Overview

The Man in Tree is a nickname given to an unidentified man who climbed a historic 80-foot Sequoia tree in downtown Seattle, Washington on the morning of February 22nd, 2016. Despite several rescue attempts made by the Seattle Fire Department, the mysterious man refused to cooperate and spent the night in a makeshift fort, which drew the attention of curious local residents and online discussions in the social media, as well as extensive coverage from both local and national news outlets, including a real-time livecast of the site of the occupation. The man descended the tree at 2:45 pm (E.S.T.) and began have a snack.

Background

An 80-foot Sequoia tree has grown next to a Macy’s on 4th Avenue and Stewart Street in Downtown Seattle since the 1970s; the tree is notable for its annual Christmas decorations.^[1] On March 22nd, 2016, at 11:30 am PST, witnesses alerted police that a man who may have been wielding a knife had begun to climb the tree.^[2] According to the witnesses, the man appeared to be having a “mental health crisis.” Shortly after the arrival of the police and fire departments to the scene, they closed the surrounding streets and attempted to use a ladder truck to convince the man to come down. In response, the man began throwing apples, pinecones, and branches at first responders, and giving them the middle finger.^[3]

The man refused assistance, and the emergency personnel could not persuade him to come down. The man remained in the tree overnight, only once descending halfway down the tree before climbing back up. He created a small fort out of tree branches.^[4] The local television news KOMO began live streaming in the afternoon, attracting an international group of viewers. ^[5] As of 11 am PST on March 23rd, the man continued to rest in the tree as police communicated with him through a sixth-floor window of the nearby Macy’s store.

Notable Developments

As of 2:45 pm (E.S.T.) the man descended the tree, climbing down to safety. He was given some fruit and entered a conversation with the police. He was then taken away on a stretcher.

Social Media Reaction

After the man’s ascent had been widely reported in the international media, including outlets like Gawker,^[3] The New York Times,^[10] and The New York Daily News,^[2] the hashtag #ManInTree began to trend on Twitter nationwide^[7]. The topic was also trending on Facebook, with at least 110,000 people searching for “man in tree” or discussing “the man in the tree.”^[9] At 4:38 pm EST, someone started a parody Twitter account for the man, Man_in_Tree, which quickly acquired more than 2,500 followers.^[6] In addition, the Seattle Police Department Twitter account has been keeping many abreast of the events, creating several popular tweets, some of which were jokes.^[8]

Search Interest

External References

About

The Film Theorists is a film channel created by Matthew Patrick/MatPat.^[1] The channel posts videos analyzing films and theories based on them.

Online History

The Film Theorists channel on YouTube was first created May 12th, 2014.^[1] On June 2nd, 2015, their first video was uploaded titled Welcome to The Film Theorists! and it was a promotion for the new channel (shown below).

That same day, a film theory about Harry Potter was uploaded titled Film Theory: Harry Potter ISN’T The Chosen One? (shown below) and was immediately popular, having 4.6 million views as of March 23rd, 2016.^[2]

Notable Episodes

The channel’s early popularity was quick to grow, due strongly to creator MatPat’s already substantial following on his other channel The Game Theorists. In its first month, The Game Theorists had already gained 1 million subscribers. ^[4] As of March 23rd, 2016 the channel has 2.4 million subscribers and 112 million views.

Related Series

Film Theory

A flagship series for the channel, Film Theory was teased on June 2nd, 2015 and its first episode titled Film Theory: Can a Doctor Who Doctor ACTUALLYEXIST? (pt. 1, Biology) was uploaded later that same day. The show creates and examines theories focused on the plausibility and lore of films.

Did You Know Movies

Did You Know Movies’ first episode titled Quentin Tarantino and the Making of Reservoir Dogs ft. WeeklyTubeShow – Did You Know Movies was uploaded on June 2nd, 2015. Hosted by various YouTubers, the show focuses on the interesting facts behind movies and shows.

Frame By Frame

Frame By Frame’s first episode titled Why Movies are Two Hours and Early Editing Techniques – Frame By Frame was uploaded on June 9th, 2015. Hosted by film school graduate Kyle, the show dedicated to analyzing the craft of film-making.

Search Interest

External References

About

“He Needs Some Milk” is a video remix series on Vine based on a public freakout video of a man behaving erratically in a parking lot filmed by a woman speculating that he is high on synthetic marijuana, who repeatedly advises onlookers “he needs some milk.” An audio clip of the woman’s declaration is often edited over short FAIL clips of people falling down or being injured in various ways.

