2024-01-02 17:46:59
Would all the worries in the world slide over the heads of Gen Z like water on a duck? Stylish nonchalance, controlled disillusionment, uninhibited pragmatism… What if they were right to make fun of the end of the world?
Photo caption: CALM, TOO CALM?_ For its SS23 campaign, Acne Studio features American model Devon Aoki, photographed by Carlijn Jacobs, lying and relaxed on her pink silk sheets. Keep it (really) cool?
“I am not going to continue sorting waste when I am promised the end of the world right before my early retirement”, says a friend semi-ironically the other evening during an aperitif, with the war in 4K on TV in the background. Macron and his sharp teeth, Russia, the attacks, Darmanin, the surge in the price of Velouté fruix… The reasoning seems flatly nihilistic: everything is gone, so what’s the point? But behind this moral skepticism, another side of Generation Z is perhaps revealed, more discreet and less noisy than that exhibited by their more militant and committed comrades: a detachment bordering on optimism.
« Gen Z is not homogeneousrecalls Jasmine Manet, 26 years old and director of Youth Forever (an association intended to help young people find their way and “be heard”). The Gretas, the extreme activists of Last Renovation, the bifurcators and the deserters, represent only a tiny part of this generation. But since we have shined the spotlight on them, we are focusing on this story “. In fact, these twenty-somethings, far from being bad guys sold to big capital, do not recognize themselves in the struggles of the moment. And some, for lack of anything better, adopt a form of willful ignorance to avoid getting caught up in the flood of daily worries.
CUSHION GENERATION
The day after an aperitif, hungover up to my toes and a jeroboam of water in my hand, I realize that I also sometimes adopt what we call the “ostrich strategy”: this tendency to put the world in mute to protect your mental health (to be practiced in moderation, editor’s note). Example ? We can be affected by social issues (water pollution by Total Énergies in Yemen, etc.) and ecological issues (the A69 motorway, glyphosate, etc.), while reserving the right to adopt a position stoic (the man entrenched in his ” inner citadel “). Basically, think about feeding your Turkish Angora in the morning before coming up with a plan to save humanity.
On France Inter, comedian Jérémy Nadeau is the subject of a column, “Ignorance as therapy”. He explains : “Since I stopped knowing what’s going on in the world, everything is better”. On Insta, it is indeed the comedians who talk about it best: to the surrounding anxiety, they respond with a mocking relativism. Comedian Louis Chappey (@louischappey) is part of this clique. According to him, “we have to stop with the narcissism of the times. When we say that we are living in the worst period of humanity, we are disrespecting history. » Relatively speaking, it is also a call to calm his ardor as Captain Citizen of the World.
So, more cushy generation? According to Jasmine Manet, “we must also keep in mind that it suits political authorities and previous generations to put the enormous pressure of saving the world on the backs of the younger generation, it allows them to absolve themselves of responsibility”. That being said, our twenty-something also takes the opportunity to recall another aspect of Gen Z, that is to say the profound change in their mentality: “They have long adopted less rock, more cautious reflexes and tend to abandon risky behavior – drugs, alcohol, etc. ». But if for some a philosophical-cool posture makes it possible to respond to this political and social pressure, for others, it is not enough.
DELULU IS THE SOLULU
On Tiktok, part of Gen Z outright considers that reality gets in our way and that it is necessary to alter it in order to survive. An ideal channel of expression, the social network inherently allows us to keep the best of globalization (share the same subjects as with Jian, a Korean citizen), while rediscovering a tribal way of life, “a little community node, thanks to which you manage to channel your emotions”, continues Jasmine Manet. And the catharsis works. As evidenced by Sabrina Bahsoon, aka Tube girl, the TikToker who turns her embarrassment into strength by dancing in the subway in an awkward but very confident way. In the description of his videos, we find an explanation for his contagious overconfidence: “being delulu is the solulu”, (being delusional is the solution). A viral concept that has become a mantra for just about everything. The ultra-creative communities on TikTok then embody what the philosopher Jean Baudrillard called hyperreality, that is to say bringing a fictitious improvement to one’s reality. As in Pimp My Ride, except that it is his whole life that we decide to retype, in an ostentatious and assumed manner. You will have understood, you can put forward a disengaged, even aquoibonist, attitude towards the progress of the world – but choose your Insta filter carefully.
Par Jean-Baptiste Chiara
1704227878
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