Finding Meaning in the Mannequin Challenge

Rae Sremmurd’s “Black Beatles” is the No. 1 song in the country, thanks to a trend in which people fantasize about being frozen in time as if the software that runs all of existence has crashed, or as if a new Vesuvius has encased everyone forever in ash. Perhaps you understand the appeal already.

#TheMannequinChallenge began in late October when students at a Jacksonville high school filmed themselves pretending to be stuck motionless, mid-pose, as if they were modeling slacks at Macy’s. The clip gained traction online and other people started to make their own versions, many set to the bubbling-up rap track “Black Beatles” for no real reason at all. (“It’s my favorite song,” the 17-year-old who first paired the tune and the trend told The New York Times.) Even the greatest haters of internet culture, even those who somehow see signs of civilizational decline in planking and the running man, have to admit the meme is a pretty joyful thing, capturing football teams, gymnastic squads, and dogs turning life into fresco.

Colony high school