The Napoleon Dynamite Complex
Posted by anastasia on 09-20-2005
I linked to a press release about the new Roper Youth Report yesterday that found "55% of today's youth saying they have their own way of doing things and are comfortable with and cling fiercely to their individuality." The press release goes as far as saying that Gen Y has basically been liberated from cliques and conformity:
"Teens and tweens have started tuning in to the trend in their own way by redefining stereotypes and breaking out of traditional boundaries. More and more, kids are comfortable expressing all facets of their personalities. Now you see smart kids into punk rock, skateboarders joining the school choir and prom queens dating tech geeks."
It also argues that teens are more into being themselves vs. someone else:
"43% of teens and tweens agree that they are unafraid to do things their peers say is "uncool." In addition, fewer and fewer are daydreaming about being someone else. Only 18% of kids in 2005 would rather be a famous actor or actress, compared to 27% just three years ago."
I actually attribute these shifts less to technology and marketing (though they have helped enable and respond to this trend) and more to psychology. The parents of Gen Y are the pop psychology generation. After sitting through years of therapy blaming their own parents for being too caught up in their own problems and neglecting them emotionally, parents of Yers were ready to make up for what they missed.
Today's teens have been the center of their parents' universe. They were told they were special and unique from day one. I think this explains what I will call the Naploeon Dynamite Complex — granted he is an extreme case (and who knows where his parents actually were), but I would argue that doing that dance to your own inner drummer (or Jamiroquai) is a trait of this generation. At the same time, I caught some of MTV's "Laguna Beach" in the gym yesterday and would argue that the old paradigms of popularity are still alive and well in popular culture.
