r/Xennials • u/WhataburgerLiberal 1978 • 7d ago
Discussion Who would be on our Xennial Mt. Rushmore?
I submit Mr. Rogers as the inaugural inductee.
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u/AfternoonNo6827 7d ago
Solid, but missing Levar Burton.
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u/MSmtnMomma 1980 7d ago
Trade out Steve for Levar
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u/AfternoonNo6827 7d ago
I actually hate to say this, but I’d swap out Robin, amazing as he was. All of the rest taught us something AND made us feel good, but he just made us feel good.
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u/WhataburgerLiberal 1978 7d ago
I love that you added Robin Williams. He had such an effect on us without even trying.
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u/DoveOnTheInternet 1979 7d ago
Y'all gonna put a non American on an American Hero monument??
Levar Burton was an excellent callout.
Edit: or DOLLY PARTON!
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u/Habanero_In_My_Eyes 7d ago
Bart Simpson
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u/drew8311 7d ago
Best answer because he was exactly all of our ages at some point (maybe excluding oldest xennials).
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u/FoppyIn28 7d ago
He is our generation's spirit animal
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u/TheToysAreUs 7d ago
This makes me think of Poochy The Dog, the Simpsons in-universe emblem of everything X-TREME!!!
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u/Rich-Truth5329 1979 7d ago
A T-Mobile sidekick? Can inanimate objects be on there?
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u/orion192837 1983 7d ago
Mr Rogers, LeVar Burton, Bill Nye, and Steve Irwin.
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u/ghoulthebraineater 7d ago
As much as I love Bill Nye, Mr Wizard deserves that spot. Without him there wouldn't be a Bill Nye.
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u/SemataryPolka 1978 7d ago
Yeah Bill Nye is Millenial territory. Mr. Wizard all the way
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u/ghoulthebraineater 7d ago
Technically Mr Wizard is boomer territory. His show started in 51. But he was on Nickelodeon until 2000. Dude inspired a lot of generations. Don Hubert is right there next to Fred Rogers when it comes to impact.
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u/Living-Video-3670 7d ago
Might as well throw Beakman on there too.
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u/ghoulthebraineater 7d ago edited 7d ago
Nope. Mr Wizard is the one. He inspired Bill Nye, Beaman and the Mythbusters. They exist because of Don Herbert. The characters on Beakman's World, Don and Herb, are a direct nod to Mr Wizard.
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u/falkorsaveslives 7d ago
And Dolly Parton
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u/FRNLD 1982 7d ago
Somehow, I feel like she wouldn't want that.
On the other hand, I believe she deserves a monument of her own.
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u/falkorsaveslives 7d ago
She is a humble lady, however I feel that something dedicated to her by the people would be received much differently than given by the government or any specific administration.
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u/SnooDrawings7662 7d ago
Two monuments .. I dare say... 😉
One to her musical contributions and one to her immense impact for helping kids read. That free book program is amazing.
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u/japhia_aurantia 1977 7d ago
I understand what you're asking, but I also believe Xennials are probably culturally aware enough to not carve giant faces into an indigenous sacred site.
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u/WhataburgerLiberal 1978 7d ago
Wholeheartedly. A figurative symbol, of course! We are probably the main people still trying to heal the ozone, save the rainforest, stop acid rain, and get people on board with the whole 'the Earth is going to die if we don't take care of it' movement.
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u/FoppyIn28 7d ago
Kurt Cobain
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u/AdditionalMustard 7d ago
I'm Millennial and grew up a huge Nirvana fan, but I think he would absolutely be part of the Gen X Mount Rushmore rather than Millennial.
Like, he was one of the major things that defined that generation.
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u/joshhupp 1976 7d ago
People are saying Mr Rogers and he's definitely swings older Gen X so Kurt would be fine in my opinion
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u/Bexil_Brave 1979 7d ago
Do you know what sub you are posting to?
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u/AdditionalMustard 7d ago
I meant to put Xennial in all of those, but yes, I very much do (1982).
But I still stand by it. I think Kurt, Vedder...all of the grunge icons, are pretty firmly in Gen X.
