Online Dating Memes

Will Butler:

You're listening to Say My Meme, the podcast that describes the Internet's best memes for a blind audience. I'm your co-host, Will Butler, from Be My Eyes. And I'm joined by Carolyn Desrosiers from Scribely.

Will Butler:

All right. Welcome back to the Say My Meme, folks. This is officially Season Two. Carolyn, how do you feel about season two?

Caroline Desrosiers:

Oh, I'm feeling great about Season Two. I'm ready to go. We're shaking things up. I kind of missed memes in my life, and I think that's the first time I've ever said that, but yeah...

Will Butler:

I missed the too, honestly. I missed them for laughter and I think... I hope our listeners did as well. So Carolyn, tell me a little bit about... We had this great first episode with Matthew last week. Tell me a little bit about the memes that we've been talking about this [crosstalk 00:00:52].

Caroline Desrosiers:

Yeah, for sure. Well, last week, Matthew inspired me, because he was talking about his podcast, that I think is coming out any day now, but it's about online dating as a blind person. And I was like, "Ooh, online dating. That's a good topic for memes, actually. I bet there are quite a few out there and this summer, I bet people are getting back out there too."

Will Butler:

Oh yes. It's hot, hot boy and girl summer.

Caroline Desrosiers:

I know, yeah. They can't stop talking about it. So it's a hot, hot vax summer. Yeah. I mean, that's on repeat on every news station. But yeah, I was like, "You know what? This is topical. Let's take on these online dating memes."

Will Butler:

I love it. Glad that it's not something I have to worry about anymore, but I'm fully here for the memes.

Caroline Desrosiers:

Same.

Will Butler:

Lets' just give people [crosstalk 00:01:50].

Caroline Desrosiers:

Let's do it. All right, so we're starting off with a real gem of a meme here. I like this one.

Will Butler:

Okay.

Caroline Desrosiers:

So, basically this is poking fun at online profile picture selection, right? Which can be very important, right? In a few pictures, you got to describe what you're all about. So this one is a guy, and he's posing awkwardly with a lawn mower, like a glamor shot almost.

Will Butler:

A lawn mower?

Caroline Desrosiers:

Yeah. I mean they seem to be very close. Yes. It's a push lawn mower and he's laying on freshly-trimmed grass, like he's just mowed the lawn. Yeah.

Will Butler:

Wow, okay. Is there text associated with it?

Caroline Desrosiers:

Yeah. So right above this picture, the text is, "When you want your online dating picture to say, I know how to take care of my property, but I also know how to relax."

Will Butler:

Okay, tell us more about this gentleman with his lawn mower.

Caroline Desrosiers:

Yeah. Well, he looks friendly enough, but I think the humor in this is all in his body positioning, right? Because he's propped up on one hip on his hands, and he's delicately touching the grass, and his legs are tossed to one side, very gracefully. It reminds me of a lazy pin-up portrait. And I say lazy, because I think this might be after mowing the lawn. He's a bit tired, and proud at the same time of this hard day's work they did together, and was like, "Well, perfect time for a photo."

Will Butler:

Wow. So he really is posing.

Caroline Desrosiers:

Yeah. He is. Maybe this is a passion of his, right? And he wants people to know.

Will Butler:

It's like a lawn competition or something.

Caroline Desrosiers:

Yeah. I mean, more power to him. I hate mowing the lawn, but I guess it could be therapeutic for some.

Will Butler:

Does this meme have a name? Is he like lawnmower guy or something?

Caroline Desrosiers:

You know what? I think it's a completely random, one to be honest.

Will Butler:

Wow. [crosstalk 00:04:22]

Caroline Desrosiers:

Well, at least I don't know if there's a name for it.

Will Butler:

Amazing.

Caroline Desrosiers:

But yeah, I think it's just a random one.

Will Butler:

Okay. Well thank the lawn mower guy. I hope he gets a date with that-

Caroline Desrosiers:

Me too.

Will Butler:

... sweet pick. What's the next one we got?

Caroline Desrosiers:

All right. Well, have you ever been on OkCupid? I guess, first question.

Speaker 2:

Long ago. It was too complicated.

