How Generative AI Memes Turn a Violent Anniversary Into Absurdist Internet Culture

Summary

The Carrier Wave examines the “Kirkversary,” a wave of generative-AI videos and memes appearing on the one-year anniversary of Charlie Kirk’s death. The article says much of the material barely relates to Kirk’s life or legacy, instead using the event as a reference point for self-referential absurdism, nihilistic humor, and combinations with sports, hip-hop, and pop culture. The author argues that the memes have persisted partly because their subject is too dark for brands or politicians to appropriate and make uncool. Their spread has also crossed national, linguistic, and cultural boundaries. The article acknowledges that turning a political killing into entertainment is disturbing, while noting that attempts had been made to use Kirk’s death as a rallying point for further violence. It presents, cautiously, the possibility that absurdist humor can weaken that mobilizing effort by making the subject difficult to treat as a solemn political symbol. The broader argument is that techniques once associated with memes laundering extremist ideas may now be redirected against extremist calls, although the article frames this as a possibility rather than an established effect.