Credits: Social Media
Why TikTok’s Saltburn Challenge is incredibly tone-deaf
Ever since Saltburn was released last month, viewers have been deeply invested in deciphering its meaning, and now, a trend that’s emerged on TikTok inspired by its final scene shows people have completely missed the point of the movie.
With Barry Keoghan playing the role of Ollie and Jacob Elordi as Felix, the closing scene of the film sees the former dancing around his newly-acquired lavish home stripped down to nothing. Although the participants of the new challenge have their clothes on, people think that the trend sidelines the actual message.
What is the ‘Saltburn trend’ on TikTok?
In the final scene of Saltburn, Barry’s character is seen dancing through the halls of the affluent estate to Murder on the Dancefloor by Sophie Ellis-Bextor, and the latest TikTok challenge sees users doing the same, but in their respective fancy homes and luxury hotels.
Although it is viewed as yet another dance challenge inspired by the popular movie scene, the fact that the film focuses on class stratification has led to some looking at the new trend critically.
Further adding to people’s not-so-positive opinion about the trend are captions accompanying the videos depicting the challenge, which come across as if the “rich kids” are doing the challenge only to “flaunt” their fortune.
New York Post reports, that one user was criticized for captioning their video: “POV: you applied to Oxford University 3 years ago and now every weekend is something straight out of Saltburn,” while it showed visibly wealthy students having the time of their lives in an extravagant party.
While another video captioned: “When Saltburn hit a little too close to home”, featuring a TikTok user dancing in a luxurious French estate also garnered similar reactions.
Although viewers thought Saltburn targets the popular slogan – eat the rich – the director of the film, Emerald Fennell, told Polygon she thinks of her film differently. In her words, it is more like “Lick the rich, suck the rich, and then bite the rich, and then swallow them.”
Users think the viral challenge is tone-deaf
The mere fact that rich TikTokers are recreating the scene that celebrates the downfall of the wealthy is not just ironic but also screams ignorance.
Calling the trend out for sidelining the important message the film propagates about the division of class, one user commented: “I love how tone-deaf all the rich people are who are just unburying the headline of Saltburn by pretending they are the main characters.”
Another added: “This proves that Saltburn grasps the ignorance that certain people have about themselves!”
A third user opined: “Just let people do what they want to. I don’t think there’s a deeper meaning to this challenge.”
“They are so self-absorbed that it goes over their head,” read one comment.
