Picture this: in broad daylight, a rapid seven-minute smash-and-grab leaves a nation reeling—and a stolen $102 million worth of jewelry gone. One of the only clues left behind is an ornate golden crown worn by Empress Eugénie during her rule in the 1800s. Is this the trailer for the ninth Mission Impossible movie? Not quite; it’s the real-life story of the 2025 Louvre Heist, a robbery so astonishing that it seems like it was pulled straight from a movie. It is a heavy cultural loss to France, with eight priceless treasures being stolen. So why are people making memes out of it?

Much of why the Louvre heist is treated with such levity can be stemmed from the fact that many aspects of the theft can be seen as absurd. In order to enter the building, the thieves used a truck-mounted ladder to reach a second-floor window of the Gallery of Apollo, then cut through the window with power tools—in broad daylight. How were they not spotted? According to French media, the area that was raided was covered by a single CCTV camera that was facing the wrong direction. Since the heist, the Louvre has been criticized for investing in new artworks and exhibitions rather than basic maintenance and security. According to the BBC, from 2018-2024, the museum was found to have spent €168.9m ($196 million) on buying new artworks and exhibition spaces, compared to only €86.2m ($100 million) on maintenance and museum restoration. The basic upkeep of the museum was neglected, and suddenly, the stunning ease that the thieves seemed to break into the Louvre with became much more reasonable. The final cherry on top: according to an employee, the password to the Louvre’s video surveillance system before and during the heist was “Louvre.”

The eight items that were stolen were all crown jewels of Napoleon, his wife, and successors, with the most notable being the famous reliquary brooch of Empress Eugénie. Since the pieces are easily recognizable, their future is bleak: they will likely be broken down and the gems will be sold individually. The theft of these historical items has caused major outcry in France, with President Emmanuel Macron characterizing it as “an attack on a heritage that we cherish.” However, after a few days on the Internet, the seriousness of the situation was dulled by a flurry of memes. Take the Louvre robber Halloween costume; easy to put together, this outfit only requires black clothes, a bright yellow vest (taken from footage of the robbers), and fake jewelry. Or the viral “Louvre detective,” a sharply-dressed man who was photographed next to three police officers and was speculated to be a private investigator. (In reality, the man was identified as a fifteen-year-old detective enthusiast.) Both memes are subjectively funny, but diminish the gravity of the theft. The items stolen are likely to never be seen again, and a major part of French culture has been lost.

In spite of what the official representatives of France say, many French citizens in a wild turn of events surprisingly supported the robbery. While President Macron had an official article to give his statement, the French public took their own platforms. On Twitter, Instagram, Reddit, and more, people expressed how they were in support of the robbers stealing the jewels, saying that they were breaking centuries-old capitalism and finally returning the money to the French public. Of course, the robbers would have used the money they made for their own wealth, and the French people lost part of their history, but many of them still view their royal jewels as a burden. They view it as a symbol of the rich, not something in support of French people, because the money as they see it was taken from them when it was rightfully theirs. It seems people are beginning to abandon traditional values in favor of liberating themselves a little more than they previously were.

With the wide array of emotions the Louvre heist caused, it is only natural that a cultural shift was ignited. From fury to jokes to a change in values, the Louvre Heist revealed the ongoing revolution in France against the wealthy and a worldwide obsession with appearances. But this change in cultural values serves as a reminder that Gen Z is not letting anything get past our revolutionary humor. Considering the political and societal turmoil happening right now, especially in the United States, this humor might just be exactly what is needed to bring about the change that freedom requires. So, let’s learn from the French by taking the unconventional road when it comes to our politics and prioritizing current human issues—and laughs—over any centuries-old tradition.