Situational irony: The opposite of what you think - Christopher Warner
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- čas přidán 2. 08. 2024
- View full lesson: ed.ted.com/lessons/situational...
Leaps and bounds separate that which is ironic and that which many people simply say is ironic. Christopher Warner wants to set the record straight: Something is ironic if and only if it is the exact opposite of what you would expect.
Lesson by Christopher Warner, animation by Ben Pearce.
Irony is " I'll just carry the cake myself to save money." "NO! We can't risk dropping it. We have to hire a professional." And then the pro drops it.
Yes! Only example I read that actually feels like irony. Its a special feeling after all. Like "face palm".
jesusthroughmary tru
Its the same example like in the video but by a nerative writing
What if he actually makes it himself and doesn't trip? Is that irony too?
@@MrGamelover23 depends on if you expect him to fall
It would truly be ironic to die in a living room!
+Hammy Hatif Is that really ironic tho? Because the name of a living room has nothing to do with what we expect from it. We thing of it as a common place. We do not expect ourselves to be immortal within the bounds of the room. So by his definition, because we do not expect immortality, the opposite of that, or death, is not actually ironic.
+Hammy Hatif But it's a clever pun nonetheless.
+FaKe_Penguin note there are actually 3 kinds of irony, but yes that would just be an interesting play on words, and is not any kinda of irony.
Kevin Rosenberg I know situational and dramatic irony. What is the third kind?
+FaKe_Penguin verbal irony - this is where we say something irregular (usually a sarcastic over/under exaggeration).
eg: getting pulled over for speeding and saying, "thanks officer, this ticket really brightened up my day!"
There was this raffle for school attendance and this kid won. But on that day he didn't turn up to school. So he won an award for always attending school but didn't attend school on that day.
Roan Nair Now that's ironic!
A raffle is randomly drawn, not an award given for something specific! Your situation doesn't make sense.
It could be that there were many kids who always attended school, and so they had to have a raffle for the one kid who could win the award
Roan Nair thanks creepy
So ironic
So, if you expect irony, does it lose its irony?
that's ironic that you think that
+turtlelover564 don't ya think?
+Jeikobu Kooruman Wow
+Jeikobu Kooruman aare you being ironic?
+Jeikobu Kooruman that's an example of the reverse tinkerbell effect. Merely believing in something can mean it doesn't happen and/or isn't true.
Example...Someone has "nothing is written in stone" on their grave.
Benjamin Lehman not ironic, but something like a fitness gym with escalators or a dentist with bad teeth, then that is ironic
+The legendary bub >> Wrong, +Benjamin Lehman's example *is* indeed ironic. "Nothing is written in stone", but it's written in stone.
tyrroo, the legendary hub is at least partially right. You wouldn't expect a fitness gym having something a lazy person would want to replace their stairs, or a person whose job is to fix people's teeth to have neglected the state of their own teeth.
crazy4bricks the brick brothers he’s saying that Benjamin is right about his example. He didn’t mention the other examples.
No because that was done intentionally... so when a doctor gets sick... that’s irony...
If the Titanic had been named "Unsinkable", would that be Irony?🚢
Yes lol
Yes
Yes unfortunately
I think that’s the worst kind
that would be yes lmao
*Things I hate:*
*1. Writing comments*
*2. Irony*
*3. Lists*
Are you trying to be ironic?
@@kalki3060 😱😱😱😱
What the-
Ironic
yep a good example of irony
My brother calling me a son of a bitch - that's ironic.
How is that ironic? Your mom saying that would've been more ironic but not your brother
+Tac Nayn Because we have the same mother. If I'm a son of a bitch, then so is he. He just called himself a son of a bitch.
CeeJayDK oooohhhh.....
+CeeJayDK That's real funny. Heck. Both either your brother, mother would be boomerang insults that come back at them. What would have been smooth would be if it was your father, who was mad at both you and his wife and called you that right in front of your mother--genius insult that goes over head, especially if she's doing something else.
+CeeJayDK My sister called me a son of a bitch (more than) once. It was funny. And also, I'm not a guy, therefore I'm not a son. Does this make it even more ironic? I haven't fully grasped the concept of irony yet :)
One day when I was walking down my school hallway I was singing to myself (I can see clearly now the rain is gone, I can see all the obstacles in my way) as soon as I sang the part of being able to see all the obstacles in my way, I tripped over a garbage can. I was not paying attention because I was singing and my head were in the clouds. I always thought that was irony but it does not seem to fit this definition.
