About

It’s Okay To Be… refers to a snowclone popular on Twitter in which a person says “It’s okay to be” several different types of races, sexualities, gender expressions, etc., and ends with “but it’s NOT okay” be something humorous, often a fandom-related transgression.

Origin

The snowclone began spreading around the time of the It’s Okay To Be White prank pulled by 4chan users. As the controversy spread on Twitter, the snowclone began spreading as users made posts saying it was okay to be any race. For example, one of the posts featuring text resembling the eventual snowclone was posted by@xolexieox^[1] on November 3rd, 2017 (shown below).

Spread

On November 27th, Twitter user @mathgrant^[2] posted a tweet which used the “It’s okay to be X, it’s okay to be Y, but it’s NOT okay to be Z” that would become the standard for the snowclone (shown below).

On January 14th, 2018, user @enssra^[3] uploaded the first known joke variation, gaining over 30 retweets and 90 likes (shown below, left). On the 17th, Twitter user @snsdmanager^[4] uploaded one of the popular variations, a variation about Korean pop band BTS that gained over 960 retweets and 550 likes (shown below, right).

Various Examples

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Unavailable

External References

Originating on the /b/ board of 4chan, the Andy Sixx meme is not one specific image. From early 2016 to date around a thousand images have been created around the subject of people eating this minor pop celebrity’s feces. When these images were originally posted they were accompanied by the phrase “Would you suck a log of shit out of Andy Sixx’s asshole?”

It is thought that this meme was taken from a music press article in which the writer discussed Andy Sixx’s highly obsessive fan girls and claimed they adored him so much the would “literally suck a log of shit out of his asshole”. This question was repeatedly posed on /b/ by the meme’s original creator, usually to the irritation of many people on the board. As time passed the original creator bumped these threads with increasingly bizarre images of Andy Sixx and his feces photoshopped in things such as movie posters and video games covers.

In late 2016 others began to join in with the original poster and Andy Sixx’s Log of Shit became an almost daily post. The images posted became increasing more creative with Andy and his Log being shopped into every possible scenario from fine art and well known literature to children’s toys and various foodstuffs.

Posting these images caught on and now an Andy Sixx thread is an almost hourly feature on /b/, with a shopped image of Andy and the words simply “Well?” or “Would you?” accompanying the image. Those posting are known as Logposters and the act of posting a photoshopped Andy Sixx image referring to his feces is known as Logposting. Those who are angered by the image are known as Logless Shills. The meme has spawned a website logofshit.com, a reddit page and someone has even dedicated a Youtube channel to it, Animaterr Man. Although involved with Logposting Animaterr Man is not, as sometimes claimed, the original Logposter. His images are marked with a hidden watermark in every image he’s created.

Many explanations have been offered up for the reason behind this meme. Some say it is an artistic protest movement, some say it is to ruffle the feathers of the new generation of people occupying /b/, personally I think it could just be someone’s idea of a joke based on the fact that some users of the image board go there with no other intentions than to shit post.

About

Connect Four is a tabletop game created by Milton Bradley and Hasbro in which two players take alternating turns placing a checker into a vertically-suspended grid. The first player to connect four of their checkers vertically, horizontally, or diagonally wins. The game’s cover art has been parodied online in the mid-2010s.

History

Related Memes

Box Parodies

Draw the Squad

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About

#ReleaseTheMemo is a Twitter hashtag used on the social networking site to demand the release of a four-page memo delivered to the House Intelligence Committee regarding

Origin

On January 18th, 2018, Republican Senator Steve King of Iowa tweeted that he had read the memo, claiming that it was “worse than Watergate” along with the hashtag “#ReleaseTheMemo” (shown below).^[2] Within four days, the tweet received more than 67,000 likes and 45,800 replies.

Spread

On January 20th, 2018, Republican Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin released a letter claiming knowledge that the FBI could not locate text message correspondences between senior counterintelligence agent Peter Strzok and FBI Lawyer Lisa Page ranging from December 14th, 2016 to May 17th, 2017.

The following day, Sean Hannity posted a tweet with the hashtags “#ReleaseTheMeme” and “#FindTheTexts”

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About

Darling in the Franxx (Dārin In Za Furankisu ) is a science-fiction anime series written by Atsushi Nishigori and Naotaka Hayashi and directed by Nishigori. It is produced by Trigger, the same studio behind Kill La Kill. The series takes place in a future where humanity has been driven to the point of extinction by beasts called klaxosaurs. To combat the klaxosaurs, humanity breeds children into boy-girl pairs called Parasites to pilot giant robots called mecha known as Franxx. The story follows Hiro, a boy who briefly loses interest in piloting a Franxx after failing an exam, and Zero Two, a human/klaxosaur hybrid who convinces Hiro to pilot a mecha with her after partner is killed in action.