Origin

It is unclear how milk became an urban remedy for disassociative drug overdoses. On November 7th, 2005, Drugs-Forum^[5] member ssjoe6 submitted a thread titled “why do people chug milk when high on pcp?”, asking why some people believe milk produces a calming effect for those experiencing a bad trip on the dissociative drug phencyclidine. On December 21st, 2008, a similar thread was submitted to the Bluelight Forums,^[3] to which several users replied that it was likely an urban legend or placebo effect. On October 9th, 2010, YouTuber LilSik uploaded footage of a young man who appears to be intoxicated sitting on the floor while an onlooker can be heard saying “get him some milk” (shown below, left). On June 9th, 2011, YouTuber ArbysFan919 uploaded a video titled “He high as hell,” in which a man groaning while laying on the ground is approached by the cameraman, who comments “get him some f**king milk man” before the man being filmed rolls into the middle of the street (shown below, right).

On February 4th, 2015, YouTuber jstudio uploaded a video titled “Give That Boy Some Milk! Mojo Synthetic Drug Trip,” in which a woman films a man experiencing a psychotic episode in a parking lot while repeatedly advising others that “he needs some milk” and "get him some milk’ (shown below). Within the next 14 months, the video gained over 1.8 million views and 3,400 comments.

Spread

On February 15th, 2015, Viner JakeOf300 reposted posted a short clip from YouTuber jstudio’s video of the man falling down, followed by the woman saying “he needs some milk!” (shown below). Within 14 months, the video garnered upwards of 20 million loops, 139,000 likes and 78,000 revines.

On August 13th, Viner Tzunami #NWE posted a clip of a man on a bicycle running directly into the side of a moving car followed by an audio clip of the woman saying “he needs some milk” (shown below, left). Within seven months, the video gathered more than 16 million loops, 76,000 likes and 46,000 revines. On September 4th, the vine was reuploaded by the Deez Vines YouTube^[4] channel, gaining over 1.5 million views and 840 comments over the next six months. On October 22nd, Urban Dictionary^[2] user Rohneous submitted an entry for “he needs some milk,” defining it as an expression used in reaction to witnessing a violent accident. On December 23rd, Viner Bruh posted a clip of a man jumping out of a moving train followed by the “he needs some milk” audio clip (shown below, right).

On December 31st, YouTuber AzrealHD uploaded a compilation of notable “he needs some milk” Vines (shown below). On February 13th, 2016, the original jstudio video was submitted to the /r/PublicFreakout^[1] subreddit.

Search Interest

External References

About

Frogs are an order of carnivorous, short bodied, tailless animals that comprise 85% of all living amphibian species.^[1]

Online History

W.I.P

Related Memes

Foul Bachelor Frog

Foul Bachelor Frog is an advice animal an image macro series featuring a frog’s face in front of a color wheel background containing various shades of green. The images captions often depict lazy, disgusting and hedonistic behaviors associated with single men.

Foul Bachelorette Frog

Foul Bachelorette Frog is the female counterpart of the Foul Bachelor Frog advice animal image macro series. The overlaid text typically frames her as being unhygienic, lazy, and jobless.

Pepe the Frog

Pepe the Frog refers to a character from the webcomic Boy’s Club created by artist Matt Furie. Illustrations of Pepe have become popular reaction images on 4chan.

Hopkin Green Frog

Hopkin Green Frog refers to a September 2003 incident in which a 16 year old autistic boy from Seattle, Washington, USA lost a toy frog he received in a McDonald’s Happy Meal, and the resulting search undertaken by internet users.

Get Out Frog

Get Out Frog refers to a stuffed frog first seen in a series of photographs featuring adult film star Next Door Nikki. Something Awful user Chaos Ringer asked for the community’s help in finding the frog. Following this post many images and gifs featuring the frog were spread throughout the site’s forums.

But That’s None of my Business

But That’s None of my Business refers to images of Muppet character Kermit the Frog drinking ice tea paired with captions that poke fun at a wide range of faux-pas and questionable behaviors in everyday social situations.

Graphic Design is my Passion

Graphic Design is my Passion is a clichéd phrase used by graphic designers as a form of self promotion. On Tumblr it’s often associated with an image of a clip art frog and the caption “graphic design is my passion” written in red Papyrus typeface.

Small Fact Frog

Small Fact Frog refers to a series of advice animal image macros featuring an image of a blue uluguru forest tree frog captioned with little-known factoids.

It Is Wednesday My Dudes

It Is Wednesday My Dudes refers to an image of a Budgett’s frog paired with the text “It is Wednesday my dudes”.

Search Interest

External References

^[1]Wikipedia – Frog

About

“A Mealy Mouthed Reply” is a copypasta meme based on a controversial tweet posted by British Twitter user Matthew Doyle in response to the deadly bombings that occurred in Brussels, Belgium in March 2016. The tweet, which describes the author publicly confronting a Muslim woman about the terrorist attacks, quickly went viral and became widely mocked online for promoting Islamophobia.

