Martin Scorsese Speaks Gen Z in His Second-Best Film of the Year

Martin Scorsese may criminally only have one Oscar (so far! Killers of the Flower Moon Best Picture campaign begins now), but maybe it’s for the best because his trophy shelf is probably already buckling under the weight of all those Father of the Year awards. The octogenarian is always an exemplary sport in his daughter Francesca’s TikToks, whether he’s yes-and-ing her invisible pet flea or having her back against anyone who wrongs her. But he ascended to another level on October 5 with his latest, greatest onscreen role yet, in “Dad Guesses Slang.” In this video, Francesca grills her dad on Gen Z slang by putting it in contexts he can understand. It’s a complete delight and a must-watch, and at five minutes, it’s basically The Irishman of TikToks.

Marty starts off strong, guessing that “I’m going to spill the tea” means “You’re gonna tell all you know” and that the “ick” means thorough repulsion. Things get trickier with the third term, “sneaky link,” which he thinks means a “personal peccadillo.” When Francesca tells him it basically means a regular hookup, he goes, “We never saw specific people in my day,” so there’s your official confirmation that Marty got around.

Things go a little bit better when Francesca puts these words in terms he can understand: “Watching a movie in 70 mm hits different” translates to him as, “It’s another perspective on the image so to speak!” and “The King of Comedy was slept on” gets him going on how it was, “The flop of the year — that’s what it was called on Entertainment Tonight. New Year’s Eve, ’83 to ’84.” When she tells him Lily Gladstone “Ate in Killers of the Flower Moon,” he knows that means “ruled.” Cap, throwing shade, slap, and slay are gimmies, but “a ship is a boat,” and he calls himself a simp because to him it means someone who’s “whining all the time.” If she had just said, “You simp for Leo,” he would have had it on the first try, for sure.