The Millennial Canon Bracket: The Final Four
Three top-ranked contenders are on the edge of glory, but one 7-seed is looking to spoil the party
Editor’s note: The Final Four polls have closed. Check back on Friday to vote for the ultimate winner! In the meantime, check out the millennial cringe canon, how millennials learned to love the bowl, the unique millennial connection with Obama, and a children’s history of millennial Williamsburg.
So, it all comes down to this: three 1-seeds and a pesky 7-seed that is increasingly looking like the favorite to win the whole damn thing.
After three and a half days of voting, we have our Millennial Canon Final Four: the top-ranked AOL Instant Messenger, “Mr. Brightside” by the Killers, and the Obama “hope” poster, and then … The Office.
Michael Scott and Co. have clearly taken their lower seeding personally, because they’ve absolutely romped through this tournament. And it’s not like The Office hasn’t faced stiff competition—Netflix and Chill? One of the defining pastimes of the millennial era. Harry Potter fandom? HARRY POTTER FANDOM. Student loan debt? We’ve all got it! Even skinny jeans, perhaps the most infamous article of clothing in recent history—and the lone 1-seed that didn’t progress to the Final Four—got blown out on our website poll by a staggering 70 percent of the vote.
But let’s show a little love to our other contenders as well, because they ain’t no slouches, either. For one, the Dunder Mifflin Paper Company now has to face off against AIM, arguably the first-ever social media superpower and a piece of technology absolutely soaked in millennial nostalgia. On the other side of the bracket, “Mr. Brightside”—karaoke staple, late-night rallying cry, all-around iconic generational anthem—meets the Obama “hope” poster, possibly the single-most memorable image of the late aughts and early 2010s. These guys are some heavy hitters and, one could posit, a bit more specifically millennial-coded than a widely popular television show? Either way, whoever comes out on top can certainly say they’re worthy of competing for the championship title.
The stage is now set for a tantalizing semifinal. Enough talk—let’s vote. Polls are open below and on our Instagram account until 6 p.m. ET. We’ll meet back here tomorrow to determine the winner of the Millennial Canon Bracket. —Aric Jenkins
(7) The Office vs. (1) AOL Instant Messenger
The Office
“Wow,” I thought circa 2007, “we’re living through an era when people feel trapped in dead-end jobs, towns, and relationships; when we’re losing faith in the American dream but still clinging fiercely to our own individual dreams; when we’re realizing that all we have is one another, a situation that’s both incredibly annoying and profoundly beautiful.
“But surely,” I said to myself, “surely no single image will ever perfectly capture this new millennial zeitgeist!” Then Kevin dropped the chili. —Brian Phillips
AOL Instant Messenger
When I die and arrive at the pearly gates, I know what sound I’ll hear: that squeaky opening door that announced one of your “buddies” logging onto AIM. There was no greater feeling of hope, anticipation, or opportunity to wow your crush—xXsoccer_guy_sk8rXx—with the new abbreviation you’d learned after seeing them at school but before logging onto AIM on the family desktop to start chatting. “Wuz up,” I’d write, and wait with bated breath for a sign that they also wanted to chat with me. Of course, if things go south for me in the afterlife—I also know what sound I’ll hear. —Jodi Walker
(1) “Mr. Brightside” by the Killers vs. (1) The Obama “Hope” poster
“Mr. Brightside” by the Killers
Gaudy and powdered and lush, a force of nature. A fake, kitschy sort of nature, built inside a casino, where the trees are huge and dramatic and beautiful, made of plastic and covered in sequins of various neons. A Hitchcock studio lot sort of nature, a forest floor made of gold metallic fringe, picnicking on the back of an afterfiring Eldorado. —Tyler Parker
The Obama “Hope” poster
The face that launched a thousand (million?) wannabe graphic designers. You see this poster and think it’s the last time you ever felt optimistic about anything. It was a time of innocence, a time of Facebook without your parents on it, early mixtape-era Drake, and Tom Brady being thwarted by the Giants. Ahhh, those were the days. —Jenkins
