In Defense of Meme Halloween Costumes

Issue #284 | Oct. 24, 2024

15 years since the first HallowMeme party in New York, Halloween costumes have gone full brain rot. One of the most popular Halloween costumes for children this year is a Skibidi Toilet (based on the massively popular YouTube series). The internet is overrun with guides explaining how to dress up as the Hawk Tuah girl or whatever viral ephemera is currently trending on Google.

And, for the second year in a row, thousands of people on Twitter are poking fun at LGBTQ people’s increasingly niche online references in their Halloween costumes. “I hate gay halloween parties,” one user posted, “what do you mean you’re the confidence activist visiting the Shein factory?”

As the internet becomes our default reality, Halloween costumes are starting to feel like a test to see how many layered internet references you can recognize. This has led to a backlash, with some declaring that meme costumes are sucking the fun out of Halloween. But I can’t help but defend the humble meme costume. As I wrote in User Mag, half the fun of Halloween is being creative, and the internet is a wellspring of costume-worthy material.

While people argue for a return to witches, ghosts, and goblins, meme costumes allow for a level of self-expression beyond what’s offered by the traditional wardrobe. Donning a meme costume acknowledges that reality today is primarily mediated by the internet, and Halloween allows us to memorialize those meaningful online moments that are increasingly ephemeral.

So, if you want to dress up as an Instagram post Rebecca Black liked one time, or JD Vance’s sexy couch having a Brat summer, I say go for it.

– Taylor Lorenz, Passionfruit Contributor

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The 29th Annual Webby Awards are open! Join past winners like MrBeast, Recess Therapy, Abi Marquez, and Mark Rober, and be recognized alongside culture-shaping brands and companies like Netflix, Gucci, the WNBA, and Wieden+Kennedy. With new dedicated categories for Creators, now’s your chance. Create Your Mark and enter by the Early Entry Deadline THIS Friday, Oct. 25. Enter now!

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JOB BOARD

Rivian is looking for a Social Content Creator.
Jesser Reacts is looking for a Producer.
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WHAT WE’RE WATCHING:

For Passionfruit’s “Reactorverse” podcast, we took a look back at all the amazing reaction channel hosts featured in season 2 as they answered the final questionnaire from each episode. Stay tuned for season 3! 🍿