A Look Into Pop Culture Reference “Ok Boomer”
Teenagers Rule the Revolution of TikTok
A person born in the US between 1946 and 1964 is considered a babyboomer. According to the U.S Census Bureau as of 2014, there is approximately a population of 76.4 million baby boomers living in America. Millennials, on the other hand, were the first generation to become adults in the 21st century; an era sparked by technological advancements. AKA The internet. Babyboomers and millennials grew up very differently from each other, hence the budding heads over everything from politics, climate change, LGBTQ communities, college debt, and social media.
Just under a month ago, a video on TikTok, went viral and coined the new term “ok boomer” after an old white man called out millennials and generation Z “ for living in a utopian society that is unrealistic and unsustainable.” and deemed that “they have the peter pan syndrome, to never want to grow up”. For those unfamiliar with the current media trends, TikTok is a social media app that creates short videos with audio and original sounds. It has become a popular source of entertainment for children of generation z, but also older generations. The cringe factor is real on TikTok, and one can only handle so much.
Teens around the internet responded to the viral video by replaying cringe clips of things boomers say or do to insult the younger generations. A song was even produced on SoundCloud to go along with the TikTok videos, enhancing the message across social platforms. Memes, T-shirts, hoodies, stickers, socks and every other piece of merchandise you can think of has also taken its course on internet sales among the infamous “ok boomer” trend.
The topics in the TikTok clips revolve around climate change, sexuality, student debt, body image, and general stereotypes on typical baby boomer behavior. Not tipping, racist comments, complaining about things at restaurants, colored hair, and piercings, paying with two-dollar or hundred dollar bills, etc. The creativity among these “#okboomer” TikTok videos are not only accurate and funny but seems to be based on real interactions that teens have had with the baby boomer generation.
Teenagers on TikTok are not the only ones who use this term against the elderly. During a speech about implicating a zero-carbon bill as a goal for zero-emissions by 2050, a Chlöe Swarbrick a 25-year-old lawmaker in New Zealand sharply shut down a heckler on parliament by dropping a big “ok boomer” in front of the public, undaunted by the interruption attempt continued with her speech.
Millennials and Gen Z feel that they now have to take on the responsibility and pay for the damaging decisions made by the boomers. According to the Pew Research Center of Social and Demographic trends, Millenials are the first modern era to have the highest levels of student debt, unemployment, and poverty in comparison to Gen X and boomers at the same age. Gen Z will also struggle with unbearable student debt that will follow them into adulthood.
Climate change is another sensitive topic that many babyboomers don’t seem to care about or understand. The President of the United States is a perfect example of this, as he tweets at 16-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg, mocking her after her speech at the U.N. Climate Action Summit in New York City. Trump tweets “ She seems like a very happy young girl looking forward to a bright and wonderful future, So nice to see!” This was of course after the fact that Thunberg poured her heart and soul out about people suffering and dying, diminishing ecosystems and the beginning of mass extinction.
The Significance around the term “ok boomer” is s pushback on the older generation for not respecting or honoring the beliefs of the youth. The world is changing rapidly, and many boomers are still stuck in their own beliefs and incapable of change. Saying “ok boomer” is basically an insult but at the same time its another form of saying we will prove you wrong. Young people are fed up with not having their voices heard on problems that matter and affect the planet and future generations to come.
As a personal disclaimer to this post. I respect and love many boomers in my life (especially both sets of my grandparents who are still living and thriving), but I want to clarify that I don’t believe all babyboomers share the same opinions or embody all the stereotypical “ok boomer” things. This article is a piece of information communicating current pop culture trends in media and I am generalizing the common threads of #okboomer videos and memes.