#passorfail

The above is a comic from Wertz' time in rehab... pass or fail?

Drinking at the Movies is one of those pieces of art that captures widespread sentiments of and about a concurrent generation. Wertz depicts herself honestly as a shitty American youth: jaded, privileged, blasé, reckless, substance-fueled, smart, apathetic, stupid, confused, self-deprecating, broke (?). The book was at times pathetic and exhausting but mostly hilarious and frustratingly accurate. Typical of the shitty youth I both know and am, Wertz has internalized the ideals/rules/anxieties of her parents' generation, a generation that has, in many ways, failed itself and its' future generations. The ideals of the previous generation supply much of the self-deprecating inner "mean girl" voice-a solid exposition of a young adult grappling with the rules of a prior generation whose authority is ever-diminishing as the generation and its' values, power, wealth, and success are unravelling with rapid velocity before our eyes. Refer to page 148.

Wertz' inner mean girl is partly the result of a national loss of center, her drinking (apart from addictive genes) is symptomatic of a realization that the life-competency skills learned as a kid have little relevance/use in the United States' current socioeconomic climate. In other words, the American Dream has proven faulty and unsustainable once again - now what? PBR and a shot of house whiskey $5, LOLcats, road bikes, YOLO, the return of the flannel, zombies, vampires, Biebs, puke, rollie cigarettes, IOwnyourlife, adderall, Okcupid, book of faces (facebook), bedbugs, LEDs, and dubstep.

In solidarity with Wertz' super smart current cultural analysis, I created a list of hashtags with sub-genres pertinent to Drinking at the Movies and a sizable amount of American young adults.

#whitegirlproblems:

#h8myself
#whatiscollege
#whatislife
#sadfatgirlshit
#shitisreal
#lolzfail
#truelife
#sorrynotsorry
#bored
#hashtag
#firstworldproblems

#wastedd:

#RAGE
#daydrinking
#teamwakenbake
#YOLO
#textsfromlastnight
#toodrunktofuck
#IDGAF
#dying
#sohungover
#lastnight
#neveragain
#lololol
#420
#WTF

#fromdrinkingatthemovies:

#movienight
#everythingisshit (35)
#wannadie (45)
#successfulfailure (50)
#drunkdialing
#drunkfalling
#drunkemailing (53)
#phantomlimb (57)
#imstarving
#dumbass (62)
#idiot (63)
#moron (64)
#fartparty
#badbrains (91)
#thiswontendwell (100)
#firstlastinternetdate (113)
#passorfail (115)
#movienight (128)
#fuckmeintheface (139)
#parentproofing (154)
#thewayweare (162)
#fromstrangerswithcandy (180)
#growthefuckup (187)

The cynical and apocalyptic language used in these hashtags are symptomatic of systemic malfunction in the US. Once the top dog, the US is now (has been) in the grips of a harsh reality check. Drinking at the Movies is the experience of one young adult in the US, but I'd venture to say the graphic memoir is alarmingly relatable, asking the reader and our nation "when will you grow up?"