Rum Diary Review

My husband and I saw the Rum Diary this past weekend.  The critics do not like it, but I do.  The movie is based on the first and only Hunter S. Thompson novel, written in the early 1960s, though not published until 1998.

The movie offers a thinly veiled autobiographical peek into the early Thompson's psyche. To any person seeking to understand a bit more about the not yet gonzo journalist while he was still finding his footing as a writer the film will be intriguing.  Of course we will never know for sure what aspects of the novel and now film were and were not based on actual experiences of Thompson, but the feel is right at many levels.  I have not spent tons of time in Puerto Rico but I spent a month there, and scenes were reminiscent of things I experienced there living on a regular old street in a beach town and on a nearby island and bombing range, Culebra, where I vacationed for a few days while in the area.  The bombing range features prominently in the plot although it is never named in the film. 

For later born Baby Boomers, of whom I am one,  Hunter S. Thompson was an iconic figure as we came of age.  And even though the timeline in this novel takes place before some of us were even born, the life and work of Thompson such as Fear and Loathing: on the Campaign Trail 1972 and his regular articles in Rolling Stone during the 1970s framed many of our views on political events and on popular culture.

Late Boomer Johnny Depp (b. June 9, 1963) isn't alone in his belief in the importance of Hunter S. Thompson as a writer and cultural icon to those of us who polishing our world views at the height of Thompson's influence.  The proto-gonzo, parts of the male anatomy to the wall, journalist in this film rails against the same nemesis that was enemy to counter culture when Late Boomer political psyches were forming and enemy to the 99% today:  greedy and heartless capitalists (not all capitalists fit this description) and complacent media that care more for advertisers and bottom lines than the need to report the truth.

This is not a feel good movie.  There is no happy ending.  There are cock fights.  The pace of the plot mirrors the stifling heavy tropical atmosphere.  The film is sooooo Thompson with its short term belief and passion and its long term pessimism.  See it.   Not a great film but a necessary reminder about a life that shaped a generation.

A Told You So Moment from the "ME" Generation

"Boomer volunteerism has increased during the past few decades. The volunteer rate for young boomers, ages 46 to 57, is 30.9 percent, significantly higher than the 25.3 percent recorded by the same age group in 1974 and the 23.2 percent recorded in 1989."

-- PittsburghLive.com

So how do you like them apples? Looks like we are not the me, me, my, mine generation after all! 

And didn't we know it all along?

The Prototypic Baby Boomer Toots Her Own Horn

I'm reclaiming my authority on this topic.  (Yes, you are allowed to have Cartman echoing in your head, "Respect my authority!")  The last half of the baby boom needs me.   Well they wanted to call us the "me generation" so I might as well act like I have a super huge ego. 

Seriously,  I ranted and raved about how the baby boom was not one group, how it was at least two distinct cohorts, how the government seemed to decide on a course of action for our lives rather early on when the boom was arbitrarily cut off at the 1964 year rather than waiting for the demographic trend to taper off to pre-1946 levels (which it did by 1968.)  I ragged on this topic from 1998 until 2002-2003 when my personal life got complicated and I joined with other women across the country and around the globe to try to provide some karmic balance balance to the lies that were being pumped into the U.S. bloodstream via fear, the media, and silence.  I pumped the word Late Boomer into the media however I could using what would now be called a social media strategy.  The term was picked up and is in fairly common use.  That was all I wanted.  Similarly I feel my energies given to peace work since 2003, and to my family have also been successful.  But the mis-identification and targeting of Late Boomers is still problematic. Time for "super Late Boomette to the rescue!"

But now it is time for me to take up the reigns again and remind my cohort that we are powerful and have much to do to counteract the negativity and misdirection that transpired in the first part of this  last decade.   

So much of what I do as an individual is partially influenced by my generational identity.  I am the prototypical baby boomer.  I was born in 1957, the height of the baby boom, I'm female, and females outnumber males at all , and as a cultural anthropologist  interested in semiotics and marketing, the perspective and knowledge base I bring to all things Late Boomer is difficult to match. 

Demographics can be a fun topic when illustrated with iconic persons and events, and general cultural commentary are all things I blog about.  I will try to separate entries with meaningful tags and category labels. 

If you have questions, do ask!  I may have the same ones and write about them.  I also speak on the topic and do business consulting.  Feel free to contact me.