In a world and particularly, a nation that is currently bombarded by crises left and right, social media has proved to be a place not only to shed light on these topics but to provide some relief from them as well. While humor does not heal misfortune and mistakes made by leaders and enablers, it most certainly lightens hearts and gives us a reason to carry on in uncertain times.

Item #1: Mike’s Pence’s Pet Fly

Nina Ranel on Twitter, @ninarancel

With Halloween’s drastic change in celebration due to the novel COVID-19, children and adults alike were saddened to not have a normal day on October 31st, 2020. However, that did not mean costumes had to be any less entertaining. Many folks chose to embody political figures and memes attached to their prominence. Here, we are for a few minutes, distracted from the COVID-19 crisis with a hilarious take on another crisis: America’s failed leadership. The fly that landed on Mike Pence’s head during the First and Final Vice Presidential debate stirred up many jokes and memes throughout that very night. By creating costumes reminiscent of that night and other funny moments in a bleak environment, we get a chance to laugh and momentarily forget that we are at the brink of death in America’s current state. Halloween is supposed to be a time of laughter, of shared stories and creativity. Thus, this choice of costume was well thought out and attracted the attention of many.

 

Item #2: The Infamous Christopher

@mantissshrimplvr on Tiktok

These Tiktoks get me every time. There is a group of young women who everyday, venture to Planned Parenthood and counter-protest the screams and taunts of pro-lifers. The particular man who has gotten “famous” on Tiktok is named Christopher. “Chris” is an old man who constantly screams “thou shall not murduh” and “all baby murduhers go to hell!” The girls take a humorous approach to combatting this negativity by documenting Chris screaming in different hilarious face filters, most notably the broccoli one shown here. In reality, this situation is beyond scary. Reproductive health is in real and near danger in America with the recent nomination of Amy Coney Barrett. However, seeing how ridiculous some of these protestors are really makes us laugh for just a minute and question the intelligence of who we are really fighting.

 

Item #3: BunnyTheDog

@killerbikini and @what_about_bunny on Tiktok

Backstory: Bunny is a famous dog on Instagram who uses buttons with words to communicate. She is extremely intelligent and can decipher human emotions and construct sentences without much help. Lately, there has been an influx of people who are humorously concerned about he extent of Bunny’s intelligence. Some even link it to real life crises to evoke humor in dire situations. Here, a girl contemplates what would happen if Bunny was decidedly racist and was against the Black Lives Matter movement. She means it with a joking intent, of course and we are again, struck with the notion that things are bad but they can be bad and funny in a way. Not only does this provide us with humor but also strikes us with a sense of community. What_about-bunny responded to said Tiktok, saying that she and Bunny support the Black Lives Matter Movement 100%. Often, we can find common ground on social media despite our differences in location and lifestyle. Humor provides us with a different outlook, an extension beyond what we know is tangible.