Meme me up, Scotty

The original film adaptation of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl (the movie is actually called “Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory”) has been around since 1971. Not only has it been selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry, but also for memetic preservation on the internet. One of the most notorious memes to spring from this film was the Condescending Wonka meme, but the meme that will be discussed today is “you STOLE fizzy lifting drinks”.

The quote comes from a segment of the film in which Wonka refuses to reward Charlie and his grandfather, and instead berates them for drinking the fizzy lifting drinks without permission. The phrase has been present on the internet for as long as online mentions of Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory have existed. The exact catalyst for “you STOLE fizzy lifting drinks” to become a true meme on tumblr is unclear, although screenshots of the phrase being used on other sites or mediums could be a possible origin. This meme is alike to the Brady Bunch meme in that it makes a mockery of old-timey media and that it is an unexpected revival.

The “fizzy lifting drinks” rant was always infamous. Roald Dahl was “infuriated” by the scene, and actually disowned the entire film. For the same reason that the scene was criticized, it became a meme. The uncharacteristic, exaggerated tirade that Wonka embarks upon is an unexpected overreaction, so much that his rage isn’t so much frightening as hilarious. The line, shouted and accusing, becomes even more comedic when taken out of context. Such a display of emotion over something as quaint and harmlessly whimsical sounding as “fizzy lifting drinks” is unusual even if one knows the background of the quote (which many do, as the film is often aired on television and brings up childhood nostalgia). It becomes utterly absurd if one has never watched the film.

Cheeky Nando’s is another meme that is completely nonsensical without context. Nando’s is an international casual diner chain that specializes in chicken, but the addition of terms like “cheeky” and “banter” makes the concept utterly foreign to the majority of tumblr users, who are American. The meme originates from a social subculture in Britain, “lad culture”, of which the American equivalent would be “bro culture” or “Frat culture”. “Laddishness” is defined by activities like heavy drinking, watching football (association football/soccer, not gridiron football), and pursuing sex. The casually misogynistic, hyper-masculine behaviour of “lads” is almost identical to the “frat boys” of America, but framed within British culture and coming with their own set of unfamiliar slang.

Certain motifs, like Nando’s are heavily associated with lad culture. The extensive use of lad slang forms the basis of the “cheeky Nando’s” meme. Posts so heavily saturated with slang that the meaning is lost on any outsider have always been popular on tumblr, which makes “cheeky Nando’s” successful. The deconstruction of lad culture to reveal that it is basically the same as most other “pre-feminist” groups and the incomprehensible slang propelled “cheeky Nando’s” to memedom.

The exact origin of “cheeky Nando’s” on tumblr. The phrase itself has been in common usage since 2014, and the [Warning for link to a song containing explicit and slur-filled lyrics] earliest known instance goes back to 2011. “Lads” posting on other social media about Nando’s (in conjunction with the appropriate slang), usually alongside a distinctly British-looking selfie, could possibly have spread the mystery of “cheeky Nando’s” onto tumblr, promoting discussion and pursuit into lad culture.

Like “cheeky Nando’s” the “queer meme” has an unclear origin. It could come from the resurgence of this 2014 post, this post from late April that follows the current template closely, or even another revival, one of the feudal lord and handmaiden meme. The last two posts were created around the same time frame and former may even be inspired by the latter. To this end, the “queer meme” originates directly from megalesbian6000′s post, and indirectly from the previous Legend of Korra meme. Like “[looks at smudged writing on hand]” this meme takes the layout of a previously standalone popular tumblr post and inserts increasingly wild variations.

[Warning ahead for use of the q slur]

The “queer meme” generally follows this pattern: [Noun] is queer because it subverts/deviates from the societal norm/standard/expectation of [______]. “Queer”, most commonly used as a slur, an umbrella term, or non specific self descriptor for those within the LGBT+ community, is often hijacked by cis-heterosexuals to mean a subversion of any expectation. Annoyance at this usage of “queer” (which actually echoes the original, official meaning more closely than the contemporary, colloquial definition), which has been applied to everything from fictional heterosexual couples (see feudal lord and handmaiden meme) to the very act of not subverting anything at all, has prompted tumblr users to mock this application of the word.