Caroline Desrosiers:

Yeah. I mean, you hear horror stories of like-

Speaker 2:

But I was like so... You had to do it... Didn't you take forever to set up?

Caroline Desrosiers:

Yeah, Yeah. I mean, they put you through this process where you have to answer a lot of icebreaker prompts, almost. They're like questions that get added to your profile, so that people have something to talk to you about.

Will Butler:

Right, right. Like, "Oh, what am I reading right now?" Yeah, yeah.

Caroline Desrosiers:

Exactly, yeah. So it's to break the ice and get people talking, and their questions, like, "I spend a lot of time thinking about blank." Or, "On a typical Friday night, I'm blank." Showing people more of what you're all about through interesting questions. So they put you through that. But this meme incorporates that, and uses it in a really clever way.

Caroline Desrosiers:

So to describe this meme... It's basically like a mega closeup of a cat and there are little text boxes that are the cat's answers to these OkCupid questions.

Will Butler:

Okay, I see. Yeah.

Caroline Desrosiers:

So the cat's answers are, "What I'm doing with my life. Sometimes I ate a piece of dead bird I found on the street and threw up on my bed. I'm really good at sneezing on your mouth."

Speaker 2:

You know, it's funny, I'm literally sitting next to a cat who just threw up in the bedroom.

Caroline Desrosiers:

Oh. Well it happens.

Will Butler:

That's really timely.

Will Butler:

So it's like mega closeup. So it's like we're in the cat's mind or something, right? Is he pondering his answers?

Caroline Desrosiers:

Yeah. And to me it looks like he's about to sneeze. That moment where you're holding your breath and you're like, "Wait a minute, wait a minute." Awaiting the sneeze.

Will Butler:

Does your ate ever sneeze on your mouth?

Caroline Desrosiers:

Yes. And that's why this one, I think resonated with me, because it happens so fast, but they're looking at you sweetly and you're like, "Oh, you just want to snuggle," and then they sneeze in your face. There's nothing you could do about it.

Will Butler:

Oh my gosh. I've learned more about cats in this podcast than almost anything else, which I guess makes sense.

Caroline Desrosiers:

Oh yeah, and you will learn more.

Will Butler:

[crosstalk 00:07:23] for cats, right?

Will Butler:

Okay. What's the next one we've got?

Caroline Desrosiers:

All right. So this one is for Nintendo fans out there. It's like a gameplay screenshots. So basically there's text above this Mario gameplay screenshot that says, "When you thought it was a date, but he brings his friend." And within the image is Toad, standing across from Mario, and Luigi, who's a little bit further away, he's nearby. And Toad's speech bubble says, "Oh, Luigi came too. Super. Great."

Will Butler:

So this is for the Nintendo diehards who have seen this screen in their game, like a million times, where Toad says, "Oh, you brought Luigi. Super."

Caroline Desrosiers:

Yeah. Yeah, exactly. So it's clever. And also an interesting moment in the game. "Yeah, why wouldn't Luigi come? They're a team. Sure." Yeah, I was surprised at this actual speech bubble.

Will Butler:

Right, right. He is casting shade in the game, like a weird, subtle way, or maybe just it's lost in translation or something.

Caroline Desrosiers:

Yeah. Yeah. And I guess maybe because... For a little context, they're at Peach's castle because they're about to go to a meeting, and this game is Bowser's inside story. So the meeting is held in this conference hall to discuss the blorbs, which is a new disease plaguing the kingdom. So maybe Toad feels like, "Oh, Luigi, shouldn't be at this meeting," you know?

Will Butler:

Wow. That is really a Nintendo nerd meme, for sure.

Caroline Desrosiers:

It is, it is.

Will Butler:

Okay. What else have we got in our little bag of online dating memes?

Caroline Desrosiers:

This next one is a Tinder meme where the Joker... It's a photo of the Joker putting on his makeup and a tear running down his...

Will Butler:

Who played the Joker? Was it Heith Ledger?

Caroline Desrosiers:

Well, Heith ledger, yes. But this particular one is Joaquin Phoenix, recently in the origin story, Joker movie.

Will Butler:

Right.

