Confrontational videos are a staple of the modern internet, whether they show a shouting match between neighbors or a parking lot fistfight.
Some influencers are tapping into this trend with manufactured conflict — skits dramatizing hot-button issues. The most recent example is a video that appears to show a self-described “gender-neutral” schoolteacher instructing students on acceptable pronoun use.
“I am not a female nor am I a male, I would be in between,” the teacher said in the Nov. 20, Facebook video. “So, right here would be my pronouns.”
The instructor then pointed to a chart listing multiple pronouns including ze/zir/zirs, sometimes referred to as “neopronouns.”
(Screenshot of Facebook video)
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Off-screen, supposed students express confusion and resistance. “Why do we have to learn this?” asked one. “I’m confused,” said another.
Many people and groups online, including the conservative Young America’s Foundation, shared the video as if it showed something real. The foundation’s post had the caption, “These students are just as confused as we are.”
This video does not depict a real classroom confrontation. It was created as a skit.
A comedian named Jibrizy shared the original video Oct. 2 on his Facebook page. “Hey guys,” he said at the end of the eight-minute sketch, “that was all an act.” He then urged viewers to share the video and discuss it with their friends to find out their thoughts on the subject.
This is not the first time Jibrizy’s videos have gone viral without context. In September, two skits, one of a confrontation on a plane and another in which a woman tears down a pride flag, went viral. Many people, including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., shared the videos on X thinking they were authentic.
In his X profile, Jibrizy described his work as directing “social political video out as real life scenarios of the left and right for debate.” When the flag video went viral, Jibrizy posted to clarify his role: “I create video to start discussion,” he wrote. “It’s openly fake. But I want you to debate your point of view.” He regularly creates skits about LGBTQ+ topics and political issues.
We rate claims this video shows an authentic classroom discussion False.
