’90s Kid Unleashed: It’s the end of the world and we know it: fatalism and humor


(Julianna Pantoja | Daily Trojan)

Millennial humor both confuses and delights. The contextless, post-modern inclinations of so-called “shitposting,” the satirical ennui of post-irony and the borderline absurdist and slightly vicious fatalism of modern humor reflect the often bleak sociopolitical atmosphere in which millennials grew up. 

Anyone with an internet connection has probably seen the ease and flippancy with which younger generations threaten suicide as a throw-away punchline. Viral outrage in 2018 drew a clear line between younger generations sarcastically thinking about consuming Tide Pods and horrified and oblivious older generations who thought their grandchildren had resorted to eating these supersized, detergent filled Fruit Gushers for attention.

Call it sarcasm, satire, absurdism, irony, gallows humor, black comedy or dark humor: Fatalistic millennial humor is all of this, everything in between and a little extra thrown in like cilantro to delight or disgust you, depending on your taste. 

For a generation who grew up with 9/11, constant war in the Middle East, increasing gun violence, growing class divides, multiple economic crises and accelerating climate change — all inconveniently blasted to our handheld mobile devices 24/7 — it’s no surprise that humor now tastes like death.

In an interview with NBC News, Shane Tilton, an assistant professor of multimedia journalism at Ohio Northern University, describes how this fatalistic humor acts as a coping mechanism. He suggests that “Gen Z and millennials don’t have the ability to control the economy, but by goodness they can put text on a gif and say something about the situation.”

According to Tilton, the memes that leave older generations so perplexed provide millennials with a simple and effective means to express stress and regain control. These communal memes are one step up from just screaming into the void. Online, the void actually screams back through likes and retweets.

Before any older readers try to crucify millennials and their vaguely sadistic sense of humor, consider that it’s nothing new. Recall that millennial “shitposting,” dubbed neo-dadaism, takes its cues from the early 20th-century avant-garde movement that rejected meaning and embraced irrationality. Moreover, Tilton suggests an analogy with the Great Depression when popular entertainers like Will Rogers used satire to cope with harsh economic realities.

But not everyone agrees that dark humor is appropriate. Online discourse reaches a boiling point at the intersection of dark humor and mental health. How could it not? The very core of this brand of humor is a rejection of mortality, a deadpan (pun intended) embrace of sweet, sweet death. 

For many people, fatalistic humor offers a coping mechanism to express complex and difficult topics, but for many others, these jokes seem to trivialize serious and sensitive topics — topics that can literally be life or death. So is laughter the best medicine? 

In a word, yes. Well, maybe not the best, but definitely up there with NyQuil and penicillin.

According to Psychology Today, finding humor in stressful situations reduces the physiological stress response, lessens emotional distress and decreases negative emotions. Black humor, in particular, offers a mechanism to examine and reconsider negative experiences from a less threatening point of view, an emotion regulation strategy known as cognitive reappraisal. 

This isn’t to say that the feelings of those who take offense to dark humor aren’t valid. A joke can simultaneously offer a positive coping mechanism and means of communication for one person while also making another person feel trivialized or triggered. It’s never a zero-sum game. They say good comedians punch up, not down. I’ll say good fatalistic comedians can punch down but only on themselves.

But sometimes jokes do fall flat. Consider that fatalistic humor operates like self-deprecation on a large scale. At times, it becomes a crutch, an entertaining and paradoxically lighthearted way to avoid heavy issues and difficult conversations. Just as ghoulish humor can provide an opportunity to discuss sensitive topics and feelings, these same jokes can act as a defense mechanism to avoid confronting negative emotions and situations.

Ultimately, the consensus is out on fatalistic humor. To some, it’s the height of comedy. To others, it’s confusing at best and offensive at worst. People can use this humor equally as a valid coping mechanism or emotion regulation strategy and as a distraction to avoid their problems. 

At the end of the day — or in this case, the end of the world — here’s a toast to the weird, wacky and incredibly online humor of millennials and Gen-Z. So, raise your glass of Tide Pods and scare your aunt on Facebook with your deliciously dark humor.

Ellen Murray is a senior writing about being a millennial. Her column, “’90s Kid Unleashed,” typically runs every other Monday.