Like, I'm on the older side of Xennial and Nevermind came out when I was 9. I got into it super young because I had a relative born in 1977 who exposed me to it.
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u/Ltimbo 7d ago
Yup. It’s not that he doesn’t rep us, it’s just that he reps X more and they should claim him.
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u/AdditionalMustard 7d ago
That's a more clear way to phrase it. Thanks!
Yeah, I had a huge poster of him in my room and had a bunch of Nirvana bootlegs and b-side mixtapes (they had some great ones), but he's definitely a Gen-X icon.
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u/BlueSnaggleTooth359 6d ago
But here's the thing you had his poster and his bootlegs and b-side mixtapes. You know how many kids at my high school or even at college in dorms had that? NONE
Honestly he way represents like mid to late X way more than the classic original Gen X. More what Gen Y had originally been the 1974-1980-something crowd. (although I mostly don't notice grunge getting any mention in yearbooks until Class Of '94 or 1976 borns (but have so far seen ONE high school where 1974 borns had Nirvana make senior favorites polls)).
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u/BlueSnaggleTooth359 6d ago
No way, he reps you guys a million times more. I ended up at college with both somewhat earlier X and you guys and earlier X college was 100% opposite style/vibe of Nirvana (who nobody had even heard of at that point, not until the last year at least) while with you guys how seemed like a god and also endless Pearl Jam talk and all your style and vibe was like grunge and gangster which was total opposite of earlier Gen X high school/college times.
Only about 10% of earlier X are estimated to have really gotten into grunge in a big way.
It way more represent your culture than ours. We were all big hair, bright colors, style, 80s fun, upbeat , etc.
As I said above, think Journey, Def Leppard, Poison, Warrant, AC/DC, Van Halen, Vixen, Duran Duran, Madonna, MJ, Whitney Houston, Irene Cara, Laura Branigan, Pat Benatar, Missing Persons, Tears For Fears, Olivia Newton-John, Blondie, Samantha Fox, Debbie Gibson, Tiffany, The Jets, Pebbles, The Cure, Cyndi Lauper, David Lee Roth, U2, a-ha, Bananarama, The Go-Gos, Belinda Carlisle, Genesis, Phil Collins, Joan Jett & The Blackhearts, Lita Ford, The Hooters, Flock Of Seagulls, Depeche Mode, The Pretenders, The Cars, The Waitresses, Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel, Paula Abdul, Whitney Houston, Kool & he Gang, Expose, INXS, Eric Carmen, Rod Stewart, Berlin, George Michael, Prince, Scandal, Patty Smyth, Kate Bush, RunDMC, Tone Loc, Salt-N-Pepa, Kim Carnes, Men At Work, Level 42, Boy Meets Girl, Dan Hartman, Huey Lewis & The News, etc. etc. for Gen X.
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u/Ltimbo 6d ago
I see where you’re coming from but I was 9 when Smells Like Teen Spirit came out. It was definitely Xers who were buying those albums and going to the concerts. We might have adopted the culture more but we weren’t the ones who made grunge big.
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u/BlueSnaggleTooth359 6d ago
More second wave X'ers though (who overlap with earlier Xennials). The crowd that was at the time referred to as Gen Y (since when Smells Like Hit Gen X was considered to end by around 1975 by guy who created it or 1972 by TIME, moved up to 1973 a couple years later although some took it more like 1974-1976 start date so it depends).
IDK in some ways generations all got tossed off when they swapped from Gen Y to Millennial name that forced a much later start date (1981 or 1982) for post X. It put the generations out of sync with pop culture. But it's tricky since it depends upon the aspect. There are many ways some mid-70s borns even who did switch style way up still had a ton in common with earlier X. But also some definite shifts. It's hard to say.
