Overview

Mayim Bialik’s New York Times Editorial refers to the reaction and controversy created by the actor’s op-ed, which the Times published in regards to the exposure of the sexual harassment and assault allegations against Harvey Weinstein. Bialik, the star of the hit television program The Big Bang Theory, wrote about the treatment of young women in Hollywood and made several comments styles of appearance, which some online perceived as victim blaming.

Background

On October 13th, 2017, the New York Times^[1] published an editorial by Big Bang Theory actor Mayim Bialik, which details her experience in Hollywood and her thoughts on the Harvey Weinstein sexual harassment and assault allegations. The essay, which tells of Bilaik’s experience in Hollywood, explains her views on sexual harassment and assault, and seems to ask young women to consider their own dress. She writes:

“And yet I have also experienced the upside of not being a “perfect ten.” As a proud feminist with little desire to diet, get plastic surgery or hire a personal trainer, I have almost no personal experience with men asking me to meetings in their hotel rooms. Those of us in Hollywood who don’t represent an impossible standard of beauty have the “luxury” of being overlooked and, in many cases, ignored by men in power unless we can make them money.

I still make choices every day as a 41-year-old actress that I think of as self-protecting and wise. I have decided that my sexual self is best reserved for private situations with those I am most intimate with. I dress modestly. I don’t act flirtatiously with men as a policy.

I am entirely aware that these types of choices might feel oppressive to many young feminists. Women should be able to wear whatever they want. They should be able to flirt however they want with whomever they want. Why are we the ones who have to police our behavior?

In a perfect world, women should be free to act however they want. But our world isn’t perfect. Nothing -- absolutely nothing -- excuses men for assaulting or abusing women. But we can’t be naïve about the culture we live in."

Developments

Backlash

The day after the Times published the piece, many on Twitter began posting rebuttles to Bialik’s arguments. On October 14th, Academy Award-winning actress Patricia Arquette tweeted^[2]“.@missmayim I have to say I was dressed non provocatively at 12 walking home from school when men masturbated at me. It’s not the clothes.” She then followed that tweet with another, reading, “It is also not outrageous for anyone to expected to be treated in a professional matter by anyone in a professional relationship.” Within two days, the first tweet (shown below, left) received more than 4,400 retweets and 26,000 likes, and the second tweet received more than 1,300 retweets and 9,600 likes.

That day, Twitter^[3] user @eveewing posted a quote from the op-ed and said Bialik’s comments were “placing blame on victims.” She continued, “‘I have decided that my sexual self is best reserved for private situations with those I am most intimate with. I dress modestly.’ This is disgusting. @missmayim is placing blame on victims and forgetting that rape and assault are about power, not about desire.” The post (shown below) received more than 9,200 retweets and 26,000 likes in two days.

As the comments and responses to the op-ed mounted, Twitter^[4] published a Moments page on the response. As of October 17th, the page has received more than 1,400 likes.

The op-ed became the subject of numerous threads on Reddit, with posts on /r/TwoXChromosomes,^[5] /r/GamerGhazi,^[6] /r/GenderCritical^[7] and more.

Mayim Bialk’s Response

On October 15th, Bialik responded to the backlash, promising to do a live question and answer with the Times on Monday, October 16th. In a tweet, she posted an image featuring the text:

“I’m being told my N.Y. Times piece resonated with so many and I am beyond grateful for all of the feedback. I also see a bunch of people have taken my words out of the context of the Hollywood machine and twisted them to imply that God forbid I would blame a woman for her assault based on her clothing or behavior. anyone who knows me and my feminism knows that’s absurd and not at all what this piece was about. it’s so sad how vicious people are being when I basically live to make things better for women. I am doing a Facebook live with the N.Y. Times Monday morning. lets discuss it then.”

Within 24 hours, the post on Twitter^[11] received more than 800 retweets, 5,300 likes and 2,700 comments. On Facebook, ^[12] the post received more than 7,300 reactions, 120 shares and 800 comments.

The follow morning, Bialik hosted the live q & a on Facebook.^[13] The video (shown below) received more than 830 reactions, 170 shares and 178,000 views within an hour of posting.