+Violet Tippet i think your situation was ironic !
+Violet Tippet its a coincidence but not irony
+Violet Tippet That's because this definition is wrong, don't worry.
+alexander 5292003 There's no such thing as a coincidence! Only the Illuminati!
+Violet Tippet Since your focus was on "to see all the obstacles in my way" while you were distracted and tripped over an obstacle you didn't see, I would say that is ironic. The opposite of what was said was manifested.
Thanks for noting the distinction, @BluePhantomCavalier. And thanks to everyone for the feedback. Yep, this video focuses on "situational irony." Expect vids on comedic & dramatic irony in coming months.
hey!
16 likes and one reply on a comment by the publisher, free way to get some early replies😅
I saw a crease on an ironing board cover and I said... that's iron-ic!
And punny
Ha ha very punny
Did you know that ferrous metals are ironic?
GregoryTheGr8ster I get it ;D
What's a crease
So I am the only person on earth who actually knew what irony was before this video because I corrected my teacher once on this and she said I was wrong even though I 100% right
+adrian murillo Me too! I've corrected my mother, my friends and a bunch of other people on it before seeing this video and they all told me I was wrong.
Wow. What kind of teacher is that.
+adrian murillo I knew, and was kind of surprised to hear it was commonly misunderstood. I've never heard anyone misuse the word like the guy laughing about the cake did. So I watched a video about irony thinking I'd learn something new, but got what I'd thought was common knowledge. How ironic.
+adrian murillo Never get baffled away by any authority. If you simply apply your own judgement and carefully think things through you're surprised how often extremely large groups of people are just plain wrong. They mindlessly adopt the popular standpoint.
+SE45CX , totally agree. I have a teacher who says "I could care less".
is a tattoo saying nothing lasts forever situational irony
well, is it the opposite of what we expect? I say yes. It's the opposite of what we'd expect for to see a message saying everything is impermanent through a medium that is permanent
Isaac Millan I don't think so. There are enough examples of people getting significant others' names as tattoos and those relationships don't always last. There's not an expectation that someone gets a tattoo that says "Forever." That's not irony. I consider those just contrary ideas.
Isaac Millan I'd say that is irony because the tattoo will last forever essentially...
It's not irony, nothing truly lasts forever. By the looks of it, the universe itself only has a few dozen billion years left in it.
Isaac Millan hmm i think that is oxymoron
My favorite instance of irony is Alanis Morissette's song, "Ironic." You see, the song contains a bunch of events that the song is calling ironic. However, none of those things are actually ironic at all. They are just unfortunate.
The great part about this is that the fact that none of the examples in the song are ironic actually makes the song itself ironic.
So basically, Alanis Morissette is either a master of meta-humor, or an idiot. Either way, I think it's pretty funny. =P
Given her inability to sing, I'd say the fact it became a hit is ironic. That might say more about the idiocy of that culture. I've never liked any of her jingles. Midtown traffic in Manhattan sound about the same as her mouth.
I listened (watched) to the video after your comment. Thanks; so true!
I always thought of Irony as situations where you take actions to prevent something from happening, but the actions you took are they very thing that make it happen.
Me too now video has me confused
thats an example of irony, yes.
Who the hell even thought ironic was a synonym of funny? I've never seen anyone using this word like that
+Mykomatos irony is almost always humourous; even its etymology rudhro.wordpress.com/2011/08/07/irony-as-humour/
Yes! Thank you! I was very confused by this video! They introduced a new, wrong, way to use the word irony that I've never heard of before!
Just cuz you don't understand something or have prior knowledge of it, doesn't make it "wrong"....stay humble
a good place to die Uhm. I think maybe there is a misunderstanding here. I do understand what irony is, and so I agree with this video and I agree with that article you linked. What confused me was that I didn't even know there was an issue to begin with. I didn't know it was common to misue the word ironic like they examplify in this video.
Funny≠Ironic≠Random≠Funny
Thank you for enlightening me Ted Ed. I didn't realize I was mislabeling so many situations.
