Why Everyone You Know Suddenly Has Main Character Syndrome
In psychology, Main Character Syndrome is described as being… well, it actually doesn’t exist as a diagnosable mental illness, at least not in the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual. As it turns out, “Main Character Syndrome” exists only in the overactive — and healthily deluded — minds of the internet’s many self-identified protagonists. But while Main Character Syndrome — a situation wherein people think of themselves as being the top-billed star of the feature film that is their regular lives — might sound like the kind of distorted sense of reality digitally averse boomers warn everyone under the age of 30 about, Main Character Syndrome is also an important coping technique — and it’s how we’ve collectively chosen to process this past year.
People who have Main Character Syndrome think life is a movie and embrace the memes that encourage this outlook, saying things like: “you have to start romanticizing your life.” It’s a departure from reality, and it’s little wonder that “main character” can also be used as an insult to describe a person who thinks everyone is as obsessed with them as they are with themselves. It’s become so common, in fact, that people who are insecure and feel like they’re becoming a parody of their own personality, have even started declaring that they are #NotTheMainCharacter — the latest main character trend to take over TikTok.
Whether you resist or embrace the designation of “main character,” what’s clear is that, during the pandemic, main character memes have helped us to accept life’s highs and lows as entertaining plot developments, to consider our misfortunes proof of the importance of our story, and to justify indulgence as being key to our archetypal hero’s journey. It’s no coincidence that the earliest main character meme to go viral came out in May 2020: a TikToker had “hunkered down” in her childhood home and her daily walks through her neighborhood served to remind her — and her whole block, apparently — that all this is her story. “This is the time that I walk through my neighborhood, to remind everyone in my neighborhood that I’m the main character in this neighborhood,” they sing, in the video. “Look at me! No, look away! No, look at me! Ah!”
But to call Main Character Syndrome a recent trend would erase years of meme history and centuries of narcissism in our culture. While Main Character Syndrome is a predictable byproduct of modern life, with social media prompting us to build a character our followers will like, people have thought themselves the protagonists of the fictionalized story of their lives for ages, since the first (y/n) of fanfiction was created, since the first novel was written, and even since the first people gathered around campfires and talked about their days. But what’s special about Main Character Syndrome now is how inclined we are toward being self-referential; it’s as much a meme as it is a thesis of this moment.
The funniest, most relatable, and laser-accurate main character memes are the ones that remind us of all the ways our teen, tween, and childhood selves truly thought we were living in a Disney Channel movie. Yasmine Sahid is a 24-year-old creator based out of L.A., and she’s largely responsible for the success and longevity of the main character meme. “We've all had that main character moment in our life that we just... we don't want to acknowledge,” she says.
