‘Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice’ Star Winona Ryder Shares Disillusionment With The Generation Gap Between Hers And Gen Z In Hollywood, Seems To Dunk On Millie Bobby Brown: “I’ve Gone From Being The Youngest Person On Set To Being The Oldest”

Believe her
Winona Ryder returns as Lydia Deetz in Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice (2024), Warner Bros. Pictures

The Generation Gap between Gen Z and their elders is hitting Hollywood in the face like a hot frying pan, and established talents like Winona Ryder can no longer ignore it.

Word up-winona
Winona Ryder wonders what’s up in Beetlejuice (1988), Warner Bros. Pictures

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The actress currently starring in Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice has begun to notice how much time has passed her generation of actors by, which makes her weary of and disappointed in the younger rising actors she works with who don’t study the history of their shared art and profession.

“I’ve gone from being the youngest person on set to being the oldest,” she said to Esquire. “I don’t mean to sound so hopeless.”

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Ryder added, “There are a few that are just not interested in movies. Like, the first thing they say is, ‘How long is it?’” She didn’t incriminate anyone, but her Stranger Things co-star Millie Bobby Brown once made remarks that line up with Ryder’s observation.

“People come up to me and say, ‘You should definitely watch this movie, it would change your life,’” Brown said to The Sun. “I’m like, ‘How long do I have to sit there for?’ Because my brain and I don’t even like sitting for my own movies.”

Millie Bobby Brown Answers
Millie Bobby Brown Answers the Web’s Most Searched Questions | WIRED via WIRED, YouTube

Ryder believes social media has negatively affected the attention spans of the youth. “I just think that social media has changed everything, and I know I sound old. I’m very aware of that. And part of me thinks, ‘Gosh, am I like vaudeville at this point?’ Like [elderly lady voice], ‘Hey, kids, turn down the music!’” she explained to Esquire.

Wishing for more students of the game, Ryder added, “But I just think there was such an abundance: the history of film, the history of photography, it’s so rich, and there’s so much there, and I don’t mean we should go backwards, but I wish and I hope that the younger generation will study that.”

Winona seeing ghosts
Winona Ryder as Lydia Deetz is seeing things in Beetlejuice (1988), Warner Bros. Pictures

Maybe they will, as the tastes of young people might be softer than the industry realizes. According to a survey conducted by UCLA, sex doesn’t sell with teens who want less raciness in their movies and TV.

Per Covered Geekly, “The Teens & Screens report, which surveyed 1,500 adolescents aged 10 to 24, found that 51.5% of respondents prefer content centered on friendships and platonic relationships over romantic ones.”

Sydney Sweeney | Euphoria Sizzle Reel
Sydney Sweeney | Euphoria Sizzle Reel

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It continues, “Nearly 47.5% of respondents believe that sex is unnecessary in most plots, while 44.3% feel that romance is overused in media.” They add there is “a growing trend away from the hypersexualization seen in popular shows like Euphoria and The Idol”.

Say Covered Geekly, “Many adolescents express dissatisfaction with media tropes that force male-female friendships into romantic outcomes” due to a “decline in sexual activity among Gen Z.”

BEJU05
(L-R) WINONA RYDER as Lydia and JUSTIN THEROUX as Rory in Warner Bros. Pictures’ comedy, “BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE,” a Warner Bros. Pictures release.

Taking the data at face value, it appears Hollywood and their agendas aren’t as in touch with the culture or where it’s headed as they think, any more than the youth are in touch with classic cinema.

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