I’ve never watched The Princess Diaries, but apparently the movie features a scene in which Sandra Oh picks up the phone and says:
“Gupta. Mmm-hmmm. Mmm-hmm. Mmm-hmm. The Queen is coming.”
Why that’s worth replicating is beyond me, but apparently there’s a new trend among Tik Tokers to replicate the scene using cats in place of a phone, while holding the cats upside-down and promptly dumping them on the floor immediately afterward.
Why? Who the hell knows.
You can see the bizarre cat-phoning Tik Toks here:
Say it with me now: “Cats are not toys. Cats are not toys. Cats are not toys…”
Veterinarian Dr. Jessica May told Business Insider the obvious, which is that cats aren’t enjoying their forced participation in this meme:
“Many are handled roughly and their body language shows a negative response to having been picked up,” she said. “It is especially concerning to see some cats being held upside down — something that is not only very frightening for the animal but that also puts the pet at risk of head injury if dropped.”
May said she’s also concerned by the way the Tik-Tokers are dropping their cats immediately afterward with no concern for their well-being.
People reenacting the same scene using dogs aren’t manhandling them or just dropping them like a phone, noted Paula Stewart of the Animal Talent Agency.
“I can’t imagine many people holding a dog upside down,” said Stewart. “But I think that we need to realize that animals, cats and dogs are sentient beings. They’ve got emotions like us and we shouldn’t treat them badly.”
It should go without saying, but using Tik-Tok is a bad idea anyway unless you fancy China’s communist government gaining access to your personal information, which is exactly what people are providing by using the service.
Finally, if I was the kind of fool who thought this was funny and tried to reenact it, Buddy would tear my face off.
And you know what? He’d be perfectly right to do so. He’s a sentient animal, not a toy.
“Gupta. Mmm-hmm. Mmm-hmmm. The King is coming, and he’s going to tear your face apart for being a jackass.”
Pain In The Bud 