To those of you who are unaware of the viridescent star of this post’s featured image: you are so old and the world has no place for you any more. You are a stranger to our modern civilisation – go back to your wasteland of Midsummer Murders and incontinence.
Bit harsh?
Okay so the amphibian popping his sexy little head in front of pre-wrinkly Hugh Grant is of course the newest meme on the block – dat boi. You can see from the stoic look in Hugh’s eye that he knows he’s being overshadowed by this frog’s fame on the internet.
As a dedicated follower of memeology, Ive done my fair bit of research on the dat boi origin story. Just incase you’re still lost – dat boi is a title attributed to various images of a unicycling frog. Yes it’s that riveting. But if your worldview hasn’t shifted yet fear not – it will.
Tumblr (which perpetuates many of these kinds of memes) is typically the epitome of glamorising. It romanticises mental illness and eating disorders with flowery quotes about being strong and black and white stock photos. Anything with previously negative connotations can see them reverse and thrive in these pocket communities on the platform (a topic for another day). But for me, the fightback force is the likes of Pepe, and now, dat boi. They become so popular that the whole site is filled with them flooding your dash and suddenly gone are these glamorising posts. You can’t find them any more. The memes have taken over.
Yeah. Consider your mind blown.
Though you may be perplexed by the unlikely fame of a frog with an aptitude for unicycling, you’ve got to credit the guy for the fact that he really gets around. He’s visited the word trade centre, dropped in on Hiroshima, helped the napalmed Vietnamese. A real philanthropist as you can see. He’s also pictured reuniting with his son (which transpires to be a slightly smaller image of dat boi or Luke Skywalker as accounts differ), he fought in the battle of Hogwarts – though on which side is unknown, and met the cyberdemon in doom.
This one silly frog is more famous than you will probably be in your life and has probably achieved more meaningful things too. So what’s my point? Worship at the feet/unicycle wheel of dat boi? Yeah. Pretty much.
-N