Yes, yes, I get it. Generational discourse and "ok boomer" are reductive and everything. There are marginalized and poor Baby Boomers, and rich and powerful Millennials. I don't need it explained to me a thousand different times. Generally "ok Boomer" is addressed at the middle-to-upper-middle class white suberbanites that similar memes like "Karen" and "Can I Speak To The Manager Hair" also are.
We get it. Really, we do.
But have y'all considered why this struck a chord, especially as quickly as it did? Because this is one of the fastest inception-to-mainstream velocities I've ever seen from a meme.
Think for even a second about the literal decade of the older generation blaming Millennials for literally every single problem. We couldn't go a week with us being accused of killing an industry or being whiny snowflakes. Of being told we can't afford healthcare because we're too lazy to earn it and houses because we eat too much avocado toast. That we're entitled because we want try to prevent the world from metaphorically catching on fire. That we're too sensitive and can't take a joke because we don't like when comedians shout racial slurs.
It got so bad websites were making listicles of all the industries and societal norms we supposedly killed. From Applebee's to diamonds, dinner dates to marriage. They would've blamed us for tornadoes if they could.
Do you think boomers were having these long discussions and Twitter threads about "well the entitled millennials are just the rich, spoiled ones and most of them aren't in that group something something class warfare"? I'm sure a few did, but very, very few.
We've withstood this shit for years, YEARS, and the one time we punch back in a large scale way, we get this? Like, let people even the slightest amount of cathartic fun.
We've been the go to punching bag since I wasn't even out of highschool, and I'm in my late 20's.
Yes, it's reductive. Yes, it's not a replacement for class analysis. Yes, ageism is a real thing and a large number of 55+ year olds (typically poc and/or working class) are treated poorly and are subject to the same shitty class system we are, too.
But also, yes, sometimes it's nice to it's have a fun joke that finally turns the tables and see how terribly they react to the ridicule we've put up with since we were preteens.
So maybe just save the thinkpieces for just a little bit. Or, in summary:
tangentwithtanner
areudirty
2087
