3
Cameraman Always Survives meme example depicting a stock image of a man holding a camera with laser eyes captioned "Cameraman never dies."

Cameraman Never Dies

Part of a series on Catchphrases. [View Related Entries]

Updated Nov 10, 2023 at 04:39PM EST by Zach.

Added Nov 10, 2023 at 07:56AM EST by Philipp.

PROTIP: Press 'i' to view the image gallery, 'v' to view the video gallery, or 'r' to view a random entry.

This submission is currently being researched & evaluated!

You can help confirm this entry by contributing facts, media, and other evidence of notability and mutation.

About

Cameraman Never Dies and Cameraman Always Survives are catchphrases revolved around a cliché commonly found in memes and comments that state the person behind the camera in viral videos and films always survives, no matter what kind of disastrous events take place. An additional part of the cliché is arguing that the cameraman is the most powerful being in the universe, able to withstand any kind of damage and keep up in speed with any person or object. Based on the survivorship bias, the cliché first achieved virality on Reddit in 2020, spreading over the following years.

Origin

Memes about cameraman being extremely powerful and impervious to any damage stem from jokes about the camera crew in survival skills reality television series such as Running Wild with Bear Grylls and Man vs. Wild. On July 17th, 2014, Redditor DogandCaleb posted the earliest known viral meme exploring the joke, a But That's None of My Business meme that received over 19,400 upvotes in /r/AdviceAnimals[1] nine years (shown below).


YOU LOOK LIKE YOU'RE STRUGGLING TO CLIMB THAT MOUNTAIN AND THE GUY WITH A TWENTY POUND CAMERA ON HIS SHOULDER IS DOING IT JUST FINE 0 BUT THAT'S NONE OF MY BUSINESS

The cliché saw further development as it was repeatedly brought up in the /r/Showerthoughts subreddit, eventually developing from posts about cameramen in survival reality shows to cameramen never dying in horror films and viral videos. For example, on October 17th, 2016, Redditor e-JackOlantern made a post that gained over 3,800 upvotes in the subreddit[2] in seven years (shown below, left). On November 12th, 2018, Redditor[3] khrodh made a post that received over 1,100 upvotes in five years (shown below, right).


Posted by u/e-JackOlantern 7 years ago Every time I watch a mountain climbing documentary, all I can think is how the true star is the cameraman. Posted by u/khrodh 5 years ago Fastest man in flash series is the Cameraman.

On April 7th and October 6th, 2019, Redditors bblackwalker and EskildDood made posts about cameramen always surviving that received 15 and over 760 upvotes, respectively, in the /r/Showerthoughts[4][5] subreddit in four years (shown below, left and right).


Posted by u/bblackwalker 5 years ago In horror movies the cameraman always survives Posted by u/EskildDood 4 years ago The only real way to survive a zombie-apocalypse cameraman. movie is to be a

Spread

On May 30th, 2020, Redditor notkhaps posted the earliest discovered meme about cameramen being extremely powerful. The meme, posted in the /r/dankmemes[6] subreddit, gained over 8,800 upvotes in four years (shown below).


Cameramen are invincible

The cliché achieved peak popularity on Reddit in the first half of 2021 as it became a recurring subject of memes in /r/dankmemes and /r/memes. For example, on February 19th, 2021, Redditor Redreddituser3000 posted a SpongeBob Sees Flying Dutchman meme that received over 31,300 upvotes in /r/memes[7] three years (shown below, left).


*The demon that appeared out of no where in the movie *The cameraman doing close up *The protagonist you are in a world apocalypse you realise you are the cameraman

Additionally, the phrases "cameraman never dies" and "cameraman always survives" became cliché in comments under incident and disaster videos on YouTube, with this trend also finding reflection in memes.

Various Examples


The man who survive to an atomic bomb. The man who can dodge a rain of bullets and missiles in war. The man who can breath in space without a suit The man who is faster than flash and other hero. It's the Camera Man. The man who film some p---- in 24 hrs*. When there's an explosion and everyone is dying, but you just grab a camera cause cameramen always survive I am 4 Parallel Universe ahead of you. "that slap was personal" YT Shorts Comment Section Starter Packihis comment: Bro needs an Oscar "cameraman never dies" "bro graduated from mcdonalds "People who [insert "Only in Ohio" thing here] 4 "hate to be that guy but MOM IM FAMOUS" *or does it unironically* "bro singlehandedly dropped the hardest edit in existence and thought we wouldnt notice" "Plot Twist:" "hollywood needs to hire this man" "bro woke up and chose violence" "Legend says.." "never let them know your next move" 185 *sun tzu "quote"* The Replies: Stock by yong Sce
People making cameraman jokes in movie scene clips on YouTube me Me after seing them for the 96th time in a row PER 65 you are in a world apocalypse you realise you are the cameraman Posted by u/MD_Teach 3 years ago A composite cameraman invades Marvel and DC comics. Who or what does it take to kill him? Battle Let's assume the cameraman is the person that is responsible for the perspective we see in fiction. The cameraman has a video or photo camera and is the one that films and records and takes pictures of everything we see in comics, manga and movies and series. The cameraman is always there. Every scene, every interaction, every fight, every instance in every fiction ever. Composite cameraman is a composite of every perspective we've ever had as a viewer or reader. Notable feats: Tanked universes, multiv ses, outerverses, dimen ons, timelines etc being busted without a scratch. Survives things like black holes, supernovas, big bangs, reality being wiped etc. Keeps up with speedsters such as Flash, Jiren, Silver Age Superman casually. Omniscient. Has seen everything ever. Knows everything in fiction and reality from first hand experience. Can move from one timeline and area or dimension to the next instantaneously. Infinite stamina. Does not tire or stop ever. Respawns indefinitely. In the event that the cameraman does get blown up or fades out, he simply respawns immediately after. Existed before time, matter, physics etc. Was there before creation. No combat feats because composite cameraman never fights. Marvel and DC are p----- at this composite cameraman always being everywhere watching them and want to destroy him. What does it take?

Search Interest

External References

[1] Reddit – What I think everytime I watch one of those survival shows

[2] Reddit – Every time I watch a mountain climbing documentary, all I can think is how the true star is the cameraman.

[3] Reddit – Fastest man in flash series is the Cameraman.

[4] Reddit – In horror movies the cameraman always survives

[5] Reddit – The only real way to survive a zombie-apocalypse movie is to be a cameraman.

[6] Reddit – Cameramen are invincible

[7] Reddit – A cameraman shoots more than a soldier

Related Entries 263 total


View All Related Entries

Recent Videos

There are no videos currently available.

Recent Images 25 total


Top Comment


+ Add a Comment

Comments (7)


Display Comments

Add a Comment


Namaste! You must login or signup first!