Dark Spork, bless her multi-tined heart, blogged about Chuck Klosterman's book awhile back, and mentioned the oft-repeated notion that Generation X and Y are the "Irony Generation."

That is, most folks think those of us kids aged 20-35 only respond to pop culture and sarcasm.

I tend to agree. We're ironic. Our generation doesn't easily cry or fawn over tender moments. We're hard to impress.

But we're not ironic. Not really.

Case in point: Star Wars.

You can't be truly ironic and still love Star Wars. Because SW is beyond irony. The characters and ideals are as forthright and ancient as they come: bravery, friendship, loyalty and freedom.

If you're truly ironic, if you truly believe that these types of ideas are out of date or schmaltzy, then you can't love the movie. You can love to throw popcorn at it and razz the bad acting, but you can't really, truly love the movie.

And we do. Our generation, for the most part, loves these films. Especially the original three.

So I don't believe that Generation X and Y are truly ironic. We just have an incredibly well-developed b.s. detector. We've survived childhoods in front of the television, blasted by hour after hour of hard-sell commercialism. We have been so buffeted and bludgeoned with bad television, product-pushing cartoons, and other media garbage, that we developed this thick callous of irony to protect ourselves.

Our real selves crave Meaning and Truth. But we ain't getting it from pop culture.

So who's fault is it that we're a bit suspicious and detached from mainstream culture? Ours? Or the "adults" who created this garbage for us?

As far as I can tell, George Lucas was one of the few adults who cared enough about kids to give them something mythic-- a story they could believe in. And why did we believe in it? Because HE believed in it.

That passion resonates through the story. And that's why we respond to it, on a level deeper than irony.

So I don't think we're ironic. It's just a defense mechanism, after all, a facade.

Agree? Disagree? Comment on your current state of ironic detachment or engagement...

(btw, this blog doesn't address one of the key internal contradictions of Star Wars-- it is the most merchandised movie license of the 20th century. But contradiction is an unavoidable fact of life.)