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How 9/11 Became a Joke

The 25-year journey from national tragedy to national punchline.

The 9/11 Memorial & Museum features multiple somber exhibitions. There’s “In Memoriam,” whose 2,977 pictures honor the individuals who died that fateful Tuesday 25 years ago. There’s “Faces of Ground Zero,” Joe McNally’s portraits of the tragedy’s first responders. There’s a battered FDNY Ladder 3 firetruck. There’s an oral history exhibit. 

And there’s a gift shop. Actually, a “Museum Store.” 

Despite that self-serious title, you’ll find a variety of ridiculous trinkets cosplaying as memorabilia. Pride Month saw a black fridge magnet that read “9/11 Memorial” in rainbow font. Stickers are sold with cartoon renderings of the rescue dogs—Otto, Annie, Wusel—who perished at Ground Zero. Even your tackiest aunt may reject Charles Fazzino’s framed pop art, in which sky-blue Twin Towers soar over New York to almost touch a moon that looks, inarguably, like a ball of cheese. (Speaking of, don’t forget the 9/11 cheeseboard that sparked fury.) There are lucky charms (why not), tote bags (with the deceased K-9s), and—to honor 9/11’s 25th anniversary—framed United States flags going for $225.

These daffy commodifications of grief lend the store an air of high camp. And while that might feel inappropriate, it’s actually a pretty accurate reflection of the place the attacks increasingly occupy in our culture. To put it simply, for many people, 9/11 has become a joke—a readily available meme, a feature of comedy sets, a crowd-pleasing punchline. Even attempts to be serious about 9/11 can falter. Witness, for instance, the audience’s bemused reaction to Glee’s Matthew Morrison when, in concert after concert, he pauses the crooning to earnestly describe the terror he felt that September morning, the anxiety of taking the subway to find his girlfriend, and the discovery of her safe at home—in bed with another man. (He follows that cheating episode by singing—again, earnestly—“Send in the Clowns.”)

why is no one talking about how matthew morrison found out that he was being cheated on during 9/11 pic.twitter.com/PDkhJS7phM— Ronnie (@RonnieKL13) February 1, 2026

why is no one talking about how matthew morrison found out that he was being cheated on during 9/11 pic.twitter.com/PDkhJS7phM

Such a development would have seemed outlandish in 2001, when headlines declared that 9/11 had rendered irony obsolete and the White House was advising people to “watch what they say” about the attacks. Back then, comedy wanted to get as far away from the tragedy as possible. The Onion canceled its issue scheduled for release on 9/11. Ben Stiller scrambled to cut a shot of the Twin Towers from Zoolander, which premiered just a few weeks after the attacks. Gilbert Gottfried was shamed for cracking a 9/11 joke at a roast for Hugh Hefner. “Too soon” became a refrain.

But comedy, as the saying goes, is tragedy plus time. So what kind of joke is 9/11 25 years later?

It depends on who is making the joke, in which context, and to what end, as,........

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