Alexis Bloomer, a young journalist, posted a video titled "Dear Elders, I’m Sorry. Sincerely, a Millennial." In her short video, she speaks on the millennial generation and their general outlook on life, their work ethic and view on relationships. Bloomer attacks Millennials' priorities and behaviors.
She begins the video by saying, “As a millennial, I took it upon myself to try to evaluate what’s so wrong with our generation, and why they’re so mad at us.” While we’re all so grateful for Bloomer’s willingness (as a straight, white woman who had the ability to go to college) to speak for an entire generation filled with diverse people who have come from diverse backgrounds, it’s not necessary. Opinion is not fact, and Bloomer cannot speak for an entire generation.
Despite the fact that Millenials are the most educated generation yet, she says that they don’t contribute to society, they just exist. She also adds that Millennials are lazy. Of course, this is without factoring in the older generation's behavior, which collectively made it so that the housing and stock markets crashed, jobs are nearly unobtainable without a college degree and the whole reason that some college students move back home after graduation is because they’re thousands of dollars in debt, have a recently attained degree and still can’t get a job. But, you know, lazy.
Did I mention her whole rant was spurred on because she saw an individual, presumably a Millennial, walk through a door without holding it open for an elderly person? Although many of us have held doors for elderly people, pregnant women or just other people because it’s a kind thing to do, Bloomer goes on to state that Millennials have no manners because of the incident.
She also states that our generation demeans love by using words like “bae” in reference to a significant other. While I’ve only heard the word “bae” used as a joke, there have always been pet names and slang terms for a significant other. Just because it’s “bae” now (while admittedly stupid), it’s not specific to the Millennial generation. Many of her points on Millennials apply to other generations as well—for example, she states that our music glorifies drugs, violence and the emphasis of sexuality of women. While she’s correct that certain music does contain this element, it is again not specific to Millennials. Have we forgotten about songs like "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds?" "Let’s Get It On?" What about "Hotel California," which directly discusses drug use? Sex and drugs have been a topic in music for decades, not limited to Millennials. Many of the songs Millennials listen to that contain this content isn’t by Millennial artists, anyway.
Bloomer states that Millennials spend more time on their phones and computers than focusing on in-person relationships. Although this is true, when you look into the statistic a little more, you can see that the numbers on computer and phone use is primarily for work and school. For example, right now I’ve spent over an hour writing this. It’s not that I’d rather be writing this than building relationships; it’s that I am, like many others my age, taking advantage of the opportunities at college because we aren’t lazy, and it just so happens that it also requires a computer. Is this the wrong place to say that I’m also at a coffee shop with a friend? Not only am I on the computer and taking advantage of the opportunities on campus, working hard, but I’m also spending quality time studying with a friend. It is possible to multi-task. Maybe if Bloomer would have hopped on her computer for a second and looked into what she was saying, the content of her video would have looked very different.
While Bloomer makes some good points about the flaws within a generation, they are not specific to Millennials. Older generations have similar sub groups who also chose a different, possibly less productive path in life. Our music, manners and work ethic are essentially the same as that of older generations.
She closes by thanking the older generations and apologizing on behalf of Millennials. Bloomer says that Millennials consider “standing up for what they believe in” to be simply posting a Facebook status—of course, this is also ignoring the fact that Bloomer, a Millennial, is standing up for what she believes in by posting a video on Facebook.