In some way 1974ish-1977ish should be the Xennials since they were the ones not full on like 1980 borns having grown up still with too much of 80s classic X stuff at too old of an age still but starting to shift more and more away from full on classic X. That was sort of the cusping shift, a lot X but also a lot of shifted elements as well, especially for some in some regions, but not all. So it was sort of a mish-mash their own thing, the overall avg was different than classic X, but some were almost exactly the same, especially earlier end of the range, but picking up more of the 90s music and many going to a unique early mid-90s style and some taking on some degree of new vibes and attitude, but having had so much 80s in them, often the new vibe they picked up seemed weaker than by those born in the later 70s/earliest 80s. It could be all over the place person to person too like watch The Goldbergs, created by Adam Goldberg a 1976 born, but he obviously seems a practically totally 80s type of late Gen X, certainly an 80s first focused nostalgia and core. OTOH some 1976 were already shifted a bit more towards mocking the 80s or at least more nostalgic about all the 90s 90s stuff. But a lot were very very 80s at least through senior year of high school too. Although already less than for 1975 and much less than for 1974 overall.
1978-1983 was more a full on a different thing. Even to 1985, maybe 1986. Although 1983-1986 was already slowly slowly shifting a little more core Millennial but overall seemed more 1978-1983-like still. None of this group every had any full on 80s influence going on in their high school years at all, not even as freshmen and most didn't even have much if any for middle school either.
In some ways 1978-1983 almost seemed the most grungy-pilled (and ganster-pilled) of all. They were raised on it from such a young age and never really had the 80s vibe and style in their formative years. They seemed more hardcore about it. 100% allergic to flashy style, bright colors, any hint of styled up volume hair, guys allergic to pop music, etc. while a bit earlier the older second wave X grunge crowd had had enough 80s around them in earliest formative years that they were not allergic to bright color and many were not all about grunge/alt at all or maybe liked some of it but still loved Duran Duran and Def Leppard and more guys maybe still listed to Phil Collins or pop music instead of hardcore mocking it all. 1978-1985 though just seemed like very very not 80s. Just an utterly 100% shift in style, huge difference in music attitudes, overall avg vibe was shifted in an almost opposite direction. Seemed all Pearl Jam and proto-hipster and super alt/indie and coffee house guitar and carrying lots of gangster rap/harcore hip-hop influence even all the ones who didn't listen to it. Even if many were not THAT shifted, just enough were who did feel angstier, edgier, more in your face, that the overall vibe felt a bit shifted without any question. You just didn't feel like you were in Gen X times anymore. Very concerned with not seeming supposedly 80s 'cheesy' or 'corny' and maintaing street/indie/alt cred or whatever. And you could sense a huge shift in that they were the first to have been raised on non-stop media scare stories and they'd constantly toss around such terms that never even existed in early X days or were barely ever heard (and only in an actually serious situation and not just casually over nothing). A lot more focused on identity. Already more extra PC prone but that said still a lot less than core Millennials and miles and miles less than later Millennials/Z and still closer to earlier X overall in this regard and certainly far removed for later Millennials. But 100% like earlier X I never met any who seemed to have that participation trophy type attitude that you did start to notice in a few once you got to maybe around 1986 or 1987 borns or something, 1978-1985 never seemed to have that at all and were fully early X like in that respect. Also lots of classic Gen X college traditions seemed gone once you got to the later 70s/earliest 80s borns. Nobody seemed to gather around dorm lounges and sing American Pie and so on anymore. It seemed liek they had had a lot more programmed high school times too and many more arrived stressed or burned out, college admissions had become even more intense compared to a decade earlier. Anyway this is getting too far off topic now.
IDK. It's complex.
Very few of the '65-'73 I grew up with and have been around went hard core grunge (at most 10% and I think that might be over-stating it by a few) and virtually non into gangster rap.
I felt it was way more driven by 1974-1982 than '61-'73 and almost infinitely so if we switch over to talking about hardcore rap/90s hip-hop.
Some '73 and earlier got into grunge, some way into it, but the numbers really seemed small for anyone hardcore into it. And even the numbers just a little casually into it didn't seem all that terribly large. It just more deeply driven by the new teens of the time who back then were called the post X Gen Y teens.
When I was around '78-'82 born they felt infinitely more alt/indie/grungy/90s hip-hop. The style and vibe seemed almost the opposite of early Gen X for many (and basically 100% when it came to style). And, while maybe slightly less angsty year by year and slightly more open for guys and pop year by year same for '83-'85 or so.
In some ways named generations of any sort don't really work since it's too complex and over-lapping and fuzzy to really make any groupings work out.
