Character Arc: The Baby Boomer

a matter of film vs. tv

In the simplest of explanations the main difference between film and tv is that film characters undergo change while tv characters never grow.

Television is a medium for adventure. In sitcoms, characters are placed in situations out of which they create comedy. In drama, the world of the story defines the events to which the characters will have to respond or react. In both cases, character growth is not the most important thing in the agenda.

Film is all about change. A character is presented with a challenge that they will have to overcome or not but by the end, they’ll have been forced to face their biggest character flaw.

FADE IN.

THE BABY BOOMER STORY.

I recently read a substack about the naming of generations. The author was against the concept because as they argued it creates a limiting mindset.

They were not happy to be called a Boomer because they felt attacked and mocked by the term.

Sure, that’s one way to look at it & I would agree if we were to take these labels seriously. But we shouldn’t take any labels seriously.

Instead - as an almost millennial who is not really a Gen Z either and whose parents are probably boomers but not really? - I thought it would be fun to examine the BABY BOOMER as a character phenomenon.

• first question we need to ask: what do we know about them?

They are born between 1946 to 1964. This means they come of age in the 1970s which could have all sorts of meanings depending on which country they are born. Young Americans are preoccupied with the war in Vietnam. Greeks are fighting against the junta and the Chinese become subject to the one-child policy reform. Politics and society unfortunately become a defining character weapon in the absence of culture.

One thing they all - probably - have in common, which has defined their generation and consolidated the baby boomer term is the genuine expectation that things are shifting and life is going to improve.

This becomes their WANT.

Boomers are characters who come of age at a time when society is reinventing itself and so they too set the goal of creating a better life for themselves. The goal of prospering and enjoying life.

• why are they like that?

To find the source of the matter, we have to look back.

By generational terms, boomers are the children of the Silents (born between 1928-1945) - a population group that was caught in the middle of a transition be it technological, social, political or economical. Their time is the beginning of the end of tradition and it culminates with the second world war. Total annihilation.

It is no wonder, therefore, that boomers essentially rise from the ashes. Like the phoenix. Their GHOST is the war. They will escape it at any cost.

They know real tragedy. They see it in their parents who grew up in deprivation and fear and their grandparents who fought in the war. People who were deeply affected by a world they never had any control over. Boomers are not going to let that happen to them.

• but… how?

They have to grab the reigns and lead the way. Their world is full of possibility.

“I was surprised, as always, by how easy the act of leaving was, and how good it felt. The world was suddenly rich with possibility.” Jack Kerouac

Kerouac is one of my favourite Beats and On The Road is one of my favourite books of his. If we wanted to label Kerouac he would probably belong to the Greatest Generation (born between 1901-1927).

But to accomplish anything they have to look at it at face value.

Their FLAW or WEAKNESS becomes their reluctance to introspection.

Whatever is tangible is real. Restructuring society becomes more and more complicated and so success is measured by how well one can play the game of life. Study, work, get married, get a house, have kids, have grandkids etc.

A good life is a life well-lived. End of story (for them).

• ENTER: their kids and all the generations after them.

In the baby boomer story, this is the point where conflict arises.

In The Art of Dramatic Writing, Lajos Egri notes that a character arc has 10-12 beats throughout the course of a story or the journey of a life. But there are a few more beats that reveal themselves before the curtain opens. These are the emotions that precede the conflict. They are the moments that prompt the story to begin.

The baby boomer is the character that ignores these and continuously rejects them.

A baby boomer’s NEED is to change.

As paradoxical as it sounds - for, we shouldn’t forget these are the kids that paved the counterculture way - they are the ones the least likely to accept change, inner change, real change. But so are most people who grow old - age is a good enough reminder.

And yet, it is this paradox that makes the baby boomer different from their previous generations. We demand of them to be better. As they always aspired to be. To look into themselves. To change their bad habits and make their lives easier, first and foremost for themselves. And then for society.

Unwilling to acknowledge it, boomers resist that type of change, the same way they resist seeking help from a certified professional. They still sit at the top of the world as far as they are concerned. The world they made.

• in practice

Watching a boomer struggle through life is like watching a film that never climaxes. An arc that never materialises.

A climax requires change and if for the boomer change is not an option, then the film can’t have a conclusion.

It becomes a TV show that the rest of us grow tired of watching.

CONCLUSION.

The comfort of stability becomes more and more of a privilege as everything around us shifts and changes. A new normal that requires our cooperation. It requires us to build our self-awareness through intention and dedication. It requires us to change.

It’s hard to say which way is better: to get on with how one is or to try and change oneself? Can the best versions of ourselves be attained and if yes, is this the way to go if we want to do any good to ourselves, the people around us and to the word?

If this feels like too much to handle, we can always put it in a different context: