The millennial response to a millennial controversy
Gaten Matarazzo, our beloved Dustin from Stranger Things, has just launched the perfect response to one of those celebrity statements that generate more noise than necessary. And he did it with the acid humor that only someone who grew up among memes and series can have.
It all started when Timothée Chalamet said, in an interview with Matthew McConaughey for Variety, that ballet and opera were art forms in decline. He said something like:
“I don’t want to work in ballet or opera where it’s like, ‘Let’s keep this alive, even though no one cares anymore.'”
Of course, he apologized later. But by then, the internet had already done its thing.
An ironic cameo in an absurd advertisement
Matarazzo couldn’t miss the opportunity. In a promotional clip for his new comedy Pizza Movie—yes, it’s called that—that he shared on Instagram, he and co-star Sean Giambrone do a direct parody of the video Chalamet used to promote Marty Supreme.
Towards the end of the ad, next to the film’s logo, Gaten says with a poker face:
“By the way, we want to make it clear that we love ballet and we love opera.”
To which Giambrone instantly responds: “Not me.” And Matarazzo finishes, with that irony that hurts:
“Why would you say that?”
It’s a wink so direct it almost hurts. And it works because it captures exactly the tone of the original controversy: half serious, half joking, completely aware of how ridiculous it is to discuss this in the middle of 2026.
The film, by the way, follows two college students who try to pick up a pizza while under the influence of a homemade substance. It premieres on April 3 only on Hulu — “we wanted it to be in theaters, but they said ‘no,'” they clarify in the video.
The most interesting thing here is not the film itself, but how pop culture regulates itself. One actor makes a questionable comment, another actor turns it into a viral joke. It is the ecosystem at work: statements become memes, memes become promotional content.
Matarazzo, at 23 years old and with a lifetime of growing up in front of cameras, understands this game better than anyone. He knows that today everything is material. Even the most absurd controversies about classical art.
