In 2007, filmmaker Werner Herzog captured a moment that still haunts the internet: a lone penguin abandoning its colony—not to feed, not to return—but walking straight toward the Antarctic mountains, 70 km from survival. Even when researchers brought it back, it turned around and kept going.
The clip, now viral again with millions of views, became a symbol of something deeply human. Some call it depression. Others call it nihilism. Many simply say: “This is literally me.”
From Encounters at the End of the World, Herzog rejected cute nature storytelling and instead showed nature’s indifference—no morals, no meaning, no explanations. Scientists call the penguin “disoriented.” The internet calls it existential.
There’s no confirmed scientific answer. And that’s why we can’t look away.
Because maybe it was never about the penguin.
Maybe it was about us, walking toward something we can’t explain—
even when we know it’s a bad idea. 🐧❄️