History

Darling in the Franxx was announced at Trigger’s Anime Expo in 2017.^[1] The series debuted on January 13th, 2018. A manga tie-in series began the following day. As of January 22nd, 2018, two episodes have aired.

Reception

As of January 22nd, 2018, the anime series has an average rating of 7.9 from over 10,000 user ratings on MyAnimeList.^[2] A review of the second episode by TheGeeklyGrind^[3] noted the series is laden with sexual innuendo, which they note is potentially to its detriment, but is not a deal breaker after two episodes. They note that the position the pilots are in when controlling a mecha appears sexual (shown below).

Online Presence

Since the series’ debut, Darling in the Franxx fans have made a dedicated Wiki^[4] for the series. There is also a TV Tropes^[5] page for the series. On Reddit, fans have debated the merits of having the show be so bluntly about sex.^[6] The show has over 4,900 likes on Facebook.^[7] The subreddit for the show has 484 readers as of January 22nd, 2018.^[8]

Fandom

Online, fans of the show have created some popular Anime Music Videos (AMVs) for the series. One created by Astarte 「AMV」Project posted on January 13th has gained over 130,000 views (shown below, left). Another by D.HEADZ posted the 14th gained over 78,000 views (shown below, right).

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External References

About

RokBlok is a wireless record player that physically drives around a vinyl record and produces sound via an attached speaker. The product was successfully funded on Kickstarter and the television series Shark Tank, before being released to negative reviews by technology critics and consumers.

History

The RokBlok project launched on Kickstarter on December 6th, 2016. About a month and a half later, on January 24th, 2017, the makers successfully raised more than $350,000 from more than 3,600 backers.^[1]

On December 3rd, 2017, RokBlok founder Logan Riley appeared on the television series Shark Tank. On the show, investors judge new products and decide whether or not they would like to invest in them. One of the judges, after seeing the RokBlok in action, offered $500,000 for 100% of RokBlock, as well as a two-year job contract and a $5 per unit royalty on every RokBlok sold.^[2]

Reception

On January 4th, 2018, YouTuber^[3] Techmoan published a negative review of the device on their YouTube page. The reviewer criticized the sound quality, originality and practicality of the design, pointing out that things like this product have existed for decades. The video (shown below, left) received more than 279,000 views in two weeks.

The following day, they published a followup and tear down of the product. Techmoan responded to some comments about the sound quality and actual use of the device, as well offering a play comparison between the RokBlok and a regular turntable.^[4]

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About

Stan is an internet slang term meaning to have an intense fandom for a particular object, such as a singer, athlete, or company. The term is derived from the Eminem song of the same name which is about an obsessive Eminem fan named Stan.

Origin

On May 23rd, 2000, Eminem released his second album, The Marshall Mathers LP.^[1] The third track on the album, “Stan,” is rapped from the point of view of the title character, a fan who has an obsessive relationship with Eminem. The song features Dido and was the third single released off the album. The music video stars a young Jeremy Renner.

Spread

Various Examples

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About

Fiona the Hippo is a hippopotamus at the Cincinnati Zoo who was born prematurely. The news of her birth, as well, as the zoo’s social media posts about the hippo has garnered a large fanbase online.

Origin

Fiona the Hippo was born on January 24th, 2017. In an Instagram^[1] post that day, the Cincinnatti Zoo posted a video of the hippo feeding from a bottle. They captioned the video (shown below) “Seventeen-year-old hippo Bibi gave birth early this morning to a female calf. The premature calf was not expected until March and is receiving critical care from vet and nursery staff since the baby was not able to stand to nurse from mom.” The post received more than 75,000 views and 7,700 likes in one year.

Spread

One month later, the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden published video of Fiona’s progress, saying that she outgrew two pools. The video (shown below, left() received more than 1.1 million views in 11 months.

On May 24th, Fiona’s four month anniversary, the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden posted a video of the hippo. The video (shown below, right) received more than 4.8 millions videos in less than one year.

On August 16th, the Facebook acount The Fiona Show posted the first episode of a web series that tracks the hippo’s growth. The video (shown below, left) received more than 230 reactions, 71,000 shares and 11 million views in five months.

External References

About

Gun Family Silencer is a series of three-panel exploitable webcomics featuring a family of humans with guns for heads. In the first panel, the child gun says something from the back seat of the family car. However, by the third panel, the child is seen with a silencer, implying that the gun parents forced him to be quiet.

