Conspiracy Theater of the Absurd: “Birds Aren’t Real” as Parodic Hypermimesis

Emerging from an ad hoc effort to counter Trump supporters at a 2017 Women's March, the Birds Aren't Real movement has transformed from viral performance art into a Gen Z response to political conspiracy culture. This article explores the campaign as an extension of the kind of postmodern parody that became iconic with shows like The Colbert Report in which comedians engage in absurd reproductions of increasingly absurd political realities. Inspired by the work of cultural theorist Nidesh Lawtoo, we argue that Birds Aren't Real engages in parodic hypermimesis, or an ironical meta-mimicking of the digitally networked and infective mimetics responsible for the contemporary proliferation of conspiratorial misinformation. After explaining how parodic hypermimesis works, we illustrate its enactment in the Birds Aren't Real movement, particularly in the way that it relies on doubling to debase conspiracy rhetoric as a predictable set of topoi, cultivates a conspiracy community via intoxicating affect, and derides the mainstream media by baiting outlets with parodic spectacles. Ultimately, this essay ponders whether, in reverberating conspiracy logics, such well-intentioned parody can successfully ascend the cardinal sins it critiques.