Ultra Rich Kids Are Posting Pictures Of Themselves Falling Out Of Lambos And Private Jets
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#TFW you trip in your red-soled Louboutins while getting out of your Porsche, and your drop all your stuff on the ground! Your Yves St. Laurent makeup, Gucci bag, casual day-wear tiara, champagne glass, Chanel shopping bags. What a mess.
Oh wait — are you not a rich, privileged millennial? My bad.
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The ‘falling stars’ meme started as a viral hashtag challenge in August, and was taken up by wealthy young Russians staging pictures of themselves falling out of private jets and sports cars, with luxury items arranged around them. The trend caught on globally, with Instagram posts from the uber-rich in India and Australia added to the mix of Russian oligarch kids.
But when it hit Weibo, China’s social media platform, it blew up. Re-named the ‘flaunt your wealth’ challenge, there have already been 1 million messages and 2.3 billion views for the hashtag. The South China Morning Post also reports that it’s resulted in fines and penalties (you would think that, after Fan Bingbing, people would be wary about flaunting their money).
Essentially, this trend is about carefully curating a display of personal wealth. It’s no wonder that many people in countries like China (and India), where the economic disparity between classes is enormous and upward mobility is next to impossible, people can’t take these rich kids seriously. So, spurred on by the communist government that loves using propaganda, the mocking of the falling stars meme is now it’s own viral trend. Satirical memes by broke students, government workers, and even cats, are flooding the internet. And they’re actually kind of hilarious.
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So if you see someone, face-down surrounded by their possessions, whether it’s gym equipment, work supplies, or just literal wads of cash, you should know we’re way beyond planking now. Thank you internet, for your services. We’re done here.
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Written By Nadia Nooreyezdan
Nadia Nooreyezdan is The Swaddle’s culture editor. Since graduating from Columbia Journalism School, she spends her time thinking about aliens, cyborgs, and social justice sci-fi. She’s also working on a memoir about her family’s journey from Iran to India.
