A.O. Scott of the New York Times has written an excellent article on Generation X in midlife crisis. Part book review (The Ask by Sam Lipstye) and movie critique (Greenberg, Hot Tub Time Machine), the piece is actually an essay on the beginning stage of a midlife crisis for Generation X men.
A couple of bloggers have taken exception with the article for leaving out women, but as Scott reveals, when Gen X husbands enter midlife crises Gen X wives (actually “moms”) experience an awakening.
So, when did Ben Stiller, Adam Sandler, and John Cusack become the older guys? Are Gen X men stuck in the earlier phases of their lives? Is Gen X full of regret over lost possibilities? As Scott writes, such things haunt everyone.
I highly recommend reading Scott’s article about the “underachiever; the excuse maker; the loser; the overeducated, insecure demographic cohort, who came of age in the late ’80s and early ’90s,” also known as Generation X.
@JUNKDRAWER67 – I thought of you and every other Gen X male I know. But, I don’t think the Gen X midlife crisis for men looks anything like the crisis for Boomers. There won’t be any Corvettes – just a lot of reminiscing about what might have been. I will blog more about this later, too. If you write something, crosspost here!
Thanks for highlighting this article, Jen. I would have missed it otherwise. I’m hoping to blog about it later.
I’ve read The Ask (well most of it anyway) and saw Greenberg and hope to see Hot Tub Time Machine.
The article, I thought, hit a lot of things right on the head. For me anyway, which is disheartening in a way but also illuminating.