It Seems Like No One Wants To Have Fun Anymore

Words: Faith Thurnwald
Photos: Faith Thurnwald & Louise Nilsson

It seems like no one wants to have fun anymore. Is it just me, or has ‘fun’ become a dying relic, a thing of the past – or is my definition of fun out dated, and perhaps a little unhinged?

I don’t wish to sounds like some washed up martyr of a wine mum, who loves to say; ‘back in my day’, or that coked up girl in ‘Sex In The City’ who states, ‘no one’s fun anymore, whatever happened to fun, I’m so bored I could die’, then promptly falls out of a window to her death. A disturbing scene, which is then followed by Carrie’s narration of ‘it was the first time Lexie had ever left a party early’. Brutal. I can’t help but relate. Now, I’m not in danger of falling out of any windows any time soon, and I certainly don’t have the coin for the amount of coke this woman consumed, also I’m about half her age, and yet I get it!

Have we all felt this way, or am I just a little too much at parties? I will drink a little too much, I will be a little too loud, and I’ll probably even try to proposition you. But last time I checked, this is acceptable party behavior. This is mandatory.

Or did I miss the memo, has party behavior changed? With the rise of PC culture our behavior is observed closely, our every action looked on through magnifying glass eyes. Has social media scrutiny extended to our every day lives?

I’m not saying social scrutiny didn’t exist before – of course it did. But has the online culture where one must behave PC in order to avoid getting canceled extended to parties, where generally the main prerogative is to misbehave. If so you better trash your game of ‘cards against humanity’, and pretend you never engaged in such depravity.

I’ve noticed a few side ways looks at parties I’ve attended in the last few months. I’m being loud and a little ridiculous, I’m making terribly jokes and snort-laughing at them – if you gave me the side eye, fair enough. Have I started rolling with a kinder crowd, where you don’t have to be a cunt to make a joke, or am I simply (finally) becoming self-aware?

Either or, I reject this gentrification of my drunken nights. As long as I’m not hurting anyone – disregard the many scars on my knees, my own little drunken masochism – let me misbehave, it’s fun!

Before you cancel me, I don’t mean to say that political correctness doesn’t have its time and place. Political correctness is an invaluable tool, a tool one can use to finally call people out on their bullshit. We’re even getting close to confronting that racist uncle, because someone’s got to do it. There’s no excuse for holding discriminatory views, I don’t care about your culture or your age, educate yourself and grow up.

However, I argue that there is a line between human error, and genuinely being an asshole. We’ve got a lot to unlearn; I just question our desire to take life so seriously. There has to be some leeway between respecting others, and having a good time, letting loose, misbehaving a little.

On that note, please continue to invite me to your parties, I promise I’ll stop propositioning your friends and drinking straight out of the bottle.

Life is hard enough; must we take it so seriously?

I leave you with the wise words of my forever icon, Patsy Stone, ‘who dies in their own vomit these days? NO ONE!’

For More: ‘Is Love A Social Construct?’