Meme Report 9/27
Sorry I'm Late I Had A Sinus Infection
Seemingly Ranch
We’ve seen a lot of takes about Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce dating over the past few days but the one phrase stuck in everyone’s minds is “seemingly ranch” from a Swiftie parading as Taylor-focused news outlet. What gets me about “seemingly ranch” is the “why now?” of it all. These people post unsubstantiated rumors as fact day after day. Why is the white sauce on the plate in a picture with Taylor where we need to confirm the facts? We can take a hardline stance that the red one is ketchup but is the white one ranch? She’s 100% dating Travis and collaborating with Nicki Minaj on a vault track but who’s to say what dip accompanies the tendie.
Kevin James
I am ambivalent about this meme. In some ways, I am fascinated by our ability to create something out of nothing. To follow a thread all the way to the improbable conclusions. To dig deeper and create more and build worlds with barely anything. Every time I think we’ve lost the touch or the magic, we get it back in new and interesting ways. On the other hand… this is the best we can do? A photo of Kevin James shrugging? Isn’t there anything else? Don’t we have more wells to pull from first? The architecture of the meme is incredible, if hollow. Ultimately the Kevin James meme is like an intricate shopping mall. It’s impressive that we can build this but all we have to show for it is a food court and a Filene’s Basement.
Sitting
Ok, the more I’ve sat with this the more I understand it. Sitting is an example of all of us taking one for the team. Fans agree that Brian Jordan Alvarez is funny and we know that comedy songs do well. Earworms have more potential for sustained virality. This is all of us gritting our teeth and saying this is our favorite because we know it’s a gateway to getting more people interested in the world of a comedian we like. Sitting is not his best work but you can’t play the Elegant Walk video on the radio. It might be overkill at this point, but SAG is still on strike. We’re starved for content.
Celebrity Interaction
Everyone loves an excuse to talk about themselves. They love a chance to prove to us that they are charming and funny and the people we pay to be charming and funny 24/7 thought so. Celebrities Interactions are today's version of getting blessed by a saint. Twitter allowed us to get them all out this weekend. We all proved in our own ways how magnanimous everyone is. We’re all great and we’re all lovely and everyone is as nice as they seem on TV. So now we’re done and we don’t have to talk about it for another two years at least. I’ll spare you all the story about the time I grabbed Andrew Rannells’ hand on the streets of West Hollywood because I thought he was one of my friends.
TikTok
She Even Asked Me For The Time
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I hate this meme. Not that it’s even popular or worth my ire but it’s everything bad about memes. It feels like months-old free advertising for Barbie. The sound and the caption aren’t cohesive. I get the overall point, but if you’re the voice of Ken, who are you talking to? There’s not enough world-building. Ken is talking to the other Kens about Barbie but in the TikTok, the authors often do not give name to these people. It feels like the words mean nothing and all anyone wants to do is the fist pump at the end. There’s this unnecessary preamble that makes the whole thing incongruous. Who are you talking to? Why are you talking at all? Just do a fist pump privately.
Honey, It Was Ruined When She Bought It
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The sound from Cat in the Hat is a level 2 or even level 3 lip sync. It’s not for first-timers! It requires a little more talent and timing than many people are used to. The sound itself is fine and the execution of the meme is B+ but the lip-syncs leave something to be desired. It’s harder than people realize so I wouldn’t attempt it without a couple of practices first!