Meme Report 6/11
What a Week
Waymo on fire
Much like Americana at Brand Memes, I LOVE LA!! Everything that has come out about the protests has been uniquely Los Angeles. The lingering image from the protests is going to be the waymos on fire. Waymos are driverless Ubers. They are bizarre and uncanny, sharing the road with them, even for a moment, made me feel ill. You can tell there is no soul when you share the road with them. They are another encroachment on our lives by Big Tech, and by now, every other encroachment has gone south, so it’s starting at a disadvantage. We know only bad things can come from it. Now, these cars with no owners and no drivers are being burned. Honestly, it’s perfect. It’s almost like they invented the perfect piece of property to be sacrificed to the protestors. In the moment, it’s a victimless crime, and long term, it hurts Big Tech. I don’t see a downside.
Trump/Elon Fight
One of the most overhyped non-events of all time. I think we all wanted it to be fun. But I also think we’ve forgotten certain absolutes of the Trump administration. People kept acting like Nostradamus for predicting that two of the most volatile drama queens in history would have a falling out less than 6 months into their active partnership. They seem to have forgotten all the figures of the last trump presidency who pledged loyalty to Trump and were quickly disposed of when Trump got bored with them. They forgot about the Mooch! They forgot that part of what made everything so volatile the last time around was that people were constantly getting fired. Elon having a meltdown on Twitter was predictable after the fact was predictable. It seemed like it should be fun. It wasn’t as fun as it’s been in the past. In fact, I almost forgot about it.
The Tonys
I love the Tonys. The Tonys are the only award show where my lack of knowledge is part of the enjoyment. Though I have been able to see a larger chunk of nominees than ever before, as I live in New York now, there were still some shows I was learning of for the very first time during the broadcast. There is something so amazing about an art form where there are only a handful of new entries a year, and all the entries fall within the same micro genres. Each year, they try to expand the scope of the microgenres, but what I know of them on the evening is just what is familiar to me. Families around a dinner table, the old west, an obvious attempt to integrate new technology, inventive new work that references a famed old work, Boop. The other thing we learn on Tony’s evening is who on Twitter is a real award show fan and who’s just here for the Oscars. Though there are few of us, we are all pure of heart in a way that the other award show live tweeters are not. It feels good once a year to check in with the people who are the most talented among us and see what they’re up to.
David Lynch Natasha Lyonne AI
I’m not going to stand here and say that I’ve always hated Natasha Lyonne. That would be a lie, but I have very little patience for a fake redhead, especially one who lets her hair get too orange occasionally. She was playing the part of a natural redhead well until she used it as a shield for her AI production company. Using the “ah, I’m crazy!” personality she’s developed to deflect criticism about something obviously bad is not the redhead's way. Especially if we can all tell it's a DIY box job. How convenient for her that her former neighbor was recently canonized as the patron saint of Hollywood, and he said it was ok!
Recommendations
This section contains Amazon affiliate links. Just clicking the link helps support Memeforum financially. You do not have to buy anything.
Addison by Addison Rae - Yup!! YUP!! It feels so good to be right, All!! The!! Time!! It’s a perfect album and proof that TikTok is only the beginning.
Mississippi Masala - You may or may not have seen that Mississippi Masala has been in the news lately because the director’s son, Zohran Mamdani is running for mayor of New York City. This movie has been recommended to me for years and I like to do research on a candidate before I rank them 1st on my ballot. I finally watched it and it’s incredible. It’s everything a romance movie could be and so much more. It’s also currently streaming on Max if you don’t want to buy a DVD.
Song of Solomon - I’ve been reading Song of Solomon for about 5 years now, and every time I pick it up again, I get mad that I haven’t finished it yet because it’s so good. Then I decide I want to savor it and take my time. I read 3 chapters this week, and I am once again torn between finishing it as quickly as I can or spending as much time between chapters as I can.
TikTok
Princess Cakes
Tiktok failed to load.Enable 3rd party cookies or use another browser
New hot trend alert!! Dubai chocolate is OVER!!! It’s all about Swedish Princess Cake now!! They seem like a pain in the ass to make and are covered in America's favorite treat: marzipan! These are going to go mega viral in the contrarian community. If you love being a pain in the ass, Princess cakes are the perfect dessert for you. If you really want to be annoying, you can claim to have loved it for a long time and had it at every event growing up. Get ready to eat the fuck out of some marzipan.
This is My Impression
Tiktok failed to load.Enable 3rd party cookies or use another browser
This originally started with the concept “this is my impression of a girl who has a crush on a boy named x.” The original girl would then do an exaggerated pronunciation of the chosen name. Other people have taken the premise and given us a glimpse into how this manifests across language and culture. These trends are as much about trading secrets as they are about the joke. Occasionally, in the dating wars, it is necessary for the sides to trade information, and while it may be public knowledge among women that when a girl says Chris like that, it means she has a crush on him, others might not be able to connect those dots. The international versions let us know that this might deserve a spot on the list of human universals. Not only crushes, but the special, not overly affectionate way someone might say the name of their crush.
Phineas and Ferb
Tiktok failed to load.Enable 3rd party cookies or use another browser
When we talk about the Golden Age of television, Phineas and Ferb has to be a part of that conversation. During a dark period last summer, I rewatched some Phineas and Ferb, and it held up. It’s as good as you may or may not remember. It is a show for children, but it’s a show for smart children. That’s why the edits still hit. This new season on Disney+ is unlocking a wave of nostalgia on TikTok, and I’ll allow it. I don’t know if that will hold up if I actually go to watch the show, but I’m happy to take in as much of it as I can right now.