Am I a Boomer? Or a Gen Xer? Or a Cusper? Help?

I was born in 1964. Wikipedia says that makes me a Boomer (although the official range is “1946 to 1962”). Other sources say that makes me Generation X.

Is it possible to be a Boomer/Gen X hybrid? I say yes! Does that make me a Toyota Prius?

Many things define the generations. Historical events, sociological changes, educational styles, parenting styles, toys and games, etc. But there are a couple of things that always come to my mind. The TV shows we grew up with. And the books we hid from our parents and teachers.

“I Like to Watch”

Many TV shows are considered to be “Boomer shows” or “Gen X shows.” But in truth, many of those things belong to more than one group. The original Star Trek had an episode called Is There in Truth No Beauty? Maybe we should ask, “Is there in truth no art that belongs to just one generation?”

Boomer or not, like many Generation X kids, I became a latchkey kid. This means I watched a lot of TV.

I started with the shows my parents most wanted me to see. Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood. Sesame Street. The Wonderful World Of Disney.

But then, I also watched tons and tons of cartoons. Like many Boomers, I started earlier with Hanna-Barbera shows. The first cartoon I remember watching was Penelope Pitstop. The Banana Splits Adventure Hour. Snagglepuss.

Generation X grew up with Hanna-Barbera, too. I watched The New Scooby-Doo Movies (with guest stars ranging from Sonny & Cher to Don Knotts). Harlem Globetrotters. Super Friends. The Funky Phantom (starring Daws Butler, the voice of Snagglepuss). Jabberjaw.

One of my favorites was their live-action Saturday morning series, Korg: 70,000 B.C. Imagine getting to sit down and watch a well-researched TV show about a family of Neanderthals! If only it had lasted longer…

And Filmation! One of the first cartoons I remember watching was their The Adventures of Superboy. Years later, I watched their Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle cartoon: one of the most faithful adaptations of the Edgar Rice Burroughs stories. I adored their Saturday morning live-action shows Shazam and The Secrets of Isis. Thanks to their show Jason of Star Command, I grew up watching Sid Haig play a villain.

How can we forget the crazy shows of Sid and Marty Krofft?! There was something there for Boomers and Gen X alike. H.R. Pufnstuf. Land of the Lost. ElectraWoman & DynaGirl (Deidre Hall in an early role). Dr. Shrinker (with Jay Robinson and Billy Barty).

I also watched later Generation X cartoons. Garfield and Friends and U.S. Acres. DuckTales. Thundarr the Barbarian. Maybe even a few episodes of ThunderCats and G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero and He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. (Visit the He-Man tag on the blog of Hugo Winner Cora Buhlert!) Like many Gen Xers, I grew to despise Scrappy Doo (he does have some defenders).

What about prime time? I vaguely remember watching a first-run episode of Star Trek (because my Boomer brother was watching it). I grew up with the reruns. What did I watch live? The Brady Bunch and The Partridge Family. The Six Million Dollar Man! Welcome Back, Kotter (hear the theme song in your mind now?) and Diff’rent Strokes (ditto) and more.

Am I Part of the Flowers in the Attic Generation?

If in truth I belong to any generation, it’s the Flowers in the Attic Generation. Today I learned that I did not invent this term. Darn.

Last summer, social media was on fire with posts about the disturbing books Generation X kids read way too young. Everything from Stephen King to Flowers in the Attic.

Even as an alleged Boomer, I can relate. Because I did the same. So did the kids I knew.

I went right from reading a book about mice in Chicago 1920s gangster outfits conspiring to steal cheese to Flowers in the Attic. Many of us read Flowers in the Attic, and we talked about it in school. In hushed breaths.

How did we go from books about talking mice to adult stories about topics like murder and child abuse and incest?!

If you look into the history of young adult books, there were YA books for Boomers and Gen X. Including Judy Blume books (as I wrote about recently). But the selection wasn’t huge. My library’s “Teen” section was full of “problem novels” — and not enough genre novels for me.

So I marched right to the adult sections of the library. Exploring everything from Harlan Ellison’s revolutionary Dangerous Visions anthology to Frederik Pohl’s Gateway. From Restoree by Anne McCaffrey to Dreamsnake by Vonda McIntyre. From Don Pendleton’s gory The Executioner series to Magic to The Boys From Brazil.

From Sweet Savage Love (eeeeeeek) The Flame and the Flower to Wicked Loving Lies (perhaps my first hate-read). From Interview With the Vampire to lots of 1970s horror novels. And squishy 1980s horror. Paperbacks from Hell stuff.

Many of the kids I grew up with did the same. All those different ideas warring in our heads! Yet we managed to deal with it. (I think?..)

Welcome to … Generation Jones?

Did you know that there is a generation between generations? I would joke that I was today old when I learned that. (Is that a Millennial joke?) But I learned about this a few months ago.

Let me introduce you to… Generation Jones. (As you might have guessed, it’s named after “keeping up with the Joneses.”) This category includes younger Boomers and older Gen X folks.

If you were born too late to feel like a Boomer but too early to feel like a real Gen Xer, then maybe you, too, are part of Generation Jones.

This is not the only such group between two generations. The people born at the edges of generations are often called “Cuspers.” They also include Xennials (Generation X/Millennial cuspers) and Zillennials (Millennials/Generation Z).

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