Prince Philip
Was debating including this one but Cher chimed in and so must I. It is so so so funny. Every joke is the same but how is that man still alive. Nothing has beat the first one I’ve seen but every one makes me laugh. It’s nice to have a villain, an easy target. Even if you were still loyal to the monarchy, there’s no way prince Philip is your favorite. It’s also the best version of this would kill a child from the Middle Ages because that always brings out bad people (nerds, medieval historians) we can all agree no matter our medical background that man looks like death warmed over and even a Trader Joe’s taki will take him out.
Sending an outfit to your boyfriend because he liked it on someone on Instagram
I am tempted to ask are straight people ok but truly this is a problem with everyone, that we cant conceive of people liking more than one thing. Especially when one of those two things is us. To limit this kind of insecurity to straight people is foolish and near sighted. However this trend is dumb and you need to look inside yourself and do the work there before you let the Instagram brain worms get to you. Even if you’re just joking — which no one ever is — the joke is that you’re insecure and confrontational? It just feels like behavior you would only engage in if you were already halfway to engaging with it genuinely.
RIP [historical figure] you would have loved [modern thing]
This meme was originally on tiktok a couple of months ago and it was really funny when kids would do a fake British accent and say it. That’s lost in the Twitter version. Another aspect of the meme that is lost in transition between platforms is that it’s not that serious. Some of the Twitter people are about to make an impassioned case for Virginia Woolf loving Alexa. Or historians yelling at us that No actually, Helen of Troy would not love Real Housewives of Potomac. Also based on what I know about British women I don’t want to speculate on what they’re beliefs about our current world might be!! Also they’re dead so it doesn’t matter.
Tiktok
Saying You’re a Kid is Like Saying I’m a Kid
The first piece of dialogue is fully unrelated to the point of the video. It’s just someone handing you the results of your childhood. We’re going through the old classics of a Tiktok meme format here. People keep finding new ways of saying the same thing over and over again.
This is one of those memes that people make that don’t really make sense when applied to other things. The original video was about Effie from skins having big blue eyes because 1) she looks like that and 2) she was on drugs. This meme simply does not make sense when applied to any person not from skins or not on drugs. Not everything can be a meme. Sometimes things are funny just as a one off. They don’t need to be repeated and repeated and applied to other works of fiction or parts of your life.
You Owe Me $32000 in Legal Fees
Very funny. It’s fun that we sometimes just recognize something as having the cadence of a joke despite not having the context for it. Saying someone owes you $3200 in legal fees for any amount of money for anything, really funny. The first Cars movie? Pretty funny.
So What if I’m the Monster/ I’m Semi I Stay Automatic
One of my FAVORITE vines. I’m so happy to see it revived in the Tiktok era. I love this sound I watch every video with it twice just because I love hearing the Semi sound. It’s a fine format but a great sound for a format that comes around a lot.
I think this is affecting me mentally
You’re not allowed to joke about something unless you’re over it. That’s the rule. Trauma dumping is not a form of coping. Journal. Obviously we shouldn’t trauma dump but also when people are talking about trauma, we shouldn’t talk about how fiction caused trauma. For example, when people talk about the early internet fucking you up they mean Isis beheading videos, not Charlie the unicorn. Also the sound itself is bad and hard to listen to.
Look at the fucking size of them
Great. We’re seeing a lot of things that are either very big or very small. Basically what the internet is for. People lightly making fun of themselves.
Passing the Phone but People Think it’s a Duet
So funny. Love a good prank. The more energy people give to the song the funnier it is. Tricking your parents and siblings is where Tiktok shines.
Love this one. It’s a fun way to be self reflective. Look back on our past and instances of regrets and go through the act of penance that is putting on the clown filter playing the silly song and posting it to the world. It’s the same as saying ten Hail Marys.
Hit or miss. Sometimes very funny. Sometimes a minute long video of things that aren’t that bad or that funny.
You are African Americans, Plus Mark
I love it. I like it better when it’s people shouting out their one white friend rather than the one white friend shouting out themselves but nevertheless, I am rocking with Mark.
Notes:
I saw a tiktok engaging in meme criticism! It’s important to see that other people are doing what I do and building out the world of criticizing memes. He’s absolutely right. We all know the song cut to the picture.