A Disengaged Adult’s Guide to Kids Culture: John Cena’s Naked Oscar Walk
Sometimes nothing much happens. Youth culture seems to be hibernating this week, but it’s a good opportunity to look at the smaller microtrends you might otherwise gloss over. Perhaps those tiny things that no one thinks about reveal more than the innovative things that everyone notices. Probably not, but who knows.
Viral Video of the Week: John Cena at the Oscars
I’m sure you’ve seen the video of John Cena presenting the Oscar for Best Costume at the Oscars on March 10th. After being livestreamed and posted online, the wrestler-turned-actor’s nude appearance was seen by millions of people. . It represents a rare moment of cultural significance among young people in a film industry in which “nobody cares anymore.” People were so moved by something at the Oscars that they made reaction videos , made jokes , and wrote memes . The episode is sure to go down in history as one of the most memorable moments of the Oscars, and it affected even the most fringe of conspiracy theorists, the remnants of Q-Anon. Q-Anon doesn’t see anything funny about Cena’s appearance. “This is not just a ritual of humiliation – Hollywood pedophiles, rapists and perverts are probably profiting from this. I’m sure Jimmy Kimmel does too!” As Liz Crokin tweeted , “Kimmel aired another skit on his show that featured an FBI-identified pedophile symbol and pizza. “Pizza is code for a pedophile that has been confirmed by the FBI, DOJ documents and local law enforcement,” they continued. “Absolutely disgusting… No one wants to see John Cena naked on TV.” Twitter user American Mama weighed in with her finger on the pulse of popular culture. It’s interesting that Q-Anon seems to view Cena as the victim in all of this, as if Jimmy Kimmel forced him to take off his clothes against his will.
Stanley Announces New Products at South By Southwest
Every spring, the South By Southwest festival is held in Austin, Texas, to “celebrate the convergence of technology, film, music, education and culture.” One of the highlights of the festival this year was the new cup holder.
At a standing-room-only event on Saturday, Stanley 1913, the company behind the timeless fireproof coffee cup , announced a new hands-free cup holder and mini soft-top cooler, to the collective delight of its many, mostly young fans.
Stanley’s story is fascinating if you’re the kind of person interested in the minutiae of late capitalism. They have been around since 1913, when William Stanley Jr. invented the technology of vacuum sealing vessels to maintain the temperature of liquids. Stanley was known primarily for making thermos flasks to keep coffee hot while camping or at work, so it was very much a dude company, making something you could take with you on a fishing trip. But the company recently decided to focus on women, especially young women on TikTok, and increased annual revenue from about $70 million a year in 2019 to about $750 million a year in 2024. The company’s flagship product is the 40-ounce Stanley Quencher. , has become a must-have cup for Gen Z and Millennials, both because of the variety of colors and because it’s a truly great cup.
Explaining Satan’s Trend
Sometimes I like to dig deep into the minutiae of youth culture, and this week I uncovered a Satan microtrend that I bet you’ve never thought about. Satan hails from the Balkans, where TikToker @stafon71 posted a video of himself shuffling his heel across the floor under a table to the tune of “Satana Eto Ona.” The video has been viewed nearly 36 million times. Variations on the theme quickly appeared, including this impressive Semi-Circle , this video of a man in black shoes making a scuff that is rubbed off by someone in white shoes, and this video of the imagined reaction of a man having to mop floors in school. What does all of this mean? Probably nothing, but it’s impressive how a schoolboy scuffing his shoe on the floor can attract international attention.
Stock image at the center of online cultural debate
The humble photo you see above comes from iStock and is at the center of a small discussion about the loneliness crisis among young people. The image, titled “Real Young Man” and published on iStock in 2011, became famous when it was tweeted by user @orbitves with the caption: “The crisis of male loneliness is actually a good thing because why would I even want to date with a guy who looks like this?
The reaction was mixed. Many people left comments like “ha, that’s funny and a little true.” Some pointed out the hypocrisy behind the post, such as @TheStrxggler , who tweeted: “The body positivity crowd is body shaming again.” Or expressed sympathy for the model, like @WheelchairUser8 , who tweeted: “Imagine being this poor man just trying to make a couple bucks shooting a stock image and out of nowhere every radfem bastard on Twitter hitting you everywhere face, saying that no one should ever do this. meet you.”
Visitors to “looksmaxx” were more constructive about this issue and pointed out a number of ways in which the stock photo model could improve his appearance, for example, if he lost 30 pounds and got a better haircut, he could end up look like this:
What does “green fn” mean?
The last stop on my journey through youth culture minutiae this week is the phrase “green fn.” People have been spamming TikTok comments lately, and here’s what it means: “Green fn” is an interjection you might shout when you’ve done something impressive or cool, but it’s also something someone else might say when you’ve done something impressive or cool. something clumsy or inept.
Its origins are so obscure that you can bet that most people using it don’t know where it came from, but here’s the story: the “green” part is a reference to the NBA 2K video game series, where the quality of a basketball shot is measured using color, and green is as good as it gets.
The “fn” part is short for “fuck n*gga.” It comes from this video , where “Green fn” is used to comment on a missed cart. From this point on, it began to be used in ironic and sincere memes , as well as in many TikTok comment sections. Like any youth slang, it is important not to use it. Stick to the “boo-DA!” instead, the “green FN” of your youth.