Midwestern Man’s Media Preferences

My spaces? LIMINAL. My angels? BIBLICALLY ACCURATE. My anime? MATURE. My horror? ANALOG. My sims? IMMERSIVE. My cities? WALKABLE. My life? VAN. My emo? MIDWESTERN. My portrayal of mental illness in film? REALISTIC. My burgers? NOTHING.

A crudely drawn, bespectacled man stands in shorts and green Crocs beside a list of exaggerated preferences: liminal spaces, biblically accurate angels, mature anime, analog horror, immersive simulation games, walkable cities, a van life, Midwestern emo, realistic depictions of mental illness, and burgers that are “nothing.” The joke is the absurd escalation of niche internet tastes, ending with the bleak punchline that his burgers are nothing; it is used as a reaction to portray someone with an aggressively specific, strange, or pretentious personality.

• @beobanka / 37114 2024-07-31