YouTube, James Franco go wild with Shia LaBeouf "Just Do It!" parodies
A half-hour long video of Shia LaBeouf standing in front of a green screen and delivering 36 brief, sometimes hilarious, often emotional monologues posted last week really inspired the YouTube community (and James Franco) to make some wicked funny clips of their own.
The video that LaBeouf tweeted last week is an art project, a collaboration with British artist Luke Turner and Finnish artist Nastja Sade Ronkko, in dedication of the BA fine art students at London's Central Saint Martins University for their annual portfolio showcase. The 36 avant-garde scenes are each an introduction for a student's piece. One particularly striking segment, in which LaBeouf appears to be giving an aneurysm-inducing motivational talk, screaming "JUST DO IT!" and cupping his groin, has gained viral status and could even be mistaken for a real Ted Talk as someone subbed the green screen with the Ted Talks stage.
Taking LaBeouf's cue, hundreds of YouTube contributors went ahead and did what the green screen was just begging for: parodies of the actor ferociously insisting you get up and make your dreams come true, in different tableaus, as a hologram emanating from an Apple Watch, and as a nuisance neighbor who won't get off someone's balcony. Dozens of parodies have been posted and keep coming; the phenomenon even launched one of yesterday's most popular Reddit threads -- /r/MotivaShian.
Then James Franco took the satire to the next level, attempting to recreate LaBeouf's powerful performance himself in order to motivate toddlers to start using the toilet in a clip he calls "Just Poo It!," which itself has now gone viral. With all the vitriol of LaBeouf's motivational speech Franco yells "Do you want to keep pooping in your little diapers?!," like a livid dad in his underwear. "YOU SAID YOU WOULD DO IT YESTERDAY! JUST DO IT! JUST POOP IN THE TOILET!"
Watch some of the best parodies here -- go ahead -- DO IT!