We can't forget the more recently discovered Schrodinger-Morisette Irony:
In 1996, a Canadian folk singer named Alanis Morisette released a single titled "Ironic". All example similes listed in the lyrics described situations of bad luck and -- despite the song's title -- did not list a single example of situational irony. Many people found this fact to be ironic.
Who’s watching this cuz there teacher made them
I watched this because of my English teacher
@@user-lw7le3bp8d here we go again
I can see you don’t pay attention in English
That grandma is a badass
+monira akther Then it's not irony.
what ironic is that this video explains irony WRONG
its not enough to have your expectations proven wrong to have irony
it has to be the exact opposite, the mirror image of expectations
so, the cake walker it ironic, but the grandma isnt. because its just unexpected, but not directly opposite.
It is ironic however that she has antiquated devices while carrying a smartphone, as you definitely would not expect someone who owns a smartphone to also own a rotary dial phone and phonograph.
It's rather coincidental that ANOTHER you-"tuber" (emphasis on tuber, because of your potato-like reasoning abilities) is wrong. You're probably just upset that you've been using this word wrong your whole life, and can't except the correction.
'except' or 'accept' ?
Cool dick, bro.
Glenn Hubbard
LoL. You are the Dunning-Kruger effect in action. Thanks for the laugh.
Escalators leading up to a gym
Irony
Secret beach that way --->
Irony
My friends spent a whole half hour trying to explain irony to me. I finally got it when they used the example of a Olympic swimmer drowning.
Thanks for explaining irony to me; I would never have known what it meant without this extremely informational and technically detailed video. Thank you. You might just have saved someone's life...
2:58 My grandma when she’s late to church
This video helped me understand the true meaning of irony, I couldn't find it's proper meaning in dictionaries, thanks.
When you engage in creating a story though, there are 3 types of irony. He presented the first one, but he didn't mention irony of the audience (when a character makes the wrong decision because they don't have the same knowledge of the audience), or irony of the characters, which is when they make a decision to do something that goes against them despite then trying to serve their own ends
I thank you for the enlightenment that would otherwise not have manifested within my life. I truly appreciate such action. I wish for you to go on and enlighten more individuals whom have not been enlightened.
Straight to the point , i never understood irony before this at all😂. Great video bro , really helped me👊
What's ironic is Paul walker dying in a car wreck.
Thank you. This was such a clear explanation. I will go forth with confidence.
Loved how you said "back in my day"!!
"A brick cell phone from the 1980s'. In my 1980s, not every household even had a landline.
1:18 It would also count as ironic if the sidekick did trip but somehow misses the cake entirely
For 16 years i didn't know what is ironic/ironi until I watched this THANK YOU TED-ED FOR YOUR HELP 😆😆
I love how this video was 10 years ago but still had good quality in their videos
No Alanis that's tragic not ironic. (Though maybe the real irony is a song called ironic, doesn't actually have an irony in it)
What about counter irony? Like if you're watching a horror movie and the stigma is for the black guy to die first even tho he is the strongest among the campers, but he didn't die first. You expected the unexpected, but reality brought the unexpected back to the expected reality. So it's ironic that it's not ironic or am I missing something?
Hello i think i like you. Let me explain to you counter-irony (one of my favorite forms of irony).
What you just said is actually counter irony and you didnt come up with the name it already exists. As an ironic meme lord let me give you an example of a counter-meme or counter ironic meme (a counter-meme uses pre-ironic memes, the most mainstream memes, 9gag, ghetto memes, etc which is considered like a taboo by us IM and changes them ironically,or sarcastically which is maybe a better term for it). For instance, lets take the "get you a man who can do both" meme followed by a hearty-eyes emoji with a picture of Drake in baggy shorts and a cap, and one with a classy outfit. Now keep the same caption and keep the cancer emoji ironically then change drake to bruce jenner and caitlyn jenner, a man who can do both ;)
Thank you for this explanation it was straightforward and easy to comprehend.
This is perfect for my finals review. Thank you so much for posting these videos! I love you guys!!! !!! ! !
Me replaying this 100mil times, still wondering what irony is.
So....it's not like rain on your wedding day?
Is it a reference? 😉
Or a free ride when you've already paid?
How about a house on fire when it is raining!
no girl, it's not even that good advice that you just didn't take...lol yes it's a reference.
meikoblock Or is it a traffic jam when you're already late?
I have to come back and watch this every couple of years.
