“Do you think God stays in heaven because he, too, lives in fear of what he’s created?”
Spy Kids 2: Island of Lost Dreams
The unknown writer of “Spy Kids 2: Island of Lost Dreams” who produced this philosophical marvel has a mind akin to that of Homer or Plato; they so concisely sum the religious guilt resulting from humanity’s moral downfall, and the existential worry that plagues those who stop to consider it for too long. It was, however, spoken by Steve Buscemi playing a mad scientist who is being hunted by tiny creatures he accidentally spilled Mountain Dew-looking growth serum on.
This likely underpaid writer of “Spy Kids 2: Island of Lost Dreams” has also sent me into a spiral. Who was the intended audience for this quote? Is the average Spy Kids 2 fan even able to comprehend the depth of this feeling? Is Hollywood trying to brainwash kids into getting an early start on learning existentialist philosophy? No— I think this is a (relatively) new trend within media, especially that made by teens.
A Short Analysis
If you’re an avid TikTok or Instagram user, you’ve surely had the pleasure of stumbling upon nihilistic slideshows with some eerie human-adjacent figures often captioned with some form of despair towards the future, or videos that start as an average skit and quickly evolve into a tear-jerking representation of our existence on Earth. Here are a couple examples of what I mean:
I’m a bit disturbed. Behind the irony of one of the background characters from Spongebob, a cheery kids’ show, coming to terms with the lack of a God’s omnipotence and the existent horrors beyond human (or anthropomorphic sea creatures, in this case) lies something deeper. There’s something relatable, in a sense, to the fish’s tired nonchalance towards the festering corpse of a long forgotten God. We’re constantly barraged by tragedy, becoming quickly desensitized to horrific news stories about mass shootings or devastating natural disasters— this post is an exaggerated, satirical extension of this numbness. I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if we did find some Eldritch monstrosity at the bottom of the ocean at this point, either.
This post bastardizes early-2000s era Trollface-esque memes and distorts them into anguished representations of the mental toils of the modern age. Its panels quickly devolve into blackened, dramatic depictions of a rapid plunge into madness. What I’m interpreting from this Loss-resembling shitpost is a loss of purpose. There’s no point in doing anything anymore; there’s nothing you, as an average person, can do to stop us from reaching humanity’s point of no return. Sure, the little things like recycling or being kind to others can help a bit, but we have no more real power in society. The only other option is to succumb to madness like our 2-D protagonist has.
End
I don’t exactly know how, when, or what caused this shift in the humor found in social media, but I’m not complaining. I find a strange comfort in how I’m not alone in this unforgiving, cold world. It’s strange to see such angst codified into silly little internet posts made by people that can’t be over the age of 25. We’re all trying to make it through this together; dare I say that these absurd quanta of emotion symbolize the human experience?
Tiny Hydra 
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