Stories as Cultural Infrastructure
Every Sunday, our family (Xennial parents, Gen Z & Gen A kids) gathers to watch a movie. The films resonate with everyone (we let our kids watch "their" shows when my wife and I are working).
What movies? Star Wars, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Back to the Future, Jurassic Park, Ghostbusters. Movies mostlyreleased before our kids were born. Movies they return to again and again. Movies that shape our cultural infrastructure.
But as soon as you add young Gen A nephews and nieces and Boomer grandparents, it changes the reactions. A Boomer grandparent might see certain films or scenes as lacking values. The youngest audience may lose interest altogether, demanding animation instead.
Stories can divide or unite across generational lines, but successful ones tap into universal truths that transcend age.
It is crucial now to understand how to craft unifying stories as we navigate a Fourth Turning. The most successful films of previous crisis eras didn't just entertain; they helped society process massive change together. This chapter will show you how to create stories that reach multiple generations and help them understand each other during this transformative time.
It’s easy to look at our families to get a microcosm of how different generations consume media and content. My Boomer parents love their Facebook, filling our family group chat with memes featuring characters from their childhood - The Three Stooges, James Bond, or Shirley Temple.
My generation (Gen X/Millennial) scrolls endlessly through X and Instagram seeking wisdom, while Gen Z and Gen A devour 15-second TikToks and YouTube Shorts, each optimized for maximum dopamine response.
How does all of this apply to films? It comes down to two critical factors: attention spans and values.
Older generations savor stories that unfold deliberately. Younger viewers, trained by algorithmic feeds, demand immediate engagement. If a film doesn't hook them quickly, their phones emerge as alternate entertainment.
The sugar rush content must deliver, or else it’s a thumb flick or a button press away to get the next algorithmically-delivered content snack.
This creates an impossible challenge for filmmakers: hook an audience trained on TikTok while satisfying viewers who appreciate slower, deeper storytelling. Many respond by choosing sides—either chasing trends or stubbornly refusing to evolve. Both paths lead to irrelevance.
This creates a crucial challenge during our Fourth Turning: how do we craft stories that unite rather than divide? The answer lies not in trying to please everyone—a strategy that often results in pleasing no one—but in understanding how universal themes resonate across generations.
Consider how different generations interpret concepts of right and wrong. A Boomer sees something as obviously moral, while a Millennial feels it is overly simplistic, and Gen Z rejects the binary entirely. Successful films find ways to explore these tensions productively.
Harry Potter exemplifies this approach masterfully. Within its world, you have eleven-year-old Harry discovering magic alongside us, seventeen-year-old prefects wielding authority, thirty-something Snape carrying childhood wounds, and Dumbledore's ancient wisdom guiding them all.
This multi-generational approach isn't unique to fantasy. Consider how The Breakfast Club resonated across generations by exploring authority and identity, or how The Incredibles addressed mid-life crisis alongside coming-of-age themes. Even action films like the recent Top Gun: Maverick successfully bridged generations by exploring legacy, tradition, and innovation through both veteran and rookie perspectives.
What makes this structure particularly relevant now is how it mirrors our Fourth Turning moment. Younger generations must challenge established systems while preserving what's worth saving. The story becomes a safe space to explore these tensions.
These tensions manifest differently across genres. In family films, it might be children teaching parents to embrace change. In dramas, it could be exploring how different generations view success or happiness. In science fiction, it often emerges as conflict between traditional wisdom and technological progress. The key is recognizing that generational conflict itself isn't the enemy; it's an engine for transformation when handled with intention.
During a Fourth Turning, when societal tensions peak, stories become more than entertainment. They're bridges between worldviews. The most enduring films of previous crisis eras (think Casablanca or It's a Wonderful Life) didn't just reflect their time; they helped different generations process it together.
Today's filmmakers face a similar responsibility. We're not just chronicling our era; we're helping society navigate it. When The Best Years of Our Lives depicted soldiers returning from World War II, it didn't just tell their story; it helped families understand each other during a massive societal shift. Today's equivalent might be helping families process technological change, economic uncertainty, or evolving social values.
Today, filmmakers must create these bridges:
- Craft multiple viewpoint characters, each authentic and none stereotypical, representing different generations.
- Explore universal themes through generational lenses.
- Layer meaning to reward both quick engagement and deep reflection.
- Structure stories to honor both traditional and emerging attention spans.
- Create dialogue-worthy moments that spark cross-generational discussion.
- Balance nostalgia with forward-thinking themes.
While short-form content dominates current media discussion, feature films remain uniquely positioned to create lasting cultural touchstones. Unlike viral videos that fade within days, well-crafted movies become part of our collective memory, sparking conversations across dinner tables and generations.
The most successful films of previous Fourth Turnings achieved this by acknowledging the pain points of each generation without villainizing any, finding hope without dismissing legitimate concerns, showing how different generations' strengths complement each other, and creating characters that embody the best of their generation's values.
These films became more than entertainment; they became gathering places, like town squares or temples, where different generations could meet to make sense of their changing world. When done right, your film becomes this kind of space, not just a story to watch, but a place where understanding can grow.
This Fourth Turning presents an unprecedented opportunity. In an era of fragmentation, cinema remains one of the few mediums that can still gather three or four generations in one room, sharing a single experience. The films you create now could become the cultural foundation families build upon for decades.
The challenge—and opportunity—before you is clear: Will you create content that vanishes tomorrow, or will you build cultural infrastructure that lasts generations? In this Fourth Turning, we don't just need more content, we need stories that help society navigate transformation. Your films can become the experiences families return to year after year, where grandparents share memories, parents revisit forgotten dreams, and children glimpse their own future roles in society's great unfolding.
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