Meme-filled dance party

[sonia]

I have never seen Mastodon have a meme-filled dance party the way it did the night Kissinger's death was announced. I loved this new-to-me meme of Death using a claw machine. I love the expression, and the ratty cloak voluminous robes, and the combination of the macabre and joyful.



ixi@infosec.exchange documents who made the meme and where it came from. More meme images at that link, including "Is Kissinger even in this thing?"

The image of death at the claw machine was illustrated by Nacho Diaz and was first posted to his now-defunct website, Naolito Art. The earliest extant appearance of the piece online was in a gallery of Diaz' work posted by the blog Twisted Sifter on September 18th, 2011.

The earliest-known instance of the image being used as an image macro following a celebrity death was posted by Imgur user BruisedBananas on January 13th, 2017, in relation to the passing of George Michael.

Over the following years, the image was used to comment on celebrity deaths, particularly more surprising ones, with Death depicted as disappointed he "got" a certain celebrity instead of the one he was hoping for.
In 2018, around the time of John McCain's August 25th death, Imgflip user Some_Internet_Man depicted Death as disappointed he'd received McCain instead of Jake Paul, gaining over 14,000 views in five years.

A particularly popular variation features the punchline, "Is Henry Kissinger even in this thing?", referring to the former United States Secretary of State [...].
Popular examples include a June 8th, 2023 post by Twitter user Gritty20202 after the death of Pat Robertson, gaining over 70 retweets and 500 likes in two and a half months."

Comments

[sanguinity]

You would perhaps enjoy this meta-meme: Was I a good meme?

(Which is a riff on Death and the Dog, warning for pet death, and yes, even linking it just now made me weepy for a moment.)

[sonia]

Thank you, yes!

The plaintiveness of "Was I a good X?" makes me weepy too.

[tshuma]

I was coming here to post this. :) I loved this one.

[sonia]

<3

[julian]

Thank you for the meme-history, I love that kind of detail.

On another note: Recent Naomi Kritzer story I think you might like: https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/the-year-without-sunshine/

[sonia]

Oooh, story! Thank you! It made me cry, but in a good way? I hope the story is ... I was gonna say as prophetic as her pandemic story, but gosh, uh, I like my sunshine. I hope communities work together the way she depicts.

[runpunkrun]

Thanks for sharing some background on that meme!

[sonia]

I was tickled to run across the info in ixi@infosec.exchange's post!

The joys that social media can bring

[jesse_the_k]

are well-illuminated by this post.

Re: The joys that social media can bring

[sonia]

Yes. A great meta-point!

[sonia]

Addendum: Was I a good year?