Finally, I now have a clear understanding of "irony". Thank you!
The cake carrier's situation is not ironic. What would be ironic is if he suffocated eating cake at his promotion to chief cake carrrier. That's irony .
What?
Definitely
shouldn't he drop the cake at the promotion for it to be ironic?
+Jeffry Maiato not necessarily. Him choking on the cake and dying is more ironic.
+Jeffry Maiato no the irony lies in the fact that he works with cakes and the thing that's his job is what kills him.
The grandma one would only be ironic if due to her aversion to new technology she still had a rotary phone and when a medical emergency ensued she was unable to press 1 on her phone when prompted . Thus unable to reach the proper department and get assistance in time. That's irony.
Or the physicist who gave us the Uncertainty Principle later failing to give his country an atomic bomb, but taking to his grave the secret of whether he was a "good" Nazi who just made honest mistakes, or a secret anti-Nazi who subtly sabotaged the project, giving us the OTHER Heisenberg uncertainty principle.
FINALLY!~ The misuse and overuse of the word "irony" has bugged me for years. Great clarification!
I’ve been thinking about this so much it’s driving me crazy
Did anyone see the reference to dipper and mabel from gravity falls???
Jacob Pantoja Lovely! The grandma's grand kids do look like Dipper and Mabel indeed! Check out the other videos about types of irony by this guy- the characters have the same Gravity Falls-ish design as the ones in this vid do :)
Watching this instead of doing my homework.
This is the coolest grandmother I've ever seen.
I was doing homework about irony and got distracted on youtube leading myself into a series of ted talks and ending up on a video lesson about irony.
It's ironic that a person explaining irony doesn't know what irony is.
+Amar Ganbold DIPSHIT, HE WAS EXPLAINING SITUATIONAL IRONY, NOT LITERAL IRONY. YOUR STATEMENT IS DOUBLY IRONIC, BECAUSE THE GUY IN THE VIDEO IS LITERALLY 100% CORRECT. XD
WAIT WAIT WAIT.. SO HOW WHEN U TRIP U HAVE THE PERFECT TIME TO PUT THE CAKE DOWN BUT THEN TRIPS OVER AIR AND FALL IN THE CAKE!!!, PLZ MAKE A BETTER EXAMPLE
The way you explain, it almost sounds as if unexpected = ironic. Without exception.
My grandma was actually in a motorcycle group, but it was when she was younger
Isn't the first scenario ironic though, because he was walking with a cake, thus it was a cake-walk (something supposedly simple and easy), but then he messed it up (thus the task was hard)
Not if it was a really big cake no one could walk with without dropping the cake
Tom Van Eyck
A cake is still a cake though, thus either way it's a cake walk.
While the cake itself my have been ironic given your particular scenario; the topic was't brought up in the video. You're manufacturing arguments, which just makes you look silly. Context is everything.
Glenn Hubbard
How am I manufacturing arguments, did you see the beginning of the video?
Surely intent is also involved? If we just go by this video's definition, all surprises where the opposite thing happens are ironic. That can't be right.
Ben McKenna wtffff mindblowb
Yeah, twists of fate is what makes irony, not deliberation.
"the expression of one's meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite, typically for humorous or emphatic effect: ‘Don't go overboard with the gratitude,’ he rejoined with heavy irony."
Thank You! I know have a much better understanding of irony!
Well if someone that is a professional cake walker comes in carrying a large four-layer cake, wouldn't that be too expected that he will trip? Especially if it's comedy?
There's two situations going on:
The first is what you'd expect as a viewer. The second is what you'd expect in real life.
As a viewer, it would not be ironic because you'd expect the person to drop the cake.
In real life, you'd expect the person to be more careful and not drop the cake.
Comedy plays with "real life" irony to present humor.
There's two situations going on:
The first is what you'd expect as a viewer. The second is what you'd expect in real life.
As a viewer, it would not be ironic because you'd expect the person to drop the cake.
In real life, you'd expect the person to be more careful and not drop the cake.
Comedy plays with "real life" irony to present humor.
Is it ironic if you arrive late at the traffic conference because you were actually stuck in traffic
+Toboto No, it's not really expected for them to be on time. In fact, I think that would be sort of an expected result. If someone was hosting a conference to talk about the most boring and unpleasant thing being traffic. We'll I would hope traffic is a pretty big problem to host a conference. Imo...
