Janeane Garofalo Says "Reality Bites" Isn't For Gen X | Letterman

[@csweet207]

Her ability to make Dave visibly uncomfortable is impressive. She also never sold out...respect.

[@Filmation77]

Until recently with stuff like "The Girlfriends Guide" and "Criminal Minds:Suspect Behavior"

[@scottcampbell96]

“It isn’t a Gen X movie,” is such a Gen X thing to say.

[@barbaralavoie2642]

Totally! 🤣

[@jens256]

You know, I was into Gen X before it was cool...

[@jambac]

😂

[@peterjonas4971]

I love her, but reality bites is just a terrible movie.

[@RandomNonsense1985]

@@peterjonas4971But it wasn’t bad because of her parts.

[@JoshBransonPhoto]

Reality Bites couldn’t possibly be more of a GenX movie.

[@chiefscheider]

She was so adorable back then. Still attractive, but in '93 her cuteness was off the charts!

[@r.edward5701]

Really dig her on the Larry Sanders show 🔥

[@fdrstan]

No joke! Smart as hell too.

[@murrynathan]

Kinda reminds me of Thora Birch.

[@pigmeatmarkham898]

I actually preferred her to Uma in “The Truth About Cats & Dogs” 🐱🐶

[@wrj9221]

she could have played Julia Louis dreyfuss sister !!!

[@RicRags]

Saying "duh", Complaining about normies, hating the ignorant audience, getting cynical about the marketing of her own movie, haggling over the pronunciation of a word trying to prove she's intellectual, acting like selling out is bad while being a guest on a prime time late night talk show, and denying a Gen X movie is a Gen X movie. This is the pinnacle of Gen X.

[@NoineNoineNoine]

so quick and witty! obviously from new jersey! love her, love her laugh.

[@dgetzin]

4:39 That was the MOST Gen X way POSSIBLE to plug a film.

[@carrieannesoucier6101]

One of my favorites. Also Romy and Michele's High School Reunion

[@timhulsizer]

Holy crap, 30 years?? I was just a kid standing in the video store where my mom worked, watching Reality Bites on the 4 overhead TVs

[@Spicy_Pita]

Kids these days wouldn’t fully understand the humor/sarcasm/irony in Reality Bites and the way things were in the 90’s. That’s why it is a gen x movie. I’ve watched it too many times to count. It’s a classic for me.

[@shegun]

me too!

[@JaxonSmithers]

It’s the most Gen X movie ever. A true classic.

[@TheGraduate702]

Why wouldn’t they understand the humor and sarcasm? It’s not that cerebral.

[@Spicy_Pita]

@@TheGraduate702 kids these days don’t understand how to use a landline rotary phone. LOL You think they’ll understand what it was really like back then if you haven’t lived through it?

[@TheGraduate702]

@@Spicy_Pita 😭I forget that the 90s were 30 years ago. It feels like just yesterday to me. ☹️

[@theTRUTHgroup]

She is simply one of the best!

[@KBH27]

First saw her on the Ben Stiller show, and fell in love

[@Geekeric]

I love Janeane Garofalo!!

[@ninestories2]

I love that your comment has an option to "Translate to English"

[@Redmenace96]

I remember a lot of her stand-up career. Think she is very, very funny- but, yes, her contempt for average humans is easy to detect. If I were a producer, would cast her in just about any movie. She is talented.

[@nickgreen2905]

She has contempt for stupid people which most comedians share.

[@JohnDoe-vc5qb]

@@nickgreen2905 well that is the average human sadly

[@DyenamicFilms]

"Hey, if brunch is a combination of breakfast and lunch, how come there's no lupper or linner?"

[@isCooperLymn]

Hey! What's the deal with decaf? How do they get the caffeine out of there and then where does it go?

[@MD-xi5vd]

In the end, Reality Bites became THE GenX movie.

[@bossfan49]

"Breakfast Club", "Singles" and "Reality Bites".

