Pass It On: Ungrateful Sons Scaring Their Poor Dads Is The Greatest YouTube Genre Of All

As a dedicated curator and champion of Dad Content, Junkee was overjoyed to stumble on a new instalment in the best YouTube genre there is: supercuts of dads being scared by their ungrateful, smartphone-wielding sons. If you’re unfamiliar with this corner of the internet, welcome. If you are, welcome back. When it comes to terrible sons scaring their poor, hard-working papas, there is no such thing as not enough.

The latest offering, which began doing the rounds yesterday, is a good introduction to the genre. All the basic elements are there: the video quality is grainy, the awful son is beside himself with glee, and the long-suffering dad is alternately terrified and furious.

While videos of nice dads being frightened out of their wits by their nasty, thankless sons have become ubiquitous online, certain victim-dads gain more fame than others, mainly through displaying particular qualities that cast them above the pack. This one gained prominence because the scared dad in question had somehing of a catchphrase, which he wailed to his dreadful boy whenever he was jump-scared while just trying to do simple dad tasks.

Indeed, Australia seems to have a disproportionately large Startled Dads/Garbage Sons ratio. Perhaps we’re in the grip of an epidemic, with good and decent fathers across the nation cowering in anticipation of the latest act of treachery by their selfish heirs.

Who will protect the Good Dads? Who will stop the Perfidious Boys? Not since the Dreaded Laramie desecrated his nice dad’s wonderful Saab have dads known such horrors.

Let us remember these fallen dads, undone by the cruel jests and japes of their feckless sons, with a poem:

Here he lies/the blameless dad/struck down by his boy/his filthy trash lad.

I am available for readings.