Irony-because of traffic, you're late to a conference that is praising the low amount of traffic in the community.
That cake medal made me giggle :)
Irony is when the can of rust-removing material is rusted on the INSIDE, but the rust-remover WORKS and the can is FULL.
why else got this from there English teacher
me 😔
Example: The doctor is sick.
When I was very little, I was dragging my sleepy cousin to class, telling her that we would be late. I turned around, ran straight into a corner, busted my forehead, and had to go to the ER. So, she wasnt late for class but I ended missing the whole day. *How ironic.*
En español no tenemos ese problema. No confundimos lo gracioso con lo irónico. No decimos que un hecho sea irónico porque no responde a las expectativas (lo que conlleva más variables que las que trata el vídeo) sino que referimos a lo irónico sólo en el lenguaje, cuando decimos exactamente lo opuesto de lo que se quiere decir (y al que le demos casi siempre cierta carga peyorativa).
I don't really like your examples. If the person falling into the cake had just said that he hated clowns and their stupid jokes about smashing cakes in each other's face, and by falling himself into a cake, he made everyone laugh, THAT would have been irony. Irony is subtle..
Like a fire station on fire
That's classical situational irony. Another example is a building called "THE TORCH" on fire
That's classical situational irony. Another example is a building called "THE TORCH" on fire
That's classless irony non situational, because you said it twice
With a jar of masonry
Thank you for addressing this. Irritating think coincidences and irony are the same
Irritating seeing people who think coincidental and ironic mean the same thing*
I would argue that situations only are ironic, when there's a clear percieved intention in the agents action, and that irony happens when the expected outcome of an action turns out to be the complete opposite in one or more areas. For instance being killed by your own creation, meant for killing others, is ironic,
That's not true irony either. True irony is, making sure that you hire a cake carrying company, with a cake-walk gold medalist emoloyee, to carry your cake for you out of fear that you would drop it, and then he drops it... Irony is not just simply that he is a cake-walk medalist and drops a cake.
True irony would be, sending your dog outside to scare away that anoying cat, and having the cat scare your dog right back into the house, tail tucked. Irony is not just simply seeing a cat chasing a dog.
True irony would be, buying your grandmother a typewriter instead if a computer, for fear that she wouldn't know how to use the advanced technology, only to have her tell you that she's better at using a computer because it's been so long since she used a typewriter, that she forgot how...
you failed to explain the difference between this kind of irony and stereotypes. your ex. of elders being out of touch with tech is a big stereotype.
I was explaining this to the Chinese guy that I tutor. I told him that if something is within the realm of possibility to happen in a given situation, then it's a funny coincidence, but not irony. But if something that happens is something seemingly impossible, then it is unexpected or opposite from the expected outcome, which makes it ironic. I gave the example of whistling for a dog to come. If you whistled for your dog to come to you and a cat showed up instead, it's not ironic. Why? It's very possible for a cat to respond to cues or to be trained like a dog. So, while it's surprising, it's not impossible, and therefore not ironic. If you whistled for your dog to come, but the sound of the whistling made him kill over and die, that's ironic, because the very thing you used to try to summon the dog was the one thing that made it impossible for him to come to you. At least, those are the examples I used 😅
Whoa.
You just blew my mind.
*ponders*
So is it ironic if you meet an italian who doesn't like pasta, or an asian who doesn't like rice, or a black guy who doesn't like watermelon? Or is it just racist?
Neither. This question is, however, racist.
Anders Lindh Olsson
But it's ironic to see an old woman riding a chopper because old women stereotypically don't do that. So any person of a group who doesn't conform to their perceived stereotypes is ironic. Like a Jock who loves ballet, or a nerd who's smooth with women, or a college student who isn't offended by everything.
Yes, but the problem here is with the stereotype. Stereotypes can be defined as expected (true or not) characteristics of a group, in which case it's a valid point, but I would not say that those stereotypes are reasonable.
Anders Lindh Olsson
Stereotypes are based on what is expected or what is probable. It's purely conjecture based on hearsay or misnomers.
It's ironic when you find out ostriches don't put their head in the sand even though they don't do then except in cartoons. Just because it's inherently not true, it can still be expected based on our limited knowledge.
