Jimmy Kimmel’s twerking prank reveals the faults of the mainstream media
Twerking has become a pop culture virus that has infiltrated the veins of mainstream America and late-night TV host Jimmy Kimmel decided to capitalize on the lewd dance by collectively pranking the entire Internet at once. If you haven’t seen the video “Worst Twerk Fail EVER,” you might have been living under a rock for the past week.
The video that has received over 9 million views, depicts a girl getting in the standard twerking position with her hands on the ground and her legs in the air, then she proceeds to fall onto a glass table full of candles and catch on fire when someone opens the door.
After a week or so of letting the views multiply into the millions, “Live!” host Jimmy Kimmel unleashed the knowledge on everyone that the entire thing was a prank when he had the alleged “twerker” Caitlin Heller on the show. Caitlin Heller explained that she was actually Daphne Avalon, an accomplished stuntwoman.
“We shot the video about two months ago.” Kimmel explained. “We put it up and didn’t send it to any TV station. I didn’t tweet it, we didn’t put it on any websites. We just put it up on YouTube and let the magic happen.”
In the extended cut, Kimmel comes into the bedroom dressed in the same pink t-shirt and yoga pants that Heller was wearing and puts out the fire with a fire extinguisher. After telling the world they had just been tricked, Kimmel proceeded to show a montage of news outlets all over the country reporting on the video as fact.
What Kimmel did wasn’t just a fast one pulled on the entire country. It was essentially the late-night host holding up a giant mirror to the mainstream media and showing that outright drivel that our “serious” outlets report on. If you were to ask a person on the street their opinion on the horrific situation in Syria, they would most likely look at you with a blank expression, but if you were to ask their opinion on this infamous “Worst Twerk Fail EVER” video then they would know exactly what you are talking about.
The entirety of the media has become a caricature. The satirical humor in The Onion has become a reality. News that should be reserved for niche media outlets such as The National Enquirer and E News are being reported in The New York Times and CNN. We live in a world where Miley Cyrus’ next embarrassing move is more important then a possible war outbreak that can affect future generations. Twerking isn’t the problem, but the media’s misplaced priorities are.
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