Media Coverage

Additionally, several news outlets covered the controversy, referring primarily to the criticism as “victim blaming,” including CNN,^[8] Fox,^[9] The Chicago Tribune.^[10]

After Bialik responded, the media coverage grew worldwide to local and international publications such as Times Of Israel,^[14] The Mercury News,^[15] and The Washington Times,^[16] People Magazine in South Africa,^[17] The Sydney Morning Herald in Australia,^[18] The Chronicle Herald in Canada,^[19] The Daily Mail in the UK,^[20] Pulse in Nigeria, ^[21] and many more.

External References

About

Hamburger Helper Anatomy refers to a series of depictions of the bone structure of the mascot for Hamburger Helper, an anthropomorphic glove named Lefty.

Origin

On October 14th, 2017, Twitter user @soongrowtired^[1] posted two edits of the Hamburger Helper mascot with different skeletons inside, asking “someone who is good at science please help which is the correct anatomy of hamburger helper.” The tweet gained over 50,000 retweets and 127,000 likes.

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About

Ivanka Trump’s Punk Phase refers to a series of jokes, memes and photoshops made in regards to First Daughter and Adviser to the President Ivanka Trump’s claims that she went through a “punk phase” as an adolescent. Some online consider her lifestyle, parents, upbringing and style antithetical to the punk ethos and culture, which provide the subtext for the meme.

Origin

On October 17th, 2017, New York Magazine^[1] published a quote from United States President Donald Trump’s ex-wife and Ivanka Trump’s mother Ivana Trump’s memoir Raising Trump. In the book, Ivanka recants her punk phase. She is quoted as saying:

“During my punk phase in the nineties, I was really into Nirvana. My wardrobe consisted of ripped corduroy jeans and flannel shirts. One day after school, I dyed my hair blue. Mom wasn’t a fan of this decision. She took one look at me and immediately went out to the nearest drugstore to buy a $10 box of Nice’n Easy. That night, she forced me to dye my hair back to blond. The color she picked out was actually three shades lighter than my natural color… and I have never looked back!”

Spread

Shortly after the article published, the political news site The Hill^[5] tweeted about the article, spreading the claims even further, particlularly Twitter, where people questioned how punk her punk phase really was. Twitter^[2] user and writer Dave Holmes shared the article and commented, "You had- AT MOST- a Sum 41 CD. Within 24 hours, the post (shown below) received more than 7,200 retweets and 44,000 likes.

Throughout the day, more people began making jokes and puns on Twitter. The prevailing jokes were either puns, fitting Ivanka’s name and references to her life into classic punk songs or filtering punk aesthetics through the wealthy Trump lifestyle.

That day, Twitter^[3] user @ChristnNitemare posted a picture of Ivanka with a sweater around her shoulders and her father Donald Trump with the caption “Ivanka Trump, punk as fuck in Aspen in 1998.” The post (shown below) received more than 2,200 retweets and 11,000 likes in 24 hours.

Twitter,^[4] later, published a Moments page, documenting the jokes about Ivanka’s punk claims. Several media outlets published reports on the response to Ivanka’s “punk phase,” including the AV Club,^[6] HuffPost,^[7] Harper’s Bazaar,^[8]BuzzFeed^[9] and more.

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About

Solo: A Star Wars Story is the name of the standalone Star Wars prequel film based on the exploits of the a young Han Solo, a key character in the Star Wars mythology.

History

In July 2015, Following the acquisition of LucasFilm and announcement of new Star Wars standalone films that operated outside the main trilogies, director J.J. Abrams and writer Lawrence Kasdan mentioned that a Han Solo film was on the way.^[1] Shortly after on July 7th, Chris Lord and Phil Miller, the directors of The Lego Movie and 21 Jump Street were hired to direct the film.^[2]

Two years later, on February 22nd, 2017, the official Star Wars Twitter^[3] account posted a cast photo of Lord and Miller and the rest of the cast in the Millenium Falcon. The post (shown below) received more than 22,000 retweets and 37,000 likes in eight months.

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Klay Thompson Lookalike refers to jokes made about YouTuber BigDawsTV attending the October 17th, 2017 season-opening game of the 2017-2018 NBA season between the Golden State Warriors and the Houston Rockets dressed as Warriors star player Klay Thompson.

