Where have the twenties gone!?

I was watching Hot Tub Time Machine for the first time the other night and had 2 profound thoughts: (1) Where can I find that hot tub? and (2) Is this what our Generation has come to believe? Let me explain.

Growing up in the 90s and into the 2000s, our generation is best depicted by watching TV sitcoms such as Friends, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and more recently How I Met Your Mother, Desperate Housewives, Sex and the City and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.  Continuing on into the movie realm, we generally enjoy offbeat comedies such as Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Wedding Crashers, The Hangover, and of course Hot Tub Time Machine.

Now, I'm sure you're wondering what all these have to do with one another.  Nothing, on the outside.  But delving further into the story lines and character backgrounds, most of these scenarios depict Generation Y in the older years, or more so, the "current" lives of our brothers and sisters who are 5 to 10 years ahead of us.  Generally speaking the story lines usually follow molds such as this:

A few close friends with fairly steady jobs and wavering relationships reminisce on the good old days and how their lives have gone very differently than what they expected as young "naive" youth. (That's us). Through whimsical dialogue, irresponsible actions, and funny scenarios stemmed from excessive sex and drinking, they end up realizing their lives are actually okay now that they have the One they've evaded all these years, the job they've been vying for, or are still humorously F*ed up and drinking at the end of the becase "It's hilarious!" laughter rolling through the credits...

or

Late thirty to forty something year olds, usually divorcees, are having early midlife crises as their uncontrollable teenage children terrorize their household while engaging in sex and drugs at very young ages, and all the while the parents are too consumed in their own post marriage arguments, dating scene, social catastrophes to notice or take part in their children's deteriorating behavior.  But it's ok! Becaue everybody's doing it! You're not alone out there in the real world and because it's on TV, it's ok for you too!

or

Having grown up in the generation of reality TV, we are predisposed to having watched The Real World, Osbornes, and of course the Kardashians. These are quite self-explanatory. 

Ok, back to reality....or is it?  Most of us Millennials are in our twenties and have grown up influenced by media such as these.  I can't help but wonder if that's the reason why so many of us at such a young age are already questioning why we haven't found The One, are President's in our careers, published book authors, or Hollywood moguls (excluding those few that have reached those aspirations at such a young age of course :) Not to mention, the repeated message of having a young mid-life crisis because you didn't take full advantage of your youth, married too young and with the wrong person, or are generally unhappy with your life but find comfort in drinking and social shenangans with other just as desolate friends. 

Does all of this mean that at such a young age, we're already trying to fulfill a destiny or makeup for lost time before that time has even come? If thirties are the new twenty, does that make us the academic age? Maybe that's why so many Mellenials are taking so long to start and finish college, or extending into graudate school, or waiting to leave the nest. We're being cornered into an extended academic career while already questioning our place in society and our lack of immediate success. We're stuck between the young mid life crises and the ever younger, trying to be older, teenie boppers!

Where have the twenties gone!?


For your added reading pleasure.
100 TV Shows that Defined a Decade