The Brief: The #MainCharacter trend on TikTok has people acting as if they were the main character in a coming-of-age movie.
DEEP DIVE
Young people are embracing a bit of self-centeredness with the main character trend on TikTok. The concept of being the “main character” or not usually has to do with whether someone is interesting enough to be the focus of a movie, book, or TV show, and if they are star material. In this TikTok trend, young people are creating video scenes with styles reminiscent of coming-0f-age movies. They usually act as the “main character” by performing regular actions dramatically, often with some indie music playing in the background.
@payharts me driving with all the windows down in my small town listening to obscure music so everyone knows i’m the main character #jamsession #greenvspurple
Various TikTok videos have people debating whether they’re worthy of being the “main character” or if they’re more of a side character or extra. Discourse also covers what it takes to be a protagonist vs. antagonist vs. sidekick.
@andi.miranda i’m not the main character and i’m fine with that #fyp
#MainCharacter On TikTok
On May 29, 2020, the hashtag #MainCharacter was featured on TikTok’s Discover page. At the time of writing, videos associated with the hashtag #MainCharacter have been viewed over 1oo million times and ones associated with #Protaganist have been viewed over 2.9 million times.
@addyurdaddy pov: its 2023 and ur the main character in a movie about covid-19
Creator @lexaprolesbian‘s video in which she goes outside and sings about how “this is the time that I walk through my neighborhood to remind everyone in my neighborhood that I’m the main character in this neighborhood. It’s the main one, look!” Her video inspired over 800 others to create variations using the same sound.
@lexaprolesbian the walking song reuploaded and censored for slippage
Another popular sound associated with this trend posted by @ashlaward goes: “you have to start romanticizing your life. You have to start thinking of yourself as the main character. Cause if you don’t, life will continue to pass you by and all the little things that make it so beautiful will continue to go unnoticed, so take a second and look around and realize that it’s a blessing for you to be here right now. This sound has been used in over 4,000 videos.
@maec6
@yeahimcaroline Are you the main character?
@sammieosamu my take on the: main character concept #maincharacter #protagonist #foryou #fyp
@laurenisoversharing (it’s water of course) #maincharacter #fyp #foryoupage #cartooncharacter
@_ayokay_ i’m the main character in this coming of age indie film, okay #maincharacter #pov #keepingactive #fyp #indie #greenvspurple #foryou #vibin #cmbyn