It’s certainly no secret that film legend Clint Eastwood is an old-time conservative. (Remember when he talked to the chair at the RNC in 2012?
We’ve got you covered here.)
If that speech was awkward and uncomfortable － and yes, it was － at least it was funny too. And Clint apparently knows how to laugh, unlike folks whose ages make them part of the “Pussy Generation.”
Clint Eastwood stepped in a large pile of millennial shit recently
during an interview with Esquire magazine that was published Wednesday. It should have been a nice family memory for the octogenarian, since he and his son Scott Eastwood were both featured in a lengthy Q&A that made the cover. But about halfway through, things went pear-shaped fast.
The interviewer and the Eastwoods are discussing instinct and authenticity in Hollywood when the interviewer says Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump (reading that still makes us laugh) is the latest politician to take a page from the Book of Badass that is Clint Eastwood. As if the floodgates had opened, Clint went off:
“[H]e's onto something, because secretly everybody's getting tired of political correctness, kissing up. That's the kiss-ass generation we're in right now. We're really in a pussy generation. Everybody's walking on eggshells. We see people accusing people of being racist and all kinds of stuff. When I grew up, those things weren't called racist.”
We’re not sure what “those things” are, but if it’s any of the things Trump has said about Mexicans and Muslims, then there’s no doubt they were racist. Trump insists he’s not racist, but plenty of media have disproved that theory (
here’s but one example).
We digress. Clint also said some shit about millennials, and we all know what happens when baby gets put in a corner.
For good measure, the Esquire interviewer asked Clint to clarify what exactly is the “Pussy Generation”: “All these people that say, ‘Oh, you can't do that, and you can't do this, and you can't say that.’ I guess it's just the times,” Clint offered.
So Clint Eastwood is an old man － guys, he’s like 86 － and he thinks young people are entitled and thin-skinned. Where have we heard this before? Oh, right, EVERYWHERE. Still, millennials’ feelings were hurt. This
millennial-focused website published one such diatribe against Clint. Twitter was a mess with digital tears. Scott Eastwood, who was participating in the interview as well, is a millennial at 30 years old, but he did not really join in the generational bashing.
Maybe Clint is right. Maybe we’re in an era of sensitivity.
It just so happens that today, the day after Clint’s mean words were disseminated, a writer at The Ringer posted a think-piece to Medium titled, “
Can Millennials Take a Joke?” We encourage everyone to read it － just don’t be surprised when the joke is on you.
