How did Generation X's obsession with authenticity turn us into a bunch of posers? The 50 year old dude who demands that a 20 year old wearing a Nirvana teeshirt name three songs is a poser, and he has been made such by his obsession with authenticity. The trick about "being-real" is that it can't be too intentional; otherwise, it looks like the "trying-too-much" of a "phony." Unfortunately, Holden Caulfield's ability to pick out phonies became essential to Generation X's definition of itself, and we suffered for it. Come with me on a journey to find out how Generation X's desire to be free of the values and conventions of white-bread, consumer culture became yet another failed attempt to get free. However, this retrospective doesn't end in the cynicism so associated with my generation. We will be learning from the artists, musicians, and philosophers who influenced Generation X about what freedom, authenticity, and love can mean for our desire to be made new.

Trying Too Hard