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One item from 'When Harry Met Sally' bonds Gen Z and Boomers, and it's probably not what you'd think

TikTokers branded it a "winter essential."

via Canva, Castlerock Entertainment
Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal crouch down.

Billy Crystal wasn't the first in line to play Harry Burns in the 1989 rom-comWhen Harry Met Sally. Not by a long shot. In fact, director Rob Reiner considered Albert Brooks, Tom Hanks, Harrison Ford, Michael Keaton, Richard Dreyfuss, and Bill Murray for the part before him. Incidentally, according Business Insider, Albert Brooks thought it was too much like a "Woody Allen film," and Hanks believed it to be too "lightweight."

Crystal, who was best friends with Reiner, wound up exceeding expectations to pull out an iconic, grumpy performance that even the most cynical person could love.

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

Well, not everyone loved it. Just last year, a tweet went viral that revealed many Gen Z-ers had a real tough time with Billy Crystal as a leading man. And they weren't being especially shy about it. Emily Lefroy writes for Daily Mail, "The debate began after X user Zoe Rose Bryant responded to a post asking users to share the 'romcom scene that literally changed the trajectory of your life.'" Zoe then posted a clip from the Nora Ephron-penned classic and wrote, "You simply can't beat the blueprint."

The comment section disagreed, with many claiming Billy wasn't attractive enough for Meg Ryan's Sally. Ouch.

In the subreddit r/unpopularopinion, someone posted a similar sentiment claiming in part, "Harry's character is very unattractive, largely because he is a rude and condescending person. Sally is beautiful but annoying. The romantic scenes are cringy, mostly because Harry is such a jerk and so unappealing as a romantic lead."

This young Millennial writes, "I just tried to watch it for the first time (I'm 32), and I just couldn't do it. It's such a slog. I made it to right after they sleep together, and I had to stop it to take a break and watch something else… Harry is a d#$k and Sally just sucks."

They didn't like the deli orders either. "The way she places orders at restaurants isn't quirky, it's just awful." And they even had a note for the music composer: "Also, why is this movie so quiet? It might be an '80s thing, but the lack of a background score makes the scenes feel so awkward and cringe. I don't want to hear the click-clack of their shoes when they walk. And I certainly don't want to hear how wet their kissing is."

When Harry Met Sally, Castlerock Entertainment, Iconic movie scene, Meg RyanMeg Ryan sits at a diner in "When Harry Met Sally."Giphy

This Redditor agrees: "Honestly, I think it's a movie for Boomers who thought it was groundbreaking to show a man and a woman trying to be friends."

As if a Boomer just heard their name and perked up, they emphatically enter the chat, explaining, "The arrogant, self-centered character trait is the key issue! They’re young and dumb! Just like I was and practically everyone else I know when they were young. I’m in my sixties now. Young people mostly go through life with their heads shoved far up their a$es. Both sexes. It takes time and hard experience to pull their heads out. I don’t know if you’re young—don’t take this as a personal insult. But Harry is a spot-on portrayal of myself and Sally is my wife."

There's more. In a different thread entitled "What exactly is so amazing about When Harry Met Sally," a Millennial writes, "I watched it recently for the first time. I was born after it was released if that matters—if it was considered a movie of its time. I just don't really see the magic in it… I just don't really feel a yearning for Harry and Sally to fall in love."

This time, fellow Redditors really take the time to teach the OP, with one even including a character analysis for both Harry and Sally. Once the OP understands that Harry is like "this generation's Chandler Bing," they get a better overall grasp of the role, but still don't love the film.

One thing that does unite Gen Z with their older counterparts? Harry's sweater. Lydia Hawken writes for Mail Online that "TikTokers have rebranded the cable knit jumper (sweater) a 'winter essential.'"

Maybe we'll never prove that men and women can just be friends. But we do know that fashion trends can cross the generational aisle in the best of ways.

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Gen Zer tries to dub Gen X 'the worst generation.' Then a millennial steps in.

Her tongue-in-cheek warning reminds us all why you don't mess with the latchkey kids.

Photo credit: Canva

Gen X (left) Gen Z (Right)

There's something to be said about the now well documented sibling dynamic between Millennials and Gen Z. But before that bond existed, many Millennials grew up with Gen X siblings, learning early on not to disturb the sleeping bear.

Unfortunately, some folks in the younger generation, i.e Gen Z, didn't get this memo. One brave...or naive Gen Zer decided to declare that Gen X is "the worst generation" seemingly unprompted.

Young Padawan, Gen X minds their business grumbling through life unless someone summons them. We don't summon them.

gen x, millennials, gen z, gen z vs gen x, gen z vs millennials, millennials vs gen x, generational humorYoda is not happy about this. media2.giphy.com

In a stitched video, millennial Laura High gave a succinct cliff's notes version of why it's best to not speak negative thoughts on Gen X aloud.

