If you’ve been on the internet over the past week, you are no doubt hyper-aware of Twitter’s leading meme, the distracted boyfriend. It immediately inundated the internet, but it’s also showed some serious staying power, with an impressive ability for iteration and its meta nature.
— pixelatedboat aka “mr tweets” (@pixelatedboat) August 24, 2017
One way the meme has managed to continue to be enjoyable and stay relevant is by replacing the heads of the stock photo actors with people and characters from pop culture, adding another entire level to the meme. Here’s one from the popular animated television series The Simpsons (I’m sure you’ve heard of it), by weird Twitter power user Doug Exeter.
https://twitter.com/DougExeter/status/900832118082859008
LOL. I laughed when I saw it. I even smashed the retweeted button. You see, it’s from the iconic Simpsons‘ episode “Last Exit to Springfield” where Mr. Burns decides to challenge the union at his nuclear power plant, stripping employees of their dental plan. Meanwhile, it’s revealed that Homer’s oldest daughter, Lisa, will need braces, lest her mouth become horribly disfigured.
At the union meeting, when Carl announces that their new union contract offers them a free keg of beer at each meeting if they give up their new dental plan, Homer tries to put two and two together and—WAIT A DAMN SECOND.
That meme is wrong. He hears “Dental Plan—Lisa needs braces” in his head, but what he is being whiplashed by is the possibility of a free keg of beer.
Right? Right.
And heavens be to he who messes up a Simpsons meme online.
https://twitter.com/gddg01/status/901118411232731137
https://twitter.com/ak_simun/status/900834071625871360
https://twitter.com/coxie86/status/900834906573463552
https://twitter.com/saturnbattery/status/900834814739218432
it’s backwards though. still very good.
— billy silverman (@ronsilverado) August 25, 2017
shouldn't it be reversed? "so long, dental plan" is distracting him from the fact that lisa needs braces
— asuka wilde (@strongbadegirl) August 25, 2017
"Lisa needs braces" should be a keg
— Kind of a Mack at Dog Bites 💦🥩 (@TaeBoNegative) August 25, 2017
is good, but hotty needs to be keg of beer
— North Side Baseball (@northsidebaseb) August 24, 2017
Doug Exeter was clearly not having any of it.
https://twitter.com/DougExeter/status/900835081660407808
Well, yeah, who the hell wants pedantic piss ants up in the menchies when you make a good Simpsons tweet? Nobody, that’s who! But it’s wrong. And his attempts to defend himself went no better.
https://twitter.com/DougExeter/status/900835396187279361
Is it?
https://twitter.com/DougExeter/status/900836192006144001
A detractor even made the correct version of the meme.
Not to be rude, but pic.twitter.com/nuWHpY3aDx
— costrike (@costrike) August 25, 2017
That said, Doug Exeter had the final trump card.
https://twitter.com/DougExeter/status/900914447794950144
https://twitter.com/DougExeter/status/900945162318209024
Right now the scoreboard is 8,600 to 28, so let’s just call it a perfectly cromulent meme and move on.