- Obviously, the boomer generation is being attacked by this milleniums.
- (Jayka) We feel attacked, literally, like...
- They feel attacked?
- I guess I wasn't aware that the millennials
were feeling so, so downgraded by the boomers.
♪ (ragtime intro) ♪
- ♪ This one goes out ♪ - Oh, TikTok!
- At the airport for a flight that boards at 8:15.
- All the old people got up at 7:40 and are mad
they aren't on the plane yet. (laughs)
- It's literally 7:43. - ♪ OK boomer ♪
- Rude! Talkin' about old folks. (laughs)
- Well it don't seem like a joke, it seems like respect that the boomers
should get, they're not getting from these milleniums right here.
- Well, I guess, they're making fun of old people.
That's not nothing new.
- You know, as an older generation, we're always on time.
I'm here at least half an hour early than I'm supposed to be, you know.
- Me: the enviornment is dying. We need to change.
- My grandpa: it'll be fine, it's fine as it is.
- Places are literally burning. We are polluting the Earth.
- My grandpa: Ah, it'll be fine. - ♪ OK boomer ♪
♪ OK boomer, OK boomer ♪ ♪ Ok boomer ♪
- Oh, same thing, huh? Old ladies suck, OK boomer?
- Picking on us boomers, it's alright.
We're the one paying for your college, buddy. (laughs)
- I get it, I mean, there's so many problems right now,
and a lot of it was caused by my generation.
- It's not funny to me, but it's just, it's generational.
I did the same thing with different words,
we just didn't have the internet to spread it.
- Millennials: I'm so proud of gen Z, like they actually care
about the environment. I'm so proud of them.
- Boomers: but they're using slurs and are being super mean to us.
- I guess they're trying to get back at us.
- But who's using slurs?
- Millennials who have been the main focus
of boomer jokes for years: - ♪ Old ladies suck ♪
♪ Ok boomer ♪
- (laughs) We do talk about them.
- Obviously, the boomer generation is being attacked by this millenniums.
- Every generation criticizes the upcoming generation.
And you know what? Someday,
they'll be criticizing the generations behind them as well.
- Oh, the Joker!
- Boomers complaining about memes on them.
You think this is funny?
And gen Z: (laughs)
- (laughs) I love it.
I wanna see some Robert De Niro, you talkin' to me? (laughs)
That's what it reminds me of.
- It doesn't bother me at all!
Gotta be some pretty sensitive boomers out there
if they're getting sensitive about that.
- He's no spring chicken, the guy's below. (laughs)
- You know, there's some countries where they respect their elders.
- I am your father. OK, boomer.
(laughs) I like that. That was good.
- Who started this? (laughs)
- This was the '70s, so, the boomer here is Luke.
I mean, that's what's so funny. That's why I'm laughing.
- It's okay to be laughed at, it's okay to laugh at yourselves.
You know, OK boomer is not like some solid insult.
- (FBE) So to help you understand it a little better,
we have a news report on the phrase, alright?
So here's what the news had to say about it.
- Oh, okay, news usually like gets it wrong.
- OK boomer.
- (woman) Don't look at me. - (man) I'm not looking at you.
- She's not a boomer!
- (man) We're not even, there's no boomers around us right now.
- Nope. - Pity for you!
- (man) It's the millennials' newest clapback
directed at baby boomers who have become indifferent, some say,
about the concerns... - I don't know if they're indifferent.
They're overwhelmed.
- (man) This all started on the social media app TikTok,
and then it exploded into the meme of the moment,
it even made it to New Zealand, and to New Zealand's parliament
where a 25 year old lawmaker responded "OK boomer."
- Oh, I saw that, yeah.
- (man) After she was heckled by an older colleague
during a debate on climate change. Take a listen.
- (Chloe) In the year 2050, I will be 56 years old.
- Ah, yep.
- (Chloe) Yet right now, the average age of this 52nd parliament
is 49 years old. OK boomer.
- (laughs) That was rude to interrupt her.
- (Chloe) Is 49 years old. OK boomer.
- I think that was appropriate. She was getting heckled.
- (Taylor) Initial shots fired were, you know, fired by the boomers
who, for years, have criticized millennials
as being lazy, entitled, you know,
while they're suffering under crushing student debt
and all of these policies that boomers made, so,
this is kind of a friendly clapback.