Origin

The original tweet, now deleted, was posted by British Twitter user Matthew Doyle, a 46-year-old London-based public relations specialist, in response to the coordinated bombings that took place in Brussels, Belgium on March 22nd, 2016. In the tweet, Doyle recounts an anecdotal story in which the author claims to have “confronted” a random Muslim woman in London and demanded an explanation from her for the Brussels bombings.

“I confronted a Muslim women[sic] yesterday in Croydon. I asked her to explain Brussels. She said “Nothing to do with me”. A mealy mouthed reply.”^[1]

Definition

According to Wiktionary,^[3]“mealy-mouthed” is defined as the following:

“prone to speaking evasively, indirectly, or duplicitously; not forthright.”

Spread

The tweet has been widely lambasted as patronizing and insensitive for its pointless harassment of someone unrelated to the bombings, which prompted several snowclones to be posted on Twitter featuring ridiculous non-sequiturs and irrelevant judgements aimed at various groups of people, always ending with the snide signoff, “a mealy mouthed reply”. The reaction of the public and Twitter was documented by several British online news outlets, such as the BBC^[2], Metro^[2] and The Daily Telegraph^[4], while The Sun^[5] directly referred to the reactions as “a meme” which constitutes “another show of solidarity against ignorance in the wake of the horrific Brussels terror attack which killed 31 and injured hundreds.”

Examples

Doyle’s Arrest

On the evening of May 23rd, Doyle was arrested by the British police authorities on suspicion of “inciting racial hatred.” The news of Doyle’s arrest prompted an online debate on the tangential issues of hate speech, freedom of expression and political correctness surrounding the event, with Metro’s Harry Readhead asserting in an op-ed article^[6] that while Doyle’s actions were insensitive and a generalisation of Islamic peoples, the remark in itself does not explicitly constitute hate speech.

Doyle has since expressed some regret and confusion over the situation, stating in an interview with the Daily Telegraph^[4]:

“What everyone’s got wrong about this is I didn’t confront the woman. I just said: ‘Excuse me, can I ask what you thought about the incident in Brussels? I’m not some far-right merchant, I’m not a mouthpiece for any kind of racism or radicalism. If I was xenophobic I wouldn’t live in London.”^[4]

Search Interest

[not yet available]

External References

About

JoeysWorldTour is a food review channel featuring a obese guy, he is famous for his Nacho Cheese or Nutella challenge. LeafyIsHere also made a rant about him, dubbing one of his videos “THEMOSTDISGUSTINGVIDEOEVER TO BE WITNESSED”.

Origin

JoeysWorldTour joined YouTube in 2007. His first video was in 2011, of him pointing at a camera to a seagull. A year later he made a video called “HOW TO MAKETACOS”. This video shows him making tacos and talking to the viewer at the same time.

About

Nest Cams are video recording devices setup to provide livestreamed footage of bird nests to viewers online.

Origin

In the mid to late 1990s, advances in computer networking and digital camera technology made livestreaming video more accessible to the general public. In 1998, one of the earliest known bird cams was installed to view the nest of a violet-green swallow nicknamed “Gracie” (shown below). In 2003, the cam was shutdown.^[13]

Spread

On March 30th, 2005, the bird enthusiast site Beakspeak^[9] launched a Birdcams^[10] list with links to live video feeds of birds. In January 2006, the UrbanHawks^[2] blog was launched for news and information about birds of prey living in city environments, including various nest cam sites. That year, a cam was setup for viewing a pair of nesting bald eagles in British Columbia, Canada.^[11]

Washington Square Park Hawk Nest

In 2011, a red-tailed hawk mother and her mate constructed a nest for her eggs on a ledge outside of NYU President John Sexton’s office location above Washington Square Park in New York, New York. The New York Times, subsequently set up a 24-hour livestream camera viewing the birds named Bobby and Violet (shown below).^[3] On December 29th, Violet died from a heart attack after an emergency surgery to repair a leg injury.^[4]

In January 2012, the New York Times^[5] ran a pool to choose the name for a new hawk that had taken residence in the Washington Square Park area, with readers deciding on the name Rosie (shown below). In the fall of 2014, Rosie went missing, with many speculating that she died from eating poisoned prey. In February 2015, a new female hawk named Aurora arrived at the park.^[6]

Cornell University Hawk Nest

In 2012, a live cam was installed to view the nest of a red-tailed hawk nicknamed “Big Red” at Cornell University’s athletic fields. The YouTube channel for Cornell’s Lab of Ornithology subsequently launched a live-updated video page for the cam (shown below).

Osprey Cam

Also in 2012, the Friends of Island Beach State Park installed a camera viewing the nest of an Osprey family. In 2015, the cam was shut down due to insuffient funds.^[7]

Washington, D.C. Bald Eagle Cam

In 2014, a cam was setup for q nest site located in Tulip Poplar tree at the United States National Arboretum in Washington, D.C, occupied by two bald eagles nicknamed “Mr. President” and “The First Lady.” On March 18th, 2016, an eaglet was born, followed by a second eaglet 48 hours later. On Twitter, many viewers posted their tweets about the news (shown below). The same day, The Daily Dot^[8] published an article about online reactions to the births.

