Zoe Kravitz, 28, feels ‘a little removed’ from her own Millennial generation

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Zoe Kravitz covers the October issue of British Vogue. I guess British Vogue’s quiet diversity project is going well – it’s a rare thing for any woman of color to appear on the cover of British Vogue or American Vogue. As for what she’s promoting… I think she’s supposed to be talking about Rough Night, which came out here in America a few months ago, but only went to Britain at the end of August. Your guess is as good as mine – it’s possible she’s not promoting anything specific. Zoe chatted with British Vogue about how America feels like Bizarro-World and how she feels removed from her own Millennial generation.

The Trump presidency: “[It’s] dark. It’s beyond farcical. It’s not funny, but you almost have to laugh. I just called my mum and we were talking about Trump firing the head of the FBI, and we both started laughing.”

Her parents: “Seeing people always wanting something from my parents, or from us – as a small person I built a lot of walls. I was the tiny gatekeeper. That probably came from trying to protect my parents, especially my dad who’s so nice to everyone. He lets people in. But I have a fiery side. I can be confrontational.”

She feels like she’s between Generation X and Generation Z: “I love how the younger generation are so awake, so empathetic, so sensitive, but still I’m a little removed from them, so I can make jokes like, oh no, I just called someone ‘a man’ without first checking that they identified as a man…”

[From British Vogue]

Zoe is 28 years old, which is… Millennial, yes? The Millennial generation is usually defined as the generation born 1980 to, like, 1999 or so? Which I don’t agree with – people born in 1980 have a completely different outlook and cultural (pop-cultural) background than someone born in the 1990s. Just this year, I learned of a new generational category and I’m dying for it to catch on: Xennial, defined as the “micro-generation in between Generation X and Millennial.” You have to be born between 1977 and 1983. I’m Xennial – I’m not tech-saavy but I’m not a luddite. I didn’t grow up with social media. The defining moment of my late teen years was Bill Clinton’s impeachment. But I’m also too young for a lot of Gen X stuff. When I read about Xennials, I finally felt understood from a generational standpoint. Anyway… Zoe is not Xennial. She was born in 1988. She’s flat-out Millennial, although I’m sure there are gradations of the Millennial experience. Like, maybe the Millennials born in the late ‘80s feel a lot different than Millennials born in the late ‘90s.

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Photos courtesy of British Vogue and WENN.

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34 Responses to “Zoe Kravitz, 28, feels ‘a little removed’ from her own Millennial generation”

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  1. Nicole says:

    I was born in the late 80s and I definitely don’t feel like a millennial. Idk it’s a weird one like our gen is just not defined very well

    • Nina says:

      One of my friends and I were talking about this a couple of weeks ago. We’re both ’87 babies, but we have trouble identifying with a lot of aspects of “millennial culture”. We haven’t embraced technology in the way a lot of our peers have, and identify a lot with the cynicism of Gen X.

      I feel as though millennials need to be broken down into pre-Internet/post-Internet groups. There’s a huge difference between those who remember life before the web, and those who grew up on it.

      • Alleycat says:

        I agree Nina, don’t think the millennial age gap should be so wide. I was born in ’88 and I think we were right on the cusp of when technology really started to take off. My family didn’t have a computer until I was a preteen, and I wasn’t allowed to use it much. I didn’t get a cell phone till college. Social media wasn’t big until college. I definitely had a childhood that was away from technology. I find a lot of people around my age were like that, so it hard to relate to those maybe born in the mid to late 90’s who were maybe more consumed by technology than we were.

      • KB says:

        I was also born in ‘87 and MySpace was around in the tail end of my high school years but it never really reached what Facebook became. AOL instant messenger was our version of social media. We’d put angsty song lyrics in our profiles lol.

        I think people who went through middle school and high school with Facebook, Twitter, and smart phones are completely different than those of us who didn’t. I mean when I was in high school, texting required using the numbers (hit 1 three times for the letter c, etc.)

        In 30 years we’ll probably identify more with the people born in the mid to late 90s but not so much now.

      • Littlestar says:

        @ Alleykat & KB, I relate to so much you said!! Born in 88 and I remember our first home computer with dial up (don’t pick up the phone! 😉) and was on the tail end of MySpace. I think some of it is economic too, MySpace wasn’t a thing at any of the high schools I attended until I went to one that had kids that were generally wealthier (this was in 2005) and that’s when I first heard of MySpace. I think it was different though because a lot of these kids had personal laptops (and iPods and cell phones) vs the single home computer that was shared. I didn’t get a MySpace until 2008, right before it disappeared into obscurity.

