There is a war raging against young men which needs to be discussed, and Gener8tion and Yung Lean brought it to the forefront in a surprisingly archaic and artistic format: the music video.
The full video is a lengthy seven and a half minutes long, which is already unusual in our 30-second clipped world, but I highly, highly recommend everyone sit back and watch it through to the end, as it was created to tell an important story.
It is set in an all-boys prep school in the UK and showcases the young men of the “Class of 2034”. Throughout the video, the boys wear exactly what I think of when I picture a British prep school: white shirts, navy suit jackets, and striped ties. The epitome of restraint and uniformity.
The first four and a half minutes of the video show scenes of pure chaos created by the young men. There is the notable absence of adult supervision. Fights, bullying, violence, destruction of property, factions warring with other factions—everything young men have become synonymous with. The chaos only ends when one of the bully’s victims gets enough courage to finally fight back, bloodying the bully’s nose, which, in this case, is played by Yung Lean. The boys come together, united in their shared experience.
The next scene is staged on risers with seven rows of clean-cut boys in their perfect school uniforms, with Lean smoking a cigarette at the center of it all. What happens next can only be described as choreographic magic: three minutes straight of pure physicality and sweeping movements juxtaposed by the stillness of the figure in the center, who calmly smokes his cigarette as the boys around him move in an almost violent fever dream. It is shot in one long take, and by the end, the boys’ chests are heaving with the effort. It is as if they are all saying: this is what we are capable of when we’re given a direction. The comments describe it as the best choreography they have ever seen and as “synchronized chaos.”
Why have I, a 37-year-old mother of two sitting in my cozy house in the suburbs, been obsessively watching, rewatching, and reposting this video since it came across my feed a few days ago?
I had never heard of either of these artists before now, and the music… how do I say this nicely… would never be suggested in my Spotify “Discover Weekly” playlist. Ever. Even now, I’m not sure I like the song itself, but for some reason the video has me mesmerized. And I am not the only one. The comments are full of men and women over 40 confused as to why their algorithm brought them here and yet so pleased that it had. They speak of nostalgia brought on by the rebellious high schoolers, as well as a deep longing for both human creativity and that we re-evaluate masculinity.
One comment from @cthymnn2010 reads: “This is incredible. I am a senior female who used to teach high school technology… most of the students were boys… Not only did I have to teach during a time of transformation to computers, but being a female, I had to deal with classes filled with young, rebellious boys. I have sons as well. I have no clue what the words are, but this so encompasses the male spirit. Such very fragile souls, really. I wish I understood them back then the way I do now. This makes me cry...”
Another commenter wrote: “Young men deserve this kind of art/energy. They are not the enemy. We are in this together.” It has 357 likes.
A 70-year-old British woman wrote: “My God, but this is incredible. The stamina, the expression. The choreography is DYNAMITE. Those boys should be so proud of this work.” Others write that they hope the sixty-six young men featured in the video get to read all of the gushing comments and screenshot them for their friends.
Racking up 6.3 million views and 252,000 likes in less than two weeks since its release, it is clear many of us agree with the commenter who put it simply, “This video feels important on so many levels.”
The video struck a chord. Although placed in the future, most commenters describe a deep sense of nostalgia for the past. None of the boys have cell phones, which allows them to be fully immersed in the moment, some of which are dark, some redemptive; all are thought-provoking. One person, @jenshaw5017, expressed the emotional conflict she felt while watching by writing, “…This somehow captures the fear, the dark side, but also the beauty of it, the joy and freedom… and in a distinctively masculine way. I’m a woman, and I think it was more poignant for the masculinity. It’s not saying all of these behaviors are good, but it’s boundary-pushing, real-life experiences that we crave… It’s also a commentary on what we’re losing.”
A father from England expressed fears for his two sons around the future of masculinity and what AI will mean for their lives. He speaks of the pride he felt for all the young men portrayed in the video, at how beautifully they were able to express “honest art and humanity.”
“The chaos of the first five minutes in the video is hard to watch without thinking about everything wrong with young boys, but the beauty and precision of the final minutes make me hope we find a way to harness their energy and strength for the future.”
Young men are in trouble. Culture has done a thorough job of explaining all of the ways in which masculinity can go wrong and done a poor job of showing boys examples of healthy masculinity. Men are said to have all the power but are also quickly falling behind their female counterparts. They are lonelier than girls, have fewer close friends, are earning fewer degrees, and are four times more likely to die by suicide.
