meme-review
The Weekly Meme Roundup: 'Minecraft Movie' Trailer Bad, 'Concord' Flop And More
Last week, we kicked off our Weekly Meme Roundup series with an explanation of this bold new innovation in internet coverage. This week, we are realizing the struggle that writing a fresh introduction for this column every week will entail.
This week, online discourse and memes centered around several things that look bad, are bad or are said to be bad but no one knows because no one's played it. Let's get into it.
The Minecraft Trailer
The idea of a Minecraft movie may sound like a bad idea, but the current iteration of Warner Brothers seems to prefer bad ideas over good ones and have been working to squeeze a blockbuster out of what is arguably the world's most successful indie video game for years.
The first trailer for the film dropped earlier this week, and it seemed to confirm for many that making a Minecraft movie – or at least this kind of Minecraft movie – was indeed a bad idea.
The trailercore version of The Beatles' "Magical Mystery Tour," jarring CGI and a distinct example of Millennial writing cringe left viewers appalled, with some calling it the worst trailer ever made — perhaps hyperbolically, but who can say.
The reviled trailer took a drubbing all week and inspired some memes as the garish sheep that appears at the beginning and Jack Black, looking exactly like Jack Black, saying, "I am… Steve," were both subject to mockery in recent days.
Examples
@vetzmovies Replying to @kgauhelopitso213 I…… am steve #minecraft #minecraftmovie #jackblack #movies #iamsteve #movietok #fyp ♬ original sound – Joel
Concord's Flop
Speaking of video game IPs that look like they're circling the drain, we have Concord, a game published by Sony that had been in development for six years, only to open to crickets and tumbleweeds, resulting in Sony's jaw-dropping decision to un-release the game just 11 days after it launched.
Concord was supposed to be a first-person hero shooter, but it also came with a hefty price tag, whereas many other games in the genre are free. A variety of other factors may have played into why Concord flopped so tremendously that Sony issued players refunds, but whatever the case, the game attracted a Morbius-like crowd of grave-dancers, and the memes piled up.
Examples
The Flames Of Disaster
While the Minecraft trailer and Concord were engulfed in the flames of disaster, The Flames of Disaster became a white-hot meme in the Sonic fandom.
A scene from the Knuckles TV show earlier this year found the character Wade Whipple exclaiming, "The Flames of Disaster!" when the titular echidna activates his power during the finale.
The fandom had been joking about the scene since its April release, but an amusing Twitter exchange recently sent the meme into overdrive on the social media platform. Since Thursday, dozens of videos have been created that feature Whipple exclaiming, "The Flames of Disaster!" at inopportune times, racking up millions of views along the way.
Examples
THE FLAMES OF DISASTER!!! pic.twitter.com/JOMltkTcTn
— Contendo (@ContendoYT) August 30, 2024
No! that is not… pic.twitter.com/9VYEflzBdf
— Vee 🥑 (@ParametricPalta) September 1, 2024
TADASHI LOOK OUT FOR THE FLAMES OF DISASTER https://t.co/la3qlPiw1K pic.twitter.com/ka2RskZvQ2
— Guggith Entertainment 🎥🎬🎞️ (@gugithentertain) September 1, 2024
THE FLAMES OF DISASTER pic.twitter.com/lRY6nuN5cp
— Justin (@awyeindid) August 29, 2024
Template
Here is THE FLAMES OF DISASTER Blue Screen! https://t.co/RSkXiNsugs pic.twitter.com/E5SA9RHM3l
— Contendo (@ContendoYT) August 30, 2024
Ivy
Ever one to fall in love with an anthropomorphic female X from a video game, the internet discovered the tomboy gargoyle character Ivy from Deadlock, a hero shooter from Valve, this week and proceeded to have a field day.
Ivy is an offbeat choice for the internet's chosen "waifu of the week," but from the screenshot came a wave of fan art depicting Ivy as a plucky, androgynous pal, among other content surrounding her.
Examples
What I Do?
Finally, we have What I Do, a reaction and image macro meme featuring nail and makeup artist Jade Nguyen, aka PolishedByJade.
There is more context behind what made this image a meme stretching back to 2019 and a clip of an Asian-American woman (not Ngyuen) using the phrase with a thick AAVE accent.
The image of Ngyuen began circulating on its own this week as an exploitable as a series of edits changed Ngyuen to fit separate characters.
Examples
@chicken.casseroles #whatido #flop #fyp ♬ original sound – ✂️
@nmillz1 Mama a coffee behind you…
@lousmult1verse WHAT I DO? – school starts tmrw 💪 @Jade Nguyen #whatido #whatidogirl #whatidoedit #aftereffects #edit #vira #jadenguyen #jadenguyenedit ♬ original sound – 🕸️🕷️
We'll be back next Friday with another edition of our Weekly Meme Roundup series, so stay tuned and have a good weekend!
