Millennials have a reputation for being lazy, entitled, and self-absorbed, and for the most studies show its unwarranted, and the Internet generation is actually no more likely to harbor feelings of inherent superiority than young people at any other time in recent history.
Celebrities – and former child stars in particular – also have a reputation for being lazy, entitled, and self-absorbed, and for the most, part it’s completely justified.
Take Ariana Grande, for example:
The singer posted the above photo to Instagram this week, along with a caption reading:
“When you’re cute but you’re also the hardest working 23 year old human being on earth #cute #butalso #CEO #unf–kwitable #haventsleptinyears”
Ladies and gentlemen, we might have just reached peak entitlement.
Obviously, the idea that Ariana works harder than any other 23-year-old on the planet is patently ridiculous, and she’s currently being roasted on social media as a result of her claim.
Some folks have defended Ariana, claiming that she’s only taking flak for her comments because she’s a woman.
They are wrong.
The hardest working 23-year-old on the planet probably is a woman…
… but she’s definitely not a celebrity with eight figures in the bank.
In fact, she’s probably a single mom in the South Bronx or Appalachia who manages a McDonald’s by day, picks her kids up from school, makes dinner, and then mans the front desk at a hotel or works as a security guard by night.
We’re not saying that Ariana doesn’t work hard (Although this is the same woman who gets carried around like a baby by her bodyguards because she hates walking.), but any time anyone becomes rich and famous (particularly while still in their teens), there’s a tremendous amount of luck involved.
There are millions of talented, hard-working people out there who never hit the big time, simply because they never met with the right opportunities, or their support system was lacking, or any number of other things didn’t work exactly as they would’ve needed to.
And that’s something you very rarely hear young celebrities talk about.
Sure, many of them will pay lip service to the fact that they’ve been extremely fortunate, but it’s rare to hear a young star articulate just how many things played out just right for them when they easily could’ve gone in a different direction.
For the most part, Ariana is a good role model for her young fans.
She’s spoken out against bullying, body-shaming, and the objectification of women.
Unfortunately, it seems Grande is shockingly out of step with reality when it comes to the day-to-day financial and career realities of many of her fans.
Ariana could do a lot for the struggling young folks who look up to her by reminding them that in the same way that her enviable physique is a combination of hard work and good fortune, so too is her career.
Her decision to suggest that her success is entirely the result of her superior work ethic seems astonishingly tone deaf.
Perhaps Ms. Grande should visit with some of her less-fortunate fans to remind herself that it’s not just body image issues that can impact a young person’s self-esteem.
Many have spent their lives feeling unworthy because of dire financial straits, and the last thing they need to be told is that they simply need to work harder.