[@jg2611]

brilliant. I was a teenager around this time, but do remember her. Now, I had absolutely no idea she was so incredibly well-spoken and super-intelligent. Wow. Johnny Cash and Bob Sagat the next day. (Time machine)

[@nufsed12]

Dave is crazy witty. Love him

[@ΒΈΡΗΧΑΊΡΗ]

Reality bites, is so much more, than a simple love triangle.

[@josephharden5592]

She is killing the advertising angle (for a movie she is supposed to be promoting) on accident 😂😂😂 very Gen X ❤ her

[@arthurrimbaud7287]

No, she isn't. At the time "generation x" was a hot buzzword everyone in the media was using, but it wasn't popular with people. It was annoying. So she's smartly trying to distance the movie from so it won't turn ppl off from seeing it.

[@BobCob-ug3el]

That’s right. It is like how ‘Millennials’ & ‘Gen Z’ are the buzzwords now, for the same pathetic reasons by the same pathetic marketers. They like to pigeonhole people based on pop culture.

[@NJGuy1973]

Reality Bites is a movie about 20somethings which 20somethings watched and hated the characters. In short, the quintessential Gen-X film.

[@nettinoo]

I love this film but despite being GEN X (1979) i didn't really relate to any of it. I was going clubbing and listening to house music wearing little lycra dresses with high gloss tights and strappy sandals. I wasn't in the grunge crowd. I was a club chick listening to house music. I think things might have been different across the pond. I wasn't a latch key kid either to be honest. I mean i'm not even fierce or like how GEN X are supposed to act.

[@TighelanderII]

I loved Reality Bites. I didn't see it until around 1999. I wish Stiller had more roles like the one is this movie.

[@lukess.s]

He also made the movie lol

[@RobinHerzig]

Stiller is the showrunner on Severence most brilliant show like, ever

[@Maxwell.Manlove]

Dave is on another level as an interviewer. Never makes a mistake or goes down the wrong avenue

[@JammastaJ23]

Reality Bites is a little frustrating from a modern viewing because Winona Ryder's character is the least interesting one of the group yet all the plot revolves around her. The other characters were far more interesting but only had surface level stories. Janeane included.

[@IntoTheVerticalBlank]

Good point.

[@mikearchibald744]

That describes almost every movie I've ever seen.

[@billschlafly4107]

You watched it? Huh. Interesting.

[@TurboMan942]

I could never figure out why I never could get into that movie. You nailed it

[@michaelmcdonald8452]

Winona Ryder gets all the attention because she's a "surface level" actress: a very cute person who's not a very engaging performer

[@jecapaola]

After all her effort, Reality Bites is now a GenX classic, with a GenX soundtrack…

[@ULOVEKYLE]

get better taste in movies

[@kamuelalee]

It always was Gen X

[@ChrisLawton66]

@@ULOVEKYLE she made a statement about the movie and soundtrack. She didn't say whether she liked it or not.

[@jecapaola]

@@ChrisLawton66 ... or even seen it.

[@geebee380]

You saaaaay 🎶

[@VCT3333]

I just read this referenced in the NYT article on her!!!

[@JayRock21122]

Love her

[@Filmation77]

Young Janeane Garofalo was such an EPIC Beauty.

[@Stuie299]

4:42 and yet Reality Bites is one of the most gen X extremely 90's movies out there.

[@stevengriffith436]

I was 19 when that movie came and still never seen it. Never looked interesting in the trailers or clips...js

[@cheriebomb158]

@@stevengriffith436 I watched it last year when I was 19 and it was very meh. I enjoy films from that era, but it was definitely overrated

[@sinistermalmente]

I adore her

[@blackdawg7361]

Janeane Garrofalo is a sweetheart!!❤

[@goatonaboat2053]

What's the deal with decaf? How do they take the caffeine out and where does it go?

[@mariorossi4861]

And what's the deal with brunch?

[@angelcitygirl]

It's the quintessential Gen X movie. 💗💗

[@zabut2301]

What a cutie she is here. I could definitely see her as being like Troy from Reality Bites in real life.

[@craigrussell3062]

Reality Bites is about as non-Gen-X as Nirvana

[@namegirl12]

big cheers for jersey lfg

[@privatehand]

Janeane was a bit too honest for her own good. The studio suits were like "WFT, bi$%#!" Hah!

