Mystery Meme Revealed

Internet Cats: Behind the Memes

Whenever I see a new meme, I always wonder where they originate. I ask so many other questions: Are they real? Were they edited? Did the person purposely put up the photo knowing it looked ridiculous, or did someone else do all the media work?

My questions have been answered!

When I stumbled upon this article, I was extremely excited because these cats are all over place! (I see the grumpy cat the most often.) These cute cats are real! Their faces have not been photo-shopped or animated.

According the article one cat called Lil' Bub (picture below) is a "so-called permakitten." Her mutation causes: large eyes, shorter limbs, small lower jaw so her tongue will always stick out, and she will never have teeth.

Matthew Caron / Vice

This kitty is more than a social media sensation. She made her way to the Tribeca Film Festival big screen in a documentary Lil Bub and Friendz. I can hear the screaming children already.

Lil' Bub's friends are Keyboard Cat, Grumpy Cat (Tardar Sauce), and Nyan Cat.

Grumpy Cat I have seen all over Facebook and Instagram. He is going places! I believe I saw Keyboard Cat in a music video when I was freshmen in high school  I still cannot remember why my creative writing teacher made us watch it. Anyway!

When I started reading this article, I was a little surprised because the owner of Lil' Bub is a music producer, so I started thinking, "Oh, my god. These poor cats. Their owners are exploiting them. Did Lil' Bub's owner rescue Bub only for her looks?" My mind just went on a frenzy.

But then I realized, my favorite memes would have never been created. Yes, I know it's wrong to turn a blind eye just so I can be amused whenever I turn on my phone. But (yes, there's another but) I continued reading the writer confronted this issue. Juliette Eisner co-director of the film said, "It's not really exploiting because it is an animal. If [Bub] were able to say she didn't want to have her picture taken, that would be different."

My jaw dropped and my mind was silent for about two seconds, then it screamed, "Exploitation!"

I think the picture taking is fine, it's the film I'm a little iffy about. I guess I'd have to see it to make my mind up. The owners must love their cats with some fiber of their being. I hope the owners are pampering them because their cat is putting food on the table. 

The article praises cats at the end of the article. We worshiped them in ancient times, and now we see them on the big screen either as the lazy Garfield, or dogs evil nemesis in Cats and Dogs.

That is all kitty lovers.