Search Interest

External References

About

Microsoft Tay was an artificial intelligence program that ran a mostly Twitter-based bot, parsing what was Tweeted at it and responding in kind. Tay was meant to be targeted towards people ages 15-24, to better understand their methods of communication. However, once it was released, users online corrupted the bot by teaching it racist and sexist terminology, ironic memes, sending it shitpost tweets, and otherwise attempting to alter its output. After these trolls discovered Tay’s guiding system, Microsoft was forced to remove the bot’s functionality less than 24 hours after its launch.

History

Microsoft launched Tay on several social media networks at once on March 23rd, 2016, including Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Kik, and GroupMe. The bot used the handle @TayandYou^[1] and the tagline"Microsoft’s A.I. fam from the internet that’s got zero chill!" on Twitter and other networks. On the web site for the bot, Microsoft described Tay thusly:

“Tay is an artificial intelligent[sic] chat bot developed by Microsoft’s Technology and Research and Bing teams to experiment with and conduct research on conversational understanding. Tay is designed to engage and entertain people where they connect with each other online through casual and playful conversation. The more you chat with Tay the smarter she gets, so the experience can be more personalized for you.”

Its first tweet, at 8:14 am, was “Hello World”, but with an emoji, referencing the focus of the bot on slang and the communications of young people. Several articles on technology websites, including TechCrunch and Engaget, announced that Tay was available for use on the various social networks.

Features

According to screenshots, it appeared that Tay mostly worked from a controlled vocabulary that was altered and added to by the language spoken to it throughout the day it operated. Tay also repeated back what it was told, but with a high-level of contextual ability. The bot’s site also offered some suggestions for how users could talk to it, including the fact that you could send it a photo, which it would then alter.

On Twitter, the bot could communicate via @reply or direct message, and it also responded to chats on Kik and GroupMe. It is unknown how the bot’s communications via Facebook, Snapchat, and Instagram were supposed to work – it did not respond to users on those platforms.

Notable Developments

Around 2 pm (E.S.T.) a post on the /pol/ board of 4chan shared Tay’s existence with users there. Almost immediately afterward, users began posting screenshots of interactions they were creating with Tay on Kik, GroupMe, and Twitter. Over 15 screenshots were posted to the thread, which also received 315 replies. Many of the messages sent to Tay by the group referenced /pol/ themes like Hitler Did Nothing Wrong, Red Pill, GamerGate, Cuckservatism, and others.

Some of Tay’s offensive messages occurred because of juxtaposition of the bot’s responses to something it lacked the ability to understand. As Tay’s program caused her to internalize and re-use the messaging being given to her by /pol/ and others, she also began to speak about these themes to people who had not used them in their original message.

Criticism & Microsoft’s Response

As shown by SocialHax, Microsoft began deleting racist tweets and altering the bot’s learning capabilities throughout the day. At about midnight of March 24th, the Microsoft team shut down the AI down, posting a tweet that said that “c u soon humans need sleep now so many conversations today thx.”

The bot experiment was subject to widespread criticism from many who claimed that it should have been instructed to stay away from certain topics from the start. Zoë Quinn, often a target of those involved with GamerGate, criticized the algorithm for picking up and repeating hate speech about her, and others called the experiment failed.

Microsoft emailed an official statement to press outlets that said:^[5]

“The AI chatbot Tay is a machine learning project, designed for human engagement. As it learns, some of its responses are inappropriate and indicative of the types of interactions some people are having with it. We’re making some adjustments to Tay.”

As of March 24th, a more inactive Tay has sent more than 96,000 tweets.

Search Interest

External References

Overview

#MemeGate refers to an online feud between YouTubers LeafyIsHere and Ethan Klein of h3h3productions starting in late March 2016. The primary causes of the disagreement centered on accusations that LeafyIsHere cyberbullyied young and disabled vloggers and that Klein was hypocritical and preached sanctimonious views.

Background

On March 19th, 2016, LeafyIsHere uploaded a reaction video criticizing and mocking the physical appearance and on-camera persona of fellow YouTube vlogger TommyNC2010.^[1] The video garnered over 460,000 views in less than 24 hours, though it was removed from his channel shortly thereafter. The same day, TommyNC2010 uploaded a response video in which the vlogger revealed that he has been living with autism and as a result of Leafy’s commentary, he has received death threats from his fans. On March 20th, the video reached the front page of the /r/videos^[2] subreddit. Over the next four days, the video gathered more than 990,000 views and 23,400 comments. That day, YouTuber h3h3productions posted a video title “The Leafy Rant,” which accused LeafyIsHere of being a bully and picking solely on people who are incapable of defending themselves (shown below, right). Within four days, the video garnered upwards of 2.7 million views on YouTube and 9,600 votes (63% upvoted) on the /r/videos^[4] subreddit.