Origin

On January 21st, 2014, Sunny Street^[1] comics published a comic of a family of gun-headed humans on a drive. In the backseat, a child gun repeatedly asks, “Are we there yet?” In the second panel, the parents look at the child. Finally, be the comic’s end, the child is seen with silencer on its face. When posted to Facebook that day, the comic recieved more than 90 reactions and 15 shares in four years.

Spread

On August 10th, 2017, the original comic was shared on Imgur by user Capinron. Within six months, the image received more than 6,100 points and 247,000 views. The following week, Redditor^[4] nuclearunclear posted the comic to the /r/memes subreddit, where it received more than 8,300 points (92% upvoted) and 90 comments.

Various Examples

Search Interest

Not available.

External References

^[1]Sunny Street Comics – Are we there yet?

^[2]Facebook – SunnyStreetComics’ Post

^[3]Imgur – Are we there yet

^[4]Reddit – Ah well.

Overview

The Razzies, the colloquial name for The Golden Raspberry Awards, are an annual mock awards ceremony “honoring” the worst work in the film industry in the previous year. They take place the same weekend as the Academy Awards Ceremony and feature many of the same categories as the Oscars.

Background

The Razzies were started in 1981 by American publicist John J.B. Wilson at a pot luck party in his living room.^[1] After watching the 53rd Academy Awards, he handed guests ballots to vote on the worst film of the year. The first Razzie went to Can’t Stop the Music for Worst Picture of the Year.

Developments

Over the course of the following few years, attendance for the “Razzies” party grew exponentially and by the fourth year, CNN covered the event. To vote on the Razzies, one must be a paying member of the Golden Raspberry foundation. As of 2009, over 650 journalists, fans, and industry professionals voted for the Razzies.

Notable winners of Razzies include Bill Cosby, the first person to formally accept a Razzie, Paul Verhoeven, the first to attend the Razzies to accept his award (Worst Director and Worst Picture for Showgirls) in person, Tom Green, who attended the ceremony and accepted several awards for his 2002 film Freddy Got Fingered, Halle Berry and Sandra Bullock.

Additionally, some nominees of Razzies have been nominated for other notable film awards. For example, Stanley Kubrick was nominated for Worst Director for The Shining and a Saturn Award for Best Director at the 8th Saturn Awards for the same film. Several nominees for Worst Original Song were nominated for Oscars.

Criticism

Criticism of the Razzies has centered around some of the guidelines of how the nominees are chosen, such as the fact that voters don’t need to necessarily watch the films to vote on them and that anyone can become a voter so long as they pay the membership fee to the Golden Raspberry Award Foundation. Other criticism focused on the targets of the awards, which are often major motion pictures. Critics have called the repeated shots at major motion pictures tiresome. Additionally, critics have noted the Razzies attempt to appeal to celebrities; in 2010, some argued they awarded Sandra Bullock the award for Worst Actress because she was going to be attending the ceremony.

In 2018, Jennifer Lawrence was nominated for Worst Actress for her performance in Darren Aronofsky’s mother! The announcement led to debate on Twitter as many liked Lawrence’s performance. The debate was covered by Twitter Moments.^[2]

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External References

Massive W.I.P

About

“Only Villains do that” is an exploitable image showing the correct way to do things.

Origin

On August 6th, 2017 Twitter artist villhut^[1] released an image featuring My Hero Academia character Toshinori Yagi alias All Might showing the correct way to put toilet paper while exclaiming that only villian do it facing the wall.

Spread

Various Examples

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About

Carl Wheezer Has Judy Neutron in a Jar is a series image macros that features an image of Jimmy Neutron character Carl Wheezer holding a jar containing a tiny Judy Neutron. Occasionally, the characters are labeled in a similar fasion to Distracted Boyfriend..

Origin

On January 16th, 2006, the made-for-TV cross-over film The Jimmy Timmy Power Hour 2: When Nerds Collide premiered. In the film, characters from Jimmy Neutron and Faily OddParents":/memes/subcultures/the-fairly-oddparents meet. Toward the end of the film, has the Fairly OddParents put a tiny Judy Neutron in a jar so that he can dance with her.^[1]

Spread

Various Examples

Search Interest

Not Available.

External References

About

Big Mood is an internet slang term generally used to mean “relatable.” It’s popular primarily on Tumblr and Twitter and is often paired with absurd images or videos.

Origin

While the exact origin of “Big Mood” is unclear, the term was used in the Deftones song “My Own Summer (Shove It)” released in 1997.

