Intro
“Charlie bit me” is a meme which began in 2007 with YouTube user HDCYT’s video “Charlie bit my finger – again.” The original video has over 100 million views and 180 video responses on YouTube. Charlie, 1, and Harry, 3, the boys in the video, have appeared in many subsequent videos and have a blog and facebook account, managed by their father Howard. CollegeHumor.com inducted “Charlie Bit Me” into their Web Celeb Hall of Fame in November 2007.
Background
According to its YouTube page, it was filmed on March 19, 2007, and uploaded on May 22 of the same year. The Buckinghamshire, England family uploaded the video so that relatives in Colorado and California could see the boys. The video remained undiscovered until November 22nd, 2007 when it was featured on Collegehumor.com. According to Howard, the video had reached 1 million views by the end of 2007. As of July 2009, it is the 4th most watched video on YouTube and the most watched video in the UK.
Setup?
Like most YouTube videos, “Charlie bit my finger – again” is frequently criticized in the comment threads as fake. The boys’ father Howard denies these claims, saying in a May 2009 YouTube video, “I don’t think any number of words will convince the conspiracy theorists that the clip was totally natural…However I am working on ‘Charlie Bit Me – again ! ’The prequel’ which I think will have enough in it to put these questions to rest. Unfortunately I do not the editing skills yet to finish the clip as I would like it.”
Spoofs
The video has spawned many spoofs, typically with adults performing the roles of Harry and Charlie. Some use the original audio while others have the actors recite the original lines.
8 Comments