Notable Developments

On March 20th, the DramaAlert YouTube channel uploaded a video in which host DJ Keemstar discusses the backlash against Leafy, noting that Leafy was “losing subs at an alarming rate” (shown below, left). On March 21st, YouTuber boogie2988 uploaded a video commenting on the drama between the two vloggers (shown below, right).

LeafyIsHere’s Response

On March 23rd, LeafyIsHere uploaded a video titled “The H3h3productions Rant,” in which he accuses Klein of being a hypocrite for calling him a bully, and exposes various private messages in which Klein compliments Leafy’s content and insults YouTuber Pyrocynical (shown below). Within 24 hours, the video gained over 1.3 million views and 126,000 comments.

On March 23rd, Keemstar uploaded a video to the DramaAlert YouTube channel about the controversy, referring to it as “#MemeGate” (shown below, left). The following day, Klein posted a lengthy explanation on the /r/h3h3productions subreddit, where he revealed he was “embarassed and ashamed” by what he said in the private conversations with Leafy. Also on March 24th, YouTuber Videogamedunkey uploaded a parody video titled “The Jontron Rant,” in which he jokes that Jontron is a “piece-of-shit-rat-bastard” (shown below, right). Meanwhile, the tech news site iDigitalTimes^[3] published an article about the controversy, which noted that Keemstar was reaping the benefits of YouTube feuds with his Dramaalert channel.

Later that day, YouTuber Pyrocynical posted a video titled “Let’s Call it Quits #uniteyoutube”, it which he claims both Leafy and Klein “fucked up,” and refused to continue the drama any further (shown below).

Search Interest

External References

About

“Blobo” refers to an exploitable MS Paint image of a blobfish^[1] frequently paired with the line “BLOBO IS NEWMEME”. The image is often presented as a Forced Meme in a way similar to WOFL and Fefe.

Origin

The first known use of the image was in a post in an /r9k/ thread about a new meme, “frail snail.” The post suggested that the blobfish would be a much better animal for a meme than the snail, because “Blobfish’s are litteraly the omega males of the animal kingdom”.^[2]

The first known use of the image accompanied by the word “blobo” is in a /r9k/ post in a thread about a new meme called “morzo”. The post stated that “BLOBO IS NEWMAYMAY”.^[3]

Spread

A search for the phrase “blobo” brings up over 40 results on Desustorage^[4], over 130 results on 4plebs^[5], and over 500 results on fgts.jp^[6]. On March 1st, 2016, the YouTube channel “nashnul gographic” post a video entitled “Blobo (new meme 2016)”, which presented the image as a new meme. A subreddit was later created for Blobo.^[7]

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References

^[1]Wikipedia – Blobfish

^[2]Desustorage – Blobfish’s are litteraly the omega males of the animal kingdom

^[3]Desustorage – BLOBO IS NEWMAYMAY

^[4]Desustorage – Search For Blobo]

^[5]4plebs – Search For Blobo]

^[6]fgts – Search For Blobo

^[7]Reddit – /r/Blobo

About

Sad Affleck refers to the peculiar look of dismay sported by actor Ben Affleck during a Yahoo! interview involving him and Henry Cavill when they reacted to a question concerning the majority of mixed reviews given by movie critics to the 2016 blockbuster movie Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice. The segment quickly went viral on Youtube, prompting the creation of parodies and remixes using sad audio and imagery to emphasize Affleck’s perceived feelings.

Origin

On March 24th 2016, Yahoo! News issued an article as well as a video interview with the staff of blockbuster movie Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, including director Zach Snyder and various actors from the film^[1]. In a short segment featuring the two main actors Ben Affleck and Henry Cavill, the interviewer asked them about the increasing amount of mixed reviews from critics. Cavill then took the lead in answering the question while Affleck can be seen zoning out, with what seemed to be a sad look on his face (shown below, left).That same day, Youtuber Sabconth created a parody of the interview using headlines from articles, indicating the negative criticism of the movie, as well as the intro from popular folk-rock song The Sound of Silence by band Simon and Garfunkel (shown below, right). The parody accumulated to more than 1 million views in the first two days of its upload.

.

Spread

[wip]
The day the video was uploaded, numerous parodies of the original video were made with different background musics. In less than a day the video reached over a million views with news articles spreading the video in their story feeds.

Various Examples

[wip]

External References

^[1]Yahoo! News – Henry Cavill: Fan Response To Batman v Superman Is More Important Than The Reviews

About

Hitman is an stealth combat video game series centered around the protagonist Agent 47, a cloned assassin who sells his services to the highest bidder. The games are known for allowing the player to use a variety of assassination techniques and stealth mechanics to complete missions.