Origin

On October 17th, 2017, YouTuber BigDawsTV attended the Golden State Warriors’ opening game against the Houston Rockets dressed as Warriors star player Klay Thompson. Quickly, Twitter users noticed and a shot of BigDawsTV holding a camera went viral on the website (shown below).

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I Sure Wish I Had Some Bread is an exploitable web comic featuring a duck who immediately has bread tossed in front of him after saying “I sure wish I had some bread,” leading him to wish for other humorous things to come to pass.

Origin

On October 16th, 2017, Extra Fabulous Comics^[1] posted a comic in which a duck says “sure wish I had some sweet duck pussy” after being thrown a broken up piece of bread (shown below).

Spread

That same day, the comic was featured on the Extra Fabulous Comics Facebook^[2] page, where it gained over 10,000 reactions, 2,800 shares and 1,000 comments in 72 hours. Meanwhile, Redditor NotManicJustHappy submitted the comic to /r/MemeEconomy,^[3] speculating “this looks like it has some serious meme potential.” Within 48 hours, the post received more than 4,100 points (95% upvoted) and 50 comments.

On October 18th, Redditor ryancallan posted a Star Wars-themed variation of the comic to /r/PrequelMemes^[4] (shown below, ).

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Overview

“He Knew What He Signed Up For is an alleged quote from United States President Donald Trump to the mother of United States Army Solider, who was killed in combat in October 2017. The statement started a public controversy after a Florida Democratic Representative Frederica Wilson, who first claimed that Trump said those words, and the president, who denied the allegations.

Background

On October 18th, 2017, Florida Democratic Congresswoman Frederica Wilson said that while in the car with Myeshia Johnson, the wife Sgt. La David T. Johnson who was killed in an ambush in Niger, on the way to Miami International Airport to meet her husband’s body, President Trump called Johnson and told her [her husband] “knew what he signed up for.” Rep. Wilson said that the call was on speakerphone, which was how she could hear the conversation.^[1] President Trump denied saying those statements.

Developments

Online Reaction

That day, the alleged statements reached the front-page of Reddit several times. Redditor^[2] ___Magnitude__ posted a photograph of the wife and daughter of Sgt. Johnson at the holding casket of her late-husband in the /r/pics subreddit. The photo (shown below) garnered more than 30,000 points (75% upvoted) and 4,800 comments in five hours.

Later that day, Redditor^[3] Elder_Joker posted a gif from the film The Big Lebowski in the /r/reactiongifs subreddit. The gif features the character The Dude saying, “You’re not wrong. You’re just an asshole.” The gif (shown below) received more than 14,400 points (85% upvoted) and 1,300 comments in less than four hours.

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About

Cereal or Milk First Debate the longstanding argument surrounding which order cereal and milk should be poured into a bowl prior to consumption.

Origin

Spread

On January 20th, 2011, YouTuber anthony hagans uploaded a video titled “Pouring milk first is wrong!”, arguing in favor of pouring the cereal in first (shown below).

On February 18th, 2016, the pop culture blog MadameNoire^[1] published an article titled “Are There Really People Out Here Pouring The Milk Before The Cereal?”

On August 21st, YouTuber giancarloparimango11 uploaded a video titled “Pouring Milk Before Cereal In Shofu’s House (GONEWRONG),” in which a man pours milk into a cereal bowl first (shown below). Within 14 months, the video gained over 65,000 views and 730 comments.

On September 16th, 2017, Redditor Arctic_Milk submitted a post titled “Why haven’t all humans evolved so that they pour cereal into the bowl before pouring in the milk?” to /r/shittyaskscience.^[2] On October 18th, the blog Crave^[3] published an article highlighting notable image macros about the debate (shown below).

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[W.I.P]

About

Sounds Good, Doesn’t Work refers to a series of image macros and reaction images of United States President Donald Trump saying “sounds good, doesn’t work” in regards to whatever the image is captioned by. Typically, these are things that the meme’s author disagrees with.

Origin

On September 26, 2016, during the first presidential debate, then-Republican Presidential Nominee Trump said in regards to Secretary Hillary Clinton, “Typical politician. All talk, no action. Sounds good, doesn’t work. Never going to happen. Our country is suffering because people like Secretary Clinton have made such bad decisions in terms of our jobs and in terms of what’s going on.”^[1]

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That night, a gif of the moment was published on the website GIPHY in their Election 2016 category. ^[2] The gif (shown below) has been viewed more than 4.5 million times.