        I remember watching Entertainment Tonight or something similar when they were debating if the newly created Twitter was viable or not. And now behold, our president fervently tweets!

    • KLO says:

      @Nicole, Nina, Alleycat

      I was born in 1985 and first got broadband internet connection in 2000. I agree with everything you 3 said.

  2. Juls says:

    1981 here. I’m all genX. There is zero millennial in me. My hubby is 1982, and he’s a proper mix of X and millennial. I think it has a lot to do with how and where you were raised?

  3. Mel M says:

    I was born in ’81 and have never felt like a millennial. So I really like this xennial you speak of, that’s me! I’m going to start using that term as much as possible to spread awareness of us xennials lol

  4. third ginger says:

    None of the generational groups make sense. Baby Boomers[ my group. I’m almost 65] are those born between 1946 and 1964. People born in those two years would have little in common. Zoe is definitely in my almost 25 year old daughter’s generation. Zoe is gorgeous. I love her hair.

  5. PoliteTeaSipper says:

    Millennial being used as a slur doesn’t help either.

    I own a house, two cars, have my own family but apparently I’m lazy because I’m under 40. Okay then. Y’all have fun with that.

    Don’t even get me started on “kids these days” when the undergrad students I have are working three jobs just to make ends meet on top of going to class full time.

    • third ginger says:

      Thank you so much!! I preach this truth all over. I do not know the stereotypical lazy millennials, not my own daughter, her friends, or my students who sound just like yours.

    • Jess says:

      So much yes, completely agree!

    • adastraperaspera says:

      1962 baby here. Have to agree that all the Millennials I know are engaged in life and hard-working. My data set includes daughter, nieces, nephews and neighbors. I think most differences between generations now are due to technological advances that have changed so much, especially the Internet, but also including wireless tech–as it allowed countries full of Millennials like China and India to skip the step where you needed a home and a land line to have access to better communications. Millennials worldwide are the first generation in the world who can actually see and talk to one another across cultures in real time. I think the empathy that develops from those interactions will bring about a new era of peace. “Imagine all the people, sharing all the world.”

  6. MellyMel says:

    Yeah I’m an 87′ baby and there’s things that ppl 10 years younger than me say and do that I just do not get. I really think our generation should have been split into two separate ones.

  7. Steph says:

    Her Instagram screams millennial to me lol. I felt the same way, i was born in 1992 but then i noticed some of my actions and i’m definitely millennial. But i have noticed the same about your generation Kaiser, hoy guys act different. Lol

  8. Miss S says:

    Even though I understand these labels to define differences between generations, it got to a point where I’m annoyed with everytime a label like this is thrown around to just put someone into a box and judge them. Because that’s what I read most of the time, all judgment, and very little context. And I would also add that those generations even in the west were not all the same between countries especially in the past.

  9. Mermaid says:

    I’m 1976. Feeling old here. Just here to say Zoe is so stunning. I can’t imagine having such cool parents as Lisa and Lenny. And Jason Momoa as your stepdad!!!! It’s like a whole group of most beautiful people.

    • third ginger says:

      You are a mere babe. I turn 65 next month. That’s Medicare time. Best to you!

    • Mermaid says:

      @third ginger
      😘😘😘back at you!!! Thanks for the kind words. I’m cranky from fb friends’ posts over the NFL stuff I thought were nice people and I now know they are racists. Disheartening. Thanks for cheering me up!!! I saw Lenny at Ravinia a year or so ago. He was amazing. I love Zoe and their whole family. Particularly Jason😉

    • Hikaru says:

      I didn’t see her appeal until I watched Big Little Lies recently and, omg, I just stared at her the whole time. It was a revelation, photos really don’t do her justice.

  10. mayamae says:

    I don’t like the cover. I’m not sure if it’s her expression or the shading on her face, but she looks beaten down. She looks so vulnerable that it makes me uncomfortable. Almost like the photographer back handed her and then took the shot. (Which of course did not happen)

    • Elisa the I. says:

      I couldn’t quite put my finger on what was bothering me about the cover, but you’re right, she looks incredibly frail.

  11. minx says:

    She is SO gorgeous, her bone structure! Loved her in BLL.

