The Goggles Do Nothing!

About

"The Goggles Do Nothing!" is a memorable quote uttered by the character Rainier Wolfcastle from American animated comedy The Simpsons. On the show, Wolfcastle, an actor portraying the superhero Radioactive Man, performs a stunt with real acid and is given a pair of plastic goggles as his only protection. He screams the line when submerged in acid, presumably because his eyes are burning. The phrase is typically used to express disgust or to mock a character's with useless accessories.

Origin

On September 24th, 1995, The Simpsons aired the episode "Radioactive Man".^[1] In the episode, a Hollywood production studio films a "Radioactive Man" movie in Springfield. Action movie star Rainier Wolfcastle (voiced by Harry Shearer), a parody of Arnold Schwarzeneggar, lands the titular role, which requires him to perform a stunt with real acid. Before shooting, the director explains that Radioactive Man's sidekick Fallout Boy will rescue the superhero before the acid reaches him and to wear protective goggles. When shooting begins, it's clear that Fallout Boy isn't coming, so Wolfcastle slips on a pair of goggles. As he's being carried away by a river of acid, he yells, "My eyes! The goggles do nothing!" (shown below).

Spread

Tthe meme was likely used by fans prior to its internet popularity. Some of its earliest appearances online include the blog sonsofstevegarvey,^[2] where an image of the scene with he line as a header was posted on June 13th, 2007 (shown below, left). the earliest clip of the scene was published on June 1st, 2008 by YouTuber Xiaaaa. The post received more than 1.8 million views in less than 13 years (shown below, right).

This meme is often as a popular catchphrase used for conveying the displeasure experienced upon encountering an image online considered crass. On March 10th, 2010, the meme was later featured in the game Team Fortress 2, "Ze Goggles."^[3] The item references the meme in the official description for the item, which reads "nothing."

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References