Brenda stood in her living room, arms flailing to a TikTok beat only she could hear. Her hair was in a ’90s-style high ponytail, and her sneakers squeaked like they were auditioning for a horror movie. She’d spent three hours perfecting the “Renegade” dance, only to learn it was 2020’s vintage. By 2023, the trend had evolved into “The Squat Challenge,” where participants squatted for 30 seconds while reciting lines from *The Office*. Brenda, however, was still stuck on “Baby Shark.”
“You’re doing it wrong,” her neighbor, Dave, said, peering through the window. “That’s the ‘Buss It’ dance. You look like a confused raccoon.”
Brenda ignored him. She’d invested $200 in a glittery leotard and a subscription to TikTok Pro. Her followers had dwindled to her mom, who’d once sent her a comment: “Great job, honey! Now put that phone down and clean your room.”
Then came the “Savage Challenge,” where dancers had to mimic Beyoncé’s moves while holding a salad. Brenda, convinced she’d cracked the code, showed up at the local park in a lettuce costume, arms jerking like a malfunctioning robot. The crowd erupted. A teen snapped a video, captioned: “When you try too hard.” It went viral.
Brenda’s phone buzzed relentlessly. Brands offered her sponsorship deals. She became an accidental meme, a symbol of 2023’s greatest irony: the more you try, the more you fail—until you don’t.
She never mastered the “Savage Challenge.” But she did learn to stop listening to the algorithm. Instead, she started dancing to her old mixtapes, and somehow, everyone followed. Maybe the trend was never the dance—it was the chaos.”,
