: Gen Z most closely resembles the revolutionary new leftist vanguard of the ‘60s. That’s what makes this so bitter. The kids of the ‘80s were too absurdly conservative for Boomers to worry about. They could be swatted away like bugs. ‘90s Gen X liberals were not passionate enough…perhaps, Boomers thought, Clinton was too good a president. First of four Boomer presidents. Millennials were such good students of liberal history. A plus. No notes. Gen Z has the culture now, but it’s the Boomers that became the man they once hated. All those years, Boomers had the formula of justifying themselves by saying their culture led to, say, The White Stripes. Of course they can do this with Gen Z by saying they had their own criminals with the Weather Underground. But this is what hurts: the Boomer narrative is SELLING OUT ON THESE BELIEFS, ON THAT PASSION. Gen X and Millennials of course said as much about Boomers, but Boomers could turn around and say “What? You got a hashtag?” This, nope. This is revolutionary rage that they let go of for power. Saddest of all: now they lost power.