Watch This 93 Year-Old Grandma Absolutely Freak out at a Safari — As She Should
Published Aug. 8 2023, 1:48 p.m. ET
A classic movie trope is a fish out of water scenario. This is when someone is put into a situation that is highly unusual for them. For example in the movie Pleasantville, Tobey Maguire and Reese Witherspoon are accidentally sucked into a television show from the 1950s. Comedy inevitably ensues as these teenagers from the modern real world try to navigate an environment they simply do not belong in. I love anxiety when it's fun.
Another example is when TikTok user @shellshell975, who I'm calling Shell, created a somewhat unpleasantville experience for her 93 year-old grandma when she brought her to the safari. What could have been an adorable day filled with animals and nature became something else entirely. Let's make our way through this jungle of hilarity.
Please take all 93-year-old grandmas to the safari.
In a classic expectation versus reality TikTok, Shell showed the world how she thought a day at the safari would go and how it actually went. She was clearly imagining some sort of Snow White scenario, complete with animals gently approaching the car while birds landed on people's shoulders. That's of course after they cleaned the house.
It's clear that in the TikTok, Shell's grandma was equally as ill-prepared for the day's adventure as she serenely looked at her granddaughter before slowly turning towards the llama that was mere inches from her car. It was vaguely reminiscent of nearly every scene in Jurassic Park. I haven't heard a woman scream that loud outside of a horror movie.
This was not a horror movie but rather a contained park with animals quite used to being fed by attendees. As grandma laughed, we were met with ostriches who seemed less concerned with consent while reaching their heads into the vehicle, searching for food. Make no mistake about it, every animal involved is enormous. It's very alarming.
Food is getting all over the car. It's a veritable crime scene where the only victim is the upholstery. Suddenly, an animal that I am unable to identify meanders up to grandma's window. It definitely has horns and looks more like something from a 1970s Satanic Panic movie than a gentle creature in the semi-wild. I would be equally as spooked as grandma.
I'm sorry but the funniest part of this TikTok is the fact that grandma can't stop screaming while bravely holding a quivering cup of food up to the beast's mouth. And I write beast with respect because who among us hasn't been misjudged based solely on appearance? If Belle went dancing by in the background, I wouldn't be surprised.
It's hard to hear what Shell's grandma is screaming but it sounds like she's yelling "NO" followed by "GOODBYE." To the beast's credit, it sauntered away seemingly unbothered by the chaos in the car.
Speaking of chaos, the ostriches return for more eats! This time, grandma has learned a trick or two. Instead of keeping the cup of food inside the vehicle, thus causing the ostriches to meet her, she stretches her arm outside the window. As the large flightless bird pecks at its treats, grandma says ouch in that way I sometimes do in preparation for pain, even if it never comes. Don't worry, Shell's grandma was safe. Although, the final freeze frame tells a different story.
Grandma is fine and is living her best life.
In a subsequent TikTok, Shell assures everyone invested in her grandma's story that things are OK. "Granny is doing just fine," she writes in the caption. "She almost went to the afterlife after we showed her she went viral." Shell then added, "She is loving all of the comments and love!"
There are also bonus pictures of grandma really enjoying herself at the safari, including one where she's staring straight down the camera with a smile that could stop the sun. Then we get a glimpse of grandma off the safari with photos of her drinking and smoking
Everyone in the comments is obsessed with Shell's grandma and I gotta say, I agree. "Granny needs her own TikTok page," said one user. "Can your granny be my granny too, please?" asked another. As author Louisa May Alcott once said, "Every house needs a grandmother in it."