Why Millennials and Gen Zers are leaning into nihilism and nostalgia in the face of global crises
By Tess Fletcher
Under the blue roof of the Forum Melbourne theatre, I and a room full of other Millennials – I can tell by the number of leather jackets, distressed jeans and Converse shoes – watch a plucky American reporter at the 1999 New Year’s Eve ball drop in Times Square. The reporter crosses enthusiastically to the newsroom: the Y2K bug hasn’t killed the world’s computers! It looks like the 2000s are going to be great after all! The whole theatre bursts into smug laughter as the film flicks through images of Bill Clinton and the glimmering Twin Towers. We all know the doom and gloom that’s to come.
We’re there watching Meet me in the bathroom, a documentary based on Lizzy Goodman’s book, Meet me in the bathroom: Rebirth and rock and roll in New York City 2001–2011. Both the book and film are accounts of what’s often touted as the last great age of rock music, following the rise of bands like The Strokes, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, LCD Soundsystem and Interpol. This is also how I know the room is full predominantly of Millennials. We’re all there to revel in our heyday. To slip for a few hours into the nostalgia of shaggy hair, skinny jeans and Julian Casablancas reigning supreme.
Laughing at impending doom is a very Millennial, and now increasingly Gen Z, attribute. These two generations, encompassing those born from the 1980s to the early 2010s, frequently turn to nihilistic jokes and the nostalgia of 2000s popular culture to escape the pressures of the modern world …
This feature is an excerpt. To read the full article, pick up a copy of our October 2022 print version for free at either the RMIT Student Union in Building 8 on Swanston St or the lobby of Building 94 on Cardigan St.
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