The thing I love most about TikTok isn’t the video content โ it’s the comment section. Most of the time, when I come across a viral video on my FYP, the first thing I do is run to the comments to see all of the hilarious things that my fellow (and way funnier) netizens are writing. And in a sea of “Do you do weddings?” and “I’m gonna hold your hands when I say this,” one comment section classic never fails to make me giggle โ and that’s the “Mama, a girl behind YOU” meme.
If you’re confused, or just less chronically online than me, I can explain. Typically punctuated with a purple heart, “Mama a girl behind YOU ๐” is a result of, like, three different internet memes all coming together to create a viral comment that only Gen Zers can truly understand. Seriously โ Noah Miller had to break it down to Victoria Paris in a video that’s been viewed over one million times, and she still seems confused as someone born in 1999.
The comment originates from a viral video posted byย Facebookย user Keirra Denee’ Smith in 2018. In the video, Smith is asking her son to take a photo of her (in a stunning yellow outfit, BTW) when a 3D Bitmoji appears on the screen next to her. As she’s posing, her son says “Mommy โ mama, a girl behind you” as the little Bitmoji dances behind her. Honestly, you might just have to watch it to understand.
Since the video went viral in 2018, the meme has only evolved, however. Recently, Gen Zers have been stylizing the quote (“mama a girl behind YOU ๐”) in reference to the viral “Donatella VERSACE ๐” meme where fashion designer Donatella Versace left an unrelated comment that read, “Donatella VERSACE ๐” on a post byย Bella Hadid where she was voicing her support of Palestine on Valentine’s Day 2022.
So, what does “mama a girl behind YOU ๐” even mean? Honestly, it’s pretty hard to explain. Technically, the comment can be used when there is quite literally a person behind the subject of the video. “Mama a girl behind YOU” can also be symbolic, though โ it’s about having the person you used to be behind you, since there’s a WOMAN in front of YOU ๐.
But, hey, if you’re still confused, so is Victoria Paris.
Millenials… it’s OK to sit this one out, divas.