If you’ve been online this week, you’ll probably know that most of the world is obsessing over Netflix’s new thriller Bird Box.Released just before Christmas, the film’s basic premise is that a woman and her children are living in a world in which they must be continually blindfolded, or they willdie.

Even though Kim Kardashian is still playing catch up with the phenomenon, the rest of the world has taken things to the next level. They’ve meme’d the crap out of the concept of being blindfolded, as to be expected.

And of course, they’ve created a new challenge inspired by the movie, creatively called the ‘Bird Box Challenge’, which is going viral on Twitter.

The challenge is so simple, it’s a walk in the…dark. (Wow, how clever am I?) Basically, it involves people doing stuff, wearing a blindfold.

What could possibly go wrong?

Listen as we unpack Bird Box on our Recap podcast here… Post continues after audio.

Here are some examples:

Bird Box challenge #BirdBox #BirdBoxChallenge pic.twitter.com/6dyHVFEX5s

— Enrique Ruano (@enrique_ruanox) December 28, 2018

Bird Box Challenge #Netflix #BirdBox pic.twitter.com/wVY2wFraWj

— Laugh With Larante (@LaranteNoble) December 26, 2018

#BirdBoxChallenge: @michaelstrahan attempts to put lipstick on @sarahaines with a blindfold on! #GMADay https://t.co/G4PdrKdY6w pic.twitter.com/h5HIWtJtXw

— Good Morning America (@GMA) January 2, 2019

But when people decide to involve children, reflecting what happens in the film, life begins to imitate art to an extreme level, and it makes you wonder what people are thinking:

Listening For The Birds ???? ???? #BirdBoxChallenge pic.twitter.com/9NMomqcXZo

— DreadHeadMarlee (@DreadHeadMarLee) December 24, 2018

In probably the most disturbing example, one viral video shows a blindfolded man leading two blindfolded kids through a house.

“Come on! Let’s go!” the man shouts, and then accidentally bangs the toddler’s head into a wall. Stunned, the toddler goes to lift the blindfold, and then the video ends. (Just a warning: this video shows a child accidentally slamming into a wall.)

Y’all doing this #Birdbox Challenge? pic.twitter.com/Yjx86Ex55f

— FireMadeFlesh (@FleshFire) December 27, 2018

This video, and others which similarly involve children, have prompted Netflix to issue a warning, imploring viewers, “PLEASE DO NOT HURT YOURSELVES”.

Can’t believe I have to say this, but: PLEASE DO NOT HURT YOURSELVES WITH THIS BIRD BOX CHALLENGE. We don’t know how this started, and we appreciate the love, but Boy and Girl have just one wish for 2019 and it is that you not end up in the hospital due to memes.

— Netflix US (@netflix) January 2, 2019

“We don’t know how this started, and we appreciate the love, but Boy and Girl have just one wish for 2019 and it is that you not end up in the hospital due to memes,” the company tweeted.

One would think that’s a given, especially when children are involved, but then again, have you met the internet?

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