Has a white rabbit, roads leading to Rome, and the tick-toking sound of a clock been all over your FYP too? Since late October, a trend of impending doom has risen among TikToker users, whether theyâre looking back on past relationships, watching friends slip away, or find their jobs ripped out from under them.Â
In case you havenât seen this trend, users have been pairing videos and photos of their life experiences (usually ones that have ended badly or sadly) with a photo of a white rabbit pointing to a clock, and referencing an ancient quote about Rome. More recently, users are consolidating the quote and photo by simply writing the phrase âstupid rabbitâ over their posts. But, who is this rabbit and why is this format of existential crisis trending?Â
It all starts with the phrase âall roads lead to Rome,â that dates back to the Middle Ages, first appearing in written form in 1175. Although geographically, a map of Europe’s ancient roads do lead to the empire city of Rome, the basic meaning behind the famous quote is that no matter what path one takes, they will end up at the same place. This may seem rather optimistic⌠until you look at the other part of the trend in which âthe rabbitâ shows up, white and carrying a clock â yes, itâs the White Rabbit from Alice in Wonderland.
Hereâs where it gets bleak: The clock that the rabbit carries serves to remind us all that time is fleeting; basically, itâs our symbol of inevitability for this âsad girl autumnâ trend. Plus, an audio of a clock ticking and sad music indicates that, whateverâs happening in the happy moment shown onscreen, that time will soon run out. Paired together, the rabbit, clock, sound, and quote tell social media users everywhere that no matter the path people go down, and no matter how happy they are on that path, time and fate have the final say in the outcomes of life.
Overall, the trend indicates that the inevitable outcome of a happy situation is ultimately heartbreak and loss of people, relationships, friendships, or promised aspects of life, like jobs or health. No better way to ring in the holidays than to engage with nihilistic memes, right?