Althouse: "They’re really annoying, especially in the workplace. They’re like: 'Nah, I’m not feeling it today, I’m gonna come in at 10.30am.'"

January 6, 2024

"They’re really annoying, especially in the workplace. They’re like: 'Nah, I’m not feeling it today, I’m gonna come in at 10.30am.'"

"Or in emails, I’ll tell them: this is all grammatically incorrect, did you not check your spelling? And they’re like: 'Why would I do that, isn’t that kind of limiting?'"

Said Jodie Foster, quoted in "Jodie Foster says generation Z can be ‘really annoying’ to work with" (The Guardian).

39 comments:

wendybar said...: And they think they should start out making figures.; 1/6/24, 5:06 AM
Kevin said...: isn’t that kind of limiting?

Yes. It’s career limiting.; 1/6/24, 5:40 AM
n.n said...: Granny, don't be a "burden"... uh, burden.
Don't harsh their mellow, hater. Empathize.; 1/6/24, 6:40 AM
n.n said...: Quality of life, before quality of product. Color judgment, before content of character. Gay is but a symptom of social progress. #HateLovesAbortion; 1/6/24, 6:43 AM
Dave Begley said...: Jodie Foster is a Yale alum. She was admitted on merit. Fluent in French. She has standards and expectations. None of this DEI foolishness for that lesbian.; 1/6/24, 6:58 AM
Rocco said...: Damn kids.; 1/6/24, 7:13 AM
Dave Begley said...: There was a moment with my older one when he was in high school, when, because he was raised by two women – three women – it was like he was trying to figure out what it was to be a boy.

“And he watched television and came to the conclusion: oh, I just need to be an asshole. I understand. I need to be shitty to women and act like I’m a fucker.

“And I was like: ‘No. That’s not what it is to be a man! That’s what our culture has been selling you for all this time.’

Jodie: You needed a man in the house. And TV isn’t real.; 1/6/24, 7:14 AM
RideSpaceMountain said...: "...isn’t that kind of limiting?"

No Jodie, It's bussin' fr fr no cap on god.; 1/6/24, 7:15 AM
Jaq said...: "I don't give a damn for a man that can only spell a word one way." - Mark Twain; 1/6/24, 7:37 AM
Jaq said...: The US has turned into one giant game of Jenga.; 1/6/24, 7:38 AM
Leland said...: That’s the best explanation of the current state of the movie industry that I’ve read.; 1/6/24, 7:40 AM
Quaestor said...: Work with? Foster ought to clarify what she means by that runny figure of speech. Employers who can't summon the gumption to assert their authority say "work with" rather than "work for". It implies the sort of egalitarianism that leads to chaos and failure. If she's the one in authority, perhaps a few humiliating dismissals of the lazier Gen Zs will encourager les autres and teach a vital yet long-neglected lesson that has crippled our society.

The root of Gen Z's poor reputation is DEI, especially the equity part. Reward the diligent and the lethargic alike, and failure is the inevitable result.; 1/6/24, 8:28 AM
Quaestor said...: I lifted this from Jody Foster's Wikipedia page:

"Foster met producer Cydney Bernard, who was then a production coordinator, on the set of Sommersby (1993). They were in a relationship from 1993 until 2008 and had two sons together..."

Together? Where did those Y chromosomes come from? I'll wager a Gen Z wrote that bullshit.; 1/6/24, 8:40 AM
Aggie said...: When it comes to responsible parenting, 'my feminist sons' from a lesbian says it all.; 1/6/24, 8:46 AM
Temujin said...: This line caught me: “There was a moment with my older one when he was in high school, when, because he was raised by two women – three women – it was like he was trying to figure out what it was to be a boy."

I dunno. Maybe I'm nitpicking. But I would have said, "There was a moment with my son." Not..."...with the older one..." Again, maybe it's me, but it seems a reflection on how she views her son. IT'S the older one.

Her son is in a tricky place. Being taught how to be a man by either watching tv shows and movies made by people with Jodie Foster's mindset, or getting it straight from Jodie and her female wives.
A mom is a mom and there is no replacing that figure in a person's life. But a dad is so crucial. So necessary, particularly to a boy. And it's so missing in so many of our families today. You cannot just say how to be a man. A boy needs to see it from his dad. And no- we're not all rapist/misogynists. Though you wouldn't know that by watching TV or the movies.; 1/6/24, 9:05 AM
ThreeSheets said...: I won't blame Gen Z until Gen X and Boomers start acting like responsible adults. "Oh, you don't feel it today and won't come in until 10:30 a.m.? If you aren't here by 9:00 a.m. don't bother coming in, you're fired."

Same with college admin. Be the adults in the room.; 1/6/24, 9:06 AM
JAORE said...: First of all the world needs to rediscover the phrase, "You are fired."

Sure, you can come to work late.... somewhere else.

Sure you can ignore spelling and grammar it reflects, poorly, on our company, so do it somewhere else.

At the very least SOMEONE needs to sit these little farts down and say, "You are providing just enough value to this organization that I am not firing you YET. But that is for a first year employee. We expect more, much more, from an experienced worker. If you fail to grow more productive, you will be replaced. If you grow at a rate that just keeps you employed, you will become frustrated that your co-workers will receive bonuses and promotion while you will NOT. This will be the fault of you and no one else. Take the afternoon off and think about these words. You should learn from them. But, if not, you have been warned."

[Isn't it odd that feminists can work to advance ONLY women yet not be sexists? Ditto AA advocates.]; 1/6/24, 9:14 AM
Dude1394 said...: Went to a long running restaurant the other day. Found it had been changed to a specialty bakery. I asked the owner why he changed and he said he just could not get decent help. Didn’t show up, drugged out, crap work ethic.

