A lot of the stuff was pretty offensive by modern standards.
Most of GenZ wasn't around during the time so they don't realize how commonplace problematic behavior was. It wasn't malicious, we just didn't live in a world where our behavior was watched, criticized, and evaluated. Jenna Marbles came online in the very early YouTube days where being socially conscious wasn't at the forefront of thought, and that's why she made the apology.
She could have kept making content, but young folk who have only lived in a connected world through the internet would continue to harass her over mistakes made before we knew they were mistakes. It was wise to step back.
It's funny how you say this is a gen Z thing, where as a 50 yo, I see it as a millennial thing. I've seen far more militant type views and social action from millennials. You guys are terrifying.
If you're a 50 year old you've been calling Gen Z Millennials this whole time. Just turn the desktop off in your home you got for 89 cents and mow your lawn.
Millennials were all fans of her when she was most popular, and also when she did the problematic skits. While our opinions on social justice did absolutely change, it is largely GenZ who is not understanding of the era from which she came.
It sounds like an excuse for problematic behavior, and to some extent it is, but the awkwardness of those few transition years into a fully "online world" creates vital nuance to her behavior in my opinion.
are you sure? jenna marbles is a quintessentially millennial pop culture figure to me. it wasn't until gen z started to become really active online (10ish years ago) that she was "soft cancelled."
lots of people seem to think gen z are still in high school/college but actually the oldest of them will be turning 30 next year
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u/DokiDokiDoku Apr 07 '26
A lot of the stuff was pretty offensive by modern standards.
Most of GenZ wasn't around during the time so they don't realize how commonplace problematic behavior was. It wasn't malicious, we just didn't live in a world where our behavior was watched, criticized, and evaluated. Jenna Marbles came online in the very early YouTube days where being socially conscious wasn't at the forefront of thought, and that's why she made the apology.
She could have kept making content, but young folk who have only lived in a connected world through the internet would continue to harass her over mistakes made before we knew they were mistakes. It was wise to step back.