【2016 Archives】

Few things demonstrate the human capacity for joy like watching an entire Whataburger cheer016 Archivesa teenager as he downs a massive 10-patty burger.

TikTok has shed its reputation for horny lip syncing and is instead becoming a platform for fast-paced short-form storytelling. Case in point: A viral video filmed and edited by Blake Reynolds, a high school senior in Texas, shows 17-year-old Ethan Mueller's triumphant attempt at downing a burger stacked with 10 patties in less than 20 minutes.

In an Instagram DM, Reynolds tells Mashable that he tagged along to a friend's youth group outing, where Mueller tried to beat the previous record of eating a 7-patty burger. (Reynolds didn't clarify whether the 7-patty burger was a record within the youth group, or the record for the Whataburger in Allen, Texas.)

The video starts with a shot of the receipt, which clocked in at more than $40. Surrounded by teenagers recording the nearly impossible feat — some covering their mouths in what could only be described as nauseated hype — Mueller appears to unhinge his jaw to fit the massive stack of processed meat in his mouth.

A bystander tasked himself with delicately wiping the burger juice from Mueller's face between bites. Even the Whataburger staff joined in, chanting his name when he faltered. At one point, they even draped a Whatburger shirt over his shoulder like a king during his coronation.

"Whatever it takes!" someone yelled in the background, when the burger lost all structural integrity and started crumbling. Mueller let out a guttural "aGHHHH," stacked the fallen patties that had slipped out of the bun, and began tearing into the meat-on-meat sandwich.

Then, with only a few cubic inches of patty and cheese left, Mueller pointed toward whatever deity in the sky allowed this display of adolescent hubris and stuffed the last of the burger in his mouth. The cheering reached a crescendo and the Whataburger burst into applause that could rival any gathering of straight men at a sporting event.

The feat in itself is impressive, but it's the video that's a masterpiece.

From the quick zooms into Mueller's face to the jump cuts of horrified/gleeful employees, the TikTok bundles the gamut of human emotion into 57 seconds. Distress. Pride. Heartbreak. Despair. Then, absolute determination and victory. It's all there, captured on vertical video.

"The way I shot it made it tell a story, building suspense for when he actually finished it," Reynolds says. "Viewers would all feel like they just witnessed the impossible."

He adds that he may have been present to watch it all go down in person, but he wanted to "make sure they [the viewers] could feel the intensity."

Reynolds says Mueller threw up shortly after completing the challenge, but getting sick didn't stop him. He already beat his current record by eating 11 patties in less than 20 minutes.

"Idk maybe he will try for 12, who knows," Reynolds says.

I, for one, was absolutely enthralled watching it — this single TikTok made me remember the sheer tenacity of humankind when faced with nearly impossible tasks. This generation of young people really can do whatever they set their minds to, even if it's horrifying fast food employees by eating the equivalent of a newborn baby's weight in burgers.

And we have brilliant TikTok storytelling to thank for that.