A Guide to Child Culture for Adults Out of Touch With Reality: What Is “goblin Mode”?
It’s a strange day to write about pop culture, but like the tiktokers below who take silly walks for their “stupid” mental health, I’ll plod along to tell you a new take on an old meme, what “goblin mode” is. ” means, and why everywhere begins to look like everywhere else. Maybe I’m just such a hero.
Reddit goes to war
Any helpful comment about the unfolding invasion of Ukraine is well beyond my paycheck, but I took a look at how Reddit users, mostly young, mostly male, are reacting to the first hours of what could escalate into a protracted war. On r/Ukraine , users share tips for surviving the war zone , technical advice on how to deal with an internet outage , and reactions on the ground . They circulate a reminder from the Ukrainian government not to publish videos or photos of the Ukrainian military (but publish the Russian ones to hell) and a fiery, defiant speech by the Ukrainian ambassador to the UN, in which he promises hellfire to war criminals. They share photos of downed Russian planes , anti-war protests inside Russia , and solidarity protests from around the world . And they make memes . The comment section is full of many American kids who don’t fully grasp the gravity of this – the difference between this and a video game war – but they’re starting to.
Taking care of your “stupid mental health”
TikTok user @ninalaevski recently posted a video of her going for a walk outside with the caption ” Going for a stupid walk for my stupid mental health ” and the hashtag #stupidwalkchallenge . Judging from her response, her pained expression and optimistic background music picked up something that echoed the dreary daily work of solving psychological problems. The video has over 8 million views and the tag is filled with tons of replies from tiktokers doing their stupid walks and doing other stupid things for their stupid mental health and other stupid reasons.
What is “goblin mode”?
I’m going to make a drastic transition from war and mental illness to something ridiculous, for the sake of my own stupid mental health. If you’ve been confused by references to “goblin mode” on social media this week, let’s explain. Goblin mode has two meanings. It either describes a person acting crazy/wild or refers to a cowgirl position in sex. According to KnowYourMeme , “goblin mode” first appeared online in a tweet in 2009 with the first meaning. The second definition is more recent: @housesitter_’s October 2021 tweet that reads: “Think of how someone I used to date called cowgirl pose ‘goblin mode’ went slightly viral. Goblin Mode broke this week when twitter user @meowmeowmeuw posted a fake headline that read: “Julia Fox talks about her ‘difficult’ relationship with Kanye West . He didn’t like it when I went into goblin mode.” This led to many people asking “is this real” (no) and many others (like me) asking “what the hell is ‘goblin mode’?”
The “never ask…” meme reappeared among celebrities
The “never ask…” meme template first appeared in 2016 with a general focus, but the new 2022 version has been adapted to apply to celebrities who have done bad things. The meme is a classic joke that consists of three parts: the headline “All three of you will lie” is followed by the phrase “never ask a woman her age.” then “man, his salary”; and part three, the climax, where you name a celebrity and something they would like you to forget, such as “Never ask Mark Wahlberg why he spent 45 days in jail in 1988.” (Google it.) Other targets include Matthew Broderick , Jerry Seinfeld , and many more. However, I can’t argue with Brett Thousand’s opinion : “The format of the ‘Never Ask…’ meme has gone bad so fast because it has rewarded our worst posters: ‘People who aren’t funny, but everyone knows’.”
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Woke up the Culture
Everyone who loves horror movies is talking about Netflix’s new take on The Texas Chainsaw Massacre . Reviews are mixed, but at least it’s interesting enough to talk about. The 1974 Wild Movie is one of the best films ever made. It mixes the horrors of isolation, brutality, and mechanized slaughter of livestock and people (Vietnam and all) with the unsettling suggestion that something cosmic and inexpressible is behind it all. New? Doesn’t do anything close. But it’s still a fun movie, and the comic book social commentary on contemporary America is interesting (until it falls apart in the second act). he takes his chainsaw to a party bus full of influencers. Ignorant young people don’t know or care about anything outside of their shiny bubble and when an ugly lunatic breaks through it all they can think is pulling out their phone to take a video and threatening to cancel it. Leatherface, you guessed it, doesn’t care about canceling. Like in general.
Viral video of the week: “Why everything in the US is starting to look the same”
This week’s viral video is not funny. It’s just an interesting take on an important question: Why is everything in the United States starting to look the same ? Why does a highway exit in Tennessee look the same as one in California? The answer to Wendover Production is complicated. Part of it is bureaucracy – everywhere these five-on-one apartment buildings are largely a product of zoning councils – and part of it is human nature. We want every McDonald’s to have the same layout and every cheap motel to have the same layout, and in a well-ordered country like ours, we can damn well have that. Like everything else, this corporate comfort has a downside. Actually a huge downside. Watch the video to find out more.