A Guide to Understanding All Those Kamala Harris Memes
Think you just fell out of a coconut tree? Buddy, do I have news for you?
If you’re like me, you learned that Joe Biden had ended his presidential campaign and endorsed Kamala Harris not from an official news alert, but from a meme posted in a group chat filled with 25-year-olds. The meme was likely laced with coconuts, Harris’ maniacal laugh, and a slime-green color filter. But why? Let me, the resident Gen Z Lifehacker whisperer, do my best to explain.
But first, a little about my meme cred: I have over 11 million likes on TikTok, I’m in several group chats where I tweet around the clock, and I have no memory of 9/11. So, if you’re not sure about the connection between coconuts, “summer” and presidential candidate Kamala Harris, you better believe I know what I’m talking about. Here’s what you need to know to understand what young people are talking about.
A Note on Generation Z as Tastemakers
Let’s start with a brief assessment of the state of meme culture. Firstly, post-irony is in fashion. Or maybe even meta-irony. All you need to know is that the point of many jokes these days is the inability to determine what the truth is.
For example, when Hillary Clinton’s ” Pokémon GO to the Polls ” was making waves, people were genuinely and truly making fun of Clinton. But when it comes to Harris and her coconut tree, there are so many layers of irony at play that the resulting confusion is part of the joke itself. Take, for example , this thread of Kamala fancams (that is, fan-made video montages idolizing and romanticizing Harris). The sincerity of the “Kamalafied” club remix is somewhat unclear. So, as we delve into the origins of all the Harris memes, it’s important to understand that the line between sincerity and irony will be blurred. And this is a joke.
What does it mean to ask, “Do you think you just fell out of a coconut tree?”
The number one meme inspired by Harris is related to the coconut tree. I can vouch for the popularity of these coconut memes over the past year; they began long before Biden withdrew and endorsed Harris. Their origin story stems from a speech Harris gave at a White House event back in May 2023. , she focused on the idea that “none of us live in isolation.”
In particular, Harris shared words of wisdom from her late mother, Shyamala Gopalan : “Do you think you just fell out of a coconut tree? You exist in the context of everything you live in and everything that came before you.” In this oratorical poeticism, the (coconut) seed of a meme was planted.
Why did Generation Z attack this video? I’ve got a gun pointed at my head, I’d say it’s not just the quote itself, but a three-act play about delivery: First, there’s the fact that Kamala brings the coconuts (which is basically funny). She then bursts into her signature light-hearted, slightly maniacal laugh (exacerbating the absurdity). But then Harris sobers up to create a truth bomb that hits the universal human experience. Here’s the point: humor lies in the sudden contrast of the silly and the serious. We were just talking about coconuts and now you’re reminding me that my ancestors felt all my emotions and more? This is all ripe meme territory.
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To put it simply: “Think you just fell out of a coconut tree?” is code for “It’s bigger than you, dude.” This speaks to Gen Z’s ubiquitous reckoning with existential angst. It’s been a meme for months now, and recent news has seen coconut mentions skyrocket.
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“Kamala is a brat”
“Brat” and “brat Summer” refer to pop star Charli XCX’s latest release, unofficially but rumored to be the album of the summer. Brat, with its slug-green cover and hyper-pop sound, is an entire aesthetic independent of Harris’ memes. Remember the ” hot girl summer ” of yesteryear? As if.
“Brother Summer” can be summed up as “wild party girl meets the aforementioned Gen Z malaise.” In the end, the party girls won’t get hurt. The party girls are having fun despite their existential dread. And this “party through the pain” mentality is the perfect launching pad for ironically, not ironically, hyping up a presidential candidate, especially if you think she’s your best, imperfect hope against fascism or whatever.
Charli XCX herself supported the memes, tweeting, “Kamala is a brat,” and the internet went typically wild over it. (It should be noted that Charli XCX is British and does not actually have voting rights in the US)
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Are the memes supporting or ridiculing Kamala Harris?
All you really need to know is the leftist politics of Gen Z meme makers, coconut tree sentiments, and boys’ summer aesthetics all come together seamlessly. Take this image, which combines quotes from Karl Marx, Harris and Charlie XCX:
While post-irony memes play a major role, the humor comes not from making fun of Kamala, but from taking her words seriously. But for non-Gen Z outsiders, it adds another layer of confusion: What is genuine and what is not? Why is Clinton roasted as a meme, while Kamala is being fancamed? I believe this has less to do with the substance of what these politicians are saying and more to do with the children’s attitude towards seriousness.
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Hillary, trying too hard, shrank . Kamala being unintentionally funny – “uncaring” as described in the tweet above – leads to organic meme idolization. But be careful: the moment she tries to control what makes her funny to Gen Z, the humor will disappear from it. This tweet from former Washington Post columnist Jules Terpak captures the logic at work: “These types of movements are only culturally appealing if they appear organic and user/voter-driven. As soon as an institution, company, etc. energy tries to capture the moment… it starts to feel corny.”
It’s like when you were a teenager and your dad tried to use your slang. His attempt to make a connection must have backfired; maybe he even made that cool word sound so uncool that you regretted ever using it. If Harris wants to continue to capitalize on all this meme propaganda to her advantage, the key is to remain “unbothered.”