“Hey you, big star
Tell me when it’s over
Hey you, big mood, guide me to shelter
‘Cause I’m through
When the two hits the six and it’s summer”

Twitter users began using the phrase to mean “relatable” around late 2015 and early 2016. An early tweet to use the phrase shows a man pushing a woman (shown below).

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About

Shoot Your Goo, My Dude is a mock hentai quote associated with a panel from the manga Limit Break.

Origin

On May 20th, 2016, Twitter user @Octopimp^[1] tweeted an edited panel from the hentai Limit Break, containing an altered speech bubble in which the female protagonist said “Shoot your goo, my dude!” (shown below). Within two years, the tweet gained more than 650 likes and 200 retweets.

Spread

On May 24th, 2016, YouTuber “FrankJavCee”: tweeted the line (shown below).^[3]

On October 3rd, YouTuber xyaro uploaded a video in which a woman can be heard reading the hentai quote (shown below).

On May 4th, 2017, Redditor anonthatslewd uploaded

Search Interest

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About

kmlkmljkl is a video editor popular on YouTube for his short, comedic clips which often mashup popular video memes.

History

While not much is known about the person behind the account, his Wikia^[1] page notes that kmlkmljkl was born in the Netherlands and is male. His name comes from a time he mashed his keyboard in Runescape. He uploaded his first video on December 10th, 2010. The video featured some of his Minecraft gameplay and gained over 2,300 views (shown below).

He began to post content more regularly in 2013. One of his first videos to gain over 10,000 views, uploaded May 11th, 2015, mashed up an Apple commercial with an Unexpected John Cena meme, gaining over 36,000 views (shown below, left). On July 4th of the same year, he uploaded a video of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Kevin Hart getting into each other’s videos, gaining over 106,000 views, the first vide of his to get over 100,000 views (shown below, right).

In the following years, his videos would grow more popular, with several reaching over 1 million views. To date, his most popular video mashes a clip with “The Land Down Under” by Men At Work, which has over 4.1 million views (shown below, left). His second most popular video is a text-to-speech edit of a Gabe the Dog video, which has over 2 million views (shown below, right).

Online Presence

kmlkmljkl has over 83,000 subscribers on YouTube.^[2] His subreddit^[3] has 553 readers as of January 23rd, 2018. His Twitter account has over 3,200 followers.^[4] He is also on Patreon. ^[5]

Various Videos

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About

Angela Merkel VR Goggles is a series of four-pane exploitables featuring German president Angela Merkel looks through virtual reality goggles. The user then adds something horrific or absurd in the third panel, leading to a fourth panel in which Merkel looks disturbed.

Search Interest

Not Available.

Jose the Hurricane is an anthropomorphic hurricane who happens to have a particular liking for spaghetti, exemplified in the images present on this page.

The meme originated on the LetsRobot.tv website, a website for live-streaming of robots. The meme portrays staff member Jose in the form of a hurricane, referencing Jose’s fixation with spaghetti. It is now a meme that is widely popular on both the website and its Discord.

About

I Love Seeing People Smile at Their Phones in Public is a series of four-panel exploitables based on a webcomic by Adam Ellis. In the comic, a girl sits on the train looking at her phone. Above, a text narration tells us that the narrator “loves when they catch people smiling at their phones in public.” At the end of the comic, it is revealed that the girl is looking at shipping are of the video game characters Sonic the Hedgehog and Knuckles. Online, people replace the image of Sonic and Knuckles with other absurd images.

Origin

On January 20th, 2018, webcomics artist Adam Ellis published a four-panel comic of a girl on a train looking her phone on Patreon (shown below).^[1] As the text reveals, the comic’s narrator loves “seeing people smile at their phones in public.” As the comic becomes more sentimental in text, the comic shows the girl crying, before revealing, in the final panel, what she has been looking at: a picture of Sonic the Hedgehog and Knuckles kissing. When posted to Facebook^[2] several days later, the comic received more than 19,000 reactions, 4,100 shares and 1,500 comments in less than 24 hours.

Spread

Various Examples

Search Interest

Not Available.

External References

About

Phantom Thread is a film written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, starring Daniel Day-Lewis, Lesley Manville, and Vicky Krieps. The film takes place in the London fashion world during the 1950s. Day-Lewis plays Reynolds Woodcock, a high-end dressmaker obsessed with his work. He brings a mistress and muse named Alma (Krieps) into his world. Alma loves him but struggles for Woodcock’s attention against his work and his sister and business partner (Manville). The film was highly praised and is nominated for several Academy Awards. On Twitter, several scenes of the film have been referenced in jokes and memes.

