Just Do It!

It’s been almost a year since a strange video of Shia LaBeouf was uploaded that featured the actor pacing, gesturing wildly, and screaming “Just Do It!” into the camera. There was no explanation offered at the time; “just Shia doing Shia things”, we all thought, and got a good laugh at the antics of the actor who is known for his zany “performance art” pieces. In the days that followed, the video was remixed, combined with other memes, and analyzed by pop culture experts who just wanted to know what it was that Shia wanted them to do. In one of the best moves possible, the cameraman behind the video used a green screen behind Shia; Internet jokers quickly began adding backgrounds, placing Shia in ever-increasing ridiculous situations.

Since having our laughs, the true meaning behind the video has come to light. In the full-length video, Shia offers more than just the Nike-esque catch phrase. “Don’t let your dreams be dreams”, he says. “Yesterday, you said tomorrow. So just do it! What are you waiting for? […] If you’re tired of starting over, stop giving up!” The wild gestures, framing his crotch and doubling over, pacing like a caged animal, while funny, didn’t take away from the rather motivational words that he was sharing.

And in fact, that’s exactly what this was. While this may appear to be a random act of “art” on Shia’s part, he was actually acting. He had a script, a director, and a reason for doing all of those wacky hand movements. As it turns out, Shia was taking part in a video art project for a London college called Central Saint Martins. The students in the class wrote short scripts for the actor to perform in front of a green screen. The point of the exercise to was to express “feeling and tone”. Later, the students processed their clips, learning about finishing scenes with CGI and other technology.

While it was hilarious to think that Shia was truly trying to inspire us through another of his performance art pieces, we were in fact looking at a student’s homework. Homework that, as it turned out, entertained the entire Internet for weeks on end. The meme’s not over yet; as we near the one-year anniversary of the video’s released, Shia’s Motivational Speech has once again started trending on sites like Vine and Twitter, where users revel in their memories of those early days, before we knew the origin of the clip.

In the emotional video, Shia challenges the viewer to “…get to the point where anyone else would quit, and you’re not going to stop there. No. What are you waiting for?” He tells us that nothing is impossible, saying “Some people dream of success, while you’re gonna wake up and work hard at it. Do it. Just do it. Yes, you can. Just do it!” Maybe while we’re all enjoying a chuckle at this year’s reminder, we can take some of those words to heart.