There Is Just Something About This Damn Pointing Orangutan
Monkey see, monkey do. Except in this case, it's more like monkey see, human do. TikTok's pointing orangutan does one thing and it does it well.
Amber the orangutan's ambivalent reactions to hand sanitizer and slime have made her TikTok's unlikeliest star.
As documented by @pointingorangutan, a fan who doesn't work for the Louisville Zoo where Amber lives, this orangutan really loves to point at stuff. And not only does she point but she does it with the grace of a bored customs officer.
Just watch the clips. There's something bizarrely satisfying in how Amber disinterestedly gestures at all the crap her friend digs out of a backpack.
Play-Doh? "Can you just... yeah, yeah." A mirror? "Oh... yeah. There, right."
It's not just me saying that: These pointing orangutan videos have an astounding number of views, reaching up to a whopping 40 million as they dominate TikTok's For You page, a feat first achieved this past summer.
The Amber effect is real.
Hordes of orangutan imitators have sprung up across the world, doing their best impression of a lethargic orangutan pointing at food, friends, trinkets, the rest.
Even the damn Duolingo owl is in on it.
The appeal is partially down to the usual factors that make literal monkeyshines go viral: It's fascinating to see how these creatures, who more than partially resemble us, react to ordinary objects.
But it's not just that she's reacting but that she's so casually dismissive of it all that makes magic.
This is how we all look when we're watching someone make our burrito, you know?
Amber's indifference is a mirror to us all, in more ways than one.
Like, do we not all spend all day staring at a screen, lazily pointing our fingers at vaguely interesting things as they appear and disappear before our eyes? Really makes you think.
We are all Amber in this glorious moment, taking in the life's mundanities with half-lidded eyes.
Actually, we're in a mini glow-up moment for animals displaying impressively human traits.
While Amber enjoys an insane amount of TikTok fame, a shrieking baby hippo is also being held up as something that is literally me FR.
Just a another indication that easy animal virality can be achieved through relatability.
Monkey see...
