Is being ‘spiritually’ Gen Z the latest flex?

To explain Gen Z—Onika Burger, lying for no reason, doing it for the plot, 6-7—would be a futile endeavour. Everybody who is not Gen Z is constantly trying and failing to understand them. But is it possible to capture the vibe, the absurdist humour and the boundaries of a generation without actually being born into it? In a recent Vanity Fair interview, in which Jennifer Lawrence and Robert Pattinson take a lie detector test, the Mickey 17 actor does a bit where he insists that he is, in fact, Gen Z:

Pattinson: I like taking jobs of younger actors.
Lawrence: Yeah.
Pattinson: I do.
Lawrence: Okay.
Pattinson: I wanna play 17 again. There’s a movie, Zac’s movie. 17 Again.
Lawrence: I did think it was insane when you cold FaceTimed me and I was like, “It’s crazy to cold FaceTime somebody,” and you were like, “No, it’s Gen Z.” Do you wish you were Gen Z?
Pattinson: I said I am Gen Z.
Lawrence: You’re not Gen Z. You’re a millennial.
Pattinson: I am.
Lawrence: No, you’re a millennial. How old are you?
Pattinson: (turns to the lie detector) Truthful?
Lawrence: I believe that you believe that you’re Gen Z.
Pattinson: I am Gen Z.
Lawrence: What year were you born?
Pattinson: It doesn’t matter.
Lawrence: Okay. I can’t do this.

Truthful? Pattinson is 39. It’s hilarious that he commits to the bit, and even funnier that he manages to rattle Lawrence, who is usually the menace in the room. A comment under the interview said, “I love how he’s both speaking and looking like the crazy dude you avoid eye contact with on the street.” And they’re right, because that’s exactly what also makes him so… appealing. He is genuinely unserious, instead of coming across as the self-obsessed, tortured, almost-40-year-old ‘method actor’ he could very well be, or a media-trained robot regurgitating the same lines in every interview. That’s precisely what Gen Z is into. We like our celebrities a little weird, because it makes them feel real. It’s the same reason why we love Reneé Rapp, Alex Consani and Katseye: their so-called ‘lack of media training’ makes them seem relatable and actually human.

And of course, Pattinson takes himself seriously as an actor; there’s no doubt about that. He cares about his craft and is evidently good at it, with big releases like The Odyssey, Dune: Part Three, The Batman Part II and The Drama all lined up for next year. That’s why it’s so funny when he doesn’t take himself seriously as a person, especially during press tours and interviews.

It’s funny because Gen Z does the same thing—we’re deeply committed to our work even if the internet has given us a bad name. Some of the most talented, dedicated, passionate people I know are Gen Z, but we’ve been gaslit into believing that our insistence on boundaries equals a lack of work ethic. Our light-heartedness and refusal to be miserable are treated as unprofessional, as if protecting your peace makes you part of an ‘unhirable generation.’