“Main character syndrome” is trending on TikTok for Gen Z and Millennials. Spend just a few minutes on TikTok and you’re likely to come across the #maincharacter trend. Often coupled with Lana Del Ray’s “Mariners Apartment Complex” audio, TikTokers are romanticising the everyday by pretending they’re the main character of their own movie or story. The hashtag currently has more than 5 billion views, and is full of videos of self-deprecating young users playing the protagonist in their own not-so-fictional stories. As Gen Z and Millennials look to social media to vocalize their mental health needs, many are using TikTok trends, like “The Main Character Syndrome” to create meaning around what they’re experiencing. As comical and mindless as the trend may seem, it may have deeper meaning: “Those who have experienced trauma, for example, benefit from trying to explain their suffering as part of an overarching life narrative. The point is to find meaning and logic in life’s experiences.” (Inside Hook)
