The Bird Box Craze Has Gone Too Far
It’s great when a pop culture phenomenon comes along and gives everyone that too often experience of The Monoculture. It’s less great when that film starts to become an annoying shorthand for “I have been on the Internet.” And it’s officially over-the-top and bad when people are injuring themselves. To wit: Bird Box. It started as a meme factory and evolved into a monster hit for Netflix. Now, it’s everywhere and we can’t escape it and we are ready for it to go away, please.
According the the Los Angeles Times, fans of the film have been descending en masse on the Monrovia, California home where part of the movie was filmed to take pictures recreating key moments. The owners of the seven-bedroom Craftsman were reportedly paid $12,000 for letting the filmmakers use the exterior of their home, not a bad price to make your block a tourist curiosity. But will people start ringing the doorbell one day? Probably. People are dumb.
Here’s proof: The Bird Box Challenge! It’s unclear what exactly the “challenge” is or how it’s accomplished, but the gist is that people are blindfolding themselves and then trying to do difficult activities. With kids and dogs and innocent bystanders around. The official Netflix Twitter account even had to weigh in, tweeting, “Can’t believe I have to say this, but: PLEASE DO NOT HURT YOURSELVES WITH THIS BIRD BOX CHALLENGE. We don’t know how this started, and we appreciate the love, but Boy and Girl have just one wish for 2019 and it is that you not end up in the hospital due to memes.”
Can you imagine going to the Emergency Room and writing on your intake form, “Reason for visit: Memes.”?
Actually, we know who is to blame here. We know who took Bird Box from horror hit to The Thing Everyone Had To Have An Opinion On And Participate In. Her name is Kim Kardashian West. She tweeted about watching the movie and not coincidentally, all hell has broken loose. Be careful out there, and take off the blindfold, please.
Related: Bird Box Is On Track To Be Netflix’s Most Popular Film Ever
2019 Golden Globes: See Nominees Lady Gaga, Nicole Kidman, and More in the Pages of W
Lady Gaga nominated for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture — Drama. Photograph by Katherine Wolkoff for W Magazine, December 2007.
Bradley Cooper nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture — Drama and Best Director. Photograph by Tim Walker for W Magazine, February 2015.
Viggo Mortensen nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture — Musical or Comedy. Photograph by Craig McDean for W Magazine, February 2017.
Emily Blunt nominated for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture — Musical or Comedy. Photograph by Nigel Shafran for W Magazine, October 2007.
Mahershala Ali nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role. Photograph by Craig McDean for W Magazine, February 2017.
Nicole Kidman nominated for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture — Drama. Photograph by Craig McDean for W Magazine, February 2017.
Charlize Theron nominated for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture — Musical or Comedy. Photograph by Mert and Marcus for W Magazine, May 2015.
Rami Malek nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture — Drama. Photograph by Mario Sorrenti for W Magazine, October 2016.
Emma Stone nominated for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role. Photograph by Craig McDean for W Magazine, February 2017.
Sandra Oh nominated for Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series — Drama. Photograph by Caitlin Cronenberg for W Magazine, September 2016.
Melissa McCarthy nominated for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture — Drama. Photograph by Mario Sorrenti for W Magazine, February 2012.
Willem Dafoe nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture — Drama. Photograph by Caitlin Cronenberg for W Magazine, September 2017.
Julia Roberts nominated for Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series — Drama. Photograph by Mario Sorrenti for W Magazine, October 2012.
Timothée Chalamet nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role. Photograph by Juergen Teller for W Magazine, January 2018.
Hugh Grant nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Limited Series. Photograph by Ellen Von Unwerth for W Magazine, October 2016.
Amy Adams nominated for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role and Best Performance by an Actress in a Limited Series. Photograph by Craig McDean for W Magazine, February 2017.
Sam Rockwell nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role. Photograph by Juergen Teller for W Magazine, January 2018.
Thandie Newton nominated for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series or Limited Series. Photograph by Mona Kuhn for W Magazine, August 2016.
Lucas Hedges nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture — Drama. Photograph by Craig McDean for W Magazine, February 2017.
Claire Foy nominated for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role. Photograph by Alasdair McLellan for W Magazine, July 2017.
Adam Driver nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role. Photograph by Craig McDean for W Magazine, February 2017.
Alison Brie nominated for Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series — Musical or Comedy. Photograph by Paul Jasmin for W Magazine, March 2015.
Keri Russell nominated for Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series — Drama. Photograph by Alasdair McLellan for W Magazine, August 2017.