When I was a freshman in college, each dorm had its own first-year traditions. Nothing as dramatic as hazing, but activities that were meant to be memorable and build connection with the fifty other students you had only just met yesterday. My dorm was co-ed, and the women and men followed separate traditions and only met for late-night serenades (no, this isn’t a joke).
While I don’t remember many specifics of the activities (I believe there were some late-night hikes through the back 40 acres of the campus), I do remember the relationships I built in those early days—relationships I still have nearly twenty years later. The culmination of the week was a choreographed performance by each dorm in front of the entire incoming freshman class. I think ours had something to do with Stomp? I remember not being very good.
Two years later, I was assigned to serve as a Resident Assistant, in charge of enforcing the rules at another dorm on campus. The incoming freshman class asked me to take part in their performance, and without a second thought, I accepted.
After the performance, a guy from my freshman dorm came up to me and told me he was surprised to see me performing with a rival dorm. I shrugged and told him freshman year was a long time ago, and it was just a fun start-of-the-year activity. I will never forget his reply. He said, “I guess the girls’ experience was different from the guys’. I could never consider myself part of another dorm, even after I left.”
Even now, his words strike me because they were an example of how differently men and women see the world. When men form bonds, they are strong, even if they are more rare. Being married to a Marine has only underlined this difference. My husband’s experience with his fellow Marines can never be erased. Even when he hasn’t spoken to them in years, if asked, he would drop everything to go help any of them.
“Men and women’s roots are entwined. When one gender suffers, so will the other.”
I love my friends. I am proud to say I’ve known some of my best friends for nearly thirty years at this point, and I would do almost anything for them. But I also recognize there is something sacred about male friendships that have been forged in fire. They evince a unique connection and dedication to each other, which shows up less in verbal intimacy and more in high-stakes moments. Their relationships center around deep loyalty due to shared experience. There’s an unspoken level of trust between men which is somewhat confounding, as it does not have to be maintained through constant communication, like I have with my close friends. I have witnessed men’s relationships withstand extreme tests of fealty through decades of marriages, breakups, and health crises. Male bonds are like a good morning routine—difficult to establish, but once established, hard to break.
Which brings me back to Romain Gavras’s music video: yes, boys can be destructive and out of control, but when harnessed, all their male energy can be used to do incredible things. The chaos of the first five minutes in the video is hard to watch without thinking about everything wrong with young boys, but the beauty and precision of the final minutes make me hope we find a way to harness their energy and strength. As one thoughtful commenter worded it, “Maybe the next generation chooses better for us all. To reinstate manhood with love and community, not whatever the hell is going on in the world today. Maybe violence can be transformed into something far more beautiful if directed and allowed.”
We have two blue spruce trees at the back of our property that stand only ten or twelve feet apart. One is suffering from an unknown disease we are attempting to treat so we do not lose its shade and the birds do not lose their home. When I asked an arborist if he would treat both spruces, he said he had to because “their roots are so entwined, whatever affects one will eventually affect the other.”
“The greatest artistic performances are made of flesh and bone, and what are young men if not flesh, bone and barely controlled, ‘beautiful chaos’?”
Men and women’s roots are entwined. When one gender suffers, so will the other. Men and boys can be violent and unhinged and destructive. They can also be strong and loyal and collaborative. Yung Lean and Gener8tion’s video shows us both sides of young men: the destructive and the constructive. And it seems to say we must fight for more ways for young men to be constructive. Continued suppression is not the answer, as we are now experiencing.
Young men will never be perfect or harmless. They will graffiti the side of a building at the same time they are forming a lifelong friendship with the boy standing next to them. I do not want my son to be just like my daughter. I want him to be himself with all the upheaval and excitement and male creativity that comes with it. I expect there to be bumps in the road. He is demand-resistant and stubborn. He is also deeply loving and surprisingly sensitive. As @baychoaz says, “…les meilleures performances artistique sont de chair et d’os.” The greatest artistic performances are made of flesh and bone, and what are young men if not flesh, bone, and barely controlled, “beautiful chaos”? It is up to us to determine how best to harness it, so they too can have a glittering future.
And now, how do we begin?
Until next time,
Elise Martindale