The Times They Are (Always) A-Changin'

The Bob Dylan Biopic "A Complete Unknown," and Thoughts on Gen Z

In the new Bob Dylan biopic, Bob arrives in 1960s New York City from his hometown of Minneapolis as a “Complete Unknown,” as the title of the movie suggests. He rapidly takes the New York music scene and the world of folk music by storm. His song writing ability is unmatched, and his nasally (“nasally” is a compliment here) twang becomes the voice of a generation. He also has the unique and sometimes infuriating quality of not giving a flying fuck what anyone wants from him or thinks of him. This feels like the right time to mention that Timothee Chalamet absolutely CRUSHES his role playing a young Dylan. The dude performs all of Dylan’s songs on his own and NAILS it. Ok, that’s enough all caps verbiage for one blog. Go see the movie. Oh, and the visuals of The Village in 1960s Manhattan were incredibly cool to see as a Manhattanite. Many of the locations from the movie are still there.

Chalamet played this guy in a film better than I ever thought was possible.

Back to the plot. After breaking on to the scene as the face of folk music, Bob decides to break out Bob 2.0 at the Newport Folk Festival. Bob 2.0 is decidedly not a folk artist, and the Newport Folk Festival is about as purist and traditional as it gets. It’s a place where folk music is performed. It’s always been that way and it always will be…until Bob gets on stage. Despite pleading from the Festival’s higher ups, Bob breaks out his new set list featuring the forbidden “electric music” that has NO PLACE at the Newport Folk Festival, highlighted most famously by his hit “Like a Rolling Stone.” Before the show, a gloriously inebriated Johnnie Cash tells Bob to “track some mud on their carpet.” Bob proceeds to track mud all over the carpet, the linoleum and maybe even the countertops of the Newport Folk Festival.

All hell breaks loose. Well, as much hell as can possibly break loose at a folk festival. This isn’t exactly a Motley Crue show, but people start firing objects at the stage, old men scream at clouds, and Bob is essentially told to “get off our lawn.” One of the biggest protesters is folk music icon and Dylan mentor turned semi-antagonist Pete Seeger. I wasn’t there in real life, but man did Seeger look like a dweeb trying to literally pull the plug (he is thankfully stopped from unplugging the speakers by his wife) on the show. Dylan was going to do what he wanted. Seeger and the rest of the folk music good ole boys could fight it all they want, but like it or not, the times they were a-changin’. The push and pull of old vs new repeats itself with every generation.

Dylan at the infamous 1965 Newport Folk Festival

A few weeks back, I attended a talk in New York on “How to Market and Communicate to Gen Z.” After the talk, and an entertaining game of “Can you define the Gen Z phrase?” (who knows what “no cap” means? What about “ate and left no crumbs?”), they opened things up to a Q&A session. One of the first questions actually wasn’t a question at all. It was a statement that essentially amounted to “Gen Z is lazy and wants something for nothing. They are impossible to work with.” Guys, I have news for you: If you’re writing off the ability to work or interact with an entire generation, that’s going to be a you problem, not a Gen Z problem.

Additionally, the woman who asked the “question” was a millennial. It’s an interesting time for my generation. As a 35 year old millennial myself, I feel that we’ve reached a point where for the first time ever we have a group of adults who is an entire generation behind us. With that, history continues to repeat itself. Every generation thinks the generation after them is soft, wants handouts, doesn’t work hard, etc. Remember everything that Boomers and Gen X were saying about millennials 5-7 years ago? Remember that “Avocado Toast” generation bullshit that we faced as millennials? We’re doing the exact same thing now to Gen Z!

The Simpsons has always had an uncanny grasp on American society.

In fairness, every generation in America (at least so far) HAS had it easier than the generation before them. This is a feature, not a bug. Society and technology has continued to improve and life has thus gotten easier. Your great grandpa who worked in the steel mill 60 hours a week and raised a family of 5 in an 800 square foot house with no internet or Netflix did have it harder than you. This should be celebrated. We will know we are failing as a society when generations start having it HARDER than the generation before them. But does this mean the next generation is soft? Or has the world just changed for the better? My advice would be to get used to the world changing, and mostly changing for the better. You have a choice to get with the times, or get left in the dust.

Some of the most successful 60 and even 70 somethings I see in the business world today are the ones who have embraced the world for the way that it is, instead of romanticizing about how it used to be. The boomers who are winning are the ones who are playing the kid’s games, not the game from 20 years ago. Grant Cardone is 66 years old and has raised billions of dollars in the real estate space, mostly through the use of social media. Elon Musk (despite being the stain on society that I think he is) is 53 and has mastered the art of building an online brand to the point that Tesla doesn’t even need to spend money on advertising. I know a guy in his 70s who is crushing it in the Crypto space. The list goes on, but the story doesn’t change. All of these people know that the world is not the same as it was twenty years ago. Adapt or die. They chose to adapt.

Here’s a quick thought exercise, have you said any of the following (btw, I’m guilty of some of these)?:

• “Crypto is fake money”

• “I don’t need to use social media”

• “Jake Paul is ruining boxing”

• “The internet is a fad”

• “The stock market is overvalued”

• “Donald Trump is just running for the publicity (in 2016)”

• “AI is going to destroy humanity”

Bitcoin is worth 100K. Social media rules the world and the people at the top are the ones who have built the strongest “personal brands.” Jake Paul (former YouTube star) is the biggest draw in boxing. The internet rules everything around us. The people saying the market is “overvalued” the last 15 years have missed out on 500% in returns. Donald Trump the reality star just got elected a second time. AI is up next, we will see what happens. Dismiss it at your own peril.

The first cars were lampooned as “toys.” IBM executives once predicted that there would only be a market for a few dozen computers on earth. Alexander Graham Bell’s telephone was laughed at. And more recently people thought the idea of Netflix mailing you (and later streaming) movies and shows was ridiculous. People are quick to dismiss things that are new, different, or initially confusing.

I’ll leave you with the following from the great Bob Dylan……

Once upon a time you dressed so fine
Threw the bums a dime in your prime, didn't you?
People call say 'beware doll, you're bound to fall'
You thought they were all kidding you
You used to laugh about
Everybody that was hanging out
Now you don't talk so loud
Now you don't seem so proud
About having to be scrounging your next meal

The times, they are always a changin’. Don’t get left scrounging for your next meal.