"I love Gen X. We all love Gen X...we all love Gen X," she said before bringing the camera close enough to whisper.

"Ok here's the thing, you do not seem to understand who Gen X is, okay? Gen X is Boomers if they knew how to turn a document into a PDF, okay. They do not Karen out. They get quiet and they get revenge," she warned.

The millennial then shared the secret kept by her generation: "we do not summon the latchkey kids unless it's our literal only last resort." She advised the unknowing Gen Zer to go to the edge of the woods to leave offerings to appease any Gen Xers that would likely be offended by the video. Commenters agreed with her sentiment.

@laurahigh5 Do you also like pissing off beelzebub for funzies? #genx #millennial #genz #generations #lol #joke #80s #vhs #movie #foryou #foryoupage #fyp #fypシ゚viral #fypage ♬ Wes Anderson-esque Cute Acoustic - Kenji Ueda

"There is a reason millennials leave Gen X alone, and they learned it the hard way. My fellow Gen Z’s will learn soon… very soon," one commenter said..

"Elder Gen Z raised by two Gen X parents. I do NOT back the younger half of Gen Z on this. I’m running into the woods on their behalf and leaving Ferris Bueller for my dad and a DQ blizzard for my mom," another echoed.

"Last thing she will hear from the woods, Red Rover Red Rover, we call Karen Hashtag over," said a third.

If you've never played Red Rover with Gen Xers, just know you were lucky to have your head still attached to your shoulders after the game was over. There were no tears allowed and no telling your parents, they were gone anyway. In shot: Gne Xers are ruthless, and it's best not to cross them. Seriously.

Thankfully, Gen Xers are also open to peace offerings. Here are a few of their suggestions:

"I will accept ding dongs (in original foil) and a VHS of “the last star fighter” I will also except a mix tape if it include at mix of metal, new wave, and Yaz,"

"We will also accept any of the original Star Wars trilogy, Star Trek 2, Raiders, or Die Hard…though John Hughes films will likely will be the safest choice."

Moral of the story: tread lightly Gen Z. Tread very lightly. If you hear someone clinking together empty glass Coke bottles outside your door, do not come out and play. It's a trap.

gen x, millennials, gen z, gen z vs gen x, gen z vs millennials, millennials vs gen x, generational humorIf looks could kill…media3.giphy.com

This article originally appeared last year.

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Witty millennials share the secret reasons they look younger than other generations

It was all those Flintstones vitamins, for sure.

Canva Photos & Mike Mozart/Flickr & Carla Lewis/Flickr & Shelley/Flickr

Why do millennials look younger than other generations?

It's a well-noted phenomenon that people used to look, well, older. Millennials, in particular, seem to be hyper-aware of this strange occurrence. When we think of the movie and TV stars of our youth, for example, we're often stunned to learn how old they were. Al Bundy from Married With Children is a spry 39 years old when the series starts. George Costanza is a mere 29 when Seinfeld begins. The entire cast of Cheers was in their 30s for most of the run, with Kelsey Grammer being just 28 in his first appearance on the show. We could have all sworn up and down these people were well into their 40s!

But no. Our shocking inability to accurately determine the ages of people outside our generation definitely begs a self-serving and tongue-firmly-in-cheek question: Are millennials just aging absolutely phenomenally?

Kristen, a "proud millennial" on TikTok, thinks so. In a recent video, she posed the question to her followers: Why do millennials look so young?

"I have a question for millennials. What do you guys think we did right growing up that we look young?"

Anticipating the reaction to her question, she immediately scoffs. "Don't even look at me like that! Don't even lie to yourself! Look at us!" She asserts that millennials look younger than Gen Z, or at least the same age, despite being quite a bit older. "Do you guys think it was the tanning beds? Or the hot pockets we used to eat?"

Watch the hilariously tongue-in-cheek video here:

@krisalmasan

Millennials 🫶🏻 #millennialsoftiktok #fyp

Kristen may have had the guts to say it out loud, but she's definitely not the only one thinking it. Her video racked up over a million views and people were chomping at the bit to chime in with their own theories on why millennials are aging like fine wine.

Some say it was the things we ate, or the less-than-ideal products we used on our body at the time:

"We took Flintstones vitamins"

millennials, gen x, gen z, aging, health, beauty, generations, flintstonesYabba dabba doo!Giphy

"It was the apricot scrub"

"It's all the preservatives we ate in our food. We're pick[l]ed,"

"Slathered ourselves in Bath and Body Works Cucumber Melon daily"

"Oxy pads"

"It's all the preservatives in the lunchables we ate every day"

Some say it's because we grew and aged au naturale:

"We didn't start Botox at 19"

"We didn't have 12 step skincare routines when we were 10"

"We look younger than Gen Z because we didn't inject tons of filler in our faces when we were 22"

millennials, gen x, gen z, aging, health, beauty, generations, skincareGen Alpha is obsessed with SephoraGiphy

Maybe it was something less tangible and more spiritual:

"We just tell ourselves we are still babies and our cells believe us"

"Laughter. Generations before us were too serious. Gen z is too afraid of being cringe"

"It was because we reposted those long threads on MySpace and god blessed us for it ✨"

"It was forwarding the chain mail"

"Gen z wanted to grow up so fast and we wanted to stay young."

