When I was a kid, my dad told me, “If all your friends jumped off a bridge, would you?” It’s always stuck with me, and no, I wouldn’t jump, too. However, viral challenges often come close to that idea, asking people to eat a spoonful of cinnamon or have ice water dumped on them. Those are the simple and safer ones. But as we go further, we get into more dangerous challenges, like the hot chip challenges or reckless stunts like falling off milk crates, and that’s when people start getting hurt.
Enter TMZ, which has made a documentary that warns us about the dangers of these viral challenges, even though their entire channel revolves around viral content. It feels like pearl-clutching, filled with “think of the children” panic, as if social media platforms should be responsible for policing foolish behavior instead of letting natural consequences take their course. Seeing people climbing milk crates like they’re mountains or allowing friends to choke them out is baffling. Meanwhile, you have Harvey Levin expressing concern while profiting off the chaos he condemns. TMZ is a site built on the spectacle of people behaving poorly for the entertainment of the masses.
Let’s not overlook the more significant issues, like rights being stripped away or how some people can express extreme racist views openly now. Meanwhile, someone else is simply eating cinnamon and getting a stomachache!
I ended up watching the whole thing, of course.
You can watch this on Tubi.