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About

In a V Jump magazine scan for video game Dragon Ball Fighterz, popular antihero rival archetype character Vegeta was confirmed to be a “Tsundere Elite”

A meeme that appeared on a video called i couldn’t sleep so i made this video where he did a Don’t try to cringe channalge where the first clip was a dab and he cringed so hard,the next day it went serious, creating an argniazation known as dab police,well, watermlon inc. invnted the you tube robot+dab sensor+dab camera(dab camera contains of a camera and a shooter).
My coummuinty:-
https://plus.google.com/communities/106159301508021640910
(Copy Paste Link)

About

Fake Melania Trump Conspiracy refers to a theory that First Lady Melania Trump has been replaced by a body double, which makes public appearances next to President Donald Trump.

Origin

On October 13th, 2017, Donald Trump spoke to the media about the relief effort in Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria. NBC News tweeted a clip of the press conference, which featured Melania Trump standing next to the president wearing sunglasses (shown below).

In the comments on the post, Twitter user @rhyddler^[1] said it appeared that Melania Trump did not look like herself and may have been a body double, gaining over 1,000 retweets and 5,000 likes (shown below).

Spread

The conspiracy took off on October 18th, when Twitter user @JoeVargas isolated a part of the clip in which Trump says “My wife, Melania, who happens to be right here” and added the caption “This is not Melania. To think they would go this far & try & make us think its her on TV is mind blowing. Makes me wonder what else is a lie.”^[2] The tweet gained over 57,000 retweets and 92,000 likes (shown below).

This launched a series of jokes in which people photoshopped other characters next to Donald Trump and imagining Trump trying to pass them off as Melania. Twitter user @pattymo^[3] quoted @JoeVargas’ original tweet and photoshopped a picture of Trump standing next to a Muppet, gaining over 3,900 retweets and 18,000 likes (shown below, left). User @sbstryker^[4] noted that Trump pointing out Melania standing right next to him was the behavior of a man who may have been lying, gaining 4,300 retweets and 14,000 likes (shown below, right).

The story spread through many major media outlets, including Daily Dot,^[5] Select All,^[6] Washington Post,^[7] and more.

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Cheating in Class is an exploitable comic series featuring a young student standing at a chalkboard completing a math problem who sees a fellow student holding up a sign with the answer.

Origin

On June 7th, 2017, FunnyJunk^[4] user snifflingcroissant submitted a comic in which a student is shown attempting to add two numbers and sees a student holding a sign with “Star Wars”: written on it, leading him to correctly finish the math problem (shown below).

Spread

On June 15th, 2017, Redditor Oswald1337 reposted the comic to /r/StarWars, where it gained over 13,900 points (89% upvoted) and 370 comments within four months. On September 7th, Redditor Brominarium posted a “2 Genders” version of the comic to /r/dankmemes,^[7] where it received more than 6,600 points and 70 comments over the next month (shown below, left). The following day, Redditor -Kaptain- posted a Bush did 9/11 comic to /r/dankmemes.^[2] The following day, the comic reached the front page of /r/SubredditSimulator.^[3]

On September 10th, the Bernie Sanders Dank Meme Stash Facebook^[1] page posted a You Are Already Dead variation of the comic, which gathered upwards of 9,600 shares and 5,500 reactions of the next month (shown below, left). On October 5th, Redditor alittlesedated submitted a version of the meme in which the student writes a lemniscate symbol on the chalkboard after seeing a sign with “How much u love your girl” written on the front. Within two weeks, the post received more than 12,600 points (85% upvoted) and 270 comments on /r/wholesomememes^[6] (shown below).

<img src=“’ height=”350">

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About

Matthew McConaughey Inspirational Speech refers to a series of image macros of actor Matthew McConaughey talking with players of the University of Texas basketball team with his hands on his hips.

Origin

On October 15th, 2017, Twitter^[1] user and ESPN producer commentator @chrisjfarrow posted a photograph from another ESPN Producer, Brett WIlensky, of McConaughey with his hands on hips speaking at a University of Texas basketball team practice. He captioned the tweet, “One of our producers was at Texas men’s hoop practice today. Look who he saw…… @McConaughey w/ Shaka and the team.” The post (shown below) received more than 135 retweets and 1,346 likes in two days.

