In a polarised world, the only thing that unites almost everyone these days is the notion that things aren’t going all that well. The reasons for this belief vary wildly, but whether you’re concerned by war and climate change, or wokeness and a secret cabal, almost everyone would agree that we’re not living through a golden age.
Taking the former of these positions, the reasons for this are myriad: technology is transferring from its useful phase to a dystopian one, we are consistently led – electorally and culturally – by the worst among us, and the notion that government should help society has become, at best an irrelevance, at worst anathema.
These trends, naturally, have further negative effects. A society in which distrust and division is encouraged, in which hope is far-fetched, leads many people to act in ways that aren’t great for society, or, frequently, themselves. All of this, of course, serves to reinforce the underlying problems. It’s not ideal.
There are two men that understand and can illustrate this better than anyone, in different ways, and if you’re not familiar with them I highly recommend that you seek out their work.
David J. Roth is a writer, primarily for Defector, who is probably best known for his commentary on Donald Trump. Roth summarises Trump with wit, eloquence, and a level of perception that is unmatched: perfectly describing the former president’s scarcely believable levels of pettiness, incuriosity, vanity, and multiple other character flaws. As Trump has faded from relevance – seemingly temporarily – Roth has moved on to other targets, such as Elon Musk and Ron De Santis, and more broadly the sickness of a society that allows these people, and others like them, to have any sort of power, let alone the global influence they enjoy. Roth understands the grubbiness, mean-spiritedness, and short-sightedness that these people both benefit from and magnify, and he can write about it with wisdom and style.
Conner O’Malley, on the other hand, is an actor and comedian, who has been a regular in shows such as Detroiters, I Think You Should Leave, and Late Night with Seth Meyers. Known for his manic style, his most striking work has been online, where he has portrayed multiple characters, including a superfan of Howard Schulz’s brief presidential campaign, various tech entrepreneurs, and, most recently, an aspiring improv comedian. There’s a common thread between many of his characters – yes, they tend to be insane, but they’re also products of the malaise in current society. His characters demonstrate mindless worship of wealth (one notable series has him running up to real life rich people and shouting phrases like “God made you better than me”, before devolving even further), a warped idea of masculinity, uncritical love of tech, and belief in conspiracies.
On the face of it, O’Malley’s characters are awful people, but – and this is a testament to him – they are all clearly desperately sad. All have a gaping chasm in their soul that they are desperately trying to fill, which makes them inherently sympathetic. Most of us have felt lonely, or anxious, or unfulfilled, and the world we live in both increases these problems and shuts down ways in which they can be solved. Consequently, O’Malley’s characters, like so many real people, try to fill that hole in the worst way possible – with the very things that cause these issues in the first place. So they find themselves believing that the latest crypto scheme will save them, or that there is some shady cabal holding them back (while missing the wood for the trees), or that becoming famous is not (at best) a consequence of professional success, but the solution to everything. Because what else is there? There are alternatives, obviously, but they feel a long way away, and our culture increasingly teaches people to reject them
Of course, not everyone responds to desperation this way, but many do, with the only distinction that most are less outwardly manic than O’Malley’s characters. This is not to say either that everyone described here deserves sympathy – certainly not the people at the top, but neither those, like the people Roth describes as “small business fascists”, who are clearly revelling in the chance to be as cruel, mean, and stupid as possible.
For all the pessimism in this post, I feel I should make it clear that what ultimately unites Roth and O’Malley is that they are both hilarious, and inventive. The brilliance of their work will make you feel better about the world, even when the subjects that resonate have the opposite effect. Everything’s a mess, alright, but we can at least be grateful to these two men for providing humour, insight and catharsis in a baffling world. I’d rather they didn’t have to, but I’m glad they do.
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