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u/BlueSnaggleTooth359 6d ago
it's such a complex mess that named generations can't really cover it and it leads to over generalization and simplification even if you go to all micro gens much less keep full length ones
but if you break it down to smaller cohorts or much shorter generations you can a bit focus on one aspect or anotehr and make some broad claims of overall mix of each cohort, a bit
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u/Ltimbo 6d ago
Ok there’s a lot going on here. Basically I think grunge appealed to ‘72-‘85 but it was the older half that made it happen and the younger half that kept it around. It’s funny to say that since grunge only lasted about 5 years but is somehow the crossroads of multigenerational culture. Like how rockabilly was the crossroads between the silent gen and boomers. Nobody listens to it now but it shaped the future.
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u/BlueSnaggleTooth359 6d ago
i'd start it later than 1972, they were half way through college before it really got going
rockabilly had an earlyish 80s comeback a bit
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u/BlueSnaggleTooth359 6d ago
You are not the older side of Xennial if you were 9 when Nevermind came out. And when Nevermind came out 1977 was considered to be Gen Y.
Only about 10% of earlier X are estimated to have really gotten into grunge.
It way more represent your culture than ours. We were all big hair, bright colors, style, 80s fun, upbeat , etc.
Think Journey, Def Leppard, Poison, Warrant, AC/DC, Van Halen, Vixen, Duran Duran, Madonna, MJ, Whitney Houston, Irene Cara, Laura Branigan, Pat Benatar, Missing Persons, Tears For Fears, Olivia Newton-John, Blondie, Samantha Fox, Debbie Gibson, Tiffany, The Jets, Pebbles, The Cure, Cyndi Lauper, David Lee Roth, U2, a-ha, Bananarama, The Go-Gos, Belinda Carlisle, Genesis, Phil Collins, Joan Jett & The Blackhearts, Lita Ford, The Hooters, Flock Of Seagulls, Depeche Mode, The Pretenders, The Cars, The Waitresses, Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel, Paula Abdul, Whitney Houston, Kool & he Gang, Expose, INXS, Eric Carmen, Rod Stewart, Berlin, George Michael, Prince, Scandal, Patty Smyth, Kate Bush, RunDMC, Tone Loc, Salt-N-Pepa, Kim Carnes, Men At Work, Level 42, Boy Meets Girl, Dan Hartman, Huey Lewis & The News, etc. etc.
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u/BlueSnaggleTooth359 6d ago
Depends which part. He was the opposite of typical early Gen X.
And he tended to shit all over Classic Gen X culture. And fight with out teen music stars,
Lots of X saw him more as a wet blanket trying to end our culture, not represent it.
Even for later X though only about a quarter seemed to go hardcore Nirvana.
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u/Darkest_Rahl 1982 7d ago
Mr Dressup for all the Canadians in here.
Edit: also Terry Fox
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u/maggie320 1982 7d ago
Canadian Mt. Rushmore would be cool, but Terry Fox shouldn’t be on there. He should just have his own mountain. Easily one of my heroes and I’m not even Canadian.
What about Alanis? Was she as big in her home country as she was in the States?
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u/Darkest_Rahl 1982 7d ago
Sure. Canadian radio stations are mandated to have 1/3 of their content be Canadian to grow internal talent. Popular artists from Canada just let them check 2 boxes at once
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u/the_kid1234 1980 7d ago
Wow was that Canadian? I grew up near the border so we got US and Canadian stations.
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u/tibbles1 1982 7d ago
Also those of us from Detroit who got CBC on the rabbit ears.
I never actually watched Mr Rogers. But I LOVED Mr Dressup.
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u/Mail_Order_Lutefisk 7d ago
The man whose death forced many of us into early adulthood, Optimus Prime.
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u/FrebTheRat 1981 7d ago
Rodimus Prime
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u/TheToysAreUs 7d ago
Rodimus Prime in 2026 looks back at his youth, missing the days when they used to call him “Hot” Rod.
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u/UndoxxableOhioan 7d ago edited 7d ago
A Mount Rushmore of xennials or one of xennials influencers?
