A bunch of “rich kids” throwing a garage party in a trendy Melbourne suburb has divided the internet, with people arguing over whether it’s cool or just pure cringe.
Mostly, people are just perplexed that the videos are appearing in their feeds when many have never been to Australia.
Several videos posted in the last couple of days have exploded on TikTok, racking up millions of views between them.
These viral videos depict a group of boys posing for their phones as they have a “sesh” in a garage in Fitzroy, the art and nightlife hub of Melbourne.
They dance awkwardly to music blaring out in the garage and spilling out onto the laneway, make prayer signs, vape, and even give someone a haircut on the street. In one of the videos, one partygoer tries to talk to the others but the rest are more interested in dancing for the camera.
With not a woman in sight, the young men are dressed in a hipster style, with vests, baggy shorts and silver chains. One viewer joked that one man even seems to be wearing a Nike skirt.
It’s taken the TikTok world by such a storm that people have created parody videos and even dedicated their time to trying to unpack what everyone finds so outrageous about the party.
If you haven’t watched the videos yet, seriously, you need to. See below.
A furious local said: “I live in Fitzroy, yesterday I just sensed something terrible was happening somewhere nearby. Turns out I was right.”
Another said “Is this like some kind of private school Contiki tour visit to Fitzroy?”
“Is this the first day these boys have been outside or something?” asked someone else while yet another unimpressed TikToker commenter: “Just described what an ick is.”
One of the boys’ videos, captioned “impeccable vibes”, also prompted a slew of criticism.
“Still looking for said vibes,” said one.
“This is what a party/club looks like when you’re sober, trust me as an ex bartender lol,” added another.
Sydney-based solicitor Jahan Kalantar took to Tiktok with a 60-second “explainer” on the whole saga, claiming the group of men were all rich kids pretending to be poor, labelling them as “champagne socialists”.
“Fitzroy is an interesting suburb from Melbourne, it’s a suburb that traditionally had very working class roots, but seems to have been gentrified substantially,” he explained.
“The reason the comments are so vitriolic is that a lot of people are saying that this house party represents everything that’s wrong with house parties.
“It’s wealthy people playing it poor – colloquially what we call champagne socialists. People from wealthy suburbs who play it being poor for some sort of brownie points.
“It’s that engagement with this particular dialogue, and the commodification of poverty, that’s made it so popular,” he claimed.
“Shore boys go to Newtown … there explained it for Sydney peeps,” another social media user commented.
One Melbourne man said he was “quite protective” of the reputation of his local area and that “I cringed really hard at this video and I didn’t really know why”.
“I was raised in the inner-northern suburbs of Melbourne, my family migrated here from eastern Europe in the ‘60s,” he said in response to the viral clips.
“I feel like it’s this safe, progressive place for alternative types to do their thing,” he continued, adding locals had a “moral responsibility to ask and enquire about what it (Fitzroy) was like before, and to see what you can do to keep culture and history alive.”
However, others jumped in to defend the boys.
“Time to book a trip to Australia,” said one person.
“I have seen at least 10 videos of this garage and I think it’s a sign to get a plane ticket to Australia,” said another.
A 22-year-old Melbourne resident created her own TikTok in response, acknowledging that while it was embarrassing to watch, people shouldn’t be so quick to judge.
TikToker @livhalliwell said: “As much as it is cringe, I think because they are male we are just not used to men making content like this. If girls (and we do), do this, no-one says anything. I can say with no shame if the vibes look sh*t I will literally tell my friends to ‘look’ more fun.”
A former Love Island star reportedly jumped to their defence.
TikTok users were also genuinely baffled because the many viewpoints of the party kept appearing in their feed when nobody asked for it.
“I can’t escape the Fitzroy garage party,” said one person.
“I’ve seen every pov of this,” pointed out another.
“Why is this the second tok of this I’ve gotten in the past five mins when I’m in NY?” asked a third.