Listen to this story |
When the Twin Towers fell on the morning of September 11, 2001, it wasn’t just the skyline of New York City that changed forever—so too did the worldview of an entire generation of millennials. A generation that came of age in a time of considerable economic prosperity and the rise of global pop culture, epitomized by the Spice Girls’ “Girl Power” and the Backstreet Boys’ romantic crooning.
In the years leading up to 9/11, the zeitgeist was one of relative naivety and innocence. Pop culture reflected this ethos with a euphoric celebration of youth and frivolity. Think of the Backstreet Boys’ “I Want It That Way,” or the girl power anthems like “Wannabe” from the Spice Girls. It was a time when Carson Daly hosted ‘Total Request Live’ on MTV, a show that played music videos as if the internet did not exist, and teens around the world tuned in with bated breath to see if their favorite song would make it to the top.
The world felt smaller, less menacing. For middle-school-aged millennials, this was a time of slap bracelets, pogs, and the eternal debate about which Pokémon was the best. Social media was not yet a thing, and a “status update” was something you shared on a landline phone during three-way calls with friends.
9/11 brought that era to a crashing halt. Images of planes striking buildings, of people jumping from windows, of the Pentagon ablaze, and finally, of brave passengers fighting back on Flight 93 became seared into the collective psyche. Schools sent students home, parents held their children close, and everyone, young and old, felt a pervasive sense of vulnerability.
A CNN breaking news alert back then actually signified something had changed in the world (rather than the bipartisan bullshit it does now).
What followed was a series of protracted wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, coupled with an onslaught of images and videos that desensitized many to the human costs of these conflicts. It was also a period marked by heightened nationalism and politicized rhetoric about American exceptionalism.
In classrooms, discussions about the role of America in the world became less theoretical and more urgent. As millennial students, we were fed a mix of patriotic fervor, counterbalanced by emerging critique. Howard Zinn’s “A People’s History of the United States” suddenly gained more relevance as it juxtaposed against nightly news reports narrated with a drumbeat of ‘Support Our Troops’ graphics.
The cynicism born of these years was reflected in the art and entertainment that followed. Gone were the innocent times of dancing to a catchy boy band hit. Now we found solace in the darker themes of Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Dark Knight,’ a film that grapples with themes of chaos, moral ambiguity, and the shaky ground upon which heroes stand. It was as though we needed superhero movies more than ever, not as frivolous escapism, but as a sort of therapy, a way to process the complexities of the post-9/11 world.
In a world where existential threats felt all too real, it’s perhaps unsurprising that we turned inward, toward the shallow comforts of narcissistic social media. Platforms like Facebook and Instagram allowed us to curate our lives, presenting a facade of perfection and happiness even as we privately grappled with the nihilism of a world in turmoil. If the Spice Girls sold us the idea that friendship could solve all problems, social media platforms promised us that likes and followers could do the same. But deep down, we knew better.
Twenty-two years on, the impact of that day in September still looms large. While much has changed, the watershed moment continues to inform how we see the world, from geopolitics to pop culture. In an era marked by divisive politics, climate crises, and pandemics, the pop culture of our youth serves both as a painful reminder of what was lost and perhaps, a hopeful glimpse of what could be regained.
9/11 didn’t just change a city or a country; it changed us all. It turned innocent children into wary adults, trading in their CD players for 24/7 news access, their Backstreet Boys posters for war reportage, and their naïveté for an ever-present skepticism. Yet, the memories remain—a poignant tribute to a time before the world shifted on its axis, never to be the same again.