So I’ve been hesitant on making a video on nihilism for the longest time,
in concern of the possibility it could leave a negative impact on my viewers.
When I make these videos, for the most part, I want people to feel good about themselves
after they’ve watched it. I’m not trying to give people an existential crisis from the idea that
life is meaningless. Which is what nihilism is by definition. However, after doing more research on
it, I’ve realized there are tons of benefits that can be gained from understanding what it truly is,
at its core. It isn’t what I thought it was, and it isn’t what most people think it is,
a gateway to depression, but it is instead something more helpful, and uplifting. Which
may sound backwards to the average viewer, “how could nihilism possibly be useful?”
Well to help me explain, I’ll be analyzing one of the best South Park episodes ever made, “Raisins.”
In this episode Stan gets his heart broken when his girlfriend, Wendy, breaks up with him. He
falls into an instant state of depression, and sees no point in continuing living life.
His oneitis illness gets exposed in more ways than one. He tries everything in his power to
win her back. He tries getting his friends to talk to her, getting her friends to talk to her,
playing outdated music in her front yard, etc. So when nothing works he resorts to
hanging out with these goth kids, and to no disrespect, these kids have some of the darkest,
depressing, and demoralizing beliefs about life.
Stan immediately gets brainwashed by their toxic negativity, and becomes “one of them.”
See, I used to think nihilism is this dark theory that everything is ultimately pointless,
therefore it all sucks, so why even bother with life, but now I realize how ridiculous that notion
sounds. It’s the mindset that we revert to in order to prevent future disappointments.
We don’t give life a chance, we lose hope, and perhaps even revert to self-destructive behavior.
The Internet Encyclopedia of Psychology
gives a general idea on the manner, “A true nihilist would believe in nothing,
have no loyalties, and no purpose other than, perhaps, an impulse to destroy.”
Now, I’m not rejecting nihilism as a belief, in fact, I think there’s some truth behind it.
However, I do have some counter arguments against it. For instance,
if life is meaningless, then what’s the point in destroying things? What’s the point in hating,
and judging people? What’s the point in criticizing and shaming the world?
Going based on the average nihilist point of view, that would also have no purpose or meaning.
Another point I will add is why is there this bias towards negativity? Life can be meaningless,
but that doesn’t have to be sad, or depressing, in fact, it can be a beautiful thing.
Here’s a fun analogy I came up with. Think of life like the ultimate virtual reality
video game. Everything that happens in video games is ultimately pointless, but at the same time
it isn’t, if that makes any sense. We have fun with video games while being self-aware of the
Stan isn’t the only simp in this episode. Butters catches feelings for this girl
who works at this Hooters, bootleg ripoff called “Raisins.” She pretends to like him,
and manipulates his lustful desires for money. After he literally falls in love with her,
he gets hit with a harsh dose of reality when she rejects him in public. Just like Stan,
Butters falls into an instant state of depression. The goth kids show up to try and get him to join
their clan, but he instead shocks them with his profound attitude towards life.
When we fall into depression, we automatically assume
that either there’s something wrong with us, there’s something wrong with our life,
or there’s something wrong with the world. But what kind of book, what kind of movie,
what kind of story is all sunshine, and rainbows? To write an interesting, compelling,
and captivating story you need conflicts, you need some type of adversity for the characters.
Epictetus, an ancient philosopher who spent his life preaching about the value of stoicism once said,
“We suffer not from the events in our lives, but from our judgments about them.” That’s one of
my favorite quotes of all time, because it helps you see a particular situation in a new light. You
finally see the value in sadness, frustration, and depression. You realize you can be sad, and
not hate life. You can be sad and learn something new about you, your situation, or the world. You
can be sad, and love the fact that you’re sad. As Butters puts it, it’s like a “beautiful sadness.”
His inspirational speech motivates Stan to slow down with his negative
outlook on life, and to instead move forward. Even if it comes at
the cost of leaving himself vulnerable to heartbreak, rejection or disappointment.
I like to think of nihilism as another word for detachment. It helps me let go of something that’s
bothering me, and helps me see that in the grand scheme of things, it’s not that big of a deal.
Famous rapper J. Cole once said, in one of his dopest songs, “Love Yourz,” there’s beauty in
the struggle. So remember, if something doesn’t go your way, you fail at something, or you
get rejected in public… It’s okay. It doesn’t mean anything. And that’s what makes it okay.