[@brycemcneil4404]

"I'm not Gen X though...I'm a little too old to be" "How old *are* you?" "36." "*36!* THE SAME AGE AS MARILYN!!!".....

[@lickitysplit3575]

Glick needs to come back

[@eric60025]

Hilarious reference!

[@chalkbunt81]

" in the suppository"

[@trysometruth]

@@chalkbunt81 Ha ha haha... that Glick interview is on KZbin. Probably watched it a dozen times.

[@NineteenEightyFive]

ok yeah 8 year old me didn't realize quite how cute she was back then, wow

[@jasonadkins3592]

Wow she was cute. Never really paid much attention to her back in the day. I was 21 when Reality Bites came out. It was an ok movie.

[@otisroseboro5613]

Today Is The 30th anniversary Of The Movie Reality Bites,Time Goes By

[@rocketreindeer]

Janeane is great. But I laughed my ass off seeing Meg Parsont's boyfriend holding up his police artist sketch.

[@twhelostl61]

I am certain young adults might connect with this. Getting started in life is tough. It is just that the internet was a newborne then, no cellphones either. Janeane did a splendid job representing Gen X. Just a crazy place in time. And in 93 we were starting to crawl out of a recession which sucked.

[@Chainsawhappy]

Wow. Now I remember why I had such a crush on her in the 90s

[@kpec3]

I need help! I'm still in love with Janeane '96, who doesn't exist anymore!

[@michaelmcdonald8452]

You can say Reality Bites "isn't a Gen X movie" (a denial that itself is a very Gen X thing to say) all you want but between the title and the name of Ethan Hawke's band, that moniker seems pretty inescapable. In fact, if it's "not a Gen X movie," I wonder what such a movie looks like in her mind that this doesn't qualify.

[@dennisfield8443]

I think she just couldn't see it at the time. That in her head they set out to tell a basic romance story / coming of age type deal, but when you do that and you do so while having your fingers on the pulse of the current moment.... thats how generations' get defined. Candid moments of how life's moments manifest for them. Dave let on the air of a guy that could see how it was going to play out...that the studio's branding would probably work, and maybe even prove true. But thats easy to say in hindsight. Perhaps he just saw a younger person going through entertainment initiation and couldn't help but smirk given how many times he must have had a project come out way different than he thought it would.

[@TheTalkWatcher]

The producers did not want to get sued. If you have read the book GENERATION X there are clear parallels.

[@1984watchr]

As as generation y / millenial - i can see the trouble generation x was. it's as if I am a disapproving elder of the previous generation. lmao

[@robertlawson4806]

At this point in Janeanes life,if she did her hair and makeup a certain way she looked a lot like the young and beautiful Elizabeth Taylor

[@baileywagar8278]

Lol 30 years later its an archive to what gen x was like in their 20s lol

[@Tahoeluv]

Reality Bites was a great movie for the Gen X generation, as well as a great love story. Janeane was an absolute rockstar in this movie.

[@ZeroCharisma00]

It for sure ended up being a Gen X film, regardless.

[@johnwohara]

I loved Janeane, but haven't seen her around for many years. What's she up to?

[@Slade347]

She's still acting quite a bit, mostly in guest roles on cable series, including Younger & Billions in recent years. She's also done aot of voice work.

[@apartmentgroup9671]

She still does standup in downtown New York.

[@TheTalkWatcher]

The producers of "Reality Bites" did not want to get sued. Anyone who has read the book GENERATION X knows that movie was practically lifted from that book.

[@beatrixkiddo7083]

I read that book, it has nothing to do with “Reality bites”

[@TheTalkWatcher]

@@beatrixkiddo7083 Right, It would interesting to see what a jury thinks.

[@jambac]

Boom in the shot

[@TurboMan942]

I forgot how likable Janean Garafalo was. RIP in case she has passed.

[@SeanAllocca]

I get the same feeling whenever I see a random clip like this show up, I think did they die? Let me google it.

