The 17 Must-See Viral Videos of 2014

By Jeff Cattel

Some videos are destined for viral fame. A firefighter rescuing a cat? That’s enough to break the Internet. (Take note, Kim Kardashian.) And since we basically live on the Web here at Greatist—it’s a thankless task paid in GIFs—we thought we’d put our expertise to good use and round up our favorite viral videos from the past year. Some made us laugh, some made us cry, but all left a lasting impression on our otherwise goldfish-like attention spans. So click away and take a much needed productivity break. Just make sure you have a box of tissues nearby—we weren’t kidding about the tears.

Self-Love

1. Always #LikeAGirl

When did tacking the phrase “like a girl” onto things become an insult? And, more importantly, when does this long-held stereotype get cemented in young girls’ minds? This short film from female hygiene company Always gives us the answers. And then it flips the script by suggesting we use “like a girl” as an empowering phrase to describe impressive feats made by women. Try and leave this video without a fist-pumping attitude that we can be the change we want to see in the world.

2. John Legend: What Do You See When You Look in the Mirror?

This mini-documentary is the companion to John Legend’s power ballad “You and I.” After crooning empowering lyrics (“You fix your makeup just so. Guess you don’t know you’re beautiful.”), Legend and his team ask the women in the music video what they see when they look in the mirror. The answers will take you on a roller coaster of emotions, from full-belly laughs to welling with tears. Our favorite answer: “When you look at yourself in the mirror, I think it’s almost like a personal time to really acknowledge your difference and your individual beauty.”

3. What Guys Look for in Girls

This slam poetry about the many ways society knocks women down for not reaching impossibly high beauty standards is guaranteed to give you chills. Savannah Brown doesn’t let the boys who taunted her for being a flat-chested teenager with braces define her worth. Instead, she delivers powerful lines like: “You don’t need any miracle cream to keep your passions smooth [and] hair free or diet pills to slim your kindness down.” We just wish we could’ve listened to this as 13-year-olds.

Body Image

4. I Will What I Want

This video is the perfect reminder that everyone—even the world’s best athletes—face rejection on their journey to the top. Misty Copeland is an unlikely ballerina—she only started taking lessons as a teenager, and her muscular and curvy figure is a stark opposition to the elongated, waif-like bodies of most ballerinas. But Copeland’s perseverance (that “I will what I want” attitude) led her to become a soloist in the …read more

Source:: Greatist