- Well, the boomers actually created problems for millenniums, right?
Like student debt and stuff like that?
So I understand what they're saying, there, OK boomer?
We're gonna do our own thing now.
- Any time you say OK, whoever,
you are slamming the door to communication,
and that's an unhealthy thing to do.
'Cause every generation has wisdom and experience,
and ideas to give to the other.
- (FBE) As you can see, the phrase has been quite popular,
especially with millennials and those in generation Z.
So we actually brought in some of our cast
who are part of those generations to talk about the trend,
and we want you to see a little bit
of what they thought about those memes.
- Okay.
And I'm more interested in knowing what the old,
what the boomers think about it.
- (FBE) As a millennial or gen Z,
do you think this is actually causing a generational divide
between your generation and baby boomers,
or is this all in good fun?
- (Carson) Uh, I think it's definitely just playing up on it.
I don't think, I'm not taking it seriously.
People shouldn't take it seriously.
- I agree with you 100%.
- (Darius) The divide's always been there,
they've always been taking their shots at us.
- Oh that's interesting.
- (Darius) We finally got a shot at them, and they're mad,
'cause you know, the little kid finally stood up to the bully,
and now they're all... - He's a little cocky.
- (Mikaela) Normal thing. The most normal thing
our generation does... - Oh, Mikaela.
- Is make a joke out of it, and make it something relatable.
And that's exactly what we're doing. The divide's already there.
- That's true.
- (Mikaela) Their reactions back is making it spread even more,
because it's making us laugh at them
and be like what are they saying?
But also, I think it's gonna kill it real quick. (laughs)
- Interesting.
These kids are like okay, I'm entitled, pay for my school,
oh you can't, so I'll just, you know, run up,
you know, 60, 70, $80,000 worth of government loan,
and yeah, maybe I'll pay it back, maybe I won't.
Take responsibility.
But the other side is boomers need to
take responsibility for putting money over environment always.
- (FBE) Do you feel the response of OK boomer
was bound to happen, based on the views
other generations seem to have towards yours?
- (Carlos) Yeah, I think we stayed quiet for a little bit too long,
I think it was the whole like respect your elders,
but I think us saying something back, it wasn't that serious,
it was kinda just more fun.
But if they wanna take it that way, that's their problem, not ours.
- It's not disrespectful, it's just funny.
- Exactly, if you don't take offense, there's nothing wrong with it.
But if you take offense, then it's something bad,
so it's on you, yet again, boomers.
- (Jayka) You feel attacked, literally, like...
- They feel attacked?
- I guess I wasn't aware that the millennials
were feeling so downgraded by the boomers.
Many of the boomer generation feel that
respect is something that you earn. It doesn't just come to you,
and I go well, this is the generation you've created.
I think boomers were at a lot of levels
not the best parents.
- (Jayka) They don't even realize it, they just think they're being smart.
- No, they're actually just old.
- (Jayka) We don't wanna be disrespectful.
- Really?
- (Jayka) So all I'm just gonna say. - You don't wanna be disrespectful?
- Can't have it both ways. - (Jayka) And reply OK boomer.
- (Sergio) It was bound to happen. Somebody, somebody...
- Revenge! - (Sergio) It was bound to happen.
Somebody, somebody was gonna say it.
If it was not one kid, it was gonna be the other.
I don't like it, I think it's inconsiderate.
I think generalization period. Stereotyping.
- Dangerous.
- Stereotyping should never be a thing.
- He's got the right, yeah.
It depends who's saying it.
- (Sergio) It's just a selection of words
that will dictate whether something is okay or not.
Saying you know, a lot of millennials do this, is different,
rather than saying millennials do this.
- Fair enough, they're all right.
I'm a boomer who says it's okay, millennials.
- Neither one wants to offend the other one,
but the respect has to be given to both.
- I could understand why a group would feel attacked
because they hear so much complaints about millennials,
you know, and it's just so dismissive to just be like oh,
you don't understand, you're too young or whatever,
it's so dismissive, but it's dismissive too,
to say like "OK boomer."
- I'm trying to change my thinking 'cause I don't realize
as an older person, that sometimes I'll say something,
and they take it as criticism.
It's way, it's my way kind of communicating,
and I don't realize it's offensive.
- Any time you have one person in a group
doing something that upsets other people,
I think human nature has this tendency to say oh, those boomers,
oh, those millennials.
