Opinion Unhinged in 2023: In a year of global chaos, dark humour is a sign we are still human

If you ever go deep into the TikTok/Instagram Reel subculture of being “unhinged”, you’ll find indifference and dark humour as recurring themes. People are using these as coping mechanisms for the visceral violence that’s becoming a part of our modern existence

From the Russia-Ukraine war (top left) and the battle raging between Israel and Hamas (top right) to the thousands killed in the earthquake in Turkey and Syria (bottom right) and former US President Donald Trump being arrested and then released, the world saw a plethora of events in 2023. (File Photos)

Varya Srivastava

December 30, 2023 01:06 PM IST First published on: Dec 30, 2023 at 01:06 PM IST

On my WhatsApp chat with myself, the phrase “for me 2023 was” was auto-completed with “unhinged and I was just trying to be funny”. While my attempts at humour are questionable, I do see the world being quite “unhinged”. At this point, it’s important to mention that my brain is in a state of “decomposition” (a phrase my friend lovingly came up with to capture my inability to form coherent sentences). It is overwhelmed with the trivial and consequential — application submissions, writing deadlines, frightening news of violence that is sprinkled through my digital timelines, and an unending list of things I would like to fix. This “decomposed” brain state is also probably why I like to believe that it’s not just me who is going through this era of being unhinged.

Let me attempt a Spotify Warped equivalent of global politics in 2023.

In January 2023, we find Jacinda Ardern resigning from office as New Zealand’s Prime Minister. February marked one year of the Russia-Ukraine war and earthquakes in Turkey and Syria that killed more than 50,000 people. In March, Xi Jinping got reelected for the third time in China and in France, the streets of Paris are flooded with garbage as union strikes turn violent. A month later, in April, India became the world’s most populous country. In May, as the World Health Organisation officially declared Covid over, King Charles III was formally crowned as the 40th British monarch in a two-hour ceremony at Westminster Abbey. In June, French citizens are on the streets again, this time protesting the shooting of young Nahel Merzouk. We experienced the hottest month in human history in July, and in August Donald Trump was arrested and spent 20 minutes in jail. September, on the one hand, sees a shining India in G20 and on the other hand, India-Canada relations deteriorate over a pro-Khalistan separatist leader’s killing. October marks the beginning of violence in Gaza that seems to get worse with every passing week. In November, the tech world went into another state of flux with the CEO of OpenAI first being removed and then bought back. In December, the conflict in Gaza and Ukraine-Russia escalated.

Also Read | What happened in 2023? Key world events from the past year

This is barely the tip of the iceberg. If I start looking at domestic, local and sectoral news I probably would not know where to start or end. If I then start mapping these external developments with my internal turmoil and changes in my personal life, I land at the point I started this essay with — unhinged.

If you ever go deep into the TikTok/Instagram Reel subculture of being “unhinged”, you’ll find indifference and dark humour as recurring themes. You’ll find young people rationalising obviously bad choices and problematic situations as necessary conditions for their “character arcs”. They’re using dark humour as a coping mechanism for the visceral violence that’s becoming a part of our modern existence.

When I’m not lurking in random nooks of the internet, I study Political Philosophy. In particular, I have been enjoying understanding what makes utopias and distinguishes them from dystopias. The short answer is not much. The line between dystopias and utopias is fine, with human agency and determination setting them apart.

That’s what makes me glad that I and many others like me are “unhinged”. That we don’t ignore our questionably overwhelming realities and demonstrate our agency by being unhinged. By acting crazy and (often) dark, we are in solidarity with each other as we all go through our versions of chaos. We continue resisting the lures of untenable utopias and the perils of impending dystopias through reels, memes, and bad jokes. Maybe in 2024, we’ll be able to translate this chaos into action. Maybe I’ll get to my never-ending list of things I would like to fix.

Till then, being unhinged in 2023 for me is proof that in the face of evil, we’re not immune. At least not yet.

The writer is a student at the University of Oxford