Or maybe we're just less stressed and anxious than the generation that's growing up now (which says a lot, because we are pretty darned stressed and anxious)

millennials, gen x, gen z, aging, health, beauty, generationsMillennials to every other generation: "Breathe, calm down"Giphy

"We didn’t have social media in middle school. I swear it’s that"

"Unlike Gen Z we weren’t up in everyone else’s business and stressing over stuff that doesn’t affect us at all. We weren’t offended by everything"

Whatever it is, there's definitely something to this phenomenon. It's been noted even by experts (not just hilarious TikTok commenters). One possible explanation is that millennials came of age right when we, as a culture, realized the importance of sunscreen and proper hydration. The theory that using makeup and skincare from too young of an age might end up being bad for your skin in the long run may actually hold some water, as well.

Simply put, millennials had the luxury of learning from the mistakes made by Gen X and Boomers. It's definitely possible that, at scale, cultural differences in how we were raised and how we approached health and wellness as we grew up have led to major differences between generations.

Personally, though, I think Lunchables and high-energy sodas like Surge and Jolt had medicinal properties that provided us with an extra burst of youth. But we'll probably never know for sure.

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Elder millennial reveals what people get wrong about her generation in the 2008 recession

She also theorizes this is why Gen Zers might have a harder time.

Photo credit: Canva

Millennials have already been through one. Could another be on the way?

Social media is teeming with theories that a recession similar to 2008 is upon us. For millennials specifically, this time period helped give them the nickname of “the unluckiest generation” as it affected student loan debt, the impossible feat of buying a home and starting a family, and the lack of available jobs—especially ones worthy of those expensive degrees.

And yet, Jenna Rohlfing, 39, argues that people get "millennial culture” during this time, really, really wrong. Why> Primarily because people don’t take into account how a lack of social media actually made a lot of the struggle much easier to navigate, which could be concerning news for Gen Zers.

In a video posted to her TikTok, Rohlfing first depicted the scene for many millennials during 2008. Yes, they had to provide their own health insurance (or go without health insurance and hope for the best), as well as pay for their rent, but what they weren’t buying were cosmetic procedures, high end hair products, skincare and makeup…i.e. the things that are marketed to Gen Zers on a daily basis.


@jennaleighstl We were ugly and poor in our Forever 21 club gear. Okay? #millennials #millennialsoftiktok #momsoftiktok ♬ original sound - Jenna-Millennial Mom


“If you had ‘nice’ makeup, you might have gotten it at Clinique but your mom was buying it for you,” she said.

In an interview with Newsweek, Rohlfing expanded on this idea, saying that millennials, most of whom only made around $40K at the time, “didn't have large-scale social media to influence us into purchases or compare our lives to other people,” whereas Gen Zers, who grew up fully immersed by technology and influencer culture, “face a lot more pressure both socially and economically to keep up."

Judging by the comments, Rohlfing is certainly not alone in her thinking.

“Millennial culture was less status obsessed.”

“Real. ‘How did you survive?’ Maybe because there was no influencer culture and we could be poor in peace.”


Poor Help Me GIFfrom Poor GIFs


“We weren’t being influenced to buy something new everyday.”

“I think one of the best things about the 08 recession was we didn't realize what we were missing. No social media to rub it in our faces.”

Furthermore, what was considered healthy during 2008 was drastically different than today, Rohlfing argued. Back in her day, noshing on cheap “Lean Cuisines” was perfectly acceptable, whereas today there is more pressure to buy organic produce.

“We had a real $1.00 menu. THat’s how we survived lol,” one millennial quipped.


Kinhkills Mcdonalds Memefrom Kinhkills Memes


“No pilates, no group exercise classes, you had a DVD of some cardio nonsense and maybe a $30/month gym membership and no cute workout sets!” another said.

Still another recalled, “I remember once paying for a McDouble and a McChicken with a Ziploc bag of dimes. DIMES.”

In essence, Rohlfing seems to be saying that, by and large, millennials weren’t up against the same levels of consumerism that many Gen Zers face today, making whatever possible recession looms already a different animal altogether.

According to some experts, the recent tariff announcements and escalating tensions between the U.S. and trade partners indicate not the return of a recession, but of stagflation, which is a combination of two undesirable economic conditions—high inflation + slow economic growth. You can also add high unemployment rates to the mix. This is also a different factor from 2008's situation.

But, really, now that we are all in a social media driven world full of pop-up ads everywhere you look, every generation can probably benefit from really aligning purchases with their priorities during this time. For millennials, those priorities probably align with some kind of Disney memorabilia.

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