Damn Bitch You Live Like This?

All of The Images are Low Quality Which Leads Me to Ask, Damn Bitch You Live Like This?

There is a long history on the internet of making children’s cartoons modern. Maybe it’s a failure to grow up and needing the comforts of childhood there to help us. Maybe it’s an acknowledgement of our first crushes. Maybe it’s a first draft idea that everyone has and only some people act on because they think it’s deep. No version of it really lasts though, not without the meme treatment. Our most enduring version, is of course, Max and Roxanne from A Goofy Movie. 

There are a lot of reasons why only these two in their “Damn bitch you live like this” meme live on. I believe it is because these two characters are only remembered because all of us, as children, only remember thinking Max and Roxanne are hot. A cool skater and a fun redhead in the context of a Disney movie made all of us go “ok there’s something there.” Does anyone remember the plot of a goofy movie? Or their favorite bits? Or a line? No. We remember Roxanne and Max. 

The meme itself is taken from a reimagined version of Max and Roxanne posted on someone’s Art Instagram account. Something that there is no barrier for entry on and lot’s of people create, either not knowing or not caring that the success rate is low and the making fun of your passion rate is very high. The post is a hand drawn picture of Max, dressed like a modern man saying to Roxanne, also dressed to the times, “Wow Queen you’re so beautiful.” It is a little dumb but mostly innocuous. There’s nothing special about this post to make it stand out but it hit a nerve with people and we at the time thought it was the funniest, most ridiculous image. 

In the great summer ‘16 where everything was fun and easy we had a lot of fun with this image. “Wow queen you’re so beautiful” made us laugh in a myriad of ways. Then in November 2016, (I’m sure it's a coincidence and probably has nothing to do with the election) someone created this new version that lives on forever. “Damn Bitch you live like this” Immediately it was a hit. We finally had a way to talk about a thing we see a lot: disgusting living situations. Damn Bitch you live like this gives us a way to point out that someone is living in a bad way and also that they deserve better. “You live like this?” As a question not only means that you could be living better but that people want that for you. 

Sure the phrase existed in many forms before this meme but memes synthesize an emotion into one succinct phrase one that we can all share. Rarely is the language of the meme exactly what we mean. The inside jokes usually have a double meaning or create a new meaning from the words used. “Smack Barm Pey Whet” is a nonsense phrase that we use to talk about english food. “Depression causes Memory Loss” is a phrase we use to mean an oft repeated phrase on twitter that has lost it’s meaning. Here though the words mean exactly what they seem to mean.

Frequently people will post their living spaces in the background of selfies and reveal a disgusting pile of trash or unsightly interior design choices. They will reveal a habit that is so disgusting and insane that one can’t believe they soldier on. They will tell us about a meal they love whose ingredients make our stomachs turn. The internet for some reason calls people to share these facts of their daily life with us and we can only respond with the most shameful phrase on the internet “Damn bitch, you live like this.”  

It can also be an internal call to action. To look around and see the filth you have created for yourself. The trash around your bed. The grease compiling on your head from days without a shower. The empty takeout containers or protein bar wrappers sitting on the floor. The odor you are emitting from clothes that have not been changed in a while. As Hulu autoplays the next episode of a television show you aren’t even sure if you like anymore you must ask yourself the question, damn bitch you live like this? 

All the ridicule in the world, from the original image and its silly premise, to what the image became, to all the unwitting victims of a “Damn bitch you live like this”, finally the end stop is oneself. Turn the ridicule inward, and realize you have become the girl from the meme. You may not have the same Thrasher Shirt or ripped jeans or even a man asking the question of you, but the mess is the same. The stink that we can all smell from the picture is now present in your own life. There is only one thing to do, ask yourself “Damn bitch, you live like this?” and want better for yourself. Start to clean your room and yourself and reenter the world. 

Memes have power both personally and in the world. This has the power to shame almost anyone into living a little bit better. If I was hit with a “Damn bitch you live like this”, I wouldn’t know what to do. In trying to bring to life a crush from childhood, we have created a way to make a better adulthood. We should all aspire to live a life where we know we can beat the “Damn bitch you live like this” allegations.