Universities across the United States have experienced an unprecedented epidemic on the dance floor. Boys wearing hats backwards and polo shirts with khakis have infiltrated their local university bar with their signature move: The Frat Boy Flick. Now it’s not entirely all frat boys doing it. They started it but it wasn’t long before other boys and men joined the bandwagon. It’s just something about how simple the move is. It’s so easy to do and you do feel cool while doing it.
It works for most songs…emphasis on most. Doing it to a ballad may be interpreted as straight up weird or offensive. You need a solid set of party bangers to pull this move off. Luckily most don’t have trouble finding them as their local bars or frats openly encourage and accept the move. To call it a ‘dance’ move may be a hot take since it doesn’t take much skill. You simply lift up your index finger and bob your head to the beat of the song. Your wrist should be the right amount of relaxed so that you can fully motion the flick. If you have a tense wrist it just doesn’t look right. If you’re feeling special, because at this point if you are resorting to this move you are, add more fingers. In fact, just start waving your whole hand in the air. Maybe throw in an up and down handwave to really get the crowd going.
The hardest part of this move is figuring out what to do with your mouth. If you know the words, definitely sing. But if you don’t, absolutely do not. You can trick people into thinking you know the words since most party songs revolve around the same things. You also can just keep a straight face or smile in a non-creepy way. Do whatever feels most natural to you in the moment. You may feel cringe doing it but just believe you look cool and you will.
The move became widespread when it was featured on TikTok. There are a number of videos documenting the flick. The idea is to record as many flicks as you can see on the dance floor to show it’s a universal move. It spreads like an epidemic, one boy in the group does it the rest join in. Now I have to address something, girls are guilty of doing it too. The move is that contagious. There is a TikTok category labeled as Frat Flick USC the videos featured collectively have 16.6 million views. If that says anything on how the move spread to universities across the United States.
So what makes this move so addictive? A Harvard Medical Study on dancing on the brain found that when you synchronize movement and music your brain’s sensory award centers are triggered by the music and your dancing activates sensory motor controls. Dancing or in this case moving can help reduce stress and release levels of serotonin. Neural connections are also made in regions of the brain covering function and long term memory. Therefore, dancing can lower your risk of dementia.
With that being said, however you view The Frat Boy Flick just know those participating are working toward lowering their risk of dementia! So they should actively participate in it. Next time you’re on the dance floor at your local university bar give this move a try. You will see how addicting it is. With the rate it’s going at it’s likely in Europe at this point. Let’s put it on the map, boys!