I watched the first video a long time ago to see what the deal was, and reckoned it was just one of those silly, absurd videos that become well-known for whatever reason. The tradition of very stupid, absurd stuff taking off on the internet goes back to at least “Mr T Ate My Balls” and hell, I love the long-running, weird YouTube channel “How To Basic”, so, I didn’t mind it but thought that’s all there was to it.

But no. I eventually learned it was an hours-long series and gave it another try.

It’s a long, serialized silent film sci fi war epic told without intertitles. And damn, I was invested in it before long!

[edit] I am not joking that I cared more about and paid more attention to the long battle and infiltration mission near the end (at the time—I understand there’s more now?) than I care about or pay attention to at least half of the 30-45 minute final battles in Marvel movies. I would defend the series as outright better than, certainly, something like Quantumania.

Seriously this. I got some Firefox click-bait about it a few years ago and was hooked. My kids (13 and 16 at the time) were appalled. Now they call me Skibidi Troylet. But it's damn good! Passionate, tragic, funny as hell. There's back-stabbing and alliance-shifting and nested realities and all the things. Even though on the surface it's just nonsensical smashy smashy it was definitely better than Marvel.

> I am not joking that I cared more about and paid more attention [...] than I care about or pay attention to at least half of the 30-45 minute final battles in Marvel movies.

That's probably because all the Marvel movies are professionals churning out the same green screen crap. Skibidi is not in my tastes, but it has the chance of being interesting because it's not an industry professional making it (afaik), at least until Michael Bay takes over.

> There was a half wall of skibidi toilet merch

Pretty crazy... My hypothesis is that it's popular because it feels more authentic and grassroots than most things being foisted upon them. It has surreal comedy and doesn't take itself seriously; both traits that are in extremely low supply in the recent / current zeitgeist. It was not designed by a committee pre-conception to appeal to the most-profitable possible audience. It is now however, produced by a studio which has just partnered with the Creative Artists Agency (a major Hollywood agency). We'll see if they ruin the vibe or ride off into the sunset akin to Minecraft.

There was some scandal about rights. As I understand it, the guy who started this used Garry's mod assets (actually of characters belonging to Valve), then turned around and threatened the Garry's mod author for those same assets. So, I can think of more authentic and grassroots things. Maybe that's also why, as far as I can tell, this meme show has had its 5 minutes of fame already.

> feels more authentic and grassroots than most things being foisted upon them.

And then corporations squeeze any last drop of authenticity from it through merchandising it to death.

Yup. 100%. As soon as a big fish swallows the little fish you would do well to stop consuming.

The article explains it pretty well. If you want to understand it better, watch the first video, then skip 20 videos, repeat, and you'll see the development over time as it morphs into what it's become now (I.E: watch episode 1, 21, 41, 61). I also dismissed it at first, but as the article points out, there's a lot more to it than it looks.

It's just something dumb to pass the time. When I was a kid we had Charlie the Unicorn, Potter Puppet Pals and YouTube Poops.

If you feel morally panicked by Skibidi Toilet, you are old and out of touch (which is fine). It's the same as it's always been.

Edit: Well, not /just/ something dumb. Completely forgot about the associated lore some of these had, which makes them even more like Skibidi Toilet. I guess there's a whole category of "dumb things with underlying narratives." Filthy Frank is another one that comes to mind.

the point is that Skibidi Toilet does have a narrative, the problem is the excess of narrative not the lack

I really, really, love the comments here and my mind has been expanded.

Everyone calling out my uneducated moral panic is right.

No, it's not a narrative at all, it's episodic-mimetic and it's fractal, the pieces can be recombined in other vids. A narrative has bells and whistles like backstory, cause and effect dichotomies.

More recently it's the 6-7 meme. It feels like meaning is added after the video becomes viral.

Wow, you just unlocked an incredibly dusty memories.

Maybe it's not the same as it's always been, but it's the same as it's been for 20-something years at a very minimum.

I think the comparison with Charlie the Unicorn is spot-on. Yes, there's a narrative, but any attempt to analyze that narrative automatically misses the point.

I’m 43. About six months ago I sat down and watched an hour of skibidi toilet.

I get why it’s popular. I didn’t enjoy myself but I completely get why kids soaked in memes might love it.

I'm 39 and did the same. I found myself annoyed by the repetition and humour that brought me back to being 9 years old, but also curious about where it would progress and what the underlying story might be revealed to be, if anything. Without the grating components stemming from being an old person, I'd probably like it or see the appeal better.

The humour is practically the raw embodiment of how little kids joke and play. If you're around little kids (especially boys often), you see skibidi toilet antics erupt from time to time whether they've seen it or not. Goofy facial expression, nonsensical voices and singing, over-exaggersted comical violence, constantly escalating battles, etc.

Eh it's just another meme like Hamster Dance or All Your Base Are Belong To Us - not sure anyone needs a moral panic over it (though it won't stop some of them either).

Or the annoying orange, which is about the same level of inane.