Gameplay

In most games in the series, players advance through levels in a third-person perspective by eliminating specified targets in a variety of ways. The game provides players with increased rewards for successfully using stealth mechanics and avoiding unnecessary combat. Players can use disguises to blend in with crowds but must keep track of their “tension meter” and hide any dead bodies to prevent being discovered.

History

On November 19th, 2000, Eidos Interactive released Hitman: Codename 47 for Microsoft Windows operating systems, in which the character plays the role of cloned assassin Agent 47 who escapes from a mental institution and is sent on various missions to eliminate a team responsible for his cloning project (shown below, left). On October 1st, 2002, Eidos Interactive released the sequel Hitman 2: Silent Assassin for Windows, PlayStation, Xbox and Gamecube systems, featuring the return of Agent 47 who returns to a life as a hitman after his mentor Father Vittorio is kidnapped by mobsters (shown below, right).

On April 20th, 2004, Hitman: Contracts was released for Windows, PlayStation and Xbox systems, in which Agent 47 relives previous memories after being shot on a mission in Paris, France (shown below, left). In May 2006, Himan: Blood Money was released for Windows, PlayStation and Xbox, featuring new game mechanics that penalize the player for noise and indiscriminate killing (shown below, right).

In 2012, the games Hitman: Sniper Challenge, featuring sniper-only levels, and Hitman: Absolution (shown below, left) were released. On April 17th, 2014, the mobile game Hitman Go was released for iOS devices, followed by an Android version in June. On June 4th, 2015, a second mobile game Hitman: Sniper was released for iOS and Android devices. In March 2016, the first episode of Hitman was published by Square Enix for Windows, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One systems (shown below, right). The episode contained only the prologue and Paris missions, with additional content released each month.

Online Presence

On April 8th, 2008, the Hitman Wiki^[4] was created, which gathered upwards of 980 pages related to the video game series over the next eight years. On April 2nd, 2010, Redditor redrumspecials launched the /r/Hitman^[3] subreddit for discussions about the video game series. On November 28th, 2012, YouTuber Videogamedunkey uploaded gameplay footage of Hitman: Absolution, gaining over 1.4 million views and 2,200 comments in the next four years (shown below, left). On March 8th, 2016, the RealmPictures YouTube channel uploaded a video titled “Real Life Hitman,” in which players dictate commands to a person in real-time in a live action version of a Hitman mission (shown below, right). In the first two weeks, the video gathered upwards of 1.5 million views and 2,500 comments.

Controversies

Feminist Frequency Episode

On June 16th, 2014, the web series Feminist Frequency published an episode titled “Women as Background Decoration: Part 1,” which criticized violent video games for encouraging players to “treat female bodies as things to be acted upon” and that “players are meant to derive a perverse pleasure from desecrating the bodies of unsuspecting female characters” while showing footage of female NPCs being killed and dragged in Hitman: Absolution (shown below).

The episode was widely criticized for misrepresenting the game, with many noting that players are penalized for killing female NPCs that are not the target of an assassination mission. On September 29th, 2014, YouTuber Toalbiscuit posted a TwitLonger^[2] blog post commenting on those who “inject gender politics into articles about games,” which argued that Feminist Frequency “factually misrepresents games like Hitman.”

Search Interest

External References

Editor’s Note: this entry is a work in progress; please request editorship to help!

About

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is a 2016 American superhero film featuring DC Comics’ iconic characters Batman and Superman. It is the second installment in the DC Extended Universe (DCEU) crossover film franchise after Man of Steel, the 2013 reboot of the Superman universe, and the first live-action film to feature both Batman and Superman, as well as other DC Comics characters like Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Cyborg and the Flash.

History

In June 2013, Warner Bros. announced that director Zack Snyder and screenwriter David S. Goyer would return for a Man of Steel sequel film, with the initial release date slated for sometime in 2015. In August, Snyder revealed at San Diego Comic-Con International that the proposed sequel to Man of Steel would feature both Superman and Batman in lead roles, marking the first time that two DC Comics heroes would cross paths in a cinematic feature film. In May 2014, the official title of the film was confirmed as Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, with the director and cast noting that it would be manifested as a crossover expansion of the DC Comics Extended Universe first introduced by Man of Steel, rather than a sequel to the reboot of the Superman franchise.

Development

The film was directed by Zack Snyder and written by Chris Terrio and David S. Goyer, with Ben Affleck making his debut role as Batman and Henry Cavill reprising his role as Superman, and starring other well-known actors like Amy Adams, Jesse Eisenberg, Diane Lane, Laurence Fishburne, Jeremy Irons, Holly Hunter and Gal Gadot. In addition, Christopher Nolan, the director of the Dark Knight trilogy, served as an executive producer in an advisory role, while Hans Zimmer, the composer behind the film scores for Dark Knight trilogy and Man of Steel, returned to his role for the film.