It has taken a democrat village to ruin our kids.; 1/6/24, 9:30 AM
Big Mike said...: Millennial females were bad enough. The word I hear is that all 57 genders of Gen Z can be a pain.; 1/6/24, 9:37 AM
Wince said...: "In a Guardian interview, the actor also shares her admiration for Bella Ramsey and says she has challenged her son’s behaviour towards women"

In a gadda da vida interview, honey
Don't you know that I'm lovin' you
In a gadda da vida interview, baby
Don't you know that I'll always be true; 1/6/24, 9:40 AM
Dave Begley said...: Alicia Christian “Jodie” Foster.; 1/6/24, 9:50 AM
hombre said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 1/6/24, 10:01 AM
hombre said...: Very cool. Jodie Foster telling her son "what it is to be a man." /S

I know Jodie has a "wife", but I don't see it ending well for her kid.; 1/6/24, 10:05 AM
Oligonicella said...: Both firing offences.; 1/6/24, 11:04 AM
Robert Cook said...: From the Guardian article on Ms. Foster:

"Foster has arguably earned the right to tell it how she sees it. By the time she was nominated for an Oscar for her depiction of a victim of child sexual abuse in Martin Scorsese’s 1976 film Taxi Driver at the age of 14, she had made more movies than the director had."

The bolded phrase above irritates me. The writers take overmuch care to use politically "appropriate" language in describing Foster's character. Perhaps they feared a minor scandal for the Guardian and/or negative repercussions to themselves if they had simply described the character as an "adolescent prostitute" or "underage prostitute." Or maybe they didn't trust their readers' ability to understand the character's situation, so they felt a need to talk down to their audience. Or perhaps the Guardians' editors inserted the clumsy phrasing to project their sensitivity to matters regarding victims of sexual crimes. Readers who have seen the movie already know the character was a victim pressed into prostitution by a controlling adult, (and thus, a victim). For readers who have not seen the film, the writer's description completely obscures the character's actual situation and crucial role in the story.

And, it substitutes a more economic and precise description (two words) for a more verbose (six-word) and obfuscatory phrasing!; 1/6/24, 11:26 AM
Robert Cook said...: "Very cool. Jodie Foster telling her son 'what it is to be a man.' /S

"I know Jodie has a 'wife,' but I don't see it ending
well for her kid."

Why?; 1/6/24, 11:37 AM
Joe Smith said...: 95% of people are annoying because there are a lot of idiots that must be dealt with on a daily basis.

No getting around it unless you're really rich (FU money)...; 1/6/24, 11:39 AM
Rusty said...: Because, Robert, fathers are important. Young boys get their cues on how to behave as men from their fathers. Fathers teach their sons things like responsibility and honor.; 1/6/24, 1:51 PM
Bunkypotatohead said...: When the content is lousy, complaining about the spelling seems kinda pointless.; 1/6/24, 1:59 PM
Robert Cook said...: "Because, Robert, fathers are important. Young boys get their cues on how to behave as men from their fathers. Fathers teach their sons things like responsibility and honor."

Why can't mothers teach the same things? Who says they can't or don't?

And, on the topic, how should men behave, as distinct from women? The positive principles and behaviors we hope to instill in children should be the same for men and women, shouldn't they? How do men and women differ in these respects?; 1/6/24, 3:30 PM
Clyde said...: “The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise. Children are now tyrants, not the servants of their households. They no longer rise when elders enter the room. They contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up dainties at the table, cross their legs, and tyrannize their teachers.”
-- Socrates

"And their music, it's just noise..."
National Lampoon, back in the day.; 1/6/24, 3:52 PM
typingtalker said...: And they’re like: 'Why would I do that ...

How about, "And they said, 'Why would I do that ... "

A small annoyance.; 1/6/24, 4:16 PM
Jim at said...: With rare exception, my contract workers (coding, design ...etc) are all foreign based.

I don't even take chances with gen Z inquiries stateside. Not worth the hassle.; 1/6/24, 5:25 PM
hombre said...: Cook: "Why?"

What Rusty said at 1:51.

There may be some things that are more important for Jodie's boys to learn than how to be feminist men. Notions of feminism are transitory these days and often border on ridiculous.; 1/6/24, 5:39 PM
Rusty said...: Robert said'
"Why can't mothers teach the same things?"
Because they're not fathers.
The presence of fathers is necessary for the healthy growth of both boys and girls. Men and women are different. I shouldn't have to say that.; 1/6/24, 10:54 PM
Robert Cook said...: "Robert said'
'Why can't mothers teach the same things?'
"Because they're not fathers.
The presence of fathers is necessary for the healthy growth of both boys and girls. Men and women are different. I shouldn't have to say that."

You keep making blanket assertions but you do not provide any specific examples or (more important) any references to data or studies that support those assertions.; 1/7/24, 9:59 AM
Art in LA said...: I was admitted to the same Yale class as Jodie Foster ... we are both 1980 HS graduates. I ended up staying in California for college. I wonder where I'd be now if I had taken the New Haven path.

My thinking at the time was "calculus is calculus" at any school (as I was an engineering major), and it was hard to top the outdoor options of La Jolla and San Diego. Plus, my folks didn't have the money to pay for an Ivy. I can't recall the financial package offered, if any. So long ago.; 1/7/24, 2:23 PM
Mason G said...: "I shouldn't have to say that."

The only people you have to say that to are the ones too stupid to understand why.; 1/7/24, 8:25 PM
Yinzer said...: Robert, people who demand citations of studies for every point with which they disagree usually are not able to provide such citations for their own prejudices. You are apparently one of those.; 1/8/24, 1:48 AM