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- Fast Times at Ridgemont High. According to Harvard's Joint Center for Housing Studies, the oldest Gen Xers were born as early as 1965, which would've put the first batch of them in the teenage workforce by the early-'80s.
- Do the Right Thing. As each generation starts to come into their own in their late-teens/young adult years, they inevitably begin to clash with the ideals of the generation that directly proceeded their own — in other words, their parents, teachers, bosses, or any figure of authority.
- Reality Bites. "Reality Bites" is the feature length directorial debut of Ben Stiller, whose "Ben Stiller Show" helped influence the voice of Gen X comedy a few years prior (per Rotten Tomatoes).
- Swingers. While grunge music is often what first comes to mind when one things of the soundtrack of Generation X, other types of music hit critical mass as Gen Xers were coming into their own.
- 20 Fast Times at Ridgemont High
- 19 Footloose
- 18 Karate Kid
- 17 The Goonies
- 16 The Breakfast Club
- 15 St. Elmo's Fire
- 14 Ferris Bueller's Day Off
- 13 Heathers
- 12 Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure
- 11 Do The Right Thing
When Amy Heckerling's teen classic Fast Times at Ridgemont Highwas released in the summer of 1982, the oldest Gen-Xers were getting ready to graduate high school and just starting to join the workforce. The somewhat raunchy comedy follows a group of both freshmen and seniors as they navigate school, relationships, and their minimum-wage mall jobs. ...
The film that skyrocketed Kevin Bacons career, this generation adoredFootloose. Following Ren McCormack (Bacon), who moves from Chicago to a small town and is horrified to discover that dancing has been banned by the local minister. A love of song, dance, and self-expression, but most of all, a rebel without a cause, Ren immediately makes it his mi...
"Wash on, wash off." the iconic lines that, if you ask any Gen Xer, will put a giant smile on their face. Directed by John G Avidsen, when this film came out, they probably had no idea they'd kick off a beloved franchise that continues to this day. They were just making a cool movie about karate. When Daniel (Ralph Macchio) moves to Southern Califo...
The 1980s gave us some of the most entertaining action-adventure movies of all time, but The Gooniesreally cemented its place in Gen-X culture in a way that other films of the era did not. The movie follows a group of kids and teens who find out that their homes are about to be demolished to make way for a brand-new development. They decide to go o...
In what is perhaps his best film, John Hughes' The Breakfast Club follows five high school students who wouldn't normally be caught dead in the same room during a Saturday detention held in the school's library and overseen by their rather harsh principal. Each of the five students represents a high school stereotype, but they are all revealed to b...
If The Breakfast Club was the representation of the younger Gen-Xers still in high school, then St. Elmo's Fireis the representation of the older Gen-Xers who were in college and preparing to join the adult workforce. It was one of the first films to explore what young adults of the generation were going through as they were leaving adolescence beh...
"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." With a message like this, you could say Ferris Bueller was a symbol for the Gen Xer population. Ferris Bueller's Day Offis a beloved film that, while still popular today, hit a particularly important note with this generation. Following an entrepreneuria...
Gen-X had plenty of comedic teen movies to choose from, but they also had perhaps the best dark teen comedy to watch, 1988's Heathers. In a decade filled with upbeat stories about being a teenager, this movie turned heads. It centers around a girl named Veronica (Winona Ryder) who hangs out with the three most popular girls in school, who all happe...
When thinking of two lovable, metal-head best friends, many people probably think of Wayne and Garth, which is valid. Before them, however, there were Bill and Ted. Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventurefollows the two titular protagonists on their quest to avoid failing history class. The problem is they hate studying but love music. On the brink of f...
Spike Lee's third directorial effort effectively portrays the brewing hatred and bigotry between the residents of the Bedford-Stuyvesant area of Brooklyn. However, it also just as effectively depicts the generational disdain between the younger people and the older people of the neighborhood. As we get older and become adults, it is inevitable that...
- Evergreen Writer
Aug 7, 2023 · Movies from the 1980s, '90s and even 2000s have encompassed the lifestyle of a Gen-Xer. Here are 25 of the better movies that defined the Gen X movement, or at least do an above-average job of ...
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Jun 6, 2019 · Alamy. The Breakfast Club (Credit: Alamy) Three years later came black comedy Heathers, which turned high school rivalries into a literal blood sport and starred new Gen X poster girl Winona Ryder ...
- 'Reality Bites' (1994) Ben Stiller directed this Gen X masterpiece whose very Gen X thesis is, well, reality bites. In the film, Stiller, Winona Ryder, Ethan Hawke, Janeane Garofalo, and Steve Zahn (a Gen X all-star team) face the challenges of "adulting" in the '90s, even though this was before "adult" was used as a verb.
- 'Before Sunrise' (1995) Before Sunrise is a movie-length ode to Gen X love. Ethan Hawke meets Julie Delpy while traveling in Europe, and spend a magical day together talking each other's ears off about anything and everything under the sun.
- 'High Fidelity' (2000) This may be the first John Cusack vehicle on the list, but it's most certainly not the last. This Nick Hornby adaptation follows Rob Gordon (Cusack) as a recently dumped record store owner who becomes obsessed with getting in touch with his exes to find out why he's so bad at relationships.
- 'Empire Records' (1995) Speaking of music, Empire Records is the iconic Gen X music movie, if only for some of its stars (ahem, Ethan Embry, Liv Tyler, Renée Zellweger).
Feb 28, 2024 · Tweet Partilhar. G eneration X is a term used to describe the demographic born after Baby Boomers and before Millennials. While the exact years are still up for debate, with different sources claiming different dates, it's safe to say that Gen-Xers were born sometime between 1965 and 1980. As such, the last two decades of the 20th century were ...
Nov 12, 2020 · Here are just ten of the many culturally significant films from a bygone era of lazing about in coffee shops and overanalyzing Saturday morning cartoons. 1. The Breakfast Club (1985) It’s very likely that the John Hughes classic “The Breakfast Club” was the first major film to allow Generation X to embrace their teenage angst.
