Hope Is Dead & We're All Cynics

By Karthika

Back and forth, we’re in a tennis court throwing words back and forth. Cynicism opposes “hopecore”, should becomes cannot. You just start hoping that what the other person is saying is just a bunch of hyperbole mashed up together to sound fancy. But no, it’s not.

Hopecore combats the “mean world syndrome”. We live in a world that is so distraught and distressed that we now have terms for upliftment. Nice! Very much needed. But how far can the hope be instilled in us when we are surrounded by a lot of trying and never doing?

Like any other person I find myself scrolling on reels, but the diversity in the platform is stark.

- One moment you’re watching a child in gaza asking you to share reels to not die of starvation

- Second you’re watching the political state of your country

- Third, it’s just a euphoria edit.

In the midst of all these you find those reels which instill a sense of joy and hope. It makes you believe that everything’s getting better. That’s the biggest tragedy. Being veiled, unaware of the world around you because you saw a 10 second reel.

Take movies like mardaani for example. Sad beginning. Scary story. Happy ending. People believe “Well the case was solved, the girl was saved!” and move on, forgetting about the horrific (and real) rape stories that actually are taking place around them. I’m not the first one saying this. Machiavelli did it in 1513.

“For the vulgar are always taken by what a thing seems to be and by what comes of it; and in the world there are only the vulgar.”

What Machiavelli didn’t point out is the adverse consequences this has on society. Ignorance is not bliss in a world where your ignorance might backfire at you. This is not to say that spreading hope is harmful, what I mean to say is ignorance is harmful. Your hope and ignorance must not be packaged together. They are mutually independent. What happens when you choose to ignore the world around you by throwing a veil of “hopecore” is massive layoffs of disney. “It doesn’t affect me” but soon enough it will. What happens when you choose ignorance over pragmatism is erosion of your privacy.

Ignorance is not bliss. Hope is not harmful. Don’t become a cynic, we’re still yet to see how far we can go challenging our own social reality.