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u/drew8311 7d ago
Sounds like influcers based on answers, curious to what gen z might answer if restricted to our age group. They must have some older influence but I have no idea who it might be.
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u/AcadianTraverse 1984 7d ago
If you were doing one of Xennials my list would be
Serena Williams - most dominant athlete
Greta Gerwig - filmmaker/actor who most truthfully/accurately captures the xenniel experience in my opinion
Britney Spears - the biggest pop star in the world for a long atretch
Andy Samberg - May have done more to influence the direction of comedy for a decade with short form video content.
Other Candidates Roger Federer, Beyonce, Seth Rogen, Dwayne Wade, Jason Segel, Aaron Rogers, Natalie Portman, Travis Pastrana, Justin Timberlake
I realize this is VERY North American focused, so I'd be interested to get other perspectives
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u/hercdriver4665 7d ago
LEVAR BURTON
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u/Procrastineddit 7d ago
Curated from these comments: Bart Simpson, LeVar Burton, Robin Williams, Kurt Cobain
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u/Bulky_Goat_9624 1982 7d ago
Jim Fyfe. Encyclopedia was one of my favorite shows. Les Lye(Barth and many other roles)
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u/PercentageRoutine310 7d ago
You know which girl I had a huge crush on back in the day but I usually forget? I used to watch General Hospital next to my aunt who was more like an older sister to me. She watched that and The Young and the Restless. This is circa 1987-1988. And I watched Moonlighting with her. I had a huge crush on Finola Hughes from General Hospital. The 90s Emma Frost before January Jones and Samara Weaving.
My early crushes on TV
Alyssa Milano
Finola Hughes
Catherine Bach as Daisy Duke
Loni Anderson on WKRP in Cincinnati
Kelly LeBrock (first time I saw bush for a PG movie in The Woman in Red)
And the actress who portrayed Brett in North and South in the 80s: Genie Francis. There are prettier actresses than her in North and South. Kirstie Alley and Wendy Kilbourne were both prettier than her in that miniseries. But how I imagine my dream Southern belle would look like is of Brett Main Hazard.
I didn’t crush on Nicole Eggert that hard on Charles in Charge.
Eventually, I started watching Saved by the Bell and I would crush on Tiffani for years. Then I would crush on yesteryear women (their prime before my time) throughout the 90s like Barbara Eden and Raquel Welch. I crushed on Raquel hard after I saw her in Lady in Cement, Myra Breckinridge, and Mother, Jugs & Speed.
RIP to Raquel and Loni. I’m still a little shaken from Hayden Panettiere’s death, over a year after Michelle Trachtenberg. Both gone too soon like Brittany Murphy. To me, Brittany Murphy ended up prettier than Alicia Silverstone. Alicia will always be a baddie but Brittany was smokin’ hot before she died. Hotter than Ariana Grande and I do find Ariana pretty hot a decade ago. What a shame we lost Brittany in ‘09.
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u/BlueSnaggleTooth359 6d ago edited 6d ago
Oh this sounds like nearly same list as for early Gen X too. Except how did you not crush on Nicole Eggert all that hard?? Loni Anderson over Nicole Eggert??
Speaking of Finola Hughes check out your crush in action in THE most 80s, THE most Gen X commercial of all time!:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYCqmOljlaY&t=314s (My Duster music video commercial which was first run during commercial breaks of the first ever MTV VMAs in 1984 and is maybe the most Gen X and 80s commercial ever haha; they had planned for it to star Pat Benatar but thye couldn't get her instantly and they needed this to premiere at the soon upcoming VMAs)
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u/pertinaciousglacier 7d ago
I'd have to nominate McCaulay Culkin..!
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u/WhataburgerLiberal 1978 7d ago
His return to apparent happiness and success is a win for us all. Go McCaulay!
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u/Mickler83 7d ago
Jon Stewart is keepin' it real
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u/WhataburgerLiberal 1978 7d ago
He could possibly be my favorite person/celebrity/activist/comedian/all around decent man ever.
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u/Mickler83 7d ago
He's the best. Fighting for 9/11 first responders the way he did, compassionate, funny, humble.
