- Two sisters posted a video rapping "Rick and Morty" by Soulja Boy in front of their mom's casket.
- The video played into a
TikTok trend of rapping the song in various absurd contexts. - Trinity Wright, the elder sister, said the video was a moment when they could laugh together.
A viral
The video, which has been viewed over 14.2 million times, even caused debate on "The View."
The video, which was posted onto elder sister Trinity Wright's personal TikTok account on September 8, shows the 21-year-old and her 12-year-old sister partaking in a popular TikTok trend in which people rap Soulja's Boy's song in a variety of absurd contexts. In the video, the pair fist bump and then rap "Rick and Morty" towards their mother's casket, later doubling over with laughter.
"Day one of singing Rick & Morty to our mom until she comes back from the d3@d," the onscreen caption on the video reads.
@rickandmourning we also do weddings, bar mitzvahs, baptisms, gender reveals & graduations #rickandmorty #foryoupage
♬ original sound - trinbryn
According to a GoFundMe that Wright created to help with funeral costs, her mother died due to complications from COVID-19.
Critics of the video said that it was disrespectful
The video's massive virality has led to an outpouring of support online, as well as a wave of backlash and critics arguing that the action was disrespectful.
Wright has responded to the criticism in multiple TikTok videos, explaining she's grieving and poking fun with a video about a more "traditional" grieving process in which she and her sister lip-sync to a TikTok audio about being sad.
@rickandmourning mom knows we’re doing what we can to survive this #foryoupage #rickandmorty
♬ Heyy
Speaking about the TikTok on "The View," Whoopi Goldberg and Joy Behar referred to Joan Rivers' funeral, which they called "hilarious," and Goldberg said they had a "great time."
"[My mom] would've been like, 'I'm so glad my funeral was like Joan Rivers', thank you guys,'" Wright told Insider.
Wright said that the moment itself was 'therapeutic'
Wright told Insider the moment allowed the pair to share a laugh alongside their mother, who Wright described as "the best."
The "Rick and Morty" trend started with the user @theboyraabit01, who posted a video on July 31 rapping the song in front of a grave labeled "Wilson" and the caption "I performed Rick and Morty by Soulja Boy For President Woodrow Wilson" (the grave does not actually belong to the former president). The trend gained traction in August, with TikTokers "performing" the song in a variety of contexts and amassing hundreds of thousands of views in the process. The trend grew big enough that the Kentucky Senate Democrats TikTok account posted a video of state Senator Reginald Thomas rapping "Rick and Morty" until "we raise the minimum wage in Kentucky."
Wright told Insider the idea for the video originally came from her younger sister, who proposed making a TikTok about their mother. When she suggested partaking in the "Rick and Morty" trend, the pair decided to do it given how hard it had made them laugh to consider it.
"It was therapeutic for the three of us to just share a moment and laugh and just be okay," Wright told Insider. "It's not traditional, but it felt good for us to just be able to laugh.
"Our mom, she worked real hard to raise us and yes, we are little jokesters and a little non-traditional, but I definitely know she was proud of us all throughout," Wright told Insider. "Even now we still feel that she's proud of us and definitely that she's still here with us and was there laughing."