screenshot from the pianist of adrian brodie holding his arms up with the  caption "don't shoot, don't shoot. i'm a polish."

Don't Shoot. I'm a Polish

Updated Apr 14, 2020 at 12:08PM EDT by Don.

Added Apr 13, 2020 at 05:43PM EDT by Matt.

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About

"Don't Shoot. I'm a Polish", also known as Don't Shoot. I'm Retarded, is a memorable quote uttered by the character Wladyslaw Szpilman in the film The Pianist. Online, screenshots from the scene have been used in a series of multi-pane memes expressing the memer's disliking of a subject (Similar to: Don't Shoot, I'm a Nazi Too).

Origin

On May 24th, 2002, the film The Pianist premiered at the Cannes Film Festival.[1] In the film, the character Wladyslaw Szpilman (portrayed by Adrien Brody), a Polish Jew survives the Warsaw ghetto run by Nazi soldiers. When the Polish Soviets close in on him, he says "Don't shoot. I'm a Polish" (clip below).



The origin of the meme is unknown. The earliest available variation was published on July 24th, 2017 by Facebook [6] user MemesUNSAAC (shown below).


¡No disparen soy ingeniero civil! COMUNIDAD UNIVERSITARIA DEL PERU 8Qué haces trabajando como maestro de obra? Necesito prácticas pre-profesionales :'v

Spread

On August 15th, 2017, Facebook[2] user TurisMemes posted, a Spanish-language, three-panel meme of the scene. The post received more than 1,600 reactions and 400 shares (shown below).


No disparen, soy Turismologo Turismemes Y qué hades en McDonalds.? Tengo hambre.

Over the next two years, the meme continued to spread online, particularly on Spanish-language meme pages. For example, on June 15th, 2019, Facebook[5] Cristina Presa y Condenada posted a variation that received more than 1,000 shares and 800 reactions in less than one year (shown below, left).

The meme continued to grow in popularity throughout the year, On September 8th, 2019, Redditor [4] gofundmemetoday shared a variation about the Area 51 raid. The post received more than 23,000 points (94% upvoted) and 140 comments in less than one year (shown below, left). On November 1st, an anonymous Redditor[3] shared a variation of the meme on the /r/dankmemes subreddit. the post received more than 18,000 (97% upvoted) and 180 comments since being deleted (shown below, right).


NO DISPAREN SOY MEDIO PELOTUDO DEMUESTRALO SI VUELVE CRISTINA LA VOTO, ELLA NOS ROBABA PERO ESTABAMOS BIEN Please don't shoot me, I beg you, I'm not part of the raid. Why didoushow up to Area 51then Kenjoy seeing Millennials do stupid s--- Don't shoot, don't shoot. T beg you. I'm a Polish. Why the f------ coat? ... I'm cold.

The meme also inspired other variations, including "Don't Shoot Me. I'm Retarded," which remains one of the most popular. On April 13th, 2020, controversial computer programmer John McAfee posted[7] an anti-vaccination variation of the meme (shown below).


DON'T SHOOT.. I'M RETARDED PROVE IT I believe I need an injection of the virus so I dont get the virus, and if you don't get one too. mine won't work!

Various Examples


NO DISPAREN, SOY RETRASADO DEMUESTRALO! Ella e callaita Please don't shoot me, I beg of you What are you doing here looking at wholesome memes?. I was feeling down and was hoping it would make me feel a little better Don't shoot i'm retarded Prove it Tlike T-series
Iranian redditor Don't shoot, i'm a redditor too. Drafted american redditors Yeah? what do you say when you see 692 Nice. Nice. NO DISPAREN, ESTOY EN QUINTO SEMESTRE MEMES UNIVERSIDRD EL BOSQUE Y QUE HACIA EN LA BIENVENIDA DE LOS PRIMIPAROS? TENGO HAMBRE ¡No disparen! Soy antropólogo ¿Y qué haces trabajando para empresas? Tengo hambre...

Search Interest

Not available.

External References

[1] IMDB – The Pianist

[2] Facebook – turismemes' Post

[3] Reddit – /r/dankmemes

[4] Reddit – /r/dankmemes

[5] Facebook –
Cristina Presa y Condenada

[6] Facebook – MemesUNSAAC's Post

[7] Facebook – John Mcafee

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