[@MrGenexxx]

"RIP in case she has passed" LMAO dude what??

[@thegarofaholic3082]

Still alive and kicking. There was a profile of her in the NYT.

[@leojbramble]

RIP Wynonna Judd, more like it

[@jelliottnesss]

She is so beautiful...I loved her in half baked too

[@mattharrison5068]

Well I'm from that graduating class and will say it's exactly what I saw after graduation. Lots of manipulative 90s culture, fake alternative music, avoiding how messed up everything was because the boomers won't listen anyway and there are more of them, etc.

[@1984watchr]

So funny she had no idea how much of an icon she would become to a generation. "not generation x" lol

[@MutorbuW]

Enjoy🤠dancing!

[@chantelbautista3479]

she so cute and funny

[@acvieluf]

Ok Jan...

[@KD....]

Man, she's really pretty in real life. The reality bites hair wasn't working for her.

[@murrayscott3513]

Johnny Cash, Wow got to find that episode to watch.

[@otisroseboro5613]

Janeane Garofalo Is So Beautiful Gorgeous Woman ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

[@jefferson7468]

she is still younger. and so intelligent! where are wynonna?

[@christopherallen9580]

I've always wanted to have her

[@murrynathan]

That feisty gal reminds me of a young Angie Dickinson!

[@dennisfield8443]

In my head she is REM's crush with eyeliner, in that I could see myself feeling a need to prove to her that 'i'm creative too'

[@murrynathan]

@@dennisfield8443 Don’t forget to be creative in bed to!

[@rodrigost.3324]

in the 90 she was a goddess

[@TurikoSanShiro222]

but man, it IS a Gen X movie. it IS! the most of all.. like Before Sunrise.. like.. yep.. u cant run away from that fact. Janeane prob agree with me at this point.

[@TheEd0206]

Reality Bites cab be seen as a Gen X movie because after all the people in it are a small part of the gen X culture. However, a more accurate way to describe Reality Bites is that it's a proto hipster movie.

[@dorkusmalorkus444]

Ooh take that, Swanson's

[@shahiraabouellail4825]

I loveeee her. She was canceled for speaking out against Israel 😢

[@jaycepero8069]

The movie is rife with pop culture references of our youth, which is a genx calling card. It deals with a guy coming out to his parents, and themes of disillusionment with our place in the work place and society. The male lead is a “slacker,” again another staple of GenX culture, so I would respectfully disagree with her.

[@jacoh9591]

You literally just described each generation in their 20s with all the different issues faced

[@stevengriffith436]

I was 19 when that movie came and still never seen it. Never looked interesting in the trailers or clips...js

[@frankt285]

She's always been Beautiful my Jersey Girl...

[@adamslater7486]

I also have no idea who she is.

[@the406seadonkey6]

That's because you're so important and edgy. Either you weren't alive to or you're just too cool to ever have. Either way, STFU and stop paying attention then.

[@jukesjointOG]

So, everyone including the director was in their 20s, but it *wasn’t* a “Gen X movie.” OK.

[@stevengriffith436]

I was 19 when that movie came and still never seen it. Never looked interesting in the trailers or clips...js

[@map3384]

Of course it’s a Gen X movie. You thought it’s was millennial movie. In 94 millennials were in the same place as they are today. In their Baby carriages.

[@stevengriffith436]

I was 19 when that movie came and still never seen it. Never looked interesting in the trailers or clips...js

[@ByzantiumOPB85]

I.e. Prussian Italian Turkish Swedish Samoan (this is the PITSS)

[@pedroiarules]

Yikes. That was painful to watch. Could that be his way of exacting revenge on the people associated with the LS show? Which skewered him and everyone like him mercilessly.

[@Christie_Love]

Reality Bites isn't her best role. I prefer her in... Clay Pigeons, Romy & Michelle's High School Reunion, Larry Sanders Show, and her stand-up is pretty good. 🤷🏼‍♀️

[@RobinHerzig]

I miss her. Janeane is great. She never does MR anymore either 😕 She had a lot of rightwing attackers/stalkers

[@k8schmate]

who were these "rightwing attackers/stalkers"? unbelievable

[@exiles_dot_tv]

She's actually a Boomer if you go by the definition of Gen-X starting in 1965, but she missed it by just one year.