It shouldn't be reasonable to assume every old person doesn't drive a motor cycle because the truth is any human could be capable of operating one, it's only our prejudices of how we think old women act that cause us not to expect it.
So shouldn't the same standards be applied to an Italian who don't like pasta? Most people love pasta, and italians are synonymous with it's creation (though they didn't really create it) and it's ubiquity in culinary culture. It would be safe to assume every italian liked pasta, and be ironic when you find someone of italian descent who doesn't.
My point is that being aware of a stereotype doesn't mean you believe in it. Even if know of claims that ostriches put their heads in the sand, you still wouldn't expect that behaviour.
boo, TED-ed. i expected more precision from you. irony isn't merely the opposite of what you expect. a cat chasing a dog, or a tech-savvy grandmother are not ironic - they are merely unexpected (and maybe even funny). now we have you and alanis to blame for confusion over this term.
I love how everytime Ted ed reaches a subscriber count and it is
X.9 like rn it's 17.9 I was there when it hit 13.9 and made a screen shot everytime 14.9 15.9 etc
I lived in Maine for 10 years and the town next to where I lived was chock full of Irony. For example, the Jewish Synagogue, Etz Chaim, was on... wait for it... BACON STREET! Seriously? The Police Station was also on Bacon Street. I went for a hike along the Saco River and found two signs next to one another,one explained that dog waste was a threat to our health and well being and the other said "City of Biddeford Sewer Outfall #5"
That this well stated explanation of irony has 177 dislikes as of 7/26/2015, is ironic!
My life is riddled with irony, misunderstandings, good intentions gone bad, Murphy's Law, etc. At 54 I am beginning to see the silver lining in all of this, going from tragedy to comedy. I still have a ways to go, though. Are we all on Candid Camera or something?
Personally, I find the first example ironic because I expected the "bumbling sidekick" to trip, drop the cake on it's side and come out of it without falling, although the cake is destroyed. What happens in the animation however is that he drops the cake, it *perfectly lands* and then he falls on it, destroying it.
The ending was very detailed 🙂
There's a song called ironic by bo burnham that captures the soul of irony completely. It's also super catchy.
Some people say that if most people use a word a certain way, it automatically becomes the correct way to use the word.
I love you, TEDed
my classmate's nickname in our group chat is "i love myself (irony)"
i got SO mad afterwards cause she misused it and i BELIEVE she is referring to *sarcasm,* not irony.
EDIT: i did not correct her yet, even though i want to. whats funny is, she got 39/40 in the english test, but misused "irony"
Technically, it is irony, but not this kind. It is verbal irony, when a speaker intends the opposite of what they're saying. If there's attitude to it, it's sarcasm.
Not the Grandma walking to her bike at the end of the vid🤣🤣🤣
Great! Love it!
Thank you!
Whether they do or do not, it is not expected or widely known that they do, and therefore the example stays relevant.
Fun Fact: Most dogs are actually afraid of cats since cats claws sometimes gets stuck in a dog's nose not to mention all that bleeding they cause. So the example about the Cat chasing the Dog is actually true in most cases.
I watched this knowing the true meaning of irony, so i'm left here like " wait, people ACTUALLY didn't know that irony ment that? wtf! i thought it was just a common knowledge thing!"
I wonder if that's ironic...
It's ironic that you expect people who don't understand irony would sit and watch this video.
This is great for my English class.
thanks! this helps me a lot!
Would you (creator and crowd) say that too much irony could be in some
form bad for the psyche of children and young adults? For example the
cartoon Spongebob is extremly ironic, and when I was a child it gave me a
strange "euphoric" feeling, but it was a somehow "negative" euphoria
even though I didn´t realized that as a child. To which mechanisms of
the psyche could this be related? I can completely remember the
long-lasting feeling that was induced watching so strongly ironic
cartoons and using more and more irony in the daily language as friends
(who of cause as most children also watched those ironic cartoons) were
using it too etc., but I can´t verbalize it as it doesn´t fit in any
psychology field / system in the psyche I know of and I don´t know
enough about psychology to come to a conclusion. A couple of friends
also say that they have a similar feeling about it and can understand
what I mean.
If anyone has similar experiences it would be nice if they would share
it!
thank you! irony has confused me for years
The definition of irony:
Expectation vs reality.
How epic, I don't need this video anymore. I just need the memes.