Pookie is Looking Absolutely Fire Tonight

Discussing why we should bring back public shame, and the consequences of the "tube girl" trend

What I want to get into during this “essay” is feels to be more of a Gen-Z matter than any other generation, due to the fact that this isn’t a trait we were passed down from our elders. We conjured it up ourselves!

For those of us on the older end of Gen-Z, the 21-26/7(?) year olds, we remember a time where our parents didn’t have phones, and when they did they had super cool blackberry phones with like one random preloaded game on it. I remember getting our first family desktop and the massive computer that sat below the desk, humming aggressively as I played a Mickey Mouse kitchen game. Now most elementary schools have computer labs filled with laptops nicer than mine, and the two year old I babysit knows how to screenplay Blippi music videos onto the smart TV with no assistance whatsoever. These examples don’t concern me, and frankly the screen time conversation is one I will never have. I will be talking about the current brain rot generation, and how curating an image online has caused for today’s youth to be freed of ever experiencing embarrassment like the good old cyber-bullying culture of myspace and Tumblr.

I’m sure you’ve heard of Campbell and her darling, Matt Damon adjacent, husband who have recently taken over the tik-tok algorithm. Her husband, Jett, was flamed in her comment section when their couple ootd videos first began gracing our feeds. Most people would comment on his awkward stance, or appearance, saying that she is SO confident, while he doesn’t match her energy. As their videos gained more traction though, many have flipped and been quick to call out how much he adores her, and that there’s no need for him to be non-awkward on camera as he clearly is participating because he simply loves his wife. Upon observing the switch, I was hit with the reality that we have normalized the idea that people, even those who aren’t influencers, need to be comfortable and confident on camera in order to be “normal”. What adult, who isn’t famous/in the creative space, even just twenty years ago, would confidently announce their outfit, daily routine, grocery shopping trip, or simply how good they look today, (real life thirst trapping?) to the masses and not be met with ridicule? Dude who cares? Get a diary or tell a friend? Why announce it? We currently are observing a generation who created the concept of influencers, then ridicule these influencers for their corny shopping vlogs (just picture how many times he had to set up his tripod, film, take it down, and do it again, was this a seven hour trip??) then continue to watch their content, therefore paying them and encouraging more people to leave the 9-5 and seek freelance work. It’s rare that the one popular girl you are still mutuals with from high school doesn’t have a 15% off code to princess polly linked in her bio. It would be surprising that the one guy from your freshman history class you saw twice isn’t promoting his music career, or your friend who randomly blew up on Tik-Tok doesn’t have an amazon storefront (@ing myself here). In a sense, we are all trying to express ourselves and our interests in the internet space. I am literally doing that right now, writing this blog that fifteen people will read, and I can see that they’re reading it, then wonder why only two people (my mom, and a bot) like the post.

Its wonderful to have a creative outlet and a community to relate to, however this means we no longer need face to face validation, so what if none of my co workers like me, I have so many famous mutuals on tik-tok! What content am I digesting on tik-tok you ask? Well I’ve recently been learning a lot about third places, and how today’s society only has third places that you need to pay to go, like coffee shops. Or that Gypsy RB is so famous because that’s what she expects due to her childhood, and she is probably manipulative and twisted like her mom, and for some reason people keep giving her a platform, I reposted it. I also watched this great video about a girl talking about how weird it is that we bring our problems to the internet instead of journaling, or praying about them, or talking to people in real life about them.

Do we see the problem with all of this? ^^^

There is a population of chronic online-ness that is so chronically online people are critiquing and airing out other creators for being chronically online, AND POSTING THEIR COMPLAINTS O N L I N E. (Literally me rn) I’ve also noticed the general sense of confidence we seem to have in real life now that wasn’t there before, and while needed for some, it feels very fake, as I believe the source of this validation is unstable and harmful. Think about it like this; you’re wearing a really cute outfit to lunch with your family, its trendy, and very if you know you know. Your mom makes a comment on how your jeans are baggy and unflattering, and why do you have fifteen bows in your hair? She doesn’t get it though, this outfit got 780k views on Tik-Tok and is being stolen by fake brands to advertise their bows that don’t exist. You laugh and so does she, and you go to lunch. At lunch, a family of three walk in, mom dad and a greasy nine year old, with a cat tail clipped to the back of their shirt and a dinosaur mask over their face that impressively moves when they speak. You and your mom look at this spectacle in awe and slight horror, then go on with your lunch. Your mom makes a comment about how kids like that shouldn’t have access to the internet, they’re so impressionable, and it gives them the idea that they could be an animal and there’s a whole weird community of people who agree with them, and even support them. You agree with her and bite into your Gigi Hadid inspired pasta. My point isn’t that participating in an online trend is the same as being a furry, but they do share more similarities than they don’t. It’s not harmful to feel cute in an outfit that your mom may not understand because she isn’t following #eclecticgrandpa. It becomes a problem when we become so detached from the real world that we justify our actions and behavior because an online population would agree and validate you.

There is a difference between the confidence to record a thirst trap on a crowded subway ,and making small talk during your daily commute and learning about the people around you when in a crowded space. There’s a difference between living in the moment and recording you and some friends “living in the moment”. There is such thing as entitlement, and it is not empowering or confidence. Public shame doesn’t exist anymore, I guarantee you that if someone were to post a video of an old man running around giving women hugs on the street, rather than being called a creep it would be labeled cute and wholesome by some of the commenters. “You never know what someone else is going through, I love how he is spreading his joy!” A generation so easily offended in some matters has become so vocal and gross in others. The fifteen year old who told you that you have to say unhoused rather than homeless (because assuming they don’t call a place home is offensive) also just wore a shirt with the word c*nt front and center in a bold font to the mall for five year olds to ask their parents to define…ooookkayyy. How can we beg for a walkable society abundant with these so called “third-places” when we don’t function in a way that cultivates this kind of community? What if rather than making Tik-Toks about our outfit of the day on our way to work we ask the the old woman next to us on the bus about her leather coach bag.

In order to start building spaces centered around community we need to actively participate in them to begin with. I think we’d be surprised at how many real life connections we are missing out on every day. Bookclubs, support groups, scrapbooking groups, bible studies, animal lovers, running clubs, foodies, gardening centers, churches, sourdough makers, car meets, drip coffee enthusiasts ready to chat you up at every coffee shop all do exist. Be intentional in the spaces you find yourself in already, and expand yourself by using your internet accessibility to research the resources around you IN REAL LIFE (A lot of them are entirely free!).

I read this article about “rage-bait” which inspired this installment. I’m not necessarily trying to poke any bears, but I think that this conversation needs to continue to be had. Even if it is posted online to the populations who accept it and participate in giving us all a false confidence.

Weekly REPORT

Reading- Sharp Objects, Do you Believe, 1 Timothy

Eating- Cottage cheese and Blueberries

Playing-Tech bro (I need to use excel for my stats class)

Obsessing- Connections on NYT, I’m so late to the game.

Recommending-Putting Celtic salt in your water (helps your body hold water, for my small bladder girlies)

Treating-I bought a really cute laptop case/carrierthat holds my laptop AND my iPad, it’s still sleek, obsessed.