Trevor Noah Goes Out To Bat For “Selfie-Obsessed” Millennials In A New Essay
"Saying millennials are selfie-obsessed is like saying Gen X-ers were TV-obsessed because they watched more TV than their parents."
Making fun of millennials has become one of the most boring things you can do on the internet. Of course each generation ridicules the one that comes after them — this has always been the case. But it seems like 2016 has seen more bad millennial takes than previous years.
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Host of The Daily Show, Trevor Noah, has written an essay for The Hollywood Reporter about the double standards that millennials face and why he’s tired of constantly defending his generation. “Saying millennials are selfie-obsessed is like saying Gen X-ers were TV-obsessed because they watched more TV than their parents,” he says. “You interact with the world that is presented to you.”
Although he acknowledges that it’s strange to be a millennial on TV when millennials don’t really watch TV on a TV anymore (“It’s a frightening proposition for networks because they’ve always been the gatekeepers.”) Noah is perplexed as to why older generations are frustrated that millennials bypass traditional ways of doing things.
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“I’m in a generation where many never had cable or they’re cutting the cord. ‘I watch what I want to watch when I want to watch it and how I want to watch it’. So people say we’re entitled,” he writes. “I think we’re merely exercising our choice. Sometimes it feels like I’m working and creating within a space that I and many of my peers don’t gravitate toward naturally.”
Noah goes on to lament that his generation has more trouble being present than previous generations, because we’re used to being constantly plugged in, but also praises millennials for being “at the forefront of transgender activism”, for emphasising the need to take action on climate change and doing all this while dealing with recession and other inherited economic problems.
“Yes, there are some millennials who go online and only want to post memes, but there are others who go online to engage in social discourse,” he says. “There are some who only want to share, but there are others who want to read.”
You can read the full essay here.