Millennial Target: Hamlet 2

To see or not to see Hamlet 2? If you are interested in Millennials, the answer is definitely 'see'. The humor and pacing are wildly uneven, the outcome is telegraphed from the outset and the vulgar language is not at all what you would find in Disney's High School Musical. But the insight about what will appeal to Millennials was on target from beginning to end, proving the real Hamlet correct in saying, "There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so."

While the story appears to be about a failed actor, failed high school drama teacher and failed husband, the real story, as Millennials will no doubt discern immediately, is about the students. The movie first presents this hapless bunch as disrespectful, illiterate, racially and class-divided, drug using, losers. But this is just a cover. They choose to present themselves this way, of course. In fact, they have amazing talents -- for singing, stage production, choreography, musical composition, technology, organization, persuasion, and more -- which only needed to be given a chance and an inspiration to thrive. They don't need good material, a competent teacher or even much knowledge of the real Hamlet. With the students' help, the truly hapless teacher's laughably uninspired and ridiculous script is transformed and transplanted to yes, Broadway. (Sorry to give it away for those of you who have not seen the movie, but you would have guessed anyway).

Steve Coogan, as the Boomer drama 'teacher', is pitied and loved, but not respected. He is harmless, but ineffective. He doesn't even wear underwear. He succeeds because of the students, despite his lack of talent and self-destructive qualities.

It is also significant to note that none of the young wunderkinds stands out as the 'star'. They work, and succeed, as a team. Everyone is included -- including the nerdy, sexually confused teacher's pet and the bad girl 'wanna-be'. It is the students' pooled gifts, and ability to pull together, that make them successful, a true Millennial value.

I have written before of Millennial personas, archetypes and 'secretly gifted' fantasies. Hamlet 2 wraps them all into one package.

The Millennial Persona: Part II

If you are casting around (as I have been) for alternatives to Andy Sachs, Hannah Montana, and Harry Potter to epitomize the Millennial Persona, look no further. Joshua Glenn of the Boston Globe provides a comprehensive list of candidates by birth year from 1984-1993. His fresh takes on the subject include the observation that many of the icons of Gen M are actually throw backs to the fifties - think Nancy Drew, Lion Witch and the Wardrobe, High School Musical (a less edgy Grease). He also wonders at the sheer number of Millennial actresses called upon to play the role of 'princess':

I'm thinking of Lindsay Lohan ("Lifesize," in which a princess doll comes to life), Kiera Knightley ("Princess of Thieves," "King Arthur," plus every other role), Mandy Moore (supporting role in "The Princess Diaries"), Hilary Duff ("A Cinderella Story," plus she's sort of a princess in "Material Girls" and "The Lizzie McGuire Movie"), Amanda Bynes ("What A Girl Wants," also sort of a princess), Scarlett Johansson ("The Other Boleyn Girl"), and Michelle Trachtenberg ("Ice Princess"). Plus India Oxenberg on the reality show "I Married a Princess.

Glenn points out that many of the most successful TV shows aimed at young girls suggest princess-dom without the crown: Nickelodeon's "iCarly" is about a schoolgirl with a globally popular website, "Hannah Montana," Miley Cyrus plays an average kid by day who's a rock 'n' roll superstar by night. Are Millennials as insipid as these fictional princesses and fifties personas suggest? Until real life achiever Millennials emerge, we may have to live with these fictional personas.

The Millennial Personna

Is Andy Sachs, heroine of 'The Devil Wears Prada' the ultimate Millennial? Michael D. Hais and Morley Winograd say she is in their new book, Millennial Makeover: MySpace, YouTube, and the Future of American Politics'. This book has received a lot of attention for its assertion that Millennials are going to determine the 2008 election (Obama for sure) and go on to change just about everything else in politics. Politics aside, is Andy Sachs truly the 'Graduate' of her generation? According to the book (Sachs is) "a true Millennial, different from the lead character of previous coming of age movies about other generations". Personally, I say no. True she is practical, behaves like her own person (at least for most of the movie), cares about those around her and uses technology as a weapon in her fight to impress the imperial editor. Yet, where is the team work, the social conscious, the ambition that marks Millennial values as unique? I don't have a better candidate right now, but I am not ready to concede that Andy Sachs is the face of this generation.