History

Phantom Thread was written, directed, and produced by Anderson, with Megan Ellison, JoAnne Sellar, and Daniel Lupi also serving as producers.^[1] The project was announced on June 2nd, 2016, and on September 8th, was picked up by Focus Features and Universal Pictures. Focus Features released the trailer for the film on YouTube on October 23rd, 2017 (shown below). The film was released in a limited run on December 11th, 2017 and released in the United States on December 25th, 2017.

Reception

The film was critically very well-received. As of January 24th, 2018, the film has a score of 90/100 on Metacritic.^[2] Critics praised Anderson’s daring filmmaking, the lead performances by Day-Lewis, Krieps, and Manville, and the score by composer and Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood.

On January 23rd, 2018, Phantom Thread was nominated for six Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Actor (Day-Lewis), Best Original Score (Greenwood), Best Supporting Actress (Manville), Best Director (Anderson), and Best Costume Design (Mark Bridges).^[3]

Related Memes

Online, elements of Phantom Thread have been joked about in various way. One particular strand of joke popular on Twitter involves posting screenshots of various media and humorously mislabeling the media as Phantom Thread. For example, a tweet by @tole_cover^[4] attributed various screenshots from The Simpsons to Phantom Thread, gaining over 300 retweets and 970 likes (shown below, left). Another tweet by author Miles Klee attributed a scene from Curb Your Enthusiasm to the film, gaining 45 retweets and over 350 likes (shown below, right).

Woodcock’s Breakfast Order

Early in the film, Woodcock first meets Alma in a restaurant where she is working as a waitress. Immediately smitten, Woodcock challenges her to remember his lengthy, highly particular breakfast order. The scene became the subject of parodies on Twitter. On January 20th, 2018, Twitter user @I_zzzzzz uploaded a joke about attempting to recreate the order at a Burger King, gaining over 700 retweets (shown below, left). Twitter user @futurecanon uploaded a GIF of basketball player JR Smith in response to Woodcock’s breakfast order, gaining over 70 retweets.

Phantom Thread memes were covered by Twitter Moments^[6] and The Daily Dot.^[7]

Search Interest

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Overview

Elle Darby White Moose Café Exposure Controversy refers to a feud between social media influencer Elle Darby and the White Moose Café hotel, following Darby’s request to stay for free in exchange for publicity on her social channels. After White Moose Café posted her request on Facebook, the controversy went viral and the two parties exchanged in a back-and-forth on various social media networks.

Background

On January 16th, 2018, the owner of the White Moose Café in Dublin, Paul Stenson posted an email from a social media influencer with the identity of the sender redacted on Facebook.^[1] In the message, they requested a free stay at the White Moose Café in exachange for free publicity on their social channels. Stenson declined the request and added:

“If I let you stay here in return for a feature in your video, who is going to pay the staff who look after you? Who is going to pay the housekeepers who clean your room? The waiters who serve you breakfast? The receptionist who checks you in? Who is going to pay for the light and heat you use during your stay? The laundering of your bed sheets? The water rates? Maybe I should tell my staff they will be featured in your video in lieu of receiving payment for work carried out while you’re in residence?”

The post (shown below) received more than 35,000 reactions, 4,400 shares and 5,200 comments in one week.

Development

That day, Elle Darby responded to the post on YouTube. ^[2] Entitled "i was exposed (SO embarassing), the video allows Darby to give her side of the story, explaining how her business in social media works. The video (shown below) received more than 2.2 million views in one week.

The following day, The White Moose Café’s Paul Stenson responded to her video by banning all bloggers from the business. The Facebook^[3] post said, “The sense of entitlement is just too strong in the blogging community and the nastiness, hissy fits and general hate displayed after one of your members was not granted her request for a freebie is giving your whole industry a bad name. I never thought we would be inundated with negative reviews for the simple reason that somebody was required to pay for goods received or services rendered.” Within one week, the post (shown below, left) received more than 46,000 reactions, 4,200 comments and 1,500 shares.

On January 22nd, the White Moose Café continued to mock Darby by posting pictures of new merch that referenced the issue on Facebook (shown below, right). The shirts, which say “I got exposed by White Moose” and “I demanded freebies at the White Moose Cafe, and all I got was this lousy t-shirt,” received more than 9,800 reactions, 120 shares and 570 comments in two days.

The following day, Darby published another video called “my side of the story / moving on.”^[4] In the video, she explains that the original Facebook post allowed people to see her name if the viewer turns the screen brightness up. She also says that she has received “death threats and cancer wishes” since the controversy started. The video (shown below) received more than 97,000 views in 24 hours.

Search Interest

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