Spoiler: Climate change and confused little brothers were involved.

So picture this: It’s January 2025. Los Angeles is basically on fire (again), the sky looks like a dystopian Instagram filter, and Jennifer Garner is stress-scrolling Zillow while her daughter Violet Affleck—yes, that Violet, offspring of Jen & Ben, and now a brainiac Yale freshman—is giving her a TED Talk on the climate apocalypse.

And where is all this going down? A hotel room. Because nothing says “family bonding” like evacuating your mansion to live in a Marriott with lukewarm coffee and a guy named Carl hogging the breakfast waffle maker.

In her latest essay for the Yale Global Health Review (yes, the girl writes essays while the rest of us are debating if Pop-Tarts count as a meal), Violet gave us a front-row seat to the drama.

> “I spent the January fires in Los Angeles arguing with my mother in a hotel room,” she writes, casually dropping the mic. Apparently, Mama Garner was in full-on suburban panic mode, shocked at the level of destruction happening in the neighborhood where she once packed juice boxes and auditioned for Alias. Violet, however, was unbothered. She basically shrugged and said, “Yeah, Mom, welcome to Gen Z: we came out the womb clutching climate anxiety and reusable water bottles.”

While adults were panicking over rebuilding costs and insurance claims, Violet was wandering around the hotel lobby like, “Y’all never heard of global warming?” Even the Yorkie moms were spiraling. “This feels like COVID!” screamed one lady, dragging two traumatized dogs in matching raincoats. Ma’am, it’s giving déjà vu—but with embers instead of Omicron.

Violet’s essay didn’t just roast her family. She came for all of us. Hard. She pointed out that climate change isn’t just “oops, it’s hot again,” but a full-blown, humanity-level oopsie caused by rich people buying too many jet skis and forgetting the planet isn’t disposable. (Insert side-eye at billionaires here.)

“The climate crisis requires no changes to our consumption patterns until our major cities burn,” she wrote, probably sipping herbal tea and wearing sustainable socks. “At which point the solution is… to consume more.” (We see you, people buying five air purifiers on Amazon.)

And in case anyone was missing pandemic trauma, Violet brought COVID into the chat too—because why not? She previously spoke at a Board of Supervisors meeting like a total boss and shared that she’s dealt with a post-viral condition since 2019. Basically, she’s fighting everything—fires, viruses, and the generational refusal to read past headlines.

So yeah, while the rest of us were doomscrolling and watching reruns of Love Island, Violet was out here doing the most: calling out society, educating her mom, and giving the planet one last shot before she becomes President or launches her own kombucha brand.

Moral of the story?
Listen to Gen Z. And maybe don’t argue with your climate-woke daughter in a hotel during the apocalypse.