It's dangerous to make generalizations.
It stops conversation, and it makes us judge people
for what they might be, as opposed to what they are.
- (FBE) So the majority of everyone in this episode is a boomer,
but those in generation z or millennials
might assume that all old people are part of the boomer generation.
The OK boomer trend started out on social media app TikTok
and has since gone viral around the world.
As someone who was on the receiving end of this viral slogan
how do you feel about the OK boomer phrase?
- Um, might be making it too much big deal,
but I do think it's a shut up, it's OK boomer,
we've heard your stuff, and we may not be right all the time,
but that's for you to decide.
But you can't decide if you don't soak in the knowledge.
- This is a very closed minded attitude,
how would they feel if I just, if they said something
and I just went OK, whatever your category is.
I mean, it's so dismissive!
It's like pfft!
- I think it's okay, because I'm sure I did it
when I was younger, called the older generation.
I was trying to think of what phrases we used,
and I can't even think of anything
as cute and clever as OK boomer.
- I don't think it's really causing division.
I think if there's division, it's already there,
and that's not gonna make it worse.
- I just think it's a lot of fun,
get a lot of laughs out of it,
and go somewhere and have a banana split. (laughs)
- (FBE) There was a tweet from a conservative radio host,
Bob Lonsberry, with his thoughts on the OK boomer trend
that went viral. And in this tweet,
he said, and this is a quote: "Boomer is the N word of ageism,
being hip and flip does not make bigotry okay,
nor is a derisive epithet acceptable, because it is new."
- And I wonder how many derisive epithets he's said
in his life, and he says every day on his show.
That guy is a beep!
- That's a big, big old stretch. No.
- Boom is harmless, but the N word,
the whole reason it was created was to do some harm to people.
So that's the big difference in that.
He cannot equate those two.
- (FBE) Even if you do or do not agree on his statement,
based on what you know, what you've seen today,
would you consider OK boomer to be ageism?
- He needs to get a life.
He needs to get out in the real world.
No, I don't consider it offensive.
- Is it ageist, sure. Absolutely.
I think he was upset by it,
and I think that by making that comment,
he definitely caused people to stop and think a little bit.
But I think he also offended a lot of people.
- You know, we cannot take everything seriously, you know,
nowadays, especially.
It seems like everybody has so much anger in a sense,
they're using that type of platform to send a message out.
I think it's wrong.
- (FBE) So one response that many boomers seem to have
about his statement is that historically,
younger generations have a tendency to criticize previous generations.
Growing up, did you have the same mentality
about the older generations,
as the millennials and generation Z members do now towards boomers?
- Yeah, I think so.
Like when I was growing up, it was just like oh,
those old people, they just don't get us,
and we're like moving into the future,
and everything is changed.
- Oh no, not at all.
And the reason I say that, is because I was raised by my parents
and grandparents, and great grandparents,
and boy they had so much wisdom.
Couldn't get around them enough to learn more.
- When I was growing up, I was taught to respect everybody,
not just the elder.
I think that is very important that people realize.
You don't just pick group that you respect
and then forget about the rest.
You know, I think that you have to be, realize
that everybody is equal.
- (FBE) So finally, what do you wanna say
to the younger generations who are using this phrase, OK boomer.
- They'll get theirs. They'll get theirs,
it's not even a question, they'll get theirs.
Just respect what came before ya.
- They should be careful how they use it.
If they're saying it in, you know, a joking manner,
you know, somebody really did say something to bother them.
You know, just say it like that to let them know,
let me know, OK boomer, you know, that wasn't too cool.
- You might say OK boomer,
but you don't realize that that could be hurtful to a boomer.
You could talk to them if you wanna communicate with 'em,
but you don't have to use that.
- Keep it light and funny and it'll go away.
And we will ultimately go away.
- To the younger generation who are using OK boomer,
have fun, get your laughs, it's just a word.
This too shall pass.
Tomorrow it'll be another word. (laughs)
- Thanks for watching this episode of Elders React.
Shout out to Simon Tobias.
- Subscribe and hit the bell so you don't miss an episode.
- What should we react to next? Let us know in the comments.
- Thanks for watching, bye bye!
- Hi guys, it's JC here, producer at FBE.
Make sure to check out all our other episodes
across all generations.
All the links are gonna be down below.
Check 'em out! Bye guys!