William Shatner entered into a heated argument with a millennial social media user who used the “Ok Boomer” phrase while responding to a comment the actor made about online trolls.
The “Ok Boomer” trend has gone so viral that even stars like Shatner are finding it hard to fight back the generations using it as a dismissal term.
Shatner, who is not a Boomer by any definition since he was born in 1931, replied to the millennial, saying: “Sweetheart, that’s a compliment for me.”
The Twitter user, who wasn’t willing to step down either, replied: “I’m not really into pejoratives, but what’s the term for people when they can’t interpret a joke?”
Sweetheart, that’s a compliment for me. ? https://t.co/djCtjiGBwr
ADVERTISEMENT — William Shatner (@WilliamShatner) November 6, 2019
“Millennial?” Shatner replied. “I feel it’s like one of those childish insults in fandom that seem to affect the delicate types to the point they meltdown & go over the rest of our heads as something ridiculous. If the person posting it thinks they are making a dig; they are the fools.”
The exchange became more enraged when another Twitter user entered it, saying the phrase “Ok Boomer” is “not for the boomers that understand sh–. It’s for the ignorant ones like you.”
Shatner responded, saying how Baby Boomers can fully understand all sorts of life struggle.
“And just what are we ignorant about Courtney? We don’t understand struggles? War? Depressions (economic not personal)? Inflation? Double digit prime interest rates?” he wrote.
The user replied that the dismissive term refers to only those Boomers who don’t realize that millennials aren’t responsible for the plethora of socioeconomic problems they face every day.
“I wouldn’t think you’d be one of the ignorant ones, but ok,” the user wrote. “It’s for the boomers who don’t realize that the hardships that the millennials inherited are not their fault. That these kids are trying to survive a world that has all but been destroyed and that doesn’t make them lazy.”
Shatner told the user not to blame others, accusing them of garnering sympathies.
“And the meek shall inherit… is that all your generation does is point fingers and blame others for their pity parties?” he responded. “You don’t get a participation trophy for life; you take what you get and play your best hand. It’s been that way since forever.”
The term “Ok Boomer” has become so ubiquitous recently, that almost all top publications are trying to find why the generations are divided more than ever.
The author of “The Gaslighting of the Millennial Generation,” Caitlin Fisher, said the term stems from millennials’ frustration due to being stuck in their lives.
“Millennials have faced extraordinary levels of student loan debt only to be told that they need to take unpaid internships or cobble together a living wage with part-time work, [and] when we dare to complain, the boomers tell us that in their day, they put in their time and we have to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps,” Fisher said.
“Yet the world they are leaving for us is a deck stacked against us. The minimum wage is not livable, health care costs are exorbitant (while many boomers rely on tax-funded health care programs and simultaneously tell us that socialism will be the downfall of society), living and education expenses are increasing far faster than wages keep up, and we’re tired of being told we aren’t allowed to complain.”
Shatner later said that someone shouldn’t be defined by the label of the generation they belong to, warning how it’s always poisonous to blame others for one’s problems.
“I said I’d wear that badge with honor,” Shatner wrote. “Unlike you; the generations designation doesn’t define me nor am I too worried about getting labeled because it makes no difference to me.
“You seemed to be obsessed; blaming other gens. Some millennials are pushing 40. You aren’t kids.”
“Her bio says she’s an actress,” he said of the user. “No production wants someone who blames their situation on everyone else. That’s Divaesque. She entitled to her opinion but she isn’t doing herself any favors by pretending she’s siding with millennials while pretending she’s not one.”
Replaced!