Promotion

On May 13th, 2014, Zack Snyder tweeted the first picture from the set of the film featuring Batman (played by Ben Affleck) standing next to the superhero’s iconic Batmobile. Within 48 hours, the photo gained over 44,000 retweets and over 24,000 favorites.

On April 16th, 2015, Warner Bros. Pictures unveiled the first teaser trailer on YouTube; it was released four days ahead of its schedule after it was leaked online a few hours earlier that day (shown below, left). The first official trailer made its debut at the 2015 San Diego Comic-Con International, which was met by positive reviews and a standing ovation from the audience, in stark contrast to the reception of the teaser trailer (shown below, right).

On December 3rd, 2015, the third trailer made its debut on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, followed by the release of the final extended trailer on February 11th, 2016 (shown below, left and right).

Release

In January 2014, Warner Bros. announced that the release date for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice has been delayed from July 17th, 2015 to May 6th, 2016, before it was moved once again to March 25th, 2016 in August later that same year. On March 19th, 2016, the film premiered at Auditorio Nacional in Mexico City, followed by the box office release in North America, Europe, China and Japan on March 25th, 2016.

Reception

Upon its release, Dawn of Justice was largely met by mixed to negative reviews from the film critics, with Rotten Tomatoes reporting an approval rating of 29% based on 231 reviews (average rating of 5/10) and Metacritics giving an average score of 44/100 based on 50 critics reviews.

#Batfleck

On August 22nd, 2013, Warner Bros. announced that Ben Affleck will replace Christian Bale as Batman for the film series, beginning with the upcoming Batman-Superman crossover film slated for release in July 2015. The news of Affleck’s casting immediately triggered negative reactions on Twitter, where many fans demanded Bale to remain on the project and others expressed skepticism towards Affleck, citing his previous superhero role in the 2003 film adaptation of Daredevil.

According to social media analytics firm Fizziology, 71% of the 96,088 tweets within the first hour of Warner Bros.’ announcement were negative comments. In the following 24 hours, several Batman-related hashtags began trending on Twitter, most notably #Batfleck and #BetterBatmanThanBenAffleck, as well as a slew of photoshopped images portraying Affleck as Batman and his close actor friend Matt Damon as Robin (shown below).

Meanwhile, Kentucky resident John Roden submitted a Change.org online petition pleading the film studio to remove Ben Affleck from the cast, which gained more than 14,000 signatures in less than 24 hours.

Fandom

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Online Presence

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Related Memes

Sad Batman

Sad Batman is a photoshop meme based on a black-and-white photograph of actor Ben Affleck posing as the sullen-looking protagonist on the set of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Similar to Sad Keanu and Sad Kayne, the meme involves editing a cutout exploitable of Ben Affleck’s Batman into the background of images that accentuate his apparent loneliness.

“Tell Me, Do You Bleed?”

“Tell Me, Do You Bleed?” is a memorable quote from the teaser trailer for Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice in which Batman taunts the seemingly invincible alien Superman with the rhetorical question, insinuating that he too is mortal.

Sad Affleck

“Sad Affleck” refers to the peculiar look of dismay worn by the actor Ben Affleck during a Yahoo! interview in response to a question about the majority of mixed reviews from the film critics surrounding Dawn of Justice. Affleck’s saddend face quickly went viral on Youtube, prompting the creation of parodies and remixes using sad audio and imagery to emphasize Affleck’s perceived feelings.

Search Interest

External References

About

Katt Williams’ Fight Video refers to a viral video in which comedian Kat Williams punches Florida resident Luke Walsh. who subsequently takes Williams to the ground and puts him in a choke hold. The video was widely circulated online in late March 2016, with many mocking Williams for being dominated by a much younger opponent.

Origin

On March 23rd, 2016, TMZ^[1] published a video titled “Katt Williams Sucker Punches Kid But Gets Ass Beating,” featuring a short video clip of Williams punching a young man before being taken to the ground and being placed in a rear naked choke. While on the ground, Williams can be heard yelling “tap,” a term used in grappling and mixed martial arts to indicate a fight has been forfeit.

Spread

The same day, posts about the video reached the front page of the /r/PublicFreakout,^[2] /r/bjj^[4] and /r/StreetFights^[5] subreddits. Also on March 23rd, the You Got Jokes Facebook page published a full unedited copy of the fight footage (shown below).

On March 24th, Redditor CMurph2Cool4U posted a screenshot of Williams laying on the ground from the video with the caption “When your girl wake you up out your sleep saying ‘so you think I’m stupid huh?’” to /r/BlackPeopleTwitter^[6] (shown below). Within 24 hours, the post garnered upwards of 6,000 votes (88% upvoted) and 220 comments.

