The Shocking and Absurdist Humor of Gen Z
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I’m a Millennial. I think. I was born in 1995 so it’s not really clear what generation I belong to but it seems like remembering the September 11th attacks is the main decider between young Millennial or older Gen Zer. Anyways, I’m honestly grateful that I can call myself a Millennial because Gen Z is wild. I could write thousands of pages about the unique aspects of Gen Z, but I want to focus on something that I think most people are missing. The kids of Gen Z are the best absurdists since Camus.
Whether or not you realize it, meme culture has taken over the internet in such a dramatic and powerful way that memes have quite literally become the main communication devices for millions of teenagers and young adults. Girls on Tinder will ask to be sent memes instead of pick up lines, Reddit is probably 98% memes at this point, and Twitter is either people arguing or sharing memes. Meme culture is truly everywhere. Within this culture is the subculture of Gen Z humor: shocking, absurd, nihilistic, and at times downright depressing. Most people probably aren’t familiar with the standard Gen Z humor because Gen Zers stick with other Gen Zers, but the quality and mood of this humor is incredibly unique. The most common form of Gen Z humor is pessimism in the face of a crumbling world. Older generations might try to call out the kids for always being on their phones and never paying attention to the world around them, but I would argue that no one pays attention more than Gen Z. Memes about the state of the world will range from WWIII draft memes to the impending climate change apocalypse. These kids understand the world we live in and the very real dangers that the world faces and have chosen to combat this sense of impending doom with absurd and shocking humor.
www.reddit.com/r/GenZ provides a quick overview of the standard Gen Z humor. Suicide and self harm memes are incredibly common and the entire vibe of the subreddit is the definition of absurdism which, if you need a quick reminder, is this: “The Absurd refers to the conflict between the human tendency to seek inherent value and meaning in life and the human inability to find any in a purposeless, meaningless or chaotic and irrational universe.” Depressing jokes are not unique to Gen Z, far from it; however, the way in which Gen Z uses these depressing memes to address the very real issues of the world is something that is being overlooked. Gen Z is not apathetic. The reason why Gen Z’s language has devolved into a random series of words like “oof” or “yikes” or “yeet” is because they are reacting to the horrible around them in a way that helps them cope.
Gen Zers are smart and they know that their generation might very well be the last generation to live in the world as they know it. This knowledge is not something understood lightly, but with the full force of what it means. They are dealing with the world they have been born into as if it is inherently meaningless and chaotic and have responded with pure absurdism.
While this might be concerning to some people to learn that the youngest generation is full of depressing, dark, pessimistic, and absurd humor, I actually think it should be celebrated and explored. If we are to build a better world for future generations then Gen Z is the most important generation of all time. The absurdism expressed by Gen Zers does not mean they do not care or that they are completely lost, it simply means that they know there is an immense amount of work to be done. The reason why I would label Gen Z as a group of absurd humorists is because, despite all that I have said, Gen Z might actually be the most optimistic generation on Earth. This humor is a coping mechanism for Gen Zers who feel lost or scared about the world, but it also shows that they still have faith. Making jokes about potentially getting drafted into WWIII or wanting to die because the Earth is dying anyways is Gen Z’s way of highlighting the issues that they know exist.
There has been plenty written about the absurdist and surreal humor of Millennials as well and I completely agree that absurdist and surreal humor’s popularity on the internet is a direct result of Millennials, but the difference in Millennial and Gen Z humor is dependent on hope. Millennials humor shows that we have given up. Not all of us, but a lot of us. Our humor leans more to the surreal as a way of avoiding the bad parts of the world while Gen Z firmly leans into the terrible as a basis for their humor. They acknowledge the bad in a humorous way to deal with it without having given up completely. Gen Z is full of creative, optimistic, influential people that have the capacity for real change and progress in the world.
