We all know Grumpy Cat, Bad Luck Brian, The Success Kid, and the Ermahgerd Girl from infamous memes, but have you ever thought about the person behind the picture? These pictures captured moments in these people's lives and now they have been a part of social media culture. This led me to do some research on who these meme celebrities are and where they are now in the world.
What is a meme? The word meme was coined by the English evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins in 1976 through an idea in his book "The Selfish Gene." Meme derives from the Greek word "mimeme," meaning "that which is replicated." The word has been abbreviated to "meme," which also is French for "memory." Although it is different than his original theory, it still implies a viral repetition of images.
Here are the faces behind some of the most common memes you have encountered on the internet:
1. Bad Luck Brian
Kyle Craven (a.k.a. Bad Luck Brian) went viral overnight when his best friend Ian Davies posted his high-school yearbook photo onto Reddit. From that moment on everyone recognized Kyle as "Bad Luck Brian." His smile filled with shiny braces speaks out to that those that had a struggled through the awkwardness of high school. Bad Luck Brian has been the face of everything from political issues to pop-culture references.
Kyle now works for his family construction company and lives with his wife and dog in Ohio. He updates his YouTube and Facebook page regularly with new memes and hilarious videos.
2. The Hipster Barista
This Hipster Barista is Dustin Mattson, who is an award-winning coffee barista at Octane Coffee in Atlanta. The picture was taken from the Octane Coffee website, which featured pictures of their staff members to promote their business.
Mattson finished fifth place at the Southeast Regional Barista Competition 2010, and 27th place at the U.S. Barista Championship 2010, according to the Octane Coffee. According to an article on Eater Atlanta, Mattson said, "I do find it discouraging and disappointing that there was so much exposure brought to an attempt at making a joke of a culinary industry and the professional barista."
3. The Overly Attached Girlfriend
After Laina Morris posted her parody of Justin Bieber's "Boyfriend" on YouTube she immediately became a celebrity. The video was a submission to Bieber's YouTube challenge for fans to create their own version as "Girlfriend." Her parody's lyrics include: "If I was your girlfriend / I’d never let you leave / Without a small recording device / Taped to your sleeve." She has been the face of all things clingy. Laina has been an active YouTuber and has used her fame to raise money for charity.
4. The Ermahgerd Girl
After a random Reddit user discovered an old Facebook picture of a "Goosebumps" fan, the "Ermahgerd" meme and language was created. The girl in the photo is Maggie Goldenberger, who at the time was just an average 11-year-old living in Alberta, Canada. Maggie said that the photo was taken when she and her friend Kaelyn were playing dress-up. The two would make up their own characters and take pictures of them. Her friend had this iconic Polaroid picture of her on her refrigerator for a very long time and initiated the first social media share. R.L. Stein was questioned about his opinion of the memes, and in response, he said, "I just don't understand what's funny about it." The term "ermahgerd" is now part of an "ermahgerd language," which even has its own translator website. The ermahgerd language has moved from only using Goldenberger's image to using photos of various animals. Goldenberger works as a nurse in Phoenix today.
5. The Success Kid
Sammy Griner will always be one of the most successful kids on the internet. When his mother, Laney Griner, posted a photo of him clenching his fist with sand on the beach onto Flickr in 2007, it went viral. The Success Kid meme was used by the Obama administration to pass immigration reform.
6. Disaster Girl
Disaster Girl photo was taken when a local fire department had a training session in Mebane, North Carolina, in January 2004. The picture was taken by Dave Roth, who caught his daughter Zoe with an evil smile as the house is burning down. Roth uploaded the picture to Zoomr under the title "Firestarter." The photo didn't get much attention until it was posted to BuzzFeed in 2008, and the memes did not surface until 2011. Roth updates his Flickr account with updates on Zoe.7. Scumbag Steve
The real-life Blake Boston actually seems like a decent guy. In an interview with Know Your Meme, Blake said that the picture was taken by his mom, who was taking a photography class at the time. When asked about how it went viral in an interview with Know Your Meme, Blake said: "She even made the Myspace page. She thought I was something, I guess. My friends and I didn’t really wanna tell her they weren’t cool, so we hyped them to her and she went crazy wit them." You can find Blake Boston online with his rap crew BeanTown Mafia as Weezy B. But honestly, it's not worth your time unless you want a good LOL.
8. The College Freshman
Griffin Kiritsy was told that he was only having a phone interview with Readers Digest when they showed up to take 137,000 pictures of him. The UNH student's social eagerness was shown when they selected this photo out of all of the others to be on their journalism piece. He will forever remain a college freshman.
9. Ridiculously Photogenic Guy
Zeddie Little's model-like expression while running a 10k race is a sight that I wouldn't mind looking at everyday. He had just waved to a friend moments before the photo was taken so he was still gleaming. Today, Little is in a happy five-year relationship and has a career in public relations.
10. Doge the Dog
In February 2010, Japanese kindergarten teacher Atsuko Sato posted pictures of her rescue-adopted Shiba Inu dog Kabosu looking sideways at the camera with raised eyebrows and crossed paws. The Comic Sans font with various words is typically posted around the photo. Fans of Doge also created a type of cryptocurrency called dogecoin, and BitCoin issued limited dogecoins around the world. Kabosu's owner says that the blackness of his eyes is what makes him look skeptical. Atsuko updates her personal blog with pictures of Kabosu regularly.
After reviewing the stories of these people, I have decided to keep a collection of all of my embarrassing pictures of my friends. Who knows, someday we will all be meme-famous!
