History Main / TheGenerationGap

* ''Literature/TheFullMatilda'', which partially takes place in TheSixties, shows this between Matilda and her nephews David and Rodrick. Matilda is an old-fashioned black woman of the World War II generation, David is a hip baby boomer involved in the CivilRightsMovement, and Rodrick falls in love with a white woman.

A trope commonly from the period in which it was named, the 1960s. The Generation Gap is the idea that the psychological differences between the WorldWarII generation and the Baby Boomers were so significant that they were incapable of understanding each other, and so were in conflict, often devolving into KidsVersusAdults. This mostly occurred because, at the time, the United States' political climate was changing, with many boomers vehemently protesting things like racism and the Vietnam War, all the while using [[ThePowerOfRock rock and roll]] as a weapon against these issues. Many WorldWarII era adults disapproved of this (as did many MoralGuardians), so the generational gap became a widespread phenomenon.

* CatStevens' "FatherAndSon"
* The theme of TheWho's "MyGeneration".

* ''AllInTheFamily'' was heavily fueled by this trope.

Frankly, the trope has long been appropriated and manipulated by the popular media and the business community as a marketing gimmick - just look at TheManIsStickingItToTheMan. Many social historians will tell you that the Generation Gap was always to a large degree a "manufactured controversy", and that most of the cultural clashes between young people and old people were concerned not as much with values and belief systems as with codes of decorum and behavior. It's been noted, for example, that most members of the WWII generation disapproved of racism; it's just that [[LawfulNeutral they disapproved even more of the (to them) radical tactics used to combat it]]. Same with the Vietnam War, although at least there was a fairly solid consensus behind that.

-->"Heavens, yes! What [[TheFlapper modern girl]] could live like those inane females?"\\

* ''PlanetOfTheApes'' has some offhand comments from the younger ape about "adults... always ordering you about".

** The ability of the adults to be unearthly retarded and allow the children to be WiseBeyondTheirYears is due to that gap, which breaks the possibility of the two parties to share the same wave-length; the show puts this one into an extreme as it exhibits the '''children's''' ''point of view''; essentially: Because the show is about the children, and the children cannot comprehend how adults behave; they perceive them to be retarded.

* In the ''GlobalGuardiansPBEMUniverse'', the heroes of past decades sometimes have very different attitudes toward crime and crimefighting than the younger crimefighters. The heroes who are still active from the 40s and 50s, for example, tend to hold a black-and-white view of morality and are much more conservative than the ones who were born in the 80s.

[[quoteright:320:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/life-gen-gap-may68_3241.jpg]]

* ''TheFullMatilda'', which partially takes place in TheSixties, shows this between Matilda and her nephews David and Rodrick. Matilda is an old-fashioned black woman of the World War II generation, David is a hip baby boomer involved in the CivilRightsMovement, and Rodrick falls in love with a white woman.

* ''DazedAndConfused'', although the issue is only a small part of the movie.

* ''FerrisBuellersDayOff'': [[AllThereInTheScript In the shooting script]], Ferris sees himself as part of the second wave of this, and regrets that [[FormerTeenRebel his parents' generation could not maintain their (supposedly) revolutionary ideals]].

* ''TheCatcherInTheRye'' is a pre-gap example. Holden is disgusted with the superficiality (ie "phoniness") of the World War 2 generation and decides to embark on a life of rough living and debauchery.

A second and arguably milder generational gap occured between the politically motivated Baby Boomers and more laid-back/openly hedonistic Generation X'ers. For some time, with many mid/late-born Boomers, Generation X'ers and some Generation Y'ers becoming parents, this was gradually becoming a DiscreditedTrope. However, if recent debates over things like same-sex marriage and Internet surveillance prove anything, it's that the generation gap will never fully disappear as long as [[SocietyMarchesOn social standards change]] and [[TechnologyMarchesOn technology advances]].

Frankly, the trope has long been appropriated and manipulated by the popular media and the business community as a marketing gimmick - just look at TheManIsStickingItToTheMan. Many social historians will tell you that the Generation Gap was always to a large degree a "manufactured controversy", and that most of the cultural clashes between young people and old people were concerned not as much with values and belief systems as with codes of decorum and behavior. It's been noted, for example, that most members of the WWII generation disapproved of racism; it's just that they disapproved even more of the (to them) radical tactics used to combat it. Same with the Vietnam War, although at least there was a fairly solid consensus behind that.

