A scene from Werner Herzog’s documentary, Encounters at the End of the World, has gone viral on the internet. In the clip, a single penguin can be seen walking towards the mountains away from the herd. Dubbed the “nihilist penguin,” it has become an internet sensation over the past weeks. The clip has been used in multiple contexts on social media platforms.
Here’s why ‘Nihilist Penguin’ is trending
While there is no exact reason why the “nihilist penguin” meme is trending, the subject matter of the video and its intact modern-day context may have a role in this.
It is a clip, borrowed from legendary filmmaker Werner Herzog’s Encounters at the End of the World. In it, a single penguin can be seen deviating from the herd. The penguin can be further seen inexplicably walking inland. It is moving away from its colony, the sea, and potential food sources. It travels towards the mountains of Antarctica, and, as noted by Herzog, towards a certain death.
With little clear explanation of why it did this, scientists have listed confused, magnetic fields, or a calling that humans are yet to decipher as possible reasons.
The reason this clip has gone viral on social media is because of its relatability. Circulated in multiple different contexts, this meme has come to represent everything from human despair. It tells the perils of a modern society, and even the collapsing state of the world. Many have also used the clip to denote the humans who have chosen their own path in a world that is increasingly following only patterns.
Moreover, the clip has come to resonate with the biggest modern problems like burnout, existential crisis, and brewing quiet rebellion.
Essentially, like memes have already become a reflection of the existing society and its qualms, this particular meme seemingly captures what most people are feeling anyway with global politics and the environment in a more unsteady state than ever before.
Additionally, the White House and Homeland Security also used this clip for their memes. But the move received universal backlash.
