It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that attractive women do very well on TikTok. My own attractiveness is something of an acquired taste (that very few people have acquired), and I can tell you with certainty that I am not a woman.

Trust me, I wouldn’t get many clicks on TikTok.

Priyanka Chopra, international superstar and style icon, on the other hand, is objectively beautiful. And she’s hugely popular around the world, from her movies and television shows.

I’m a fan.

So I was pretty surprised (and endlessly amused) to know that, instead of being insanely popular on TikTok, she’s been mercilessly trolled by Gen-Z TikTok-ers.

Here’s how and why.

TikTok trolling

In early 2020, comedian Sarah Cooper gained worldwide fame for her TikTok mockeries of then-President Donald Trump. Her lip-sync performances on the platform led to guest appearances on the The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. She even guest hosted on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, and secured her own Netflix comedy special called “Sarah Cooper: Everything’s Fine”.

The amazing thing about Cooper’s original TikTok act was that she never actually had to speak. She simply ‘mouthed’ the real-life words of the President, and inserted her own facial expressions and actions.

What was brilliant about those original performances was that they were able to highlight the absurdity of Trump’s messages, using clips from his actual speeches. By removing Trump’s image from the audio, and replacing it with her own visuals, she satirized the 45th President more brutally than any other comedian who preceded her.

This lip-synching TikTok method of satire has turned out to be an effective way to make fun of celebrities.

And it’s worked on Priyanka Chopra too.

Rimy Qadri and Priyanka

With nothing more than 6 coats of ruby red lipstick and an ‘attitude’, Gen-Z TikToker Rimy Qadri does to Priyanka what Sarah Cooper did to Trump.

“I consider myself an achievah!”, Qadri mouths with exaggerated hand gestures and a flip of her hair.

That particular clip has earned 3.7 million views on the platform, and even prompted Chopra’s real-life brother-in-law Frankie Jonas to respond directly (which completely floored the Canadian TikTok star):

These videos seem to be popular for a few reasons.

In the first place, Chopra apparently takes herself very seriously. She regularly posts intense, motivational words of wisdom to her followers on Instagram and Twitter, telling them that they can be anything that they want to be, if they just work hard. Like Trump, she appears unaware of her own privilege, and fancies herself as an expert on all things. She’s very confident in her own skills.

To a fan, that may be fine. To a non-fan, it can be grating.

Secondly, and also like Trump, Chopra seems to want to make sure she is always filmed in the best possible light. Her makeup is always on point. Her clothes and hair are usually perfect. Everything seems planned and curated for public consumption.

Qadri’s take on Chopra is the complete opposite of what we normally see on the superstar’s social media profiles. Her performance is wild and unpredictable. Her makeup is smeared. Her expressions are crazy.

It’s hilarious.

But more importantly, artistically, Qadri appears to be saying “Nobody believes you’re perfect. Stop trying to market your perfection.”

Marketing perfection

Scrolling through Instagram I noticed some recent photos from Priyanka that were misleading in this same way. She titled them “Expectation vs. Reality”, and they were photos of her posing in a bikini, while contorting her body on some sort of beanbag chair.

The problem?

There is very little difference between the two photos, other than that she seems to have broken character in the second one. The unrealistic beauty standard did not change.

There is nothing realistic about the photo titled ‘Reality’, and my fear is that young girls will look at that and get the wrong message.

Reality is not about looking perfect all the time.

And I’m really glad to see that another young and popular TikTok star is getting that message out.

Spencer Barbosa and positive body image

I discovered an amazing thing about TikTok phenom Spencer Barbosa, who has currently amassed 3.9 million followers.

For every posed photo containing beautiful lighting, tight abs and nice clothes, Barbosa posts another, more realistic, photo of herself in a less flattering situation.

She preaches to kids about the importance of a good attitude over good looks. She says that a smile can make anyone better looking.

And she regularly tells her fans that the perfect images they see on social media are not real.

Barbosa is a new type of social media star. She’s a star that’s at home with her flaws. Instead of curating her profile to remove any hint of imperfections, she embraces them, and shows them off for the world to see.

Final thoughts

Thinking about the changing landscape of social media, I’m reminded about the evolution of television.

In the early days of TV, shows were bland in comparison to today’s standards. Husbands and wives slept in separate beds. There was no swearing. There was no sex. There were no gay people. There was no divorce.

As time went on, viewers wanted to see more realistic depictions of modern life. Slowly, all of those things were introduced, and nowadays, there is even a category on television for actual ‘reality’ shows.

In my opinion, we’ll see the same thing happen with social media. In these early days of this new communication form, many things have been carefully curated. As social media matures, I believe people will crave more authentic content, just like they did with television shows.

Priyanka Chopra is one of those celebrities who may seem a little old-fashioned to a Gen-Zer. She’s from a generation that curates everything. She only posts flattering images of herself.

And now we’re seeing Gen-Zer’s rebel against the unattainable standards promoted by her and many other celebrities.

Some, like Rimy Qadri, mock Priyanka.

Some, like Spencer Barbosa, regularly post unflattering photos of themselves in defiance of those standards that people like Priyanka set.

It’s a step forward, in my opinion, and hopefully, Priyanka will get the message.