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About

Cala Maria is a boss in the run-and-gun platforming game Cuphead. A nautical boss, Cala Maria cycles through several forms which reference various myths and artworks, including mermaids, the Venus de Milo, and Medusa.

Origin

Cala Maria is a boss in Cuphead, which was released September 29th, 2017.^[1] She appears on Inkwell Isle 3 in the stage “High Seas Hi-Jinks!”^[2]

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Fan Art

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About

DeepMind is a neural network created by Google’s DeepMind Technologies Limited artificial intelligence company, which can play various games, program animated figures and mimic certain functions of the human brain.

History

On September 23rd, 2010, DeepMind Technologies Limited was founded by Demis Hassbis, Shane Legg and Mustafa Suleyman. In January 2014, the company was acquired by Google for $500 million, leading the company to create an artificial intelligence ethics board, though the members of the board have not been revealed.^[1] That year, the Cambridge Computer Laboratory awarded DeepMind “Company of the Year.”

Highlights

Video Games

On March 7th, 2015, the Two Minute Papers YouTube channel uploaded footage of DeepMind learning how to play the 1976 arcade game Atari Breakout (shown below).

AlphaGo

On May 1st 2016, YouTuber ColdFusion uploaded an episode about AlphaGo’s victory (shown below). Over the next two years, the video gained over two million views and 4,900 comments.

Walk Animation

On July 12th, 2017, the Tech Insider YouTube channel uploaded a video showing various animated figures created by DeepMind and used to teach itself how to learn to walk and traverse obstacles (shown below). Within three months, the video received upwards of 4.3 million views and 5,000 comments.

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About

Garfield Dog Semen Comic Strip refers to a strip of popular syndicated cartoon Garfield in which it appears that the punchline is that Jon Arbuckle has mistakenly drank from a cup of dog semen. Rumors about the intention behind the comic were discussed for over a decade online before creator Jim Davis clarified the joke behind the comic strip in 2017.

Origin

On May 30th, 1990, Garfield ran a comic strip in which Jon Arbuckle takes a drink from a glass, thinking it’s coffee. Garfield’s veterinarian then tells Arbuckle that he will give birth to a “fine, healthy litter of puppies” (shown below).

Spread

The earliest known mention of the comic’s existence appeared on January 3rd, 2006 on the Straight Dope Message Board.^[1] It was mentioned on Fark^[2] two days later, and again on Something Awful on March 25th, 2008.^[3] Several years later, the comic began gaining notoriety on Reddit. On May 4th, 2014, it was mentioned in a thread on /r/funny^[4] that gained over 2,600 points. It was brought up again on Twitter on January 22nd, 2015 by @ccchauffe^[5] and gained over 3,000 retweets (shown below). This led to another Reddit thread,^[6] this time on /r/comics, which gained over 1,500 points. On July 4th, 2017, it was mentioned on /r/comedycemetery^[7] and gained over 2,200 points.

On October 16th, 2017, Twitter user @realnutsling^[8] posted photos announcing he had received a framed version the comic strip, gaining over 4,100 retweets and 13,000 likes (shown below).

This brought the internet’s attention back to the comic, leading Buzzfeed^[9] to reach out to Jim Davis for clarification on the comic. On October 19th, 2017, Buzzfeed reported:

“On the farm, we used to give first-calf heifers a high protein supplement to help them deliver healthier calves,” (Davis) said in a statement to BuzzFeed News. “The supplement was provided by our vet.”
Since Liz is a vet, “I assumed that there would be a similar supplement for dogs,” Davis said.
“So Jon is drinking a protein-enriched drink formulated for a pregnant dog.”
That’s why Liz mentions the “healthy” litter Jon would have -- because he had just drunk a supplement for pregnant dogs, not dog semen.
“There you have it!” Davis said.

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About
A Hat in Time is a 3D platformer created by Gears from Breakfast that is considered a collect-a-thon game similar to games like Mario 64 and Banjo-Kazooie.

