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Two Things:
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Onto The Memes!
I Am Weed
I said two weeks ago that Megan Fox was burning through all her goodwill by being annoying about her boyfriend and it seems she’s used up the last of it. Everyone is fed up with her and Machine Gun Kelly and their disgusting public relationship. People are trying to turn it into discourse that we’re annoyed because she’s a mother. It’s not that. It’s that it’s annoying. It was annoying in high school when these people would make out in the hallways and it’s annoying now that they’re doing it at the VMAs. Everyone hates it and they have every right to. When she tried to explain herself, she only made it worse. There is nothing charming about MGK saying completely seriously “I am weed” It’s sooo stupid. We will go too far with this and have to apologize to Megan Fox in three years but right now we’re right. She is being annoying. So is MGK but he had no goodwill to destroy. The meme is natural run off for annoyance and the phrase I am Weed is so funny on its own that the memes themselves are good.
Timothee Chalamet Wonka
There’s a chill in the air which means we’re returning to our favorite anemic White Boy of the Month. There’s something about him that can’t help but capture our attention, especially in winter. Maybe it’s because he looks like Tiny Tim and the Artful Dodger and we can’t help but associate his Dickensian good looks with Christmastime. Maybe it’s because he wants an Oscar so bad and all his movies come out in November. Whatever the reason, we've been blessed with a picture from the upcoming Wonka prequel that Timmy himself posted. This image spoke to everyone on a Sunday afternoon because we all can’t help but have affection for Timmy. Timmy, whether we chose him or not, is our boy and when Timmy is being silly we have to make fun of him. We made fun of this picture out of an obligation I don’t think we all fully understand. Whatever Timmy posts, whatever he says, whatever he does, we have to engage. We can’t let him get away with anything but not in a Jameela Jamil bullying way but in a friend that you lightly make fun of because they have it too good way. We have to tease and joke with people like this because we love them too much. If we let the handsome, successful actor be completely silly, uncommented on, the world would fall into chaos. He can’t be allowed to carry on in this top hat and coat without anyone saying anything. But the worst part is, we wouldn’t be doing any of this if we didn’t love him. This lighthearted joshing is the result of the affection we have for him. He posted that image where he looked silly and everyone on the Internet went “Well now I have to see this”. It might be a total flop and on the level with cats but now all the Chala-stans are going to see it. I personally did not think this movie was real and actually being made and I can think of no better confirmation than this.
Faceapp Migrant Mother
I don’t want to scold people and I don’t want to wholeheartedly endorse something I see as kind of funny but mostly morally dubious. That’s where I stand on this. It’s probably bad to make things like this but I did laugh so I don’t have a leg to stand on. I also know I can’t stop this and no amount of crossing my arms and saying “that’s not funny” will do anything, except make people laugh harder. We can only look on in horror and consider how the passage of time numbs our response to tragedies of the past. See also: Titanic themed bouncy house.
TikTok
It is cuffing season and there are a lot of trends right now about pitching partners to people and what their deal breakers are. I don’t care. Take your anxieties about looking for a boyfriend somewhere else, like your diary. This sound started as one of those but has become something so much better: People who weirdly look like celebrities in unflattering ways. I didn’t know it was possible but my mind has been opened up to a world of people who look like famous people but it's not a compliment to say that. I can never guess who they look like but then when they show me I can’t unsee it. I’ll always endorse trends that want me to guess something or where guessing could be involved. Side note: In the example, the boy says he looks like Glenn Close but if you’re a boy and you look like Glenn Close you actually look like Albert Nobbs.
I have something to say. I don’t think the girl version of this trend is funny. To me, it is funny for men to lie about being so emotional about women’s rights they cry and then saying how tall they are. It is an acceptance of their place in the hierarchy. These are things women correctly complain about these men are trying to prove that it won’t be a problem with them. This trend communicates that men are stupid and want a girlfriend and will do anything to get one. Aren’t these the sensitive Himbos we asked for? The girl version is women lying to men about their interests in an ironic detached way. None of the girls want to go full pick me and instead the girls just want to lie about their interests. Women lie to men about their interests already. There are frequent trends about women lying to men to act like they have something in common with them. They are rehashing well trod territory of the things women lie about to impress men but acting like that’s the point of their joke. The women who do this aren’t actually trying to get boyfriends, they’re trying to prove a point. Everyone is treating the girl videos like these wins for feminism, which shouldn’t be the case. This trend should be an elaborate courting ritual where people are bending over backwards, lie after ridiculous lie, to prove themselves worthy of a spouse. I want to see women genuinely trying to impress men by lying egregiously. All of these women still want boyfriends, what are the lengths they’re willing to go to get them? The men are crying about the 19th amendment, show us what you got.
I don’t play video games like this so I can only really judge these on how good they are to an outsider audience. It’s strongly hit or miss. I did need the specifics of the concept somewhat explained to me though I understood the general gist. I am not seeing as many as my real gamer friends and the real gamers seem to be seeing the better ones. The higher the production value and the more funny the initial premise is, the better the video is. I can see that it probably needed to start from a low rent place and each gamer that saw it, expanded upon it and did their best to replicate the video game mechanics in their own personal situation. This meme has a lot of growth potential and I see why it’s funny even though I personally don’t love all of them. Most of the videos I’ve seen lack a great premise that grabs my attention. The longer it goes on and the more people throw their hat in the ring, the funnier it will become. We’ll get the first ideas out of the way and really dig into weird and funny scenarios. There’s room for improvement and I’m excited to see it.
Originally this meme was about watching your siblings grow up. I don’t have siblings so I don’t care. I also hate sappy sounds where the only purpose is to make you cry. Everyone wants to get likes by tugging at our heartstrings so the meme grows and begins to include more people and be about different things. There’s also an ironic reapprotation of the meme for people who don’t have that kind of relationship with their siblings and want to be funny. Only children take a stab at the meme the best way we can, which is never worth it. Now we’re here. This meme is about showing text messages from anyone about anything with a sad ABBA song playing underneath. This meme is for no one and about nothing. Months and months of circulating on TikTok have turned this into just a thing people do for no reason with tenuous connections to the video that inspired it. It’s like one of those words that are only use in idioms and serve no other purpose in our language . What’s worse is that none of them are funny or worth watching. You know what’s slipping through my fingers? The point of these videos.
The thing I don’t like about this meme is that Keke Palmer is speaking the whole time. It is not a dialogue. “You know it’s your girl” is not Megan responding. Keke Palmer is still talking. Otherwise, I love this sound. I love when people are excited to see each other despite spending every waking moment together. I like when people have fun relationships with their friend’s significant others. I think it's a fun sound and the piano under it makes it silly and enjoyable.