The young lad making his way through childhood will invariably irritate older spectators. For them, the natural inclination to report experience over intuition is too impulsive to ignore. Regardless of how it may come across, they are determined to wage a war against the youth as an appeal to Gen X authority. Their loyalty usually doesn’t lie in religion or hierarchy. Those were the old foes of the boomer era and it was time to pick another target to set their sights on: Alex P. Keaton.
He’s a Tom Sawyer type who prides himself on outwitting his elders. Not enough memories to reflect on, yet plenty to look forward to. The spontaneous fun guides his life through a permanent state of vacation like a noble savage. He may stumble into trouble, although he’s eager to climb out of it unscathed. That is the archetype that defines Alex and provides an outline for Gen Z.
It’s not totally ideal. His parasocial fixation on Cowboy Ronnie aligns more with the boomers he detests and represents a fundamental flaw with the zoomer’s priorities. A line from the underrated American Made (2017) embodies the sentiment shared by Alex:
“…any man that can make it from that monkey movie all the way to the White House. He's gotta know what the hell he's doing.”
This is the attitude inherited to every generation after the boomers. A form of decorum that protects elite figures from criticism. Ronnie Raygun and the Buckleyite Right? Those are the idols of the 20th century. We’d all be speaking Russian with our mail order wives if we hadn’t defeated Ivan Drago in the ring. Show some respect!
And that’s the problem. There are plenty of resources available to Gen Z that are kept out of their periphery. The goals set before them are a jumbled mess. Vague ambitions and cheap thrills. If they take any advice from Alex, it’s the hero worship and not the good kind. Would-be trailblazers are caught in the web of modernity and reduced to drones. However, this is not the fate of everyone.
Some can break the mold and find the identity hidden beneath the surface. Embrace a playful posture that rivals the negative energy of Gen X. Maybe a Christopher Hitchens type will bring you on his show and the audience can see you as the voice of reason. A young prodigy with a bright future unites everyone of all ages. The old stock can feel assured that their talking points haven’t run out of style as they sound fresh and new from a more relevant generation. The young have someone to emulate without thinking of their parents saying similar things from their ivory towers.
However, there is an alter ego of Alex that reduces all the strategy into an academic one. As you know, all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. The problem for the alter ego is he actually enjoys reading the WSJ. He’ll sharpen himself with so much intellect and abandon the fun as a worthy sacrifice. He’ll be the smartest person in most rooms and even get the credit for being the face of Gen Z. This is the zoomer who WANTS the PhD rather than using it in order to fight the good fight. He’ll try to persuade Alex to drop the Dale Cooper childish sensibility and become an adult like all the other coworkers. He’ll have lots of friends, fake and real, and they take pride in being the new Memphis Mafia.
Meanwhile, the real Alex meets with his crew privately. There’s not as many of them, but they’re loyal and aren’t really thinking about it that way anyhow. When they see each other, politics isn’t even mentioned. It’s a tight knit family and Alex doesn’t have to hesitate before speaking.