Met Gala 2024: Dystopian or Glamorous?
By: Deanza J. Andriansyah
Edited by: Sonia Setiono
The Met Gala is an annual fundraising gala that is held for the benefit of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute. It is an extravagant event where celebrities, designers, and influencers celebrate and showcase the boldest and most jaw-dropping fashion pieces. However, over the years, the “Met” has gained more notoriety for the themes and outfits worn by those attending the event. It’s an annual occurence for social media users to share their judgement, thoughts, or complaints on the outfits of the attenders strutting down the red carpet. But this year, many are heavily criticizing, not only the celebrities and designers, but also the gala due to the ignorance of current devastations being faced by the people in Palestine.
Despite the Met Gala being most notable for extravagant fashion, it has also been no stranger to politics. In 2021, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wore a dress that was painted with the statement: “Tax the Rich”. In 2022, the gala’s theme was “Gilded Glamour”, and Riz Ahmed spoke out on the role of immigrant workers “who kept the gilded age going”. Thus, many social media users were quick to call out the absence of any statement regarding Gaza or the airstrikes in Rafah.
Venetia La Manna, an internet personality and fair fashion campaigner, spoke out on this matter on her Instagram. She described this year’s Met Gala as “really dystopian” as she criticized how those who attended the event were voluntarily giving up “their ability to breathe and move” in their lavish outfits while “Israel seized control of Gaza’s Rafah border crossing, halting the flow of aid, leaving Palestinians nowhere safe to go. They are involuntarily losing the ability to breathe and move.”
Online users also drew comparisons between the Met Gala and Hunger Games due to the dystopian state of the world. Hunger Games author, Suzanne Collins, has spoken about the inspirations of the franchise. She claimed that her sources included the news footage of the Iraq War and her father’s experiences in the Vietnam War. The parallels between this year’s Met Gala and the Hunger Games are drawn by how the franchise famously delves into privilege, class divides and violent fights for survival.
On Tiktok, Twitter and Instagram, users have left comments on the event’s pictures sharing sentiments such as “It feels like the Hunger Games right now. With the Met Gala in the Capitol, bursting with opulence and ridiculous clothing, while war ravages the districts with horrendous and inhumane suffering.” and “while i do love the met fashions, it does feel so dystopian loool it really is giving the hunger games in the capitol”.
At the same time as the glamorous event, protests and encampments have been ongoing across college campuses. This has resulted in numerous arrests and even canceled commencements, but students stay protesting, despite all of the measures that have been taken to suppress them.
Though it is a tradition for attendees to display extravagance and wealth, the 2024 Met Gala has highlighted the irony of the whole situation. It would be very impactful for celebrities with large platforms to advocate for the freedom of Palestine, but for now, we can only continue giving our own best efforts to go against the violence being faced in Gaza.