“Ancient Temple Becomes Latest Playground: Influencer Faces Backlash for ‘Temple Run’ Stunt!”
Temple Run is a video game franchise of 3D endless running games featuring an explorer being chased by a group of demon monkeys. The characters and themes vary between spin-offs.
Influencers visiting Cambodia’s historical Angkor Wat have brought the Temple Run video game to life
Image credits: allPhoto Bangkok/Unsplash
Last month, content creator Tim Win went viral for sharing his version of the trend, sharing a clip of himself on TikTok running inside Angkor Wat, which amassed nearly 2 million views.
Similarly, TikToker Chiara Contino received 2.4 million views after following the same trend, posting a video of the same style on the video-sharing app.
Both Tim and Chiara’s videos have been seemingly well-received by Cambodian viewers, as some commented: “Thank you for visiting Cambodia,” “Thank you for promoting Cambodia,” and “Welcome to Cambodia.”
Image credits: Norbert Braun/Unsplash
Nevertheless, Simon Warrack, a conservationist who’s worked for three decades to preserve the nearly millennia-old ruins at Angkor, was reportedly troubled by the potential damage as well as the cultural and religious insensitivities of the trend.
He told Bloomberg on August 22: “You wouldn’t run through St. Peters in Rome or any Western church — so why is it okay to do it in Cambodia
“It’s not just potential damage to the stones by people bumping into them and falling or knocking things over — which is real — but it’s also damage to the spiritual and cultural value of the temples.”
Many locals have praised the new trend
