Fact: Everyone is angry. You're probably angry right now about something - your latte wasn't hot enough; your favorite show was cancelled; someone on the internet is WRONG. Congratulations, you're a participant in the phenomenon that is the Rise of Outrage Culture! You didn't even need a membership card to join. And the cherry on the top? It's side-splittingly hilarious.
Let's dive in, shall we, into the mad, mad world of mock-worthy irritation, where we, with our jackets donned with satire pins, will explore why your current (and constant) state of peeved-ness is absolutely comedy gold.
The rise of outrage culture: A love story with a Grumpy Cat cover
The communal ship of today's emotions, it seems, is sailing in an ocean of outrage, and everyone's partying on deck. The rise of outrage culture is kind of like watching a slow, prolonged crash of an irritation-fuelled rocket into a mountain made of misplaced sensitivity. It's impressive, in a "can't look away from the trainwreck" sort of way. But why are we so mad all the time? Are our lives just outstandingly offensive? Did someone, in fact, mess up the ratio of milk to coffee in your much-needed morning concoction?
In days of yore (read: old times when Netflix wasn't a thing), folks found common ground in their shared affections: love of the land, family values or the cute neighborhood dog. In today's modern saga, everyone's bonding over a shared grudge against everything that moves and does not. The video of an adorable toddler tripping? Definitely projected violence. The waiter who mixed up the orders? An assault on human rights! Your uncle's casual comment about weather extremes? Triggered!
The satire of outrage culture: Putting the 'HA!' in Hashtags
If the rise of outrage culture was a blockbuster, the satire of it would be the critics' commentary - hilarious, snark-filled, and, on so many hilarious levels, true. For every person who gets foot-stomping mad when someone wears socks with sandals (a crime, admittedly), there's another person stifling laughter and trying to concoct the wittiest tweet to encapsulate this ridiculousness. Suddenly, our modern rage becomes less of a burning fire and more of a sparkler: Bright, attention-catching, and ultimately, amusingly pointless.
Beyond the realms of The Onion and Saturday Night Live, outrage culture provides comic fodder for everyday observers. We don't even need a degree in clownery to make snide remarks about the overinflated sensitivities plaguing the populace. It's a clown car of opportunities.
Are we too easily offended? What if YES actually means NO ... but in sarcastic?
Riddle me this: Are we too easily offended, or has everyone decided that the world is an oversized dartboard with bullseyes too inviting to resist? If getting mad were an Olympic sport, we'd be gold medalists by now, and watching people getting Olympic-level tee-off is, well, pretty hysterical. The gripe Olympics: Now that's a reality show I'd watch.
So, whether you're fuming that your sandwich wasn't cut diagonally, or because someone dared to spell it "sandwitch," remember, someone, somewhere is laughing. And that's the truly funny thing about our outrage culture. It’s a comedy show that's always on, vastly unpredictable, and often, more rib-tickling than a stand-up special.
Thank you for being mad enough to read further.
Our modern era's exquisite art of recreational rage, known as Outrage Culture, is both ludicrous and equally entertaining. It's as if we are voluntarily partaking in a universal game show where the most irritated individual is the winner and consoling someone about their fury is a mortal sin!
"Who can protest the loudest about the smallest things?" should be our next national sport, I surmise. Opinionated Keyboard Jockeys, who have never missed an opportunity to sweat their anger through their fingertips, are our next Olympians!
We invented a bullet train of thoughts, gave it a magnificent name - "social media," and now it's running out of tracks. (Calm down, dear one, it's just a metaphor)! Alas, grabbing onto the handles of these outrage roller coasters has become our new adrenaline sport.
The Crusade Against Common Sense
What's great about today's Outrage Culture is the complete and utter dismissal of common sense! How dare we introduce logic when someone is busy throwing electronic tomatoes at an innocent teenager who dared to misspell a word on the internet? "You spelled 'anarchy' wrong, shame on you! You are the embodiment of everything wrong with the new generation!" Now, if that's not a reason to declare World War III in the comments section, I don't know what is.
And don't get me started on the "How dare you not be agitated at the same things as me?" brigade. They'll roast you on the internet quicker than a marshmallow at a campfire. Score high on the outrage-o-meter or perish, unworthy one. Call it the survival of the angriest!
Undercover Superheroes of The Modern Age
We're all superheroes in our own right, aren't we? Forget stoically saving the day with tight spandex suits and confident stoicism. Welcome to the era of Capitan Cancel! With their superpower of cancelling everything that rubs them the wrong way, no misguided tweet or ancient teenage picture escapes their wrath.
Worst yet, they'll cancel you for not helping them in their cancel crusade. Think about that. Didn't tweet about the latest societal hiccup? You're cancelled! Laughed at the wrong online joke? Cancelled. Aren't as morally outraged as everyone else about a biscuit's shape? Cancelled, cancelled, cancelled!
The Absurdity of It All
What's funnier, ironically, is that we're all aware of this insanity, yet we participate in it anyway. We're all lumberjacks chopping down the trees of rationality, then complaining about the lack of shade. In another reality, this would be a quality humour skit.
But don't worry, my dear reader, go forth! Go forth and passionately type your outrage. Just remember, in this raging tempest of Outrage Culture, don't lose your sense of humor or sanity. Because at the end of the day, it's the ability to laugh at ourselves that makes life truly enjoyable!