Downplaying Trauma and Tragic Backstories with Sarcasm: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Freeze Your Brain Lyrics
Main Article Content
Jasmine Kayla Az-Zahra
This study explores how trauma and tragic backstories are downplayed by the use of sarcasm through analysis of the lyrics of Freeze Your Brain, written by Laurence O’Keefe and Kevin Murphy and performed by Ryan McCartan in the Heathers: The Musical Original Broadway Cast recording that was uploaded on June 10th, 2014, a dark comedy that critiques high school hierarchies. Using Norman Fairclough’s Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) model as the primary framework, this study analyzes how lexical choices, grammatical structures, and social contexts turn traumatic personal experiences into enjoyable humor and irony for both characters and audiences. The critical discourse analysis reveals that sarcasm in the musical number not only masks emotional vulnerability but also frames psychological numbness as an aspirational state of control, emotional regulation, and perceived maturity. Further, the linguistic transformation in the lyrics serves as a defense mechanism for the character and shapes listener interpretations of coping and resilience in the face of adversity. The findings contribute to broader discussions on emotional suppression, consumer-based escapism, performative detachment, and ideological messaging in musical theatre texts.
Ahmad, A., Maitlo, S. K., Khokhar, M. I., & Yousaf, I. (2025). Critical Discourse Analysis of the Figurative Language in the Shakespearean Dark Lady Sonnets. Journal of Arts and Linguistics Studies, 3(3), 3795-3844. https://doi.org/10.71281/jals.v3i3.395
Airaksinen, T. (2020). Irony and sarcasm in ethical perspective. Open Philosophy, 3(1), 358-368. https://doi.org/10.1515/opphil-2020-0132
Alek, A., Marzuki, A. G., Hidayat, D. N., & Sari, E. N. A. (2020). A Critical Discourse Analysis of song “Look What You Made Me Do” by Taylor Swift. Eralingua: Jurnal Pendidikan Bahasa Asing dan Sastra, 4(2), 154-161. http://dx.doi.org/10.26858/eralingua.v4i2.11199
Amanah, F. P. (2022). Critical Discourse Analysis on Camila Cabello’s Song Lyric:“Havana”. Pulchra Lingua: A Journal of Language Study, Literature & Linguistics, 1(1), 01-13. https://doi.org/10.58989/plj.v1i1.1
Antari, N. K. D. (2022). An analysis of the interpersonal meaning of lyric and video “zombie” by day6. Journal of Language and Pragmatics Studies, 1(1), 16-24. https://doi.org/10.58881/jlps.v1i1.3
Aprilia, F., & Neisya, N. (2022). Women’s Stereotypes in “Pretty Girl” Song Lyrics: A Critical Discourse Analysis Study. ENGLISH FRANCA: Academic Journal of English Language and Education, 6(2), 461-476. https://doi.org/10.29240/ef.v6i2.4902
Azmy, K., Rahman, F., & Muntasir, M. (2024). Discourse in gender studies: how language shapes gender narratives?. Saree: Research in Gender Studies, 6(1), 25-38. https://doi.org/10.47766/saree.v6i1.2553
Atif, S., Mustafa, N., & Ghafoor, S. (2025). Perceived stress and coping strategies used by undergraduate dental students: An observational study. PLOS ONE, 20(1), e0318152. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0318152
Bansal, A., Agarwal, R., & Jain, K. (2025). Linguistic Complexity and Socio-cultural Patterns in Hip-Hop Lyrics. arXiv preprint arXiv:2505.00035. https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2505.00035
Benner, A. D., Alers‐Rojas, F., López, B. A., & Chen, S. (2024). “Some people will tell jokes to you; some people be racist:” A mixed‐method examination of racist jokes and adolescents’ well‐being. Child development, 95(5), 1572-1585. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.14095
Bitterly, B., & Brooks, A. W. (2020). Sarcasm, self-deprecation, and inside jokes: A user’s guide to humor at work. Harvard Business Review, 98(4), 96-103. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2020/07/sarcasm-self-deprecation-and-inside-jokes-a-users-guide-to-humor-at-work
Camp, E. (2011). Sarcasm, Pretense, and The Semantics/Pragmatics Distinction. Noûs, 46(4), 587–634. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0068.2010.00822.x
Chubaryan, A., & Danielyan, H. (2022). Sarcasm as an independent pragmatic category of nonliteral language. Foreign Languages in Higher Education, 26(1 (32)), 3-14. https://doi.org/10.46991/FLHE/2022.26.1.003
Cole, G. (2022). The phenomenology of mass casualty trauma: A first-person account. Psychological Services, 19(1), 73. https://doi/10.1037/ser0000442
Connell, R. W. (2020). Masculinities. Routledge.
