TikTok/Mary MacMillan Screenshots from the "fake smile at high school graduation" TikTok video.
A “fake smile at high school graduation” video has gone viral. It shows a young Delaware woman named Mary MacMillan flashing what looks like a brief, fake smile as she accepts her diploma. Her smile quickly vanishes into a pout, which some have deemed symbolic of how a lot of people feel. You can watch the video later in this article.
A lot of people relate to the emotion captured in the video. That’s especially true for the generation of high school kids who had to come of age during a pandemic.
She captioned the video, “The moment I lived for #homechef #NotOneThing #quarantine #lol #ew #highechoolmusical.” The video was first shared in 2020; MacMillan is now a college student in Delaware. It went viral again in June 2021.
The video was posted to TikTok by Mary MacMillan, who goes by the handle @marymacmillan.
It shows her in a white dress walking forward to get her diploma before making what looks like a forced smile for the cameras that quickly disappears. You can watch the TikTok video below. The lyrics “been that b****, still that b****” from Megan Thee Stallion’s song “Savage” play over the video.
Here’s what you need to know:
The Video Racked up Millions of Views
@marymacmillanthe moment i lived for ##homechef ##NotOneThing ##quarantine ##lol ##ew ##highechoolmusical♬ Savage – Megan Thee Stallion
MacMillan’s TikTok video has had millions of views – more than 16.5 million.
People empathized with her apparent frustration in the comment thread. Here are some of the reactions:
“Did the man shaking your hand do something wrong to you?!”
“She’s really my mood.”
“I literally thought you got kicked out of a wedding party and everyone was clapping because you were leaving.”
“Melania Trump level.”
“How you smile like that. I don’t even know how to smile properly.”
“The smile drop omg.”
“My mom has photos of me doing this at my graduation.”
“Yo if this ain’t every single customer service worker idk what is. That smile disappears faster than our sanity.”
“side note ur literally gorgeous.”
“The way her face changed.”
“This girl is my spirit animal.”
“I love how she just changed her facial expression with such talent. Imma do that same thing when I graduate.”
MacMillan Posted Other TikToks About Being Stuck at Home
@marymacmillan##greenscreen ##fyp ##neverfitin ##bakingrecipe ##natureathome ##ilovecollege ##quarentine ##help ##imissschool ##bored #corona♬ Trumpet Sax – Tik Toker
MacMillan clearly wasn’t a fan of the quarantine. She captioned another video, “When ur parents ask why you cry everyday you’re home and want to go back to school so bad.”
She also posts videos of her wearing new boots, with her boyfriend and riding horses.
Her Instagram page indicates she’s in college, though. “university of delaware equestrian,” she wrote. The photos are private. On Facebook, she wrote that she studies at the University of Delaware and is from Odessa, Delaware.
Why did the video strike people as so funny — or poignant? People also weighed in on Twitter. “Much of life is about pretending—social convention often dictates we smile through gritted teeth and mask our emotions to appease others,” explained one person about why the video has resonated so much with people.
MacMillan has 51,000 followers on her TikTok page.
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