POV: You're Getting Arrested

Submission 4,944

Part of a series on POV Memes. [View Related Entries]

About

POV: You're Getting Arrested refers to a POV thirst trap trend on TikTok in which a user, typically male, pretends they're getting arrested by having someone press them up against a wall, then turn their head to look into the camera and smile, meant to highlight their "bad boy" attractiveness. The trend became popular in August 2021, as well as the subject of mockery for being cringeworthy, inspiring parodies of the trend.

Origin

On August 13th, 2021, TikToker^[1] @gage.bills posted a POV video roleplaying as JJ from Outer Banks captioned "jj turns himself in #obx" in which he walks down a hallway in a wifebeater as red and blue lights flash in the room ahead of him. He then looks at the camera teary-eyed and turns to get arrested (shown below). The video gained over 6.2 million views in just under three weeks.

On August 16th, @gage.bills posted another Outer Banks themed POV arrest video to TikTok,^[2] this time captioned "#pov jj gets arrested #obx" in which he's slammed against a wall while blue and red lights flash around him, then he looks into the camera with tears in his eyes and a smile (shown below). The video gained over 20 million views in two weeks (shown below).

Spread

The trend spread over the course of the month, inspiring a number of other TikTokers to post similar thirst trap videos using the sound. For example, on August 18th, TikToker^[3] @ricklimatv posted a POV arrested video, gaining over 47 million views in two weeks (shown below, left). On August 19th, TikToker^[4] @alencarblz posted a similar video, gaining over 6.5 million views in roughly the same span of time (shown below, right).

The trend soon became the subject of criticism and parody in videos where TikTokers ironically mimic the style. On August 20th, TikToker^[5] @willuzi posted a video where he turns into a werewolf while being arrested, gaining over 11.9 million views in roughly two weeks (shown below).

On August 25th, TikToker^[6] @brodywellmaker posted a skit in his "Raising a TikToker" series about finding your child making a "POV arrested" video, gaining over 23.7 million views in six days (shown below).

On August 27th, TikToker^[7] @rainbowphill posted a video mocking the trend, gaining over 4.2 million views in four days (shown below). On August 31st, Dexerto^[8] published an article on the trend.