A new addition to the popular rage room fad is making waves in Brooklyn, NY, with the self-described “no-contact” rage room offering patrons the opportunity to curl up and hate-scroll Instagram in one of their “bed-centric” rooms.
“I wanted to put my own spin on the concept of a ‘rage room,’” said the owner, Dana Schwartz, who left a rage room a few months ago feeling unsatisfied, and decided to take things into her own hands. “Smashing things just isn’t how I express my rage, and I had a feeling others felt the same.”
Patrons of Schwartz’s cell phone-focused rage room couldn’t agree more.
“I’m not Carrie Underwood, my rage doesn’t manifest in taking a Louisville Slugger to both headlights or slashing a hole in all four tires,” said one patron, Ysabel Noren. “I’m more of a lie in bed, scroll Instagram, unfollow anyone who has ever wronged me, and then later wonder if I had been too brash in unfollowing them’ kind of girl. They also play Fiona Apple over the loudspeakers, which definitely adds to the vibes.”
Another patron, Jamie Williams, had the same feeling.
“It’s so great to finally have a neighborhood spot where I can go and let off some steam,” she told reporters. “And by ‘let off steam’ I mean ‘stalk my ex’s new girlfriend on Instagram and shed tears of anger while looking at pictures of their vacation to Tulum because the furthest he ever took me was to the Wendy’s on the freeway.’”
Schwartz said she’s happy to be able to provide an outlet for the brand of “sad girl anger” that seems prevalent in her community.
When asked why people would choose to come to a rage room when they could just cry and scroll Instagram in their own rooms, Schwartz said the social aspect of the space is what brings people in.
“The objective here is to bring people together through the shared act of catharsis,” she explained to reporters. “Sometimes it’s nice to know that somebody else is seething while scrolling their friend’s Instagram story because they still haven’t gotten a text back. That’s what my rage room is all about.”
At press time, Schwartz had decided to expand her operation, announcing plans to open more rage rooms in the area catering to different types of rage, including a “long, hot shower” room, a “pace around and mutter to yourself” room, and a “binge watch Lord of the Rings until you disassociate and forget why you were ever mad” room.
