VII is certainly to blame (Or more specifically, our American Bishops using the Council as a reason to do what they did).
As an older GenXer, I believe that we were the first to grow up with and suffer from the effects. My BF is 2 years older, but came form a very orthodox area (they had the TLM uninterrupted until about 4 years ago). He knows so much more of the actual practices if the Church, although there is a lot he doesn't know of beliefs and theology. I can't blame that on VII.
As a convert, I'm a special case as far as theology goes. We studied hard before we converted, after all to convert you need a good reason other than "I was born in this church."