What's With The 'Zoolander' Memes And What's The 'Zoolander Song' On TikTok?

The comedy movie Zoolander has resurfaced in a big way online. Multiple Zoolander memes have surfaced on TikTok and elsewhere, ranging from the notorious Zoolander stare to Owen Wilson saying, "Excuse me brah" to Ben Stiller.

Back in the day, Zoolander was a successful comedy movie and inspired many memes before the year 2022. However, now its main character is being compared to other sigma male icons, effectively pinning Derek Zoolander against others like Patrick Bateman and Ryan Gosling as to who is the greatest literally me guy of all time.

All of the Zoolander edits and memes are generating mass engagement, with many wondering how they started, what scenes they use and what songs they use. Let's explain.

What Is The 'Zoolander Stare' Meme?

The Zoolander stare is the first Zoolander meme that blew up this year and ultimately plays on the lightskin stare meme that labeled lightskinned Black men as having God-level unspoken rizz. It started with one TikTok uploaded on November 28th and used a clip from the movie's opening scene when Ben Stiller's character Derek Zoolander sees Owen Wilson's character Hansel on the red carpet.

Additionally, the song used in the "Zoolander stare" meme is a mashup of the songs "Who Is She?" by I Monster and "The Perfect Girl" by Mareux.

What Is The 'Hansel Getting Photographed' Meme Where Owen Wilson's Riding A Scooter?

After the virality of the "Zoolander Stare" meme, another trend emerged using a different scene from the red carpet. It showed Owen Wilson's character Hansel arriving at the red carpet while riding a scooter. Hansel then stylishly puts away his scooter and gets photographed by a hoard of paparazzi. The meme was dubbed Hansel Getting Photographed and the first video that used the format was uploaded on December 7th.

What Is The 'Excuse Me Brah' Zoolander Meme?

After two movie scenes were exploited, of course, meme creators had to dig up every Zoolander scene for content thereafter. This practice led to the "excuse me brah" trend that used a scene where Zoolander and Hansel bump into each other at a nightclub and exchange some comebacks.

Once the first video meme using the scene was uploaded to TikTok on December 13th, many creators started object-labeling, lip-dubbing and generally reenacting the scene.

What Is The 'Zoolander Meme Song?'

In both the Hansel getting photographed meme and the excuse me brah meme, TikTokers stuck to using one song called "Party Party" by yally and Waq1ux which has the primary lyrics, "If you see us in the club we'll be acting real nice."

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For the full history of Zoolander memes, be sure to check out all our Zoolander entries here for even more information.