Please ignore the headline unless you’re vying for first prize in the Darwin Awards.
Every week, we read yet another story about an influencer or influencer couple doing something stupid, and often dangerous, to get attention.
From getting naked in Chernobyl to swimming in contaminated waters their idiocy often knows no bounds.
The real mystery here isn’t why so many people facilitate this behaviour by following them, it’s how these people have managed to suspend their natural survival instincts for so long without kicking the bucket.
The latest stunt to grace the internet comes courtesy of Kelly Castille and Kody Workman on their account Positravelty. Before we take a look at it, though, here are five times the couple risked their lives for the perfect shot by…
…dangling off a beam.
…focusing more on an apple than on not cracking his head open on the side of a pool.
…dangling her over the edge of a precarious ledge.
…balancing on the edge of the mountain in Cape Town.
…sitting on the wrong side of a bannister.
Right, moving on to their latest offending shot:
Take a minute to take in the following defence from the couple:
“There is a difference between risking your life and taking a risk at having one. We know which side we would rather be on, do you?”
Do you, though? Do you really, Kelly and Kody? I have questions and CNN has answers, so let’s see if we can make sense of these people and their activities.
If it sounds defensive, that might be because the couple — who go by the Instagram handle Positravelty — previously came under fire in April for a similar picture, taken in Bali, in which Workman stood in a seemingly high-walled pool, holding Castille over the side above what appeared to be a huge drop.
You can see that one above.
Following criticism, the couple said at the time that they had been playing with optics, and that there was another pool 8 meters below Castille.
They also claimed the photo represented the strength of their trust in one another.
The new photo, which was posted August 28, has amassed over 14,000 likes – but many critical comments.
At the time of writing, it’s sitting on over 15 000 likes, which means that there are 15 000 other people out there who think you need to dangle your partner over the edge of a cliff to prove your trust in your relationship.
“We trust each other, and we would never do something that would put our lives at risk,” they said.
“Perspective shots like these simply avoid certain surrounding elements. As for this specific shot, it is the framing that creates the dramatic perspective.”
When asked whether or not they were concerned that others might try to copy them, they said this:
“We will never live any moment of our lives concerned that someone, somewhere, ‘might’ one day copy us,” they said. “We believe that everyone is capable of making their own decisions and determining what they should and should not do,” adding, “this is our creative outlet.”
The couple — who prefer not to be called influencers — said that the trip to Humantay was one of the highlights of their trip to Peru, and that they spent three hours hiking and two hours relaxing at the lake.
If it looks like an influencer, and it acts like an influencer…
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