Breanna Mitchell’s Auschwitz Selfie Making Friends

If I could, I’d never judge civilians for shit they do at eighteen. I even feel bad at times for wishing Justin Bieber the victim of an industrial grinder incident. I feel like maybe if I’d had $100 million in the bank at eighteen and my homeless parents on my payroll, I’d probably have been a world class a-hole as well. Probably with my shirt on, but all the same. But the Auschwitz selfie from American teen “Princess” Breanna Mitchell deserves a little spotlight. Not just because this high school grad felt the concentration camp where over a million Jews were gassed and baked was a solid backdrop for a grinning selfie, but because of what it says about our modern culture. We are a bunch of narcissistic fucks. We earnestly believe our lunch salads, our grossly uninformed medical opinions, and photos of our very average children doing very average things are worthy of the world’s attention.

I’ve never bought into this Greatest Generation bullshit. I think circumstance creates heroes. But I have to believe no eighteen year old GIs were smiling for photos when they liberated the concentration camps and saw the rumored horrors finally therein. I’ve been to Dachau. It chills you to the ugly core of humanity. You just kind of know there are those certain places where you don’t crack a smile. The middle of Communion, in front of your old man when he’s holding a belt, and when taking in genocide. That’s not a complete list, but it’s a good starting point. Not all social media narcissism is bad. But as a rule, if it doesn’t involve tits, you can probably just email it to your mom.