Gen Z is falling in love with the charm and 'cringe' of millennials

Across TikTok, thousands of Gen Zers have posted videos romanticizing things that are typically associated with millennial culture.

Not too long ago, if you asked Derek Deng, 22, to describe millennials, the Gen Z term “cheugy” — outdated or uncool — may have come to mind.

But in recent months, the Brooklyn resident said he’s been overcome by a different emotion when thinking about the generation that came before him: nostalgia.

“That millennial era of like, BuzzFeed quizzes and … mustaches, nerdcore and … hipsters, is very much, like, delightfully cringe, but in a very wholesome way,” said Deng, whose video about his love of millennial culture on TikTok was viewed thousands of times on TikTok.

Many Gen Zers — typically defined as those ages 12-27 — have expressed similar feelings of longing for the era they never got to experience as adults. Across TikTok, hundreds of people have posted videos celebrating things that are typically associated with millennial culture, including Tumblr, skinny jeans, upbeat music, Barack Obama and, maybe most prominently, HBO’s TV series “Girls.”

Of course, Gen Zers are not the first generation — nor will they be the last — to romanticize the lifestyle of a different era. But Pamela Aronson, a professor of sociology at University of Michigan-Dearborn, said this recent surge of nostalgia from Gen Zers has likely been fueled by the uncertainty and volatility of the current climate.

https://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/lifestyle/gen-z-nostalgia-millennial-cringe-charm-rcna196957

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