the capybara simping is hilarious

i just saw the “flow” movie with some friends and who were they captivated most by? the capybara. what did my gen alpha skibidi toilet loving cousins want for christmas? jellycat capybara plushes. where did this love come from? and it’s recent too. like two years ago if you’d said “capybara” to me, i would’ve thought you were talking about some brazilian martial art… i mean, i kinda get it, i kinda don’t- they’re just rats, but…bigger? maybe there’s some kind of golden ratio there in random animals becoming appealing to humans, a pleasing blend of rotundity and moderate (but non-threatening) height that humans have evolved to crave. maybe their plumpness evokes the historical standard of fatness being associated with a life of leisure and wealth… now eric adams wants to get rid of all the rats in nyc (physician heal thyself). maybe the answer is simply that they need to be bigger, and more visible. no longer a shadow slipping past the corner of your eye, but a large dog-sized thing parked right in front of you, reclining on the sidewalk, limbs and belly casually splayed out like some reincarnated roman emperor, looking you square in the eye as it takes a bite of the slice of pizza it stole from you… i think that capybaras must be the most evolved creature, because the ultimate goal of evolution is to be happy doing nothing