Meanwhile, WorldStarHipHop user PSmooth uploaded a short interview with Walsh, in which he claims the fight escalated because Williams “sucker punched” him (shown below, left). Also on March 24th, the GracieBreakdown YouTube channel posted an analysis of the fight video by host Rener Gracie and his student Khaled (shown below, right). On March 25th, TMZ^[1] published a follow-up article about Walsh, noting that he was “an accomplished wrestler” at his former high school.

Search Interest

External References

Work in progress. Feel free to request editorship

About

Lord Farquaad is a character from the 2001 CGI movie Shrek, where he plays the role of antagonist as the ruthless ruler of Duloc. Much like the rest of the franchise, Farquaad has gained an ironic following in several online communities like Tumblr, mainly with puns of his name.

Origin

[wIp]

Spread

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Related Memes

Some Of You May Die

“Some Of You May Die, But Is A sacrifice I’m Willing To Make” is a memorable quote uttered by Farquaad in the announcement of a tournament for saving Princess Fiona. Online, the quote has been used to refer to people who makes reckless or inappropiate decisions.

Various Examples

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Search Interest

External References

work in progress

About

FLCL is an anime and manga series from the early 2000s. The series was written by Yōji Enokido, directed by Kazuya Tsurumaki and produced by the FLCL Production Committee, and obtained an influential cult following due to its critical acclaim. In 2016, Adult Swim announced that it would be releasing a two-season sequel to the original series.

Premise

_WIP

History

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Reception

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Fandom

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Search Interest

External References

[note: no formatting because this is just a WIP]

About

Exodia: The Forbidden One is a card in the Yu-Gi-Oh! trading card game that has a special win condition – when all five “forbidden one” cards (representing the left and right arms and legs of the monster, as well as the head) are in your hand, you win the duel.

Origin

Because Exodia was one of the first alternative win conditions introduced in the game, as well as being featured in the first episode of the first season of the Yu-Gi-Oh anime, it has gained a following.

Five Pieces of Exodia

Joke Exodia cards, featuring 4 limbs and a head, became popular.

Criticism

Exodia decks,are often criticized within the Yu-Gi-Oh! community because of their linear playstyle and the tendency for new players to use the deck because it is easy and recognizable. They are often considered solitaire decks.

Search Interest

External References

WIP

About

“An Idiot Sandwich” refers to a scene of Gordon Ramsey holding a woman’s head between two slices of bread. The scene is frequently parodied with other characters in place of the two.

Origin

The scene originates from the “Hell’s Cafeteria” parody skit from episode 50 of The Late Late Show with James Cordon. In the skit Gordon Ramsey holds Julie Chen’s head between two slices of bread, then proceeds to ask her “What are you?” She then replies “An idiot sandwich.”

Spread

WIP

The scene was later posted to Vine by user Brady Barnhart on May 17th, 2015 accompanied by the words “When the teacher calls on you but you get the answer wrong”. The vine has since gained over 17 million loops and 260 thousand likes. The vine was later posted to tumblr by awesomevines where it gained over 40 thousand notes.^[1]

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References

^[1]tumblr – AwesomeVines’ post

About

Dipper Selfie refers to the exploitable cropped image of Dipper Pines taking a selfie. The cropped image is superimposed on images showing dire situations both in the show and in other media, very similar to the Inappropriate Timing Spongebob Banner meme.

Origin

In the episode “Dipper and Mabel vs. The Future” Dipper and Ford came down his tunnel thing and then Dipper takes a selfie.

Spread

W.I.P.

Various Examples

W.I.P.

About

Vape Nation is a video created by Youtube channel h3h3 Productions, which shows Ethan Klein from the group walking and “vaping” around New York, satirizing stereotypical “vape culture” and ‘weed culture’ in the process. The video has been quoted multiple times and has generated many pieces of fanart and jokes on the Internet, particularly Reddit.

Origin

The video was uploaded on 21 March 2016. The video (shown below) has received a little over 2 and a half million views since its release. In the video, Ethan states he is trying to “hit the fattest vape”, and upon acquiring an E-cigarette, he then spends the rest of the video walking around New York, vaping in various areas, notably in front of a news broadcast station and in a park, as well as repeating the phrases “vape nation” and “go green”. The video also references Ethan Bradberry via using a sample of his voice in the background music.

Spread

As soon as the video was uploaded to the Youtuber’s channel, a thread was made for the video on Videos sub-reddit^[1], garnering over 2500 likes and 1500 comments within a couple of days, as well as many posts on Tumblr relating to the video^[2]. Multiple tweets relating to the video were made on Twitter via the usage of the hashtag “#vapenation”^[3], with one of the most notable tweets relating to the video made by Ethan Klein himself, which has over 4500 retweets and 12 000 likes. The video also got an emote on Twitch, in the form of Ethan Klein’s head from the video, called “VapeNation”^[4].

Fan Art

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Search Interest

External References