[@JanetStarChild]

I wouldn't draw hard lines between generations; especially when people are born roughly on the cusp. Personally, I think generations should have a little overlap.

[@catha.j.stuart2200]

Many people say Generation X started in 1964

[@The-Secret-Door]

I think she has an exchange with Jiminy Glick about that; you just reminded me of that classic interview.

[@dawnkindnesscountsmost5991]

​@@catha.j.stuart2200 Were the "many people" born in '64, and want to be cool GenXers instead of uncool Boomers? 😉

[@catha.j.stuart2200]

@@dawnkindnesscountsmost5991 Mainly I'm thinking of my ex, who thought of himself as Gen X not a Baby Boomer, but I've seen publications say both, 1964 and 1965, for the start of Gen X

[@ThunderPants13]

What if he pronounced it Jimmy Garoppolo?

[@1969EType]

The dichotomy in this film of the “show” created at the end of the film (which was terrible and poseurish) was literally a microcosm of the film itself, also terrible and poseurish. It’s sad when a film has greater aspirations than the sum of its cast’s abilities and script.

[@bulafritz]

I remember Gene Siskel reviewing that movie and being confused by the ending. She has the choice between Ben Stiller and Ethan Hawke, who plays a total loser. And she picks the loser! What the hell? I mean yeah he's cute but you're going to be homeless. I remember that movie being a let down. It needed a rewrite for sure.

[@barbaralavoie2642]

You don't remember the 80's. You're not Gen X then. Bummer.

[@Davidbld]

Why are people so cynical about Troy? He actually had a lot going for him--smart, talented, good-looking. Why couldn't he turn a corner and straighten himself out? He was actually quite a bit smarter than Lelaina by all indications. Who knows, maybe he got a big inheritance when his dad passed away?

[@lotusmaglite]

Remember in that cats and dogs movie, when they pretended she was ugly? LOL

[@trysometruth]

That's the main criticism of the movie, which is an entertaining movie featuring a nice performance by Uma Thurman... the premise that Garafolo was unattractive was kinda ludicrous.

[@cantrememberchit9736]

Janeane .. always awkward as hell. I watched 'If I May' and Romy & Michelle last night. She was the only funny thing in R&M. Would love to see her do some stand up again.

[@OceanBlooms]

Damn, she was cute.

[@Frankincensedjb123]

What happened to her?

[@trysometruth]

Time went by; she's almost 60. She still does stand up in NY.

[@ronnieturner4714]

Wynonna Judd was MEGA hot and her Dad has good taste 🔥

[@UberDurable]

What ever happened to her, she completely vanished.

[@ethelip5239]

She’s been constantly active. Just not on major shows or movies.

[@str33tcarnameddesire]

Wow, I don't remember Gen Xers being as defensive as millennials.

[@ostrich67]

NY Times brought me here. I forgot how great she was.

[@waytospergtherebro]

I've never been sure who it was for. Glad they got paid, though.

[@kendallevans4079]

She was cute back then.......

[@MedalionDS9]

Yeah, it's a Gen Z movie

[@illygah]

bombing but classy

[@theForgottenMelodiesRecords]

People seemed to be liking it. Maybe your gauge is broke.

[@ColtyT33]

I thought that was Hillary Clinton

[@andypike1234]

Reminds me of Ellen Page

[@303nitzubishi4]

Another notable 90s celeb that has all but disappeared. Funny gal I enjoyed her acting but didn't really see much of her stand up. Hard to believe she was almost 30 here, she stayed cute way beyond her prime

[@Studeb]

Why can't Gen X have a movie? Everything is about Boomers, Millennials and Zoomers now.

[@ArtificialBanana]

Try "Slacker"

[@the406seadonkey6]

Were you literally born 20 years or less ago? I'm thinking 20 minutes.

[@ArtificialBanana]

@@the406seadonkey6 No. I said Slacker, not Slackers. Leave off the last S.