* ''FerrisBuellersDayOff'': [[AllThereInTheScript In the shooting script]], Ferris sees himself as part of the second wave of this, and regrets that his parents' generation could not maintain their (supposedly) revolutionary ideals.

* A rather pathetic ''non-example'' [[note]]The cartoon is about Porky Pig disapproving of his daughter seeing a certain popular rock band in concert. This is, at best, perfectly responsible parenting and, at worst, over-protective parenting. [[CriticalResearchFailure Neither of which has anything to do with this trope.]][[/note]] of this is the 2004 Larry Doyle-directed Looney Tunes short "My Generation G-G-Gap," which not only came out when the concept of the "Generational Gap" was, for all intents and purposes, a [[DeadHorseTrope dying trope]], but portrayed teenagers as [[TwoDecadesBehind still listening to glam-influenced heavy metal]].

A second and arguably milder generational gap occured between the politically motivated Baby Boomers and more laid-back/openly hedonistic Generation X'ers. For some time, with many Generation X'ers and some Generation Y'ers becoming parents, this was gradually becoming a DiscreditedTrope. However, if recent debates over things like same-sex marriage and Internet surveillance prove anything, it's that the generation gap will never fully disappear as long as [[SocietyMarchesOn social standards change]] and [[TechnologyMarchesOn technology advances]].

* ''RebelWithoutACause''

* ''AllInTheFamily'' was heavily fueled by this trope.

* ''DazedAndConfused'', although the issue is only a small part of the movie.

A second and arguably milder generational gap occured between the politically motivated Baby Boomers and more laid-back/openly hedonistic Generation X'ers. Today, with many Generation X'ers and some Generation Y'ers becoming parents, this is gradually becoming a DiscreditedTrope.

Examples:
* ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'':
** The ability of the adults to be unearthly retarded and allow the children to be WiseBeyondTheirYears is due to that gap, which breaks the possibility of the two parties to share the same wave-length; the show puts this one into an extreme as it exhibits the '''children's''' ''point of view''; essentially: Because the show is about the children, and the children cannot comprehend how adults behave; they perceive them to be retarded.
** Actual example from the show would be "You're getting old"; The parents perceive the children's music to ''literally'' be shit, while the children hear literal bowel movements during the adult's music.

* ''RebelWithoutACause''

* In ''Film/TheQuatermassConclusion'' it turns out that the Generation Gap is caused by the malign influence of aliens.
* In the ''GlobalGuardiansPBEMUniverse'', the heroes of past decades sometimes have very different attitudes toward crime and crimefighting than the younger crimefighters. The heroes who are still active from the 40s and 50s, for example, tend to hold a black-and-white view of morality and are much more conservative than the ones who were born in the 80s.

* ''AllInTheFamily'' was heavily fueled by this trope.
* ''TheFullMatilda'', which partially takes place in TheSixties, shows this between Matilda and her nephews David and Rodrick. Matilda is an old-fashioned black woman of the World War II generation, David is a hip baby boomer involved in the CivilRightsMovement, and Rodrick falls in love with a white woman.
* A rather pathetic ''non-example'' [[note]]The cartoon is about Porky Pig disapproving of his daughter seeing a certain popular rock band in concert. This is, at best, perfectly responsible parenting and, at worst, over-protective parenting. [[CriticalResearchFailure Neither of which has anything to do with this trope.]][[/note]] of this is the 2004 Larry Doyle-directed Looney Tunes short "My Generation G-G-Gap," which not only came out when the concept of the "Generational Gap" was, for all intents and purposes, a [[DeadHorseTrope dying trope]], but portrayed teenagers as [[TwoDecadesBehind still listening to glam-influenced heavy metal]].
* CatStevens' "FatherAndSon"

* The dated nature of this trope was one of the main complaints critics had with the 2012 film ''ParentalGuidance''.

* In ''Film/TheQuatermassConclusion'' it turns out that TheGenerationGap is caused by the malign influence of aliens.

* ''FamilyTies'' is TheGenerationGap after the generation that caused the first Gap... The hippy parents now have a conservative, money-obsessed son.
* ''FreaksAndGeeks'' exemplifies TheGenerationGap in its late stages. The Weir parents are clearly pre-Boomers, while the Weir kids are early Generation-X'ers. Needless to say, when it comes to issues like sex and drug use, the Weir parents are little (if any) help.