It’s a Good Thing Billie Eilish Had No Clue Who Van Halen Is
Our endless access to information makes it easy to forget — she wasn’t there
Intergenerational mockery has become something of a pastime — this past Thanksgiving weekend brought more.
The latest example came after late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel tried to test 17-year-old singer Billie Eilish on her pop culture knowledge from his generation. Focusing on 1984, the year he turned 17, Kimmel asks Eilish, “Can you name a Van Halen?”
Her response: “Who?”
Thousands of Twitter takes and a full news cycle later, the general opinion seems to be that it’s okay for Eilish to have been unaware of Van Halen — especially when, as many pointed out, Eddie Van Halen himself barely listens to any music at all.
But coming on the heels of “OK Boomer,” the flippant and dismissive Generation Z retort to adults who openly condescend to them, Eilish’s ignorance felt like another salvo in an intergenerational war. It might be bad enough that the kids dismiss adults, but for older generations to mock their cultural reference points? That’s not just rude, it feels nearly impossible.
In the past, a youthful unfamiliarity with cultural touchstones of previous generations was unremarkable…
