This 2017 video produced by New York City based American news and entertainment company BuzzFeed, compares and contrasts all seven living American generations. The generations covered include the Greatest Generation or G.I. Generation (born 1901-1927), the Silent Generation or The Lucky Few (born 1928-1945), the Baby Boomers or Rock&Roll Generation (born 1946-1964), Generation X (born 1965-1980), Millennials or Gen Y (born 1981-1997), Gen Z (born 1998-2010), and Generation Alpha (2011-present). The video begins by defining the term generation as “a group of people born within a certain period of time whose shared age and experiences shape a distinct worldview.” The video shows actors portraying representative individuals from each generation, while subtitles provide statistics about each generation and information about the formative social and cultural forces that have shaped their experiences. “Over the course of 125 years, seven distinct generations, social, political, sexual, and technological behavior have radically evolved,” the video concludes. In ends by saying that your generation does not define you but “how you interpret your position in it.”

discussion

What is a generation? What seven generations does this video talk about? Can you describe each generation in one word?

What generational stereotypes do you see in this video? What is the message
about generational stereotypes? Where do you think these stereotypes or ideas about generations come from?

How have views about race, gender, sexuality, and religion evolved over the last
century, according to this video?

What generation do you see yourself fitting in? Do you agree or disagree with the stereotypes tied to your generation?