Meme - Noun: "An image, video, piece of text, etc., typically humorous in nature, that is copied and spread rapidly by Internet users, often with slight variations."
The internet is awash with memes, and some of the best ones come from the world of the movies. Here are the memes that have proved the most popular, the most enduring, and the most unforgettable…
Sad Keanu
In 2010, a photographer took a candid picture of Keanu Reeves sat alone on a park bench eating a sandwich with a forlorn look on his face. The picture quickly went viral, with Keanu superimposed onto a child’s bicycle, surrounded by puppies, joined by a Xenomorph and many, many more.
Star Wars Kid
You gotta feel sorry for Star Wars Kid, or Ghyslain Raza, as he was christened in 1987. On 2 November 2002, Raza made a video of himself swinging a golf ball retriever around as a weapon, in the style of Darth Maul from The Phantom Menace. Trouble was, the video was found by a schoolmate, who uploaded it to the internet, after which it went quickly viral. Raza later graduated with a law degree and was last reported as the president of the Patrimoine Trois-Rivières heritage society in Quebec, Canada. Wowzers.
Hipster Ariel
Ariel doesn’t look very hip for most of 1989’s The Little Mermaid, but the internet decided that, once she puts on her glasses, she was hipster incarnate. Cue a series of memes that took the mickey, somewhat deliciously, out of urban coolsters.
Sad Ben Affleck
Pity the poor actor who has to go out and sell their movie once they know the critics hate it. So it was a brave interviewer who brought up the savage reviews of Batman v Superman to stars Ben Affleck and Henry Cavill. Cavill, to his credit, brushes it off straight away, leaving Affleck to stare ahead, seemingly haunted by the fact that they were possibly staring a great big flop in the face.
“My hair is a bird”
One of the internet’s strangest memes. Nicolas Cage with a bird of prey on his head. Ideally sent to someone with whom you disagree, it’s the ultimate argument killer.
Sarcastic Willy
This Willy Wonka meme has proved one of the most enduring on the web. Got something sarcastic to say? Just pop it on this picture of a withering Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka and bingo!
Tron Guy
Two years after Star Wars Kid, another super-dedicated sci-fi fan found himself the laughing stock of the internet when a picture of him dressed in an unforgiving suit from the movie Tron went viral. Thankfully, Jay Maynard embraced his newfound fame and become a short-lived media celebrity, popping up on chat shows, music videos and America’s Got Talent.
Hitler goes bananas
This meme is probably better known than the movie it comes from. Subtitled parodies of Adolf Hitler's last days in the Berlin bunker, as depicted in the 2004 film Downfall, have become one of the web's most enduring memes. Oasis splitting up, no camera on the iPod Touch, Twitter going down, Sheffield United being relegated…. Hitler, it seems, gets worked up about everything.
Scarlett Johansson falling down
Scarlett Johansson tripped and fell on the street, and a photographer was there to catch it. That’s all you need, it seems, for a meme.
Strutting Leo
Strutting Leo started as a photo of Leonardo DiCaprio walking merrily toward the camera while on the set of the movie Inception. The meme cut Leo out and photoshopped him into what seemed at the time like every photograph ever taken...
Do you have a favourite internet meme? Let us know @Cineworld.