Caroline Desrosiers:

Yeah. The image is... Joaquin Phoenix is... It's a close-up on his face and he's painting on this red lipstick and a tear is running down his cheek, streaming his makeup. And the tagline is, "Loading up Tinder again to find, in quotes, the one."

Will Butler:

Yeah. Painting on your face, you feel like a disgusting freak. And you're like, "Maybe I'll find them this time."

Caroline Desrosiers:

I mean, I think it's a beautiful meme, actually. Pretty great. Because yeah, I mean, you do feel like a clown. You're like, "Oh God, here I am. Here we go again. Let me try this." But yeah, feeling like a clown, but also... Of course the Joker is in Gotham city and Gotham city is a mess, right?

Will Butler:

Right.

Caroline Desrosiers:

And in the movie there's super rats running wild on the streets. So I don't know if the creator of this meme was a fan of the movie, but maybe this is all a metaphor for the online dating scene.

Will Butler:

Is this like an end cell meme or something? It's hard to tell sometimes the motivation of the meme maker, whether they're... Does the guy who made this meme... Is he making a commentary about the absurdity of Tinder or is he actually a woman hater, or is he...

Caroline Desrosiers:

I mean it's a mystery, right? We never know about the meme creators.

Will Butler:

I feel like there's probably a ton of Joker memes out there too.

Caroline Desrosiers:

Yeah. There were some interesting shots in that movie, for sure. And what did he lose? 54 pounds or something. I mean, I bet there are a bunch of memes out there of his crazy skinny body and yeah, truly a transformation and frightening.

Will Butler:

We all feel like jokers on the dating apps, that's for sure.

Caroline Desrosiers:

Yeah. Yeah.

Will Butler:

Is there a final... Do you have any more in your bag?

Caroline Desrosiers:

I got one more. So this final meme is all centered around an actual book. So that's the funny part of the way they created this meme. And it's an actual book called How to Date Buildings, an Easy Reference Guide, right? So that's part of the punchline, but the lead up to that is, "When you've given up on your online dating and bar hookups." And the suggestion is maybe learn how to date buildings.

Will Butler:

Well, it must mean like how to ascribe the correct date to a piece of architecture. Not-

Caroline Desrosiers:

Yes.

Will Butler:

Right?

Caroline Desrosiers:

Right. Exactly. It's like an illustrated cover of a book and there are a bunch of different buildings from different time periods. So-

Will Butler:

Oh, okay, there you go.

Caroline Desrosiers:

Yeah.

Will Butler:

Or a lookbook of potential romantic interests, depending on-

Caroline Desrosiers:

Yeah.

Will Butler:

... how you look at it.

Caroline Desrosiers:

Yeah, exactly. I mean, there's hope. You can date buildings and have a perfectly full and meaningful life.

Will Butler:

Did you do some of your signature research on what's the deal with this book?

Caroline Desrosiers:

Of course. Yeah. Because I spend time in the book publishing industry anyway, so I had to look it up. But yeah, published by Countryside Books in 2017. And it's How to Date Buildings, an Easy Reference Guide. And it's basically... The author specializes in period architecture and this is his book on, just oozing knowledge on how to date buildings with different British architectural styles.

Will Butler:

That's amazing. And who knows, maybe he's been on one or two dates with a building.

Caroline Desrosiers:

I mean, I bet he feels deeply connected some buildings of something...

Will Butler:

Well, we've all been there. These are amazing. I think we're... Season Two feels snappier. Caroline, I feel like we're giving people the straight memes and... Straight, no filler, right?

Caroline Desrosiers:

Yeah. I mean, maybe it's like the summertime and we just want to get out there and have fun. And it's going to be a fun summer. But yeah. Why not? Let's shake it up, let's do something different.

Will Butler:

I love it. Well, folks feel free to send in your ideas for what memes you want to hear about. You can always send us an email at hello@tsaymymeme.com, and we'll be back next week with a new bag full of memes.

Caroline Desrosiers:

Yeah.

Will Butler:

Thank you, Caroline.

Caroline Desrosiers:

Yeah, for sure.

Will Butler:

See you all next week.

Caroline Desrosiers:

Bye guys.

Will Butler:

Say My Meme is officially back for Season Two. And if you want to be a part of Say My Meme, send an email to hello@saymymeme.com.

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