The Internet is an unrelenting vortex that sucks the intelligence out of simple-minded teenagers, stripping them of their security and stealing their naiveté.

Or so the stereotype goes.

I’ve always paralleled life to movies. If the issue facing us is something to be scared of, there’s probably a movie about it. Along the same vein, the rise of the science fiction brand serves as the perfect example of human fear – from the prophecy that robots will take over the universe to the warnings against the dangerous expansion of the virtual world.

Under the pressure of others, I, too, learned to look at the Web as some sort of evil. It’s the horrid light from the screen that makes my grades sink. It must be all the time I’m spending on Facebook that deters me from going outside. And soon, I began to agree. When I made a mistake, I told myself the answer to all my problems was spending less time on the Internet.

A few days ago, I was scrolling through my newsfeed as I do compulsively when I’m bored, my eyes quickly scanning over the memes and the ads for pages I’d never go to in a million years. Then I saw it.

It wasn’t anything special. Just a link to a video that seemed as trivially simple as Youtube clips of cute cats doing silly things or memes with the word “no” in caps. But this was entirely different. It was social commentary. It was poetry. And most importantly, it was something others online cared about.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXk3uhlhAVY

They made teenage girls and boys care about poetry while forcing the adults watching to take note of an impressive younger generation; in doing so, the four girls began to dissolve the large divide between the two groups. The video immediately developed a huge presence online, from social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook to news conglomerates like the Huffington Post.

Their performance was spectacular. The poetry, of course, was amazing. The message was powerful and relevant. And I could talk for days about how their word, wardrobe, and tone choices were spot on. The video didn’t represent the clichéd “make people value you for your mind” message. The girls called for the embrace of all choices.

“I will suck every woman’s stereotypes out of your throats,” they recited in unison. “But no matter what garments we wrap ourselves in, a woman’s status as trick, treat, or geek is not up for discussion.” The girls exuded an anger that seemed, ironically, some variant of composure.

But the feminist message wasn’t my only takeaway.

I resonated with these girls. They spoke up about an issue widely recognized – the double standard for females and males. Figures from Elizabeth Cady Stanton to Miley Cyrus have expounded on the need for women’s rights. These girls, however, bridged the two worlds.

Before I watched the video, I had never truly considered the value of the Internet. Of course, cat videos were my guilty pleasure, and I enjoyed the occasional meme. But now, I regard the Web as much more than a mindless pastime. I had found a source of inspiration in entertainment — a call to action that I couldn’t ignore.

This video brought two worlds closer and forced people to open their eyes. I realize now that it is possible, and quite probable, to find gems on the Internet – rare pieces that appeal to mass audiences for all the right reasons. It is not hard to find the inspiration buried under stacks of tweets and status updates, but when you find the piece that inspires you, you’ll never go back to cat videos. (Okay, maybe the occasional kitten yawning.)