Dewi, P. S. (2022). A Critical Discourse Analysis of Song "Easy on Me" by Adele. Linguistics Initiative, 2(1), 86–92. https://doi.org/10.53696/27753719.2138
Ediana, A. R. (2024). Gender Construction, Stereotype, and Power Dynamics in Stromae’s Tous Les Mêmes: Critical Discourse Analysis. Rainbow: Journal of Literature, Linguistics and Culture Studies, 13(2), 96-103. https://doi.org/10.15294/rainbow.v13i2.3452
Fairclough, I., & Fairclough, N. (2012). Political discourse analysis: A method for advanced students. London: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4000/AAD.137334
Fairclough, N. (2023). Critical discourse analysis. In The Routledge handbook of discourse analysis (pp. 11-22). Routledge.
Gunawan, S. T., Hidayat, D. N., Alek, A., & Husna, N. (2021). Figurative language used in Blackpink featuring Selena Gomez's song lyric" Ice Cream": A discourse analysis. Journal of Applied Studies in Language, 5(1), 1-9. https://dx.doi.org/10.31940/jasl.v5i1.2281
Illouz, E. (2007). Cold intimacies: The making of emotional capitalism. Polity.
Liando, N. V., Olii, S., & Andries, F. (2022). Critical Discourse Analysis in the “What a Wonderful World” Song Lyrics by Louis Armstrong. JELTEC: Journal of English Language Teaching, Literature and Culture, Volume1, (2), 141-147. https://doi.org/10.53682/jeltec.v1i2.6249
Makarla, P. R., Joergensen, G. H., Tyner, K. B., Sprinkle, C., & Rothermich, K. (2024). Differences in politeness perception of irony and prosocial lies: Exploring the role of age, gender, and geographic location. Canadian journal of experimental psychology = Revue canadienne de psychologie experimentale, 78(2), 100–113. https://doi.org/10.1037/cep0000324
McAuley, L., & Glenwright, M. (2025). Humor Styles Predict Self-Reported Sarcasm Use in Interpersonal Communication. Behavioral Sciences, 15(7), 922. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs15070922
Mocarski, R., & Butler, S. (2016). A critical, rhetorical analysis of Man Therapy: The use of humor to frame mental health as masculine. Journal of Communication Inquiry, 40(4), 345–364. https://doi.org/10.1177/0196859915606974
O’Keefe, L., & Murphy, K. (2014). Freeze your brain. In Heathers: The Musical [Song].
Pearson, R. (2021). Masculinity and emotionality in education: Critical reflections on discourses of boys’ behaviour and mental health. Educational Review. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131911.2021.1987390
Rahman, F. (2025). The False Promise of" Neoliberal Cinderella": Deconstructing Gender and Social Class Discourse in Anora (2024). Saree: Research in Gender Studies, 7(2), 196-211. https://doi.org/10.47766/saree.v7i2.6700
Ray, A., Mishra, S., Nunna, A., & Bhattacharyya, P. (2022). A multimodal corpus for emotion recognition in sarcasm. arXiv preprint arXiv:2206.02119. https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2206.02119
Reddy, R., Sharma, A. K., & Jha, M. (2019). Hegemonic masculinity or masculine domination: Toward a comprehensive social theory of gender. International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, 39(3/4), 296-310. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSSP-08-2018-0133
Reyes, K. M., & Jung, J. (2025). The impact of neoliberalism on EFL education: A critical discourse analysis of educator experiences in South Korea. Asian EFL Journal, 27(1), 45–68. https://doi.org/10.24071/llt.v28i1
Tyler, R. E., & Williams, S. (2014). Masculinity in young men's health: Exploring health, help-seeking and health service use in an online environment. Journal of Health Psychology, 19(4), 457–470. https://doi.org/10.1177/1359105312473784
Van Dijk, T. A. (2001). Critical discourse analysis. In D. Schiffrin, D. Tannen, & H. E. Hamilton (Eds.), The handbook of discourse analysis (pp. 352–371). Oxford: Blackwell.
Van Dijk, T. A. (2014). Discourse, cognition, society. In The discourse studies reader: Main currents in theory and analysis, 388. https://doi.org/10.1075/z.184.78dij
Wolf, S. (2011). Changed for good: A feminist history of the Broadway musical. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Wood, A. J. (2023). Proud of Your Boy: Toxic Masculinity, Boyhood, and the American Musical (Doctoral dissertation, Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College).
Zhu, N., & Wang, Z. (2020). The paradox of sarcasm: Theory of mind and sarcasm use in adults. Personality and Individual Differences, 163, 110035. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2020.110035
Zulia, S., & Rahman, F. (2024). Deconstructing Gender-Based Hierarchical Structures: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Matshepo Msibi’s Monologue in TEDx Talks. Saree: Research in Gender Studies, 6(2), 119-134. https://doi.org/10.47766/saree.v6i2.5855
