Robert Pattinson

About

Robert Pattinson is a British actor who's primarily known for his role as the vampire Edward Cullen in the Twilight film series, as well as for his later roles in movies like The Batman. Over the years, he's been used in memes dating back to 2008, mostly from screenshots and quotes in his movies, particularly the Twilight Saga. He also became the subject of memes when he was photographed standing in a kitchen in 2017.

History

Personal Life

Rober Pattinson was born on May 13th, 1986, in London, England.^[1] His mother was a scout at a modeling agency and his dad was a vintage car salesman. As a teen, Pattinson worked as a photo model for British fashion brands and magazines. He also performed at many open mic nights as a teenager where we played guitar and sang. He then garnered an interest in film and acting around this time, auditioning for plays in his school and hometown. At first, he worked backstage because he was shy. Pattinson never went to college and instead pursued acting in 2005.

Acting Career

Cedric Diggory in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005)

Pattinson appeared in his first blockbuster movie in 2005 when he had a role in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire as the character Cedric Diggory.^[2] Cedric is one of the main characters in the movie, however, he is later murdered, ending Pattinson's role in the franchise. He was 19 when filming the movie and because its production went over schedule, he reportedly never went to college.

Edward Cullen in the Twilight Saga

In 2008, Pattinson was cast as the vampire Edward Cullen in the Twilight Saga movie series based on the novels from author Stephenie Meyer. The first film was released to theaters on November 21st, 2008, and instantly made Pattinson a recognizable movie star.

The second Twilight movie, New Moon, was released in theaters a year later on November 20th, 2009, grossing a record-breaking $142.8 million on its opening weekend and an overall $709.8 million worldwide.^[3] The success of the movies snowballed into the productions of both Breaking Dawn – Part 1 and Breaking Dawn – Part 2, each also grossing lump sums at the box office. Breaking Dawn – Part 2 was lastly released to theaters on November 16th, 2012.^[4]

Connie Nikas in Good Time

Pattinson was cast in multiple independent films between 2012 and 2017 including The Rover, Maps to the Stars, Life and The Childhood of a Leader, among others. In 2017, he was cast in the movie Good Time directed by the Safdie Brothers who later went on to direct Uncut Gems in 2019. In Good Time, Pattinson played the role of Connie Nikas, a naive but unhinged bank robber who had gotten his younger brother imprisoned. The movie was released to American theaters on August 11th, 2017, and at the time, critics like Eric Kohn of Indiewire called it Pattinson's "career-best." ^[5]

Ephraim Winslow in The Lighthouse (2019)

In 2019, Pattinson was cast as a brooding lighthouse keeper in The Lighthouse, directed by Robert Eggers and also starring Willem Defoe. The movie was released in theaters on October 18th, 2019.

Bruce Wayne in The Batman (2022)

In 2019, Pattinson was cast as Bruce Wayne in The Batman film, originally scheduled to release in 2021 but later postponed due to complications regarding the COVID-19 pandemic. The film was released to American theaters on March 4th, 2022. It was received well by critics and audiences alike, receiving a "Fresh" score on Rotten Tomatoes of 86 percent.^[6]

Related Memes

Twilight Comics

Twilight Comics are multi-pane vertical images that consist of screen captures from Twiilight and various captions mocking the main characters portrayed within the movie. One of the earliest known comic instances comes from the first-person shooter video game enthusiast Global Fortress^[7] forums on June 20th, 2009. It featured a four-pane comic using screen captures from a science classroom scene in the first Twilight film (shown below).

Tempting… But Ima Go X

Tempting… But Ima Go X, also written "Beautiful, But I Have To X," refers to a phrasal template and exploitable template that uses two screencaps from the fourth Twilight movie, Breaking Dawn – Part 1, filmed in 2011. In the two-panel template, Edward covers up Bella laying down in bed, suggesting that he's passing on sex for a better or different activity, like playing video games. The template was first used on Instagram in 2018 (shown below, bottom), spreading over the following years.

Jumping Rob

Jumping Rob is a photoshop meme featuring Robert Pattinson jumping off of a dock while dressed in a pair of boxer briefs. The meme involves superimposing a cutout of Pattinson's body into other base images of various settings and contexts.

Robert Pattinson for Dior

Robert Pattinson for Dior refers to a 2014 Dior Homme cologne advertisement in which Robert Pattinson and model Camille Rowe kiss passionately in an elevator. The advertisement resurfaced on Twitter in October 2019 causing Twitter users to compare the advertisement with various images of people being choked. On September 7th, 2014, Sephora uploaded "Dior Homme 'The Film' with Robert Pattinson – The Elevator" to YouTube (shown below). The video gained over 137,900 views and 1,500 likes in a month.

Tracksuit Robert Pattinson Standing in the Kitchen

Tracksuit Robert Pattinson or "Track Jacket Robert Pattinson" is a reaction image macro meