A New York City man’s negative review of Monday’s solar eclipse has gone viral as he claimed it was “super overhyped” and rated it only three out of five stars.
People across the US left their homes and offices for a celestial event, some of them traveling across the country to be on the path of totality, where the moon appears to completely block out the sun for several minutes.
But for the TikToker who goes by Tyreak Told You, the once-in-a-lifetime celestial event “left a lot to be desired” and “felt like a big waste of time.”
He rattled off a list of people he blamed for whipping up the ‘bum eclipse’ – from the media to meteorologists, and conspiracy theorists who he said were all responsible for raising expectations.
TikToker @tyreaktoldyou gave the eclipse a scathing three-star review, saying, “we got the sampler platter, we didn’t get the whole thing.”
In some cultures, ancient people believed that eclipses were evidence of mystical events.
In ancient China, people believed that a solar eclipse occurred when a heavenly dragon attacked and devoured the sun. And ancient Hindus believed that eclipses occurred when heavenly demons drank the nectar of benevolent gods.
But Tyreak was harder to impress.
“I thought my chakras would be overloaded and I would gain superpowers and turn into something else,” he said.
But the eclipse left him unchanged and frustrated.
“It didn’t even get completely dark,” he complained. “We didn’t get full coverage, we had about 80 percent coverage.”
In this case he underestimates the coverage of the eclipse.
Although New York City was outside the eclipse’s totality path, viewers in the city saw the moon blocking the sun about 90 percent of the way.
But he is right when he says that he did not see how the city was plunged into darkness for several minutes when the moon crossed the sun.
Although New York City took on an eerie quality of diffused light, it was not totality.
The partial solar eclipse as seen from the Top of the Rock at Rockefeller Center on April 8, 2024 in New York City. The city was not in the path of totality, but did see 90 percent of the sun covered by the moon.
While walking down the sidewalk with his eclipse viewing glasses on his head, TikToker @tyreaktoldyou expressed disappointment that the moon did not completely obscure the sun when the eclipse was viewed from New York City.
“We got the sample platter, but not the whole thing,” Tyreak continued.
“All that happened was it got a little darker… and it got cold,” he said. “I would give this eclipse a three out of five, and that means I’m being generous.”
He added that he’s “seen better eclipses,” then jokingly praised the eclipse’s agent and publicity team, as if the solar phenomenon were a movie star or musician.
“Whoever you have on your team, I hope you pay them a lot of money because the way they marketed this event, I thought I was going to have a life-changing experience,” he said. ‘No.’
Tyreak then compared the eclipse to an overhyped artist being backed by major corporations while smaller artists work in obscurity:
“This is what happens when you have the machine behind you: You can be bland and untalented and still get all this attention. Meanwhile, it’s all these independent eclipses that aren’t signed to a major label, and they’re just having a hard time here!’