Editing Slacker (section)

==Late 20th century and onward==
The term achieved renewed popularity following its use in the 1985 film ''[[Back to the Future]]'' in which [[James Tolkan]]'s character Mr. Strickland chronically refers to [[Marty McFly]], his father George McFly, [[Biff Tannen]], and a group of [[Juvenile delinquency|teenaged delinquents]] as "slackers".<ref>Internet Movie Database: [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088763/quotes "Memorable quotes for ''Back to the Future'' (1985)"], accessed 6 August 2010</ref> It gained subsequent exposure from the [[Superchunk]] single "[[Slack Motherfucker]]" and the film ''[[Slacker (film)|Slacker]]'', both released in 1990.<ref name=dictionarycom /> The television series ''[[Rox (American TV series)|Rox]]'' has been noted for its "depiction of the slacker lifestyle ... of the early '90s".<ref name="lux">{{cite news|title=Unstructured (Life) Style Draws Cult Following|last=Kheiry|first=Jamal|date=8 April 1994|newspaper=LUX (IDS Entertainment Guide)}}</ref><ref name="uncensored">{{Cite news|title=In the realm of the uncensored|last=Hall|first=Steve|date=20 May 1995|newspaper=The Indianapolis Star}}</ref><ref name="nuvo">{{cite news|title=J&B: Life on the ROX|last1=Hammer|first1=Steve|last2=Poyser|first2=Jim|date=18 January 1995|newspaper=NUVO Newsweekly}}</ref>

"Slacker" became widely used in the 1990s to refer to a type of [[apathetic]] youth who were [[cynical]] and uninterested in political or social causes. This type became a stereotype for members of [[Generation X]].<ref>{{cite news|last1=ScrIibner|first1=Sara|title=Generation X gets really old: How do slackers have a midlife crisis?|url=http://www.salon.com/2013/08/11/generation_x_gets_really_old_how_do_slackers_have_a_midlife_crisis/|access-date=19 June 2016|work=Salon|date=11 August 2013}}</ref> [[Richard Linklater]], director of the aforementioned 1990 film, commented on the term's meaning in a 1995 interview, stating that "I think the cheapest definition [of a slacker] would be someone who's just lazy, hangin' out, doing nothing. I'd like to change that to somebody who's not doing what's expected of them. Somebody who's trying to live an interesting life, doing what they want to do, and if that takes time to find, so be it."<ref>{{Cite news|title=Withdrawing in Disgust Is Not the Same as Apathy: Cutting Some Slack with Richard Linklater|last1=Petrek|first1=Melissa|work=[[Mondo 2000]]|last2=Hines|first2=Alan|year=1993|issue=9|page=81}}</ref>

The term has connotations of "apathy and aimlessness".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/slacker?view=get |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120718025531/http://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/slacker?view=get |url-status=dead |archive-date=18 July 2012 |title=slacker |author=Compact Oxford English Dictionary}}</ref> It is also used to refer to an educated person who avoids work, possibly as an anti[[economic materialism|materialist]] stance, who may be viewed as an [[underachiever]].<ref name="dictionarycom">{{cite web |url=http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/slacker |title=slacker |publisher=Random House, Inc. |year=2006}}</ref>

"Slackers" have been the subject of many films and television shows, particularly comedies. Notable examples include the films ''[[Slacker (film)|Slacker]]'', ''[[Slackers (film)|Slackers]]'', ''[[Clerks (film)|Clerks]]'',<ref>''New York Times'': [http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/04/books/chapters/0604-1st-lutz.html?pagewanted=3& Tom Lutz, "''Doing Nothing''", June 4, 2006] accessed August 6, 2010, and excerpt Tom Lutz, ''Doing Nothing: A History of Loafers, Loungers, Slackers, and Bums in America'' (NY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2006)</ref> ''[[Hot Tub Time Machine]]'', ''[[Bio-Dome]]'', ''[[You, Me and Dupree]]'', ''[[Bachelor Party (1984 film)|Bachelor Party]]'', ''[[Stripes (film)|Stripes]]'', ''[[Withnail and I]]'', ''[[The Big Lebowski]]'', ''[[Old School (2003 film)|Old School]]'', ''[[Ferris Bueller's Day Off]]'', ''[[Trainspotting (film)|Trainspotting]],'' ''[[Animal House]]'', and [[Bill & Ted|''Bill and Ted'']], as well as the television shows ''[[Freaks and Geeks]]'', ''[[Spaced]]'', and ''[[The Royle Family]]''.

''[[The Idler (1993)|The Idler]]'', a British magazine founded in 1993, represents an alternative to contemporary society's [[work ethic]] and aims "to return dignity to the art of loafing".<ref>''The Idler'': [http://idler.co.uk/shop/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=3 "About The Idler"], accessed 6 August 2010</ref>