Goodbye Brat Summer, Hello Election Autumn: Kamala Harris, Charli XCX, and EmStage’s POTUS
By Sam Evans
If there’s one thing Gen Z loves, it’s memes.
While Millennials popularized them and Gen X needs them to be explained, most Americans born from the late 1990’s to the early 2010’s adore viewing, sharing, and creating trendy jokes online. As a significant amount of this generation in America prepares to vote in their first presidential election, memes about both candidates and other politicians run rampant on social media platforms. So how will memes influence the impending election?
One example prevails as a turning point for young constituents. On July 21st, 2024, incumbent Joe Biden made headlines by dropping out of the presidential race and endorsing vice president Kamala Harris as the new Democratic candidate. At the same time, singer-songwriter Charli XCX’s album “brat” spawned several memes that referenced the album cover—lime green background, the title in black lowercase Arial font as the only detail—and sought to answer the internet’s new favorite question: what and who qualifies as “brat”?
With Harris as the new presidential pick, Charli XCX gave a definitive answer to that question with a single tweet:
Consequently, social media exploded. Once this fan-favorite pop culture icon (though British) supported Harris, her campaign was set in motion. Capitalizing on Charli XCX’s sentiment, Harris’s marketing team released a new graphic in the meme format du jour:
Suddenly, Harris is cool. She’s relevant. She’s aware of mainstream media and celebrities. Her and her team’s efforts are already more in tune with young adults than any attempt from Biden. In one day, the election has gone from two elderly white men that don’t relate to new voters, to one elderly white man and one woman of color who is, both through her team’s actions and Charli XCX’s stamp of approval, “brat.”
Harris speaks to Gen Z in their beloved internet language, and they are listening.
With “brat summer” coming to an end, POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive keeps the energy of Charli XCX and Harris’s exchange going through music, dance, comedy, excessive yet poignant use of the word “cunt,” and disruption of traditional American politics. On the eve of the 2024 election, POTUS encourages first-time voters to consider what Americans have to lose, register to vote, and make their choice heard.
As said by playwright Selina Fillinger, POTUS “[is] about White Patriarchy, which pervades all political parties.… Those in power do not see women and queer people as equal to cis men, nor do they want us to be.” Yet, through Kamala Harris, Charli XCX, POTUS’s entirely female-identifying and nonbinary cast, and the strength of Gen Z, America can make more steps towards changing that than ever before.
You can register to vote and verify your voter registration at whenweallvote.org.
POTUS will feature a discussion with the dramaturg and cast following the Thursday performance.
