The Brimley/Cocoon Line

November 6, 2019 12:19 PM

When 'Cocoon' reached theaters on June 21, 1985, Wilford Brimley was 18,530 days old. This account makes note of people who have reached that age.

Today's weird little gimmick Twitter account is brought to you by the latest crosser of the BCL: Jennifer Aniston.

posted by Etrigan (54 comments total)

He was really young when he was in Cocoon though, even though he looked ancient.
posted by Windopaene at 12:27 PM on November 6, 2019 [4 favorites]

If your conclusion after doing the math is, "But that's just fifty years, that's hardly anything," you have revealed yourself.
posted by ardgedee at 12:29 PM on November 6, 2019 [21 favorites]

A few months ago I put an alert in my phone set to go off on August 30, 2020.

Trying to figure out how I should celebrate.
posted by bondcliff at 12:31 PM on November 6, 2019 [4 favorites]

Even better, Marlon Brandon was younger when he appeared in The Godfather than Wilford Brimley was when he appeared in Cocoon.

I have crossed the Brando/Godfather line and am fast approaching the Brimley/Cocoon line.

And I'm feeling every one of those years.
posted by It's Never Lurgi at 12:37 PM on November 6, 2019 [8 favorites]

Can we just abbreviate this to the Brimline? I'm already a few years past it. No time left for superfluous words.
posted by adamrice at 12:42 PM on November 6, 2019 [27 favorites]

It can't be a Brimful, because that's our standard unit for measuring Ashas on the 45.
posted by Strange Interlude at 12:53 PM on November 6, 2019 [57 favorites]

We could repurpose "Ley Line"
posted by chavenet at 1:05 PM on November 6, 2019 [1 favorite]

I just did the math and amazingly I hit the Brimley Cocoon Line exactly one day before Cocoon's 50th anniversary.
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 1:06 PM on November 6, 2019 [7 favorites]

My Brimley/Cocoon date happens to be very close to a party I'm already planning so I just have to figure out how to incorporate the Cocoon theme.
posted by vespabelle at 1:06 PM on November 6, 2019 [3 favorites]

Wow. As someone rapidly approaching (but still under!) that line, it definitely gives me pause.

Thank god for easily-affordable hair coloring, is what I'm saying
posted by Mchelly at 1:07 PM on November 6, 2019 [1 favorite]

Actually I did the math wrong, I hit the Brimley Cocoon Line exactly on Cocoon's 50th anniversary.
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 1:08 PM on November 6, 2019 [7 favorites]

I myself am coming up on 14,244 days (next Friday). I still have some time before I am formally cocooned.
posted by Fizz at 1:10 PM on November 6, 2019

I mentioned something about Wilford Brimley to my wife the other and found out that she didn't know who he was (!!!), so we wound up down a Brimley rabbit hole. Long story short, enjoy this supercut and also this clip of him being grumpy about oatmeal and parenting (although really every Quaker ad is worth watching if you enjoy his grumpiness).
posted by uncleozzy at 1:16 PM on November 6, 2019 [1 favorite]

This account is one of my favorite things online and you had goddamned well better believe I'm throwing a party when I cross the line.
posted by COBRA! at 1:17 PM on November 6, 2019

Hit it in 2014. Man, them were the days.
posted by Halloween Jack at 1:18 PM on November 6, 2019 [5 favorites]

Surely this is where we can say, "OK Boomer."
posted by sjswitzer at 1:26 PM on November 6, 2019 [9 favorites]

I passed that Brimley Cocoon line long ago, but I'm confident that I won't get to the Mendoza line.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 1:26 PM on November 6, 2019 [2 favorites]

Brimloon Cocooley?
posted by Greg_Ace at 1:38 PM on November 6, 2019

ok brimley
posted by neroli at 1:44 PM on November 6, 2019 [2 favorites]

I told you I was over the hill!
posted by ouke at 1:44 PM on November 6, 2019

Filming of Cocoon occurred between August 20 and November 1, 1984, almost a year before its June 1985 release, so Brimley (born September 27, 1934) was still only 49 when it started production.
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 1:45 PM on November 6, 2019 [1 favorite]

A few months ago I put an alert in my phone set to go off on August 30, 2020.

Trying to figure out how I should celebrate.

A boat trip with Steve Guttenberg is the obvious choice. But since it's your birthday I think you should get to wear the dolphin shorts.
posted by palomar at 1:46 PM on November 6, 2019 [2 favorites]

Surely this is where we can say, "OK Boomer."
Surely someone born in 1969 isn't a Boomer. Unless the line has moved (again).
Then again "OK Gen-Xer" doesn't have that snap to it.
posted by Zedcaster at 1:47 PM on November 6, 2019 [5 favorites]

Oct 22

Born Jan. 27, 1969, actor and comedian Patton Oswalt ('The King of Queens,' 'Ratatouille') is 18,530 days old today, matching Wilford Brimley's age the day 'Cocoon' was released.

When he was young, he looked older, now that he's older, he looks younger but older. So weird.

Then again "OK Gen-Xer" doesn't have that snap to it.

Might I propose: "OK, Slacker."
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 1:51 PM on November 6, 2019 [20 favorites]

For I have passed the Brimstone, and I not diminished.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 1:59 PM on November 6, 2019 [1 favorite]

I intend to celebrate a little earlier, when I reach 17,155 days, a.k.a., when I cross the Picard line.
posted by Beardman at 2:11 PM on November 6, 2019 [4 favorites]

when I cross the Picard line.

It would be better if you celebrated with lights, I'll let you determine how many.
posted by Fizz at 2:30 PM on November 6, 2019 [18 favorites]

Surely this is where we can say, "OK Boomer."

Then again "OK Gen-Xer" doesn't have that snap to it.

