"I still think it's funny," says Peter, recounting great Beavis and Butthead episodes. He particularly likes the animal cruelty (the time they played baseball using frogs instead of balls, the myriad things they do to grasshoppers).
Of course, as a member of the Beavis Generation, Peter isn't dumb and his mind isn't numbed. Like most other American children his age, he's just a cynic. So are most of his classmates at the local high school. About half of local high schoolers religiously follow the show, Peter says.
Peter knows the show is a sad commentary on the state of today's teenager. But the Beavis Generation is beyond expressing sentiment. It's powerless to do anything but laugh at itself.
"It's still funny," Peter says. "You can't be that profound about anything as realistic as Beavis and Butthead."
To the Beavis Generation's way of thinking, my friends and I are hopeless saps. We twentysomethings, overindulged products of the late 60s and early 70s (when the birth rate sagged) are far too weighted down by the powerful and populous Baby Boomer Generation.
Twentysomethings have ideals (though they're wearing fast), while members of the Beavis Generation have rejected ideals as impractical. Twentysomethings worry about the deficit and the economy, while Beavites just accept that the country is headed down the toilet.
Some twentysomethings, Beavis Generationers mutter under their breath, listen to--and enjoy--their parents' music. The Beav of the 90s would never give Mommy or Daddy the satisfaction.
"Beavis and Butthead" isn't going to usher civilization back to a new Dark Age, and it isn't going to corrupt the young. The young are corrupted already, and they know it.
But sociologists, astrologists, politicians--in fact, anyone with an interest in the future of American society--only needs to turn on MTV, watch "Beavis and Butthead" and understand what the next century will be like.
The founding principle appears to be nihilism. Rampant disregard for other living things is in (for example, hitting frogs with a baseball bat). Taking responsibility for your actions is out.
It is worth noting here that boys seem to react more positively to Beavis and Butthead than girls. According to a reporter who covered the Little League World Series last month, "at least 70 percent" of the 56 American 12-year-old males who played in the series called "Beavis and Butthead" their favorite cartoon.
Part of the reason for this appeal to young males seems to be the show's sexism. "I like the shirt," Butthead says in one recent episode as he eyes a video with a busty young woman. "I like what's under the shirt," says Beavis. Then he snickers.
Obviously, this kind of comment, set up as a punch line in a television show, is symptomatic of a society that objectifies women. That's sad. But "Beavis and Butthead" is sadder.
It's proof that there is a whole new generation out there that completely understands all of this society's foibles. And can only laugh at them.
Joe Mathews '95, age 20, likes to watch "The Simpsons," "Nightline" and "American Gladiators."