Text Expression

"They love their phones but hate talking on them"

This is a quote used to describe Millenials in the Time article "The Me Me Me Generation" by Josh Sanburn we had to read two weeks ago. Although I surprisingly agreed with almost every way we are described in those last few paragraphs (experiences more important than material goods, don't identify with big institutions, want constant approval, and so forth) this one description stood out to me as I read. It rang incredibly true and I want to talk about it a little bit.

I was raised in Mexico City and so I was in High School there when I got my first cell phone. It was one of those awfully simple ones that were in Black and White and didn't even have a camera -on the plus side, if you dropped them they would never break. Anyway, I had shitty cellphones all my life through the first two years of college until one faithful day I dropped it in the path of a New York subway train, which caused it to explode into a million pieces. I was devastated, but secretly not so much because I had wanted one of those fancy iPhones everyone seemed to love for a while now. My birthday was coming up and so I convinced my parents to get me one as a present.

Before I had an iPhone I almost never texted. My phones were so useless that it would take three times as long to text someone that to just call them (I still kind of believe this, but I go with the flow).  So I had been used to actually calling someone on the phone rather than sending a few texts and waiting for responses minutes later.

Rewinding my life a little bit, back in Mexico City in my teenage years texting was not a thing. The only texts anyone sent were to confirm a time to meet or to say you'd arrived someplace. No 'Hey what you up to tonight?' or 'Wassup' texts. We would call each other and figure out plans the old fashioned way. So it wasn't until I got accepted to NYU that I started realizing this texting culture was taken to a whole other level in the US. When I got the iPhone I had to get an unlimited texting plan because otherwise it was ridiculous trying to squeeze entire novels of thought into a single text, hoping someone would reply to all your questions in a single text and not ask you anything else so you wouldn't have to spend more money per text.

So after all this rambling, all I really wanted to say is that I find it really interesting that this phenomenon has happened with Millennials -even though we now see it extending to older generations as well.  So it begs the question: is texting a generational thing? Or is it only happening now because technology is allowing it? and is this a thing restricted to the Western culture of the US? How long will that keep up?

Defining a Generation

Monday's class we discussed everything from what makes 'Emerging Adulthood' a valid theory to why it is so difficult to accept it as an actual 'stage of development'. However, the thing that for some reason stayed with me from the class was the slide about the Millennial Generation stereotypes with the picture of 'Mean Girls' and Taylor Swift.
I was really taken aback that these are seen as 'defining' of our generation. And even though I felt a little better when I saw that most of the class felt the same way as me, when they were given the chance to say who they thought were more appropriate 'definers' they started saying things like Britney Spears.
This stuck with me because of the fact that I couldn't think of anything better and I really do not like Britney Spears or (mostly) any kind of pop, and it kind of scares me that this is what people will look back on when they remember our generation. I discussed this with my girlfriend and everything that she said also had something to do with 'pop': Boy bands (N' Sync, Backstreet Boys), Beyoncé, Justin Timberlake, etc.
As we further discussed we realized that maybe something totally different like dubstep could be considered part of our generation because even though it's a new thing it is completely going to be remembered as being part of the 2000's, electronic music and shows like The Simpsons, South Park, Friends, etc. are things that make me feel that our generation has contributed much more than flashy pop stars and empty performances.
I guess I'm just bitter because I wish I could call The Beatles and Radiohead part of my generation :).

What defines an adult?

We spent quite a bit of time discussing this question in class and I have to say that for me, the answer is completely personal. There is never going to be an over-arching definition of terms like this because this is not an objective term -we couldn't even get a class of less than 70 people to agree!
Being called an adult is much more of a psychological state in my mind. I study Film and Television at the Tisch School of the Arts and I characterize myself by telling friends I will never be an adult because it is only a state of mind. I feel like Peter Pan in the sense of not wanting to grow up...what's the point? I am fortunate enough to have chosen to 'play' for the rest of my life by making movies.
Ok, I guess I will be an adult -you could say I am already in a sense- because I have certain responsibilities and have deep down always considered myself more mentally mature than most of my peers. But I stick to the fact: Only I can decide when I'm an adult because no one knows me better than me; and that goes for everyone.