motorcycle monkey
Animals

Video Of A Monkey Trying To Kidnap A Toddler Is The Unexpected Meme Of Quarantine

A video taken a week or so ago in East Java, Indonesia, has made its way to the U.S. to absolutely blow everyone’s minds. While people in Indonesia likely understand what’s happening (more or less) in context, for people unfamiliar with a traditional topeng monyet performance (a form of street entertainment that literally translates to “masked monkey”), it’s blowing mental fuses. The Indonesia Expat reports that topeng monyet is banned, but obviously still happens—though maybe not so much after this.

In the video, a monkey rides up to a family on a tiny motorcycle. It leaps off, grabs a toddler, and drags her halfway down the street before letting go and scampering off. The toddler is clearly upset, but they get up and wander back to the rest of their family. I had to watch it a few times to process what I was seeing:

This is apparently not what is “supposed” to happen and the monkey was punished for attacking a child by its handler. That seems unfair, because if I were a monkey forced to learn to ride a motorcycle, I would attack as many humans as possible. Then I’d take the tiny motorcycle and ride into the sunset. Unfortunately, he’s on a leash.

Despite the dark and sinister undertones of this video, lots of people were amused by the surreal display. It really is such a weird sequence of events. It quickly became the “Motorcycle Monkey” meme, and popped up all over Twitter in different contexts:

Some people built out the world, imagining the toddler getting their revenge or inventing a whole world of monkeys attacking children because they deserve it:

May these memes lead to freedom for all monkeys.

More of the worst and best memes of 2020:

Aimeé Lutkin