So why are we suddenly seeing so many of these recent mainstream meme trends that tie back to outdated Tumblr memes? For one thing, social media drift and osmosis is more common - the spread of memes from one platform to another is much more easily accomplished today than it was in the mid-2010s. These earlier GIFs are in effect a more sophisticated version of the static image memes that are now proliferating in the culture. This style of GIF always features the replacement label superimposed directly on top of the thing it’s replacing. Since around 2013, Tumblr fandom culture has traded in reaction GIFs that have their replacement ideas embedded directly within them - like these: Tumblr Tumblr Since many of these replacement memes seem to have originated on Tumblr, they probably grew out of a long line of idea-replacement memes that have existed on the platform for years. Like “Is this a pigeon?” it, too, started its life on Tumblr, and it, too, started out initially being used as a straightforward form of reaction before rapidly evolving into use as a text-replace meme. Another recently popular one is the “Things that are expensive” meme, which popped up last year. “Is this a pigeon?” is the most recent in a long line of recent text- or image-based replacement memes - also called “ object labeling.” The most well-known of these is the Distracted Boyfriend meme, though Trumpet Boy has been a noisy recent contender. Tumblr has also had a crucial but less direct hand in bringing you this latest meme. That meme started on Tumblr three years earlier.
Then there was last year’s viral idea for a Lupita Nyong’o/Rihanna heist movie that actually became a reality. Other recent examples of this phenomenon include the “ If you can’t handle me at X / you don’t deserve me at Y” meme, which originated on Tumblr around 2009 before recently blowing up on Twitter.
If you’ve contributed to the recent meme-ing of “Is this a pigeon?” then congratulations: You’ve helped fuel the ongoing trend of underground memes that originally appeared years ago on Tumblr but have only recently found their way into the mainstream, mainly through a resurgence on Twitter. You can thank Tumblr for bringing you this meme - as usual The meme also builds on a long line of similar memes in ways you may not immediately recognize.
That allows us to comment on all manner of social trends and flaws within ourselves and others. And, crucially, the “misunderstanding” at the center of this meme can be deliberate, accidental, disingenuous, or ironic. This is precisely the kind of climate in which a meme format like the American Chopper meme is uniquely positioned to stand out, because it allows meme creators to present both sides of a debate.īut “Is it a pigeon?” and its cousins may be serving as a counter to the American Chopper meme because they allow the meme creator to frame an issue completely through the static image they’re presenting. The current sociocultural moment is rife with uncertainty, ideological polarization, and large-scale tools of deceit. That’s fitting as a reflection of the cultural moment, in which reality itself often seems to be operating on multiple levels of irony. Like other memes, this one works because it’s relatively simple and easy to understand - but it’s also pliable and able to function on many levels. Now, the whole meaning of the meme itself is being commented on.
By satirizing the idea of image-based captchas being used as a way to ward off bots, the meme-maker is pointing out that the way we create meaning from images can sometimes veer into absurdism. In this next version, everything has been replaced, including the original idea of the subject accidentally mistaking one thing for something else. Pramila Jayapal May 9, 2018įinally, we arrive at the point where the meme’s original meaning is completely altered. Redditįrom this basic concept, it’s easy to leap to total textual replacements of the idea: For instance, here it is being used with a literal replacement - Columbus mistaking North America for India. The meme’s point is simple and easy to parse: An oblivious dude comically mistakes one thing for another thing. In fact, this meme has been making the rounds for years, in various iterations - but it’s surfaced over the past month or so in a specific form, as part of a specific contemporary trend in meme-making. look, you get the idea) has emerged as the meme of the moment thanks to a mix of social media drift and an odd cultural zeitgeist.
If this describes you, then you’re not alone: “Is This a Pigeon?” (alternately dubbed the Anime Butterfly meme, Confused Anime Dude, Oblivious Anime Guy, or. And at times you might be so discombobulated that the only way you can express your nebulous sense of disorientation is with a screencap of a male anime character pointing confusedly to a butterfly, inexplicably asking, “Is this a pigeon?” KYM Reality manipulation and fake news are rampant.