Cé La Vi at Marina Bay Sands Singapore (Photo by Nicolette David)
I recently traveled to Singapore with one of my girlfriends, and there was one Gen Z slang term we couldn’t stop saying: “larping.” We either called ourselves “larpers,” or our actions as “larping,” because everything we did on that short weekend vacation was exactly that.
We posted Instagram stories a day or two late to make it appear as if we’d been there longer, dressed up to eat at a fancy restaurant that dented our bank, and paid almost P2,000 for access to the ever-so bougie Marina Bay Sands’ rooftop bar, Cé La Vi, to take photos of the city from way up above and pretend we were hotel guests, even though we stayed somewhere three times cheaper. Basically, we were “larping.”
The term “larp” or “larping” comes from “live-action role-play,” a type of role-playing game in which participants play fictional characters in real life. Nowadays, “larping,” like its earlier meaning, refers to acting out a certain role in real life, essentially faking expertise or identity. It is now used in the same way that we call someone a “tryhard” or “performative.”
In meme culture, “larp” or “larping” is commonly used to mock people who flaunt a luxurious lifestyle that they do not actually own or cannot maintain. Gen Z is quick to judge people who create the illusion of financial success, particularly on social media, such as renting luxury items ranging from sports cars to designer bags or staying in expensive hotel lobbies or stores just to shoot dozens of photos and videos to post over a couple of weeks.
Staging a high-luxury lifestyle is, without a doubt, a hardcore ‘larp.” However, few people realize that there are smaller, perhaps unnoticeable, ways people “larp” daily, especially if we go back to the term’s original meaning as performance.
To “larp” is to perform, but haven’t we been doing that already?
Take a look at popular aesthetics online, such as “whimsy-maxxing,” “clean girl,” “quiet luxury,” and so on. Many adopt an aesthetic archetype and put in the effort to showcase that lifestyle. People post online about their bedazzling items, expensive workout classes, or elegant clothing, depending on what they want to be perceived as. We dress, eat, and live in a way that we want to embody.
Photo credit: IG @daniklaric
Photo credit: IG @kelseymerritt
Another example of daily larping may occur in a workplace environment, where we can essentially fake expertise. I’m not talking about outright fraud, but rather one can fake confidence by sharing opinions even if they’re shy, or using workplace jargon to make people feel like they fit right in. But we cannot deny that as we fake confidence, there’s a potential to reduce the anxiety we may feel within.
Lastly, a form of larping that many already do is social media content staging. Doesn’t sound familiar? Maybe these examples might be: casually posting photos in an upscale restaurant you know you’ve saved weeks up for, curating a photo dump to showcase only the cool, effortless-looking moments, releasing vacation photos days later to give the impression that you were there longer, or posting in the gym like you’re an expert even if you’ve just started. Like a vision board, people project a lifestyle on social media that they might not have fully attained in real life.
Photo credits: Plann
All of these small, everyday, self-conscious habits involve curating oneself to fit into a specific demographic, be that work or Instagram. It may not be intentional, but it’s still a performance, and you could’ve just been larping this entire time.
But don’t start deleting all your social media posts or crying to your boss that you’re a fraud; there is nothing wrong with larping. As author James Pack said, “Life is a performance. Earn an ovation.” So, yes, the world’s a stage, but with that you can act with purpose, because larping can go deeper than copying a chosen identity.
Rather than simply focusing on how others perceive you, the motivation to embody a potential self can slowly but surely become more and more genuine.
As the common saying goes, “Fake it till you make it,” and if larping has the power to give you confidence to allow yourself to learn through performing as though you’ve already achieved your goals, then, as Gen Z may say: “Chat, I think I’ve found the method.”
So, if you behave like the person you want to be and push through the unknown, you gradually let go of self-doubt and angst. Then, larping becomes a step toward becoming your best self.
This is why I’m not ashamed to call myself a larper. I’ll walk into a steakhouse as if I belong there or into a luxury store only to try on items and add them to my future wishlist. At work, I’ll proudly state that I’m a confident person and use workplace jargon that I may or may not have just searched on Google. Funny enough, what started as a slang term that I’d say with my peers, larping, now motivates me to work harder, learn more, and face my fears because I can envision the life I want to achieve.
Perhaps, when done right, is larping the way to bring out one’s courage to try and turn dreams into reality?
