“Oft Hope is Born, When All is Forlorn”: Hopecore Within the Realm of Media and Art

Project Abstract

#Hopecore surfaced as a viral internet trend that conveyed a positive and inspirational lens to social media which often acts as a platform for spawning insecurities and falling victim to fearmongering exaggerations. But what exactly is #hopecore composed of and why is it so intrinsically vital in media and art as a whole? We will be discussing how hopecore was born and what specific works embody the movement of #hopecore. The hashtag itself: #Hopecore is not confined to just a single criteria. It varies across a diverse number of edits like movies, songs, living in general, bittersweet nostalgia, and sometimes even dipping into satire. Hope is a very specific literary idea and uses emotion to draw on certain elements that must be accentuated in order to convey it. Superman (2025) is a key work that draws on the idea of hope with a specific person being focused on – Superman – as representing hope. The Lord of the Rings series has a character that acts as the epitome of perseverance and fellowship in Samwise Gamgee. Star Wars: A New Hope has hope at the very epicenter of its rhetoric in what it takes to collapse an evil empire. A real life example of hopecore is how social media interacted and responded to the Artemis II mission. Elements that are a staple in these edits are: adding visual filters, emotional music, inspirational quotes from the source material or popular quotes about hope, and sometimes the format of collages of nature and instrumental music with a central idea.  Music is a key part of this movement as it is the cornerstone behind these edits. Examples of popular music used include: “Under Pressure” by Queen and David Bowie, “Punkrocker” by Teddybears, “Honor to Us All” from Mulan, “Written in Your Heart” from Barbie Princess and the Pauper, “500 Miles” by Peter, Paul and Mary, and “Lover You Should’ve Come Over” by Jeff Buckley. Implementing all these elements and tracing it back to the origin of hope and thus hopecore, we seek to explore this rare positive side of the internet, a ray of hope one may say, that has become a refuge in the overstimulating world of social media.

Conference Name

Midwest Popular Culture Association

Conference Details

Conference Name (full, no abbreviations): Midwest Popular Culture Association Dates: 10/9/2026-10/11/2026 Sponsoring Body: English Department Conference Website: https://www.mpcaaca.org/ 

Funding Type

Travel Grant

Academic College

College of Humanities and Fine Arts

Area/Major/Minor

Major: English Literature Minor: Marketing

Degree

Bachelor of Science in English Literature

Classification

Senior

Name

Dr. Andrew Black

Academic College

College of Humanities and Fine Arts

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