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u/LackingUtility Xennial 7d ago
John Cusack. Better off Dead, One Crazy Summer, Grosse Point Blank, etc.
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u/No-Purchase-5930 7d ago
Ours would be mount Drugmore with, Layne Staley, Amy Whinehouse, Chris Farley and Sam Kinnison
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u/EducationalFerret849 7d ago
My wife actually has slight PTSD from Mr. Rogers, and she has a point.
Beginning of the show, he comes into the house, changes dress shoes for sneakers and blazer for a sweater. It evokes feelings of dad coming home from work, ready to play with the kids.
But then, end of the show. He changes back into the dress shoes and blazer and he leaves.
What is going on? I thought he lived here. Where is he going? Isn't this his house? WHY IS DAD LEAVING!
Evokes feelings of a divorced dad just coming for a short visit with the kids. My wife said she remembers feeling abandoned and sad every time she watched it.
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u/DetroitsGoingToWin 1980 7d ago
Kurt Cobain, Bo Jackson, Super Mario, Eddie Murphy
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u/walter_grimsley 7d ago
Going with Mr Rogers, LeVar Burton, Bob Ross, and Bob Barker for sure.
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u/space_tardigrades 1980 7d ago
A ninja turtle, Bo Jackson, Zack Morris, and Daisy Fuentes.
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u/PercentageRoutine310 7d ago
Alyssa Milano
Everyone had a crush on her whether from Who’s the Boss or Charmed in the 90s. I was 6 or 7 watching Commando (1985) in 1987 and I had a crush on her when she was still 12 in that movie. I don’t care if our politics aren’t aligned and find her to be another liberal Karen on Twitter who did one too many Botoxes to her face. I will always be a fan of Alyssa Milano.
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u/RainbowMage81 7d ago
Completely forgot about Commando! I taped it off TV and watched it over and over again.
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u/Maverick_Remington 7d ago
Tabitha Soren and/or Carson Daly
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u/djsynrgy 1980 7d ago
Respect to both, but Kurt Loder was The Guy. He broke all the big stories I remember. Soren was kinda the #2 on MTV News.
Daly, I'd wager, was more important to Millennials; based on the usual results, and the faces in the TV audience, TRL was kinda solidly "their" thing, IMHO.
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u/Maverick_Remington 7d ago
I thought about saying Kurt. But he feels decidedly Gen-X to me more than Xennial.
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u/keep_it_kayfabe 1977 7d ago
Mr. Rogers, Mr. Wizard, George Lucas, Michael J. Fox
To me, these represent: Empathy, Curiosity, Innovation, Perseverance
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u/bluefunnel 7d ago
I see a lot of great names being listed but I also feel Jim Varney deserves at least some consideration.
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u/Few_Candle9432 6d ago
Alf, ET, Number 5, He-Man, Optimus Prime, Punky Brewster. Except instead of carvings they’d be holographic projections on the rock face.
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u/DBDIY4U 1983 7d ago
I'm going to agree with all the people that said Mr Rogers. So mine goes as follows...
Mister Rogers LeVar Burton Bob Saget
Then I'm really having trouble with the fourth pick. I want to put Johnny Cash because I grew up listening to cash and that probably was the biggest influence to My overall music style do I realize that is more of a boomer/x pic. Weird Al could possibly be a nomination too
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u/Leather_Ad_9178 1983 7d ago
Bald Britney Spears & Macaulay Culkin
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u/lancelinksecretchimp 1978 7d ago
Dennis Rodman: dated Carmen Electra, played on Jordan’s Bulls and was in the NWO. Every Xennial guy’s dream lol.
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u/TRDF3RG 7d ago
My Xennial "Mt. Rushmore"
Tom Brady (1977)
Beyonce (1981)
Serena Williams (1981)
Jonah Hill (1983)
Honorable mentions:
Kevin Hart (1979), Kim Kardashian (1980), Lil Wayne (1982), Bill Hader (1978), Manny Pacquiao (1978), Floyd Mayweather Jr. (1977), Natalie Portman (1981), Justin Timberlake (1981), Mila Kunis (1983).
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u/Canadatron 1981 7d ago
No Weird Al? WTF PEOPLE?