The Rise and Fall of a Gen X Icon

What the Hell Ever Happened to Darlene?

So I was watching old Roseanne reruns on Nickelodeon, because I have nothing better to do on a Sunday, and saw the sarcastic, cynical stylings of Darlene. Remember her? She brought up a lot of memories from the awkward early 90s as grunge was taking off, young people were disgruntled and skeptical of their lame parents, and there was no worse fate than being labeled a "poser" for hanging out with the jocks. Darlene could have been the spokeswoman for a generation of teens who weren't buying into the paradigm of our dull society.

Unfortunately, I decided to see what Sara Gilbert was up to these days, and her wiki states that "In her teens, Gilbert became a vegetarian. Today, she supports numerous organizations such as PETA, Meals on Wheels, Freedom of Speech, Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, and AIDS Project Los Angeles." Not that there is anything wrong with charity, but it may highlight a trend that all anti-authoritarian Gen Xers who grew their hair long and dyed it purple may become the mainstream if Obama gets elected. Wonder who the next generation of rebels will be?