A Short History of “Beavis and Butt-Head” and the Itch That Simply Refuses to Go Away

A peek into the generational divide

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IF YOU’RE OVER 60 YOU PROBABLY REMEMBER your very first reaction to the phenomenon of Beavis and Butt-Head. Would you call your initial encounter with the lads a violation of a traditionalist code (albeit an unwritten code) of decency? Was it, in other words, an unexpected and full-on, frontal attack on your sensibilities?

Or, was it more of a serendipitous addiction, in the sense that while it was unexpected, shocking even, it left you craving more of it?

I suspect your answer will reflect that of your generation.

The Silent Generation and the Baby Boomers described

That first group, the Traditionalists — which was, for me, made up of the Silent Generation and the Baby Boomers — felt a little (to a lot) overwhelmed and threatened by what appeared to be Beavis & Butthead’s motiveless actions that nearly always veered away from what was socially acceptable, if not, I don’t know, illegal.

The second group — the Serendipitalists, we’ll call them — those upbeat upstarts, will always be at war with the Traditionalists. After all, they were sired and raised by the first group. Their…