Oscar Wilde once quipped, “It is a curious fact that people are never so trivial as when they take themselves seriously.” Had he lived today, Wilde would no doubt delight in the rise of the selfie—a curious blend of vanity and technology. But he would also weep at the banality that often accompanies it.
On the eve of the 170th anniversary of Wilde's birth, I thought it might be useful to see what the master of enjoyable content would have done had selfies been a thing in his day. I hope this post will give you (and me) pause to keep the bar high, even when posting the most "mundane" of content. In fact, I'd go further to suggest we banish anything mundane from our brands!
Here, in 2024, social media is awash with the most fleeting and inane content, it's like we are drowning in the shallow waters of banality as they gradually heat up to boiling point!
Captions, once an opportunity to elevate and reflect, have become mere throwaway lines devoid of wit or intelligence. As Wilde might say, "All art is quite useless," unless, of course, we are willing to infuse it with beauty, wit, and purpose.
In the spirit of Wilde’s wit, let’s take a few of today’s most common selfie captions and give them the respect they never deserved—by reimagining them with the sharp brilliance of one of history’s greatest minds.
"But first, let me take a selfie."
Wilde might say: “Before I embark on the triviality of existence, let me first capture its most fleeting moment: myself, of course.”
Imagine Wilde, gazing into a vintage hand mirror, about to attend a lavish ball. Before leaving his lush, velvet-laden room, he pauses for a moment—not to ready himself for the world, but for the world to ready itself for him.
"I woke up like this."
Wilde might say: “I awoke this morning in perfect disarray, for art, as they say, is never truly finished, only abandoned.”
A photo of Wilde lounging in his sumptuous four-poster bed, tousled hair framing his face, quill and ink scattered on his bedside table—a portrait of the artist at rest, incomplete yet impeccable in its flawlessness.
"Feeling cute, might delete later."
Wilde might say: “One should always feel adorable, though it is the duty of the onlooker to cherish or discard such fleeting beauty as they wish.”
Here, Wilde stands in front of a grand fireplace, his robe slightly askew, a hint of a mischievous smile playing on his lips. He has no need to delete anything; the ephemerality of his charm is precisely what gives it meaning.
"Selfie time!"
Wilde might say: “And thus, in this fleeting moment, I capture time as it passes—though I fear it can do nothing to capture me.”
Wilde would surely take a reflective moment, perhaps with a glass of fine wine in hand, noting that while we obsess over capturing moments, the moments themselves are as slippery as time.
"Confidence level: selfie with no filter."
Wilde might say: “True confidence lies in showing oneself without embellishment, though one must ask, is the world ready to see such raw splendour?”
Wilde, holding a cigarette poised between his fingers, stares directly into the lens—no filter needed, for the brilliance of his personality is as sharp as the black-and-white photo itself.
"If you were looking for a sign, here it is."
Wilde might say: “Signs, much like opinions, are far too common. I’d rather offer you something rarer—my reflection.”
In a garden, surrounded by Greek statues, Wilde casts a sidelong glance at the camera, as if to say, "Your search is over, for here I am, in all my magnificent nonchalance."
"Proof I left my house."
Wilde might say: “There are few things as tiresome as leaving one’s home, except perhaps the company one encounters upon leaving it.”
Wilde steps onto the streets of London, a silk scarf trailing behind him. The streets are bustling, yet he walks above the fray, as though the world were merely a backdrop for his appearance.
"Just sit back and enjoy this view!"
Wilde might say: “The view is undoubtedly beautiful, but it is I who complete the scene.”
Perched on a grand balcony overlooking Hyde Park, Wilde gestures with his hand as if inviting you not just to enjoy the view, but to behold his place within it.
"I have no selfie control."
Wilde might say: “To control oneself is a virtue. To refuse to do so, however, is an art.”
In the midst of a lavish party, Wilde holds the camera with a wicked grin—surrounded by admirers, he knows that it’s not about control but about embracing life’s chaos.
"Living my best life!"
Wilde might say: “The only life worth living is one of impeccable taste and an exquisite disregard for consequence.”
A candlelit dinner, a glass of the finest champagne in hand—Wilde toasts to the notion of living as a performance, where the script is his alone to write.
"Me doing me."
Wilde might say: “To be oneself is a lifelong masterpiece—why would one ever attempt to be anything else?”
In his writing den, Wilde lounges in contemplation, his gaze distant yet deeply introspective. Every move he makes is deliberate, yet effortless.
"This is the reel deal, baby."
Wilde might say: “Reality is often too dull for my taste. I much prefer the artifice of wit and a well-chosen costume.”
A snapshot from a theatre, Wilde dressed in flamboyant attire, his arms outstretched as though commanding the very stage he’s stepped upon.
"Age is just a number."
Wilde might say: “Age, like mediocrity, is a mere illusion—irrelevant when one’s soul remains forever young.”
Sipping tea in a high-backed chair, Wilde sits in front of a clock that ticks on, indifferent to his perpetual youth, sustained by brilliance and irreverence.
"Here’s to another year of questionable life decisions."
Wilde might say: “Life without folly is like a play without a leading role—utterly without meaning or applause.”
Wilde raises a glass at a decadent dinner party, fully aware that every ‘questionable’ decision has led to a life worthy of legend.
"Surround yourself with people who lift you higher."
Wilde might say: “One should only ever surround oneself with people of wit, beauty, and those who remain silent when they have neither.”
A dinner scene—Wilde sits at the head of the table, surrounded by the sharpest minds and the finest attire, for he knows the company you keep is a reflection of oneself.
Some closing reflections on the eve of Oscar Wilde's birthday
If you think about it, most of us scour through anything people find about Oscar. A notebook is discovered, we are agog with interest. A serviette is found in which he scribbled a thought, and we must read it.
Historians and future blog writers are rarely going to to ask Perplexity AI or Google for any quotes by Instagrammers from 2024 on love or hope, etc. This is because we live in a world where the fleeting and the forgettable dominate our feeds.
But Wilde reminds us that even in the most trivial moments, we have the power to create something lasting and meaningful.
A selfie may only capture a second, but the words we choose can transform it into a reflection of something much greater.
So, let’s raise the bar, elevate the mundane, and refuse to sink into the floodwaters of banality—after all, as Wilde might say, “We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.”