  12. teacakes says:

    I get what Zoe’s saying – I’m technically a millennial too (’84) but when I look at people born in the mid-90s, they may as well be aliens to me. I got a computer in the house+ internet at 12, but my online activities aren’t app-based or social media (unless CB counts). I still prefer to visit websites ahead of using apps, my generation was the one that grew up pirating everything but I’d still take livejournal over tumblr, and I detest the whole ‘no anonymity ever, share everything and show off’ aspect of social media culture.

    • KLO says:

      @teacakes yep

      I was born in 1985. The funniest thing is that I feel more of a connection to people who are born 1997-2000 compared to to people born in 1990-1995.

      There is like this generational gap of people I feel absolutely no connection to.

  13. hkk says:

    Born in 1982 and the ‘defining moment of my late teen years’ was definitely Columbine.

  14. Littlestar says:

    I was born in 1988 and agree that’s prime millennial territory, ha. I generally think of it as 1983 to 1995, people from 1999 are a whole different species (I know this because my niece was born in 1999 and I think her and her classmates are from another planet!). We millennials were there for the early 2000s fashion of thong mania and Rhine stones (there are early 2000s aesthetic pages on Instagram now run by Gen Z kids), the first on social media like MySpace, cellphones became ubiquitous in our teen years, we had CD cases that turned into iPods within a few years span, disposable cameras became cell cameras, we remember 9/11, the Oklahoma City bombings, Nancy Kerrigan and Tonya Harding, the Clinton presidency. For kids from 1999 things like cellphones, social media, iPods are all a given of existence. My husband is Gen X, born in ’81, and he talks about having a pager in high school to which I cannot relate and tease him a little; although I do remember pagers I wasn’t old enough to have one.

  15. Lucy says:

    I see her point. Mostly I appreciate the fact that she’s not being condescending towards other people her age.

  16. DesertReal says:

    I was born in 1985.
    Remember dancing around to mtv videos, watching eighties movies in the 80s, moving to SC after Hurricane Hugo, loving Nirvana, crying when Cobain died, the RHCP when they only wore socks, Clinton running for the first time, the OJ Simpson trial, the aftermath, the first confederate flag debate in the 90s, Waco, season 1 of real world, atari, turbo grafix 16, compuserve, aol, netscape, netzero, etc.
    I’m not a millennial. Sorry.

  17. Elle* says:

    My husband was born 1979 and I was born 1987. His peer group (both genders) are feminists in a very natural way. On the other hand I had encountered so many negative attitudes towards the opposite sex from millennial males throughout high school and early adulthood. I can’t tell you how many times I heard derogatory terms thrown around through those years. I was the victim of a sexual assault, and more than one of my friends were as well. This is just my experience! Maybe my school in particular had some serious problems. I don’t know. But I can’t help thinking the culture of that time may have played a part. I understand this isn’t every guy born within this time period. I did know a few guys my age who were very intelligent and respectful of others, my brother(1985) included. I just noticed an obvious difference between my peers and his -plus how my husband describes his high school/ college experience.

  18. Emily says:

    I think Xennial should extend to anyone born before 1990.

    I was born in 1988 as well and I don’t relate at all to people under 26. I didn’t have a computer until I was 17 or a cellphone until I was 18. I remember a childhood completely absent of technology. I don’t get Snapchat,

    • Tanya says:

      I think people outside of time periods tend to romanticize them and only truly want what they perceive as the good parts. I’m a Gen. Xer, born in the mid seventies and, while I enjoy some nostalgic trips, I remember a hell out of a lot I wish to forget. Enjoy your generation and make strives in it without trying to wear someone else’s shoes. Nothing sounds more poser than that.

      Zoe constantly sounds like someone trying to wear others’ personas and when they don’t fit, she moves on to something else. Maybe she’s trying to find her way after being born to two awesome Gen. Xers. I get it. Her parents are Gen. Xers, so she feels a kinship to her parents’ time. But, it’s not hers. Find your way, Zoe, before time slips from you.

  19. Psu Doh Nihm says:

    I’m born in march ’80. Right at the tail end of the X’rs and boy do I feel like an X’r. Based on my research most sites agree it extended from the early 60’s to the early 80’s.

    While I had a computer growing up, it was considered quite the novelty.
    I was a product of a divorced, educated late boomer, and became a latchkey kid at 9. MTV was my babysitter. I grew up feeling liberated, mature and very exposed to life.
    I feel like I saw this great cultural shift as early X’rs had early millennials who were sheltered and coddled and ferociously protected by latch key parents. I saw so many latch key parents try hard to break that cycle with their own children that they become the antithesis of gen x’rs with regards to how they raise their children. My peers helicopter their children much more than their parents did with them