My Generation

My Generation. Wasn't that the name of a Limp Bizkit song? I'm fairly sure it was. I haven't heard anything from them in a while. I suppose that's OK since I really haven't missed them. They had their time in my disc changer and now it seems that I've lost my taste for hot dog flavored water. Music always seems to have this sense of nostalgia surrounding it. A person can listen to a song and hear it again some time later and almost instantly recall the previous moment in time in a similar way that a scent does. Sensory perception is a curious thing... separate facets of experience curiously interconnected.

I suppose you could say the same thing holds true for different generations, though in a different light. Media transcends generations, thus connecting them in fascinating ways. While the generations do have things about them that clearly define them, each generation's characteristics inevitably lead the way for those that follow. So to define a generation you almost have to look for things that came and went during it's time.

Limp Bizkit came to mind as soon as I said the words "my generation" because from somewhere in the aisles of my brain I recalled it. Is hot dog flavored water a defining characteristic of my generation? No, though it does allude to a time in my own past that is heavily saturated with it. In my mind I tend to think of defining characteristics as those that have major impact on society and peoples' lives in general. Hot dog flavored water never made much of an impact on anything. Oh well.

I also believe defining characteristics can themselves be defined by generations. Consider this:

After listening to my mother reflect that her philosophy of life was developed from the original Star Trek television series and watching Star Trek reruns myself throughout my childhood, I believe that the series can be classified as defining the generation that grew into adulthood in the 1960’s and 70’s, the Baby Boomers.

The 60’s and early 70’s were a time of turmoil in the world: the Cold War; the raising of the Berlin Wall; the Civil Rights Movement; the Vietnam War; the Hippie Movement; the Woman’s Rights Movement; The Cuban Missile Crisis; the assassinations of President Kennedy, Martin Luther King, and Senator Robert Kennedy; the Arab-Israeli War; the terrorist attack on the Olympics in Munich; Watergate and the resignation of President Nixon… It was also the time of Martin Luther King’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech and the birth of true equality under the law. President Kennedy challenged scientists to put a man on the moon before the end of the decade and the space race against the Russians began, culminating with a landing on the Moon by the USA in 1969. It was a time of growing awareness of the injustices of the past, creating a restless desire to right those wrongs.  James Michener wrote Centennial in the 70’s which focused attention on protection of the environment, pollution being a severe problem in those years, and put aside the myth of the American Indian as the bad guy and instead focused attention of the attempted extermination of the Native American tribes.   

Children of my mom's and dad’s generation were raised by those of World Wars I and II, but the wars of their parent’s and grandparent’s generations had been successful against overwhelming enemies. Movies and books of their day glorified victories and war, but the reality of the failure of Vietnam had a very different effect on the Baby Boomers. They lived in a world that was post-atomic bomb. They lived in fear that the Communists, who also had the bomb, could turn it on America at any time. The weapon that ended World War II was now a tool of war which threatened the entire world. 

It was fitting then, that a series called Star Trek would come along to take everyone’s imagination out into space, beyond the moon and into a future where peace had come to the Earth and humans united to keep the peace with other species in outer space. The series only lasted three years, but in syndication it became a phenomenon, impacting a whole generation. The crew of the Enterprise was a captain from Iowa, a Scottish engineer, a Japanese helmsman, a Russian navigator, a country doctor, an African woman communications officer, and an alien science officer; a fascinating combination of characters who all got along and were devoted to each other, the crew, and the ship…..and to peace.   

Nichelle Nichols who played Uhura (Swahili for Freedom), said that she would have turned down the a permanent role on the show except that she was encouraged to change her mind by Martin Luther King who was a fan of the show. He told her that her character symbolized a future where all people lived in harmony.   Dr. King encouraged her by saying, “…for the first time, we're seen as we should be seen. You don't have a black role. You have an equal role.” 

Gene Roddenberry brought many social issues into the episodes of Star Trek. In many episodes racism was symbolically represented through the experiences of aliens…… Racism was primarily focused on the aliens of Star Trek from Spock, half Vulcan/half human and his pointed ears to other aliens met along the way. Let That Be Your Last Battlefield (airdate 1/10/69),  an episode about two half-white half-black beings from the planet Cheron who brought their racial hatred to the Enterprise, resonated with a powerful message about racial hatred.   

War and peace were also subjects of the series. Intervening in the affairs of other planets was forbidden…the Prime Directive. Many of the episodes dealt with the crew of the Enterprise trying not to affect the cultures of the people they encountered in the galaxy although sometimes they failed.  The Federation was seen as the peace-keeper in the galaxy as America was becoming the peace-keeping power in the world at that time. Overall, I get the feeling war was seen as something to be avoided. The Baby Boomers grew up in the shadow of real war (a seemingly endless war) and looked back at World War I and II and the Korean War and wondered if there would ever be real peace. At least on the Earth of the 23^rd century peace was a reality. One episode, A Taste of Armageddon, was a mockery of war in which a war lasting generations continued with computer simulated battles and casualties. The people “killed” in the computer model reported to be disintegrated. The routine continued until they became aware there was a better way.

Star Trek, the original series, was only the beginning of a collection of movies and spin-off television series that crossed into the lives of the children of the Baby Boomers and gave them the chance to experience the power of the stories of the original series. The creators of the original Star Trek series reflected on the social issues through their medium, and carried a generation with them. Many of the issues are ones we still wonder about to this day. They continue to serve as reminders of the work we still have to do and the best hopes we have for our world, although peace seems even more elusive today than it did 50 years ago. In my family, I know the tradition will continue into the next generation. My mother and my brother have already introduced my 2 ½ year-old son to Star Trek.  Live long and prosper! 

So it's interesting to see how creative works like Star Trek can be both defined by a generation and simultaneously define the next generation as well. Wait... wasn't that the name of a Star Trek series? I'm fairly sure it was.