Back in 2019, teens flocked to TikTok to celebrate the Australian mid-’00s tween classic H2O: Just Add Water, putting on fish tails and throwing water on each other, desperately trying their best to recreate the Australian accents of the main characters.
i will absolutely never get sick of H2O TikTok pic.twitter.com/77usxKkv3u
— neonfiona 🌱 (@neonfiona) July 25, 2019
Premiering in 2006 on Australian televisions, H2O follows Rikki, Emma, and Cleo – three teenagers who, after some weird magic involving a full moon and a volcano, end up turning into mermaids whenever they make contact with water. Also, the girls have different powers over said water. I know.
Shenanigans ensue, which is fairly predictable given the girls now struggle to figure out how to do simple tasks. Wishing the dishes? Water! Having a shower? Water! Plenty will admit that as a concept there are a few holes in the story – but it’s a god damn kids show! Shutup!
how the FUCK did them h2o BITCHES bitches survivE?? like they would get a DROP of water on them and b like ‘oh no fish tail time’ bitch u hve spit in ur mouth that’s water?? did they just dry mouf the entire time?? ur body is 80% water?? did they not drink water at ALL?? gross pic.twitter.com/niZj9OiCVI
— indie (@INDIEWASHERE) July 28, 2019
And while the show was a pretty decent success at home, it appears it broke through internationally as well. The series was sold to 100 countries across the globe, and produced three seasons and multiple spin-offs.
Now, choruses of a long, nasally “KLLEEEEEYOOHHHH” are echoing throughout social media, bringing to life some of the worst attempts at the Aussie twang I have ever heard.
https://twitter.com/bradesposito/status/1155280735340601344?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1155286493604147200&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fpublish.twitter.com%2F%3Fquery%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Ftwitter.com%252Fbradesposito%252Fstatus%252F1155286493604147200%26widget%3DTweet
It doesn’t get old. pic.twitter.com/AkbUwaRqVW
— Tara Watson (@tara_watson_) July 29, 2019
SCREAMING AT THESE H20 VIDEOS pic.twitter.com/PcbcTGJK4B
— ash (@blaquepink) July 26, 2019
The sudden resurgence of the series could be tied to a few things: While the teenage mermaids found themselves on television sets from Iceland to Korea, the series’ recent inclusion on streaming services like Netflix has also resulted in a groundswell of interest. In America, the show found its home on Teen Nick in 2007.
Then there’s the huge and increasing influence of TikTok, which has captured the imagination of large swathes of Gen Z and allowed them to share fun, Vine-esque videos ad nauseam.
https://twitter.com/CUTMYLlPLlVEE/status/1155357662588149760
And while it’s not news to any Australian that we sound a certain way, hearing hundreds of teenagers roast us with glee as they half-heartedly attempt the accent is devastating in a way I can’t quite describe. It is the empty devastation of Ralph Wiggum as his heart is broken, or the angry realisation that, yes, this is your life now.
Australians sound weird as hell. We know this. But if I have to hear one more deranged attempt at an Aussie accent, or full sentences spelled out phonetically (“CLLLLEEEEOOOOORRR WUS THERE WOOTAH IN THAT???”) I might lose it.
nobody talk to me unless it’s about H2O TikToks pic.twitter.com/U3knLPHfIU
— neonfiona 🌱 (@neonfiona) July 22, 2019
This is cyber bullying, from hundreds of millions of teenagers, and we Australians were left only to pick up the pieces. We’ve only barely recovered from Crocodile Dundee yelling about shrimps on the barbie.
How do you come back from this?
What do you say?