Might I propose: "OK, Slacker."

I myself will be going with "OK, Brimler."
posted by komara at 2:34 PM on November 6, 2019 [2 favorites]

when I reach 17,155 days

The Picard line is THIS far! NO FURTHER!
posted by Avelwood at 2:40 PM on November 6, 2019 [6 favorites]

Its "Whatever Xer"
posted by The Whelk at 2:40 PM on November 6, 2019 [6 favorites]

Its "Whatever Xer"

If you want to shake an Xer to their core tell them Tupac and Nirvana are not that great.
posted by The_Vegetables at 3:25 PM on November 6, 2019 [4 favorites]

It is so weird being born in the very early 80s. I'm like an elder statesman millennial. Two score and 2400 baud ago...
posted by BeeDo at 3:35 PM on November 6, 2019 [5 favorites]

Keanu Reeves passed that line five years ago and is now at 20,153 days old.

Keanu is a Boomer!
posted by octothorpe at 3:48 PM on November 6, 2019 [1 favorite]

Is he, though? All that time travel is sure to have messed with his actual age, some. He must be thousands of years old by now.

OK BEOWULF
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 4:04 PM on November 6, 2019 [5 favorites]

If you want to shake an Xer to their core tell them Tupac and Nirvana are not that great

As a gen Xer with only a couple years to the line I say “meh” to that.

Might I propose: "OK, Slacker

Sure, whatever. I can live with that.
posted by fimbulvetr at 4:29 PM on November 6, 2019 [4 favorites]

I discovered this Twitter account a while back and waited patiently for my baby sister to cross the line. Finally she reached the milestone this past July. I marked the occasion with a big post on Facebook (note: I don’t do Facebook so it was a really big deal for me). I even did the photo thing (kid photo/recent photo) and used the right language explaining the line and all I got in return was a bunch of morons wishing my sister a happy birthday. Fuck Facebook and all the peons that reside there.
posted by MorgansAmoebas at 4:35 PM on November 6, 2019 [5 favorites]

That line is coming up for me and I am going to throw a hell of a party.
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 4:36 PM on November 6, 2019

The Thing about Wilford Brimley,.
posted by clavdivs at 4:52 PM on November 6, 2019 [1 favorite]

I mean, I've already passed the Wesley, Geordi, Troi, Worf, and Riker lines, and this year I passed the Data and Dr. Crusher lines. You might say the Picard line is the final frontier.
posted by Beardman at 5:01 PM on November 6, 2019

You might say the Picard line is the final frontier

Nay, the Kirk line is the final frontier.

Once there, do the Corbomite Maneuver, pass into the Undiscovered Country and wait for the Genesis Effect.
posted by Zedcaster at 5:21 PM on November 6, 2019 [1 favorite]

No, the Great Barrier is the final frontier, except it’s apparently not canon.
posted by adamrice at 5:45 PM on November 6, 2019

Tatooine is the final frontier. Duh!
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 5:49 PM on November 6, 2019

So I've occasionally thought one of the big differences between Millennials and Gen X is how conscious Millennials are of their generational identification. I didn't even realize I was "Generation X" until my mid '20s and then I didn't especially care.

I just looked up the dates the terms were coined. We got tagged in 1991. Millennials were nicknamed five years earlier.

If you want to shake an Xer to their core tell them Tupac and Nirvana are not that great

As a gen Xer with only a couple years to the line I say “meh” to that.

Yeah, I whatever that too.
posted by mark k at 6:55 PM on November 6, 2019 [1 favorite]

In just a few years Wilford Brimley's post-Cocoon career could reach the Brimley/Cocoon line.
posted by feckless at 8:37 PM on November 6, 2019 [2 favorites]

If you want to shake an Xer to their core tell them Tupac and Nirvana are not that great

Yeah, whatever.

Now say that about the Minutemen (flicks open knife, readies to cut you man)
posted by From Bklyn at 8:41 PM on November 6, 2019 [8 favorites]

If you want to shake an Xer to their core tell them Tupac and Nirvana are not that great.

Ok, millennial.
posted by Slarty Bartfast at 10:08 PM on November 6, 2019 [7 favorites]

If you want to shake an Xer to their core tell them Tupac and Nirvana are not that great

Literally 99% of every party i went to in 1994. Nostalgia!
posted by thivaia at 4:59 AM on November 7, 2019

Or maybe, Nostalgia!
posted by thivaia at 5:01 AM on November 7, 2019 [1 favorite]

If you want to shake an Xer to their core tell them Tupac and Nirvana are not that great

Right, but the problem is that I grew up thinking that at the time. Gen X thought everyone else's favorite band sucked.
posted by Strange Interlude at 6:51 AM on November 7, 2019 [9 favorites]

Speaking of Tupac, he would cross the Brimley line just a couple years from now (born in 71).

(and Gen Xers are the Boomers to the Millenials the way Boomers were to Gen Exers when Xers were Millenials age (woah))
posted by AzraelBrown at 7:16 AM on November 7, 2019

Then again "OK Gen-Xer" doesn't have that snap to it.

Might I propose: "OK, Slacker."

Whatever, lamestain. Stop trying to drag me into your harsh realm.
posted by slogger at 10:29 AM on November 7, 2019 [5 favorites]

Right, but the problem is that I grew up thinking that at the time. Gen X thought everyone else's favorite band sucked.

Exactly. Tupac and Nirvana were too mainstream.
posted by Ben Trismegistus at 11:02 AM on November 7, 2019 [2 favorites]

Gen X invented "your favorite band sucks". Try a different tactic.
posted by ardgedee at 2:54 PM on November 7, 2019 [6 favorites]

Holy shit he was only 50? Dang.
posted by uberchet at 1:45 PM on November 8, 2019