The Wes Anderson TikTok trend is genuinely delightful. Though all the symmetry and pastel colors could not shield one woman from filming herself getting fired as she participated in it.
Jennifer Lucas, @sohltrain on TikTok, was an Amazon employee that tried her hand at the Wes Anderson trend. She filmed herself getting ready for work in the morning only to also capture her reaction to reading her termination email. The video quickly cuts to her doing a mental health walk with her dog.
@sohltrain I debated if i should even post this, but if you got laid off too just know you’re not alone #wesanderson #wesandersonaesthetic #layoffs #amazonlayoffs ♬ original sound - Hollyhunter101
Lucas took it in stride and captioned the video, “I debated if I should even post this, but if you got laid off too just know you’re not alone”.
Her TikTok has garnered nearly 5 million views and 800k likes over the last 24 hours. Lucas, who had worked at Amazon for 8 years, stated in another video that she knows the layoff was not personal but that “doesn't make it suck any less”.
Since the beginning of the year, Amazon has been doing extreme cuts to its workforce. Lucas is one of nearly 9,000 proposed cuts.
“Part of me is glad to be out of this extremely toxic environment and the other part feels like a failure and like a disappointment,” comments Lucas. “...I know I’m gonna be fine but..this is a top 10 bad feeling”.
@sohltrain To everyone who has reached out or sent a kind word, i see you and i love you #layoffs #amazonlayoffs #techlayoffs #mentalhealth ♬ original sound - Jen & Eevee
Despite the grim ending, the TikTok audience has uplifted Lucas. But also noted how on point it is for mimicking Wes Anderson’s filmmaking
“This is actually the MOST accurate Wes Anderson video I’ve seen, utter aesthetic tragedy,” one viewer comments.
“You thought you were doing a trend but you made a short film! I had emotions!” says another viewer.
Lucas recently noted that she has been flooded with well wishes and job offers since posting her video.
At least she’s entering unemployment with all the whimsy of Moonrise Kingdom.
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