‘Bakit malungkot ang beshie ko?’: What does the viral meme mean and where did it come from?

Bakit 🤸🏻 malungkot 🤸🏻 ang 🤸🏻 beshie 🤸🏻 ko 🤸🏻?

You've probably come across this meme way too many times on social media in the past few days. The phrase, made even more hilarious with cartwheel emojis in between its words, has taken the Internet by storm. It's been used in casual conversations with friends and even promotional materials for various brands.

What does it mean?

The trending line has a literal meaning: You use it to ask someone, typically a friend of yours, why they are sad. 

But as the phrase continues to go viral, people have been using it as a template to jump—or shall we say, cartwheel—on the trend. 

A popular delivery service brand, for example, recently changed it a bit to encourage its followers to buy food through its app: “Gutom 🤸‍♂️ lang 🤸‍♂️ ’yan 🤸‍♂️ beshie 🤸‍♂️ ko.”

Actor Jake Ejercito also drew laughs when he shared a conversation with his daughter, Ellie, about his new haircut on Facebook. The latter didn't mince words when she jokingly said she didn't like his Korean hairstyle, so the local star wrote: “Ang 🤸 straightforward 🤸 ng 🤸 beshie 🤸 ko 🤸 #JEllieConvos.” 

Where did it come from?

Would you believe the viral meme originated from a scene in GMA-7's drama anthology Magpakailanman that aired two years ago? 

We're talking about the episode dubbed Baklash: The Viral Princesses of Navotas, which aired on the Kapuso network on Dec. 3, 2021. It's about gay friends MJ and Lala, who cope with their daily struggles in life through all forms of positivity, including gymnastics.  

In that particular scene, MJ asked Lala why he was feeling down. The latter said his dad was acting cold toward him after a fight.

MJ then started doing cartwheels as he asked Lala: "Bakit malungkot ang beshie ko?"

"Kasi malungkot ang lola mo," Lala replied as he pulled off a flawless cartwheel.

The scene ended with a fun gymnastics showdown between the two.

GMA Pinoy TV uploaded the trending scene and explained why people have been using the viral template in their social media posts. "Bakit 🤸🏻 ganito 🤸🏻 mag-caption 🤸🏻 ang🤸🏻 mga🤸🏻beshie 🤸🏻 ko 🤸🏻? Ito kasi ang sabi ng lola n’yo!" 

The video only resurfaced when a Twitter user uploaded the clip online on June 27, adding gymnastics and ballet emojis in between their lines in his tweet. It has since garnered almost 2 million views, birthing yet another social media meme.