History
The game started as a kickstarter on June 28, 2013. It earned a total of $296,360, exceeding it’s original goal which was $30,000. It officially released on October 5, 2017 on Steam.

Gameplay
You follow the game as a little girl, who is trying to get home through space. She ends up not being able to pay enough tax to a mafia member, which ends with her spaceship getting destroyed, scattering all of her time pieces. You then have to go around the planets surface to gather them all. The gameplay has similarities between the two famous games, Mario 64 and Banjo-Kanzooie. You are able to travel 4 open levels. In each level, you have to collect various items, solve puzzles, and fight enemies with an umbrella.

About

#Trump2020ElectionSlogans is a Twitterhashtag in which people share joke and, occasionally, sincere suggestions for the reelection campaign of United States President Donald Trump.

Origin

On October 18th, 2017, the Twitter^[1] account @HashtagZoo posted a Trump tweet from the previous day, in which the president stated that Hillary Clinton planned to run for president in 2020. They captioned the post “Let’s hear your #Trump2020ElectionSlogans @HashtagZoo with @FastLaugh and @WeeklyHumorist on @HashtagRoundup powered by @TheHashtagGame.” Over the next two days, the post (shown below) received more than 20 retweets and 50 likes, but the hashtag went viral.

About

“Ah!” is an interjection frequently used by french TV sports journalist Denis Brogniart as a verbal tic. In early 2017, a video clip of him saying “ah” during an episode of the TV game show “Koh Lanta” became viral as a material for video and musical remixes on Youtube, in a similar way to Gabe the Dog. It also gained a notable popularity as a forum weapon.

Origin

Denis Brogniart^[1] is a french TV sports journalist who joined the french TV channel TF1 in 1999 as a sports news reporter. In 2002, he became the host of the adventure game reality TV show “Koh Lanta.”^[2] On september 17th, 2010, during the 10th seaon premiere of the show, as he traditionnaly asked questions to the contestants about their first day at the end of the episode, one of the answers by a contestant named Laurence caused him to react by saying “Ah!” in a peculiar surprised or doubtful expression (shown below).

Translation:

Brogniart: “What would you have more, in this team, if there was several boys? Laurence?”
Laurence: “Uhhh… well first we would have a cabin.”
Brogniart: “Ah! Do that mean girls can’t build a cabin?”
Laurence: “Nah, not at all, that’s not what I said at all.”

Spread

On April 17th, 2012, Youtuber Jefaischierlesgens^[3] published a Youtube Poop video entitled “[YTP]FR pipi caca lol jeej”, using different extracts of the episode, and especially the “Ah!” clip (shown below, left). The video reached 378 000 views as of October 2017. On May 20th, 2015, Youtuber Kinglizard^[4] posted the aforementioned one second clip of Brogniart saying “Ah!” to his Youtube channel (shown below, right), reaching 1.5 million views on october 2017.

On february 3rd, 2017, youtuber Brayanou Productions^[5] reused the “Ah” clip in a Youtube Poop Music video, dubbed over various popular tracks, including Darude – Sandstorm. The video gained over 2.2 million views as of october 2017 (shown below, left). On May 1st, 2017, Youtube music producer and remix artist Khaled Freak^[6] published a compilation of musical remixes of the scene, reaching 8 million views as of october 2017. This became the most popular variation of the meme. (shown below, right)

As of october 2017, the keywords “Ah Denis Brogniart” yield over 26 000 search results on Youtube. The “ah!” sound effect became also turned into an application for Android phone OS^[7][8] and an instant sound button on the site myinstants.com.^[9]

Denis Brogniart’s reaction

On may 2nd, 2017, Denis Brogniart posted on his Twitter account a link to Khaled Freak’s video, with a caption saying “Well done! Very funny” (shown below)

On july 20th, 2017, Brogniart gave an interview to the Huffington Post,^[10] explaining that he discovered about the meme through his children who introduced him to the videos. He also explained that he wasn’t aware of how often he used that verbal tic until then, and finally admitting he was amused and proud of his popularity among younger audience.

Finally, on October 6th, 2017, French Youtube celebrity Cyprien Iov posted a video called “Les Reunions 3”, consisting in a variety of comedy sketches, including one guest-starring Denis Brogniart in a comically failed attempt to reenact the “Ah!” scene (shown below)

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