The Accidental Iconhood of Bandana Girl

On November 2, a girl in India posted a video of herself in the back of an auto rickshaw, her hair down, wearing a bandana, with only three words: “makeup ate today.” By November 18, it had amassed over 46 million views. X user @w0rdgenerator, now known as “bandana girl,” has appeared in more feeds than perhaps even Elon Musk. People have channeled her to post their own auto-rickshaw videos, quote-tweeted her to get better customer service (it worked), and even shot their shot at their biggest dreams. 

Her one post has become pure magic, with many wondering how high that view count will go and how much X will eventually pay her for the banger tweet. Others have written the entire phenomenon off as an internet fluke. But what if “bandana girl” has much more to teach us than we thought?