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What Is The Netflix 'Shmunguss' Category, And Is It Actually Real? The Theory And Meme Explained
How many hours have are spent scrolling through streaming platforms trying to find the perfect movie or show to watch? With so many options available, the companies usually display genres and categories for users to pick something that suits their moods at the moment.
On March 2023, one TikToker was scrolling through the endless selection of shows in his girlfriend's streaming account until he stumbled across the Netflix Shmunguss category. A section filled with never-seen movies related to "Shmunguss."
Satire and jokes are becoming harder to differentiate from true events in the last few years. This well-crafted fake video turned the internet to chaos, and we'll explain how that happened in this article.
What Is The "Netflix Shmunguss Category?"
The Netflix Shmunguss category was "discovered" by @channel.everything in March 2023, in a TikTok in which he was showing his girlfriend's Netflix account list of movie recommendations reaching a strange category labeled "Shmunguss." He seemed baffled, saying “Can someone tell me what these categories are? Shmunguss??!!” and proceeding to read some of the movies in the section, which includes The Shmunguss King, I Married A Shmunguss, The Shmonguss Among Us, and Shmonguss’ Revenge.
When we say the TikToker "discovered" the category, we actually mean he "created" it, since the video is just one of several satirical TikToks @channel.everything posted on the platform. Needless to say, regardless of whether the video is real or fake, it's recently gained traction on the internet, gaining 12 million views in just two days since it was posted.
How Are People Reacting To The "Netflix Shmunguss Category?"
People who were intrigued by the bizarre Shmunguss category quickly went to search the movies on Google, only to find out no such movies can be found on the search engine. This resulted in two different groups, those who helped to spread the category as "real" and those who felt "gaslit" by the creator. For instance, TikToker @fat.turtle_litsadness contacted Netflix customer service to prove the category is fake and even so, thousands of comments in his (now-deleted) video accused him of attacking Shmunguss for no reason (see some of the best comments below).
Why Is The "Netflix Shmunguss Category" Trending?
The same day the video went viral on TikTok, Twitter user @impossiblyeve (see below) shared the content on the platform saying "am I being gaslit?" leading to several comments and retweets arguing about the video's veracity. Although many people found themselves tricked, the Shmunguss category was one of the most elaborate jokes that went viral this year.
For more information, check out the Know Your Meme entry for Netflix Shmunguss category.