popular thinking

BREAKING NEWS: BOOMERS ARE GETTING OLDER

Ah, yes, the obligatory Baby Boomer "trend" story. Boomers turn 50, read a ton of media reports about what that means. Repeat at 55, then at 60. Most media managers also tend to belong to this generation. Coincidence? Forget all the boring generational coming-of-senior-age pieces you'll read about all over the place, and just focus for a moment on the fact that in 2006, a lot of famous baby faces of '46 will be turning 60...

It’s the big 6-0, baby: Taking stock of some famous boomers as milestone nears (Boston Herald)
The first wave of American baby boomers turns 60 next year.
Good news for companies that make 60th birthday cards, but a stark reminder that more Americans than ever before are edgingcloser to retirement, Social Security and all the trappings of senior citizenship.
About 78 million Americans - close to 30 percent of the population - were born between 1946 and 1964.
Born to World War II vets, this generation had an optimistic youth, saw its idealistic heroes assassinated, endured Vietnam, gathered at Woodstock, grew its hair long, then grew up and amassed enormous material wealth.
That, of course, is a generalization.
Each baby boomer followed his or her own path to modern maturity, as these famous baby faces from 1946 can attest.

Six ways to get from 0 to 60
1. Defined by the Vietnam War
Some fought in the war. Others fought the war effort. It was a divisive time, and Ron Kovic, literally “Born on the Fourth of July” in 1946, exemplified that divisiveness. Kovic signed up for Vietnam, returned home paralyzed and campaigned against the war.

2. Answered JFK’s call to civic duty
Perhaps no one took President Kennedy’s words and actions as literally as the then-teenage Bill Clinton, who met JFK at a White House function and made it his mission to become president himself someday, even if he did dodge the draft, fail at pot-smoking and have a weakness for the ladies. How’d that turn out, anyhow?

3. From counterculture to oh-so-mainstream
One of the biggest boomer stereotypes is how counterculture they were. And yet, so many of them found their artistic expressions becoming less and less creative as they grew older. Jann Wenner heralded rock ’n’ roll like no other when he founded Rolling Stone magazine, but his mag since has gathered much moss - and his Wenner Media is more business than pleasure.
Or take Cheech Marin, who produced one box-office bong after another with comedy partner Tommy Chong in the late 1970s and early ’80s, only to find himself on the other side of the law (like his real-life father), playing TV and movie cop roles in recent years.

4. Putting their stamp on pop culture, showing audiences how culture can comment on reality or surreality
Look at this roster of soon-to-be 60-year-olds who all sit in the director’s chair: Steven Spielberg, Oliver Stone, David Lynch, Ivan Reitman and John Waters.
Dick Wolf plays judge and jury with his several incarnations of “Law & Order” on the small screen. And though the late Mary-Ellis Bunim may not have made it to 60, her “reality” TV productions - first and foremost among them, MTV’s “The Real World” - have altered our television landscape forever.

5. As a legacy of feminism, women learn they can use their positions of influence to become activists.
Candice Bergen famously found herself in a debate with a sitting vice president over the morality of single motherhood, and found that she enjoyed being part of a national discussion. Susan Sarandon continues to be both a star actress and a star activist, and is proud of it.

6. They wanted to have it all, even more than their parents had, perhaps in part to showthe “greatest generation” who’s really greatest.
Donald Trump and George W. Bush both turn 60 next year. Need we say more?