The year 2020 couldn’t have been worse. We battled the deadliest pandemic of the last century, unimaginable massacres, deaths of much of our beloved celebs and commoners, and not to forget the ‘pesky murder hornets.’ Despite all such calamities and difficulties, it’s surprising that people still cling on to hopes and exhibit optimism. How? Well, via stronger interpersonal ties, participation in the social and political arenas, and (just when you thought it’s over!) memes aplenty.
People were in a quarentine in their homes for a long time, the lockdown mode, as we say. So that became the perfect opportunity to create, share, retweet, and shower appreciation on the countless memes. And meme-able content keeps pouring in even now! It’s worth taking a look at some of the most extraordinary and popular memes that kept people hooked to this world.
Dolly Parton Challenge
No, it wasn’t Dolly Parton who came up with this concept. People made this typical thing- sharing photos of themselves, capturing different vibes on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Tinder. Such has been the craze that this one went to the 2020 meme hall of fame! It was of the most crafty, and flawless memes made this year. People went about trying this at different points in time.
No One Has This Range
So the question is- ‘does she have the range’? And you know the answer! This meme is a celebration of Margot Robbin’s abilities, and it came into action in February. And then came along, Samantha the American Girl Doll and Helena Bonham Carter, who added to the fun.
Tiger King
When Tiger King hit the screens in March 2020, it became the ‘bonafide theme’ of the quarantine mode. The Netflix docu-series moved us, and that wasn’t unusual. This gave way to an entire cottage industry of memes like Carole Baskin, Joe Exotic, and more. It would not be possible for you to open any social media app sans cries of ‘hey, all you cool cats and kittens’! So even when 2020 fades out from the scene and our memories (unlikely though), we’ll remember Tiger King.
#WashYourLyrics
Just when we were deciphering the magnitude of this cursed COVID-19 pandemic, another trend caught up. And yes, related to the situation then- it was thoroughly washing our hands. ‘Happy Birthday’ singing and that too, twice was a real monotony. But many chose that route to ensure the scrubbing act continued for long. Thankfully, the quest for a better song was in progress. And here came a 20-second snippet with a diagram depicting hand-washing, called #WashYourLyrics. That’s an educational meme, if we may put it that way.
Bong Joon Ho’s Oscars
We can’t afford to forget this! Unbelievable hype followed Parasite in this 92nd Academy Awards. After achieving the much-deserved Oscars, four to be precise, Bong Joon Ho- the film director was so delighted that he spent the evening ‘hamming’ them over some of the most rib-tickling interviews. Yes, he even ‘apologized’ for getting a little too many awards! He even made the statuettes kiss, laying the foundation for the meme fest!
Gossip Girl Anagrams
This year, most memes were born simply because of the global pandemic, and many lacked the inspiration to come up with new memes. So this is one such case, a completely absurd one, where rearranged letters of the Gossip Girl to answer a typical, random question that Blake Lively’s Serena van der Woodsen asked Blair Waldorf of Leighton Meester. And mind you- the question/s weren’t that stupid- instead, they were mind-boggling.
How It Started Vs. How It’s Going
We can call this a meta twist, but this is one meme that went in multiple directions- if seen from where it all started. Late September was the time, and a tweeter showed off the outcome of what occurred when he slid into the present girlfriend’s DMs. The format recycled totally and invited a plethora of circumstances, like aging, career choices, breakups, and even the ill-effects of COVID and more.
There are more that would surprise/shock you, if not the year itself. We are sure the bad times will go away. But the memes would keep happening in the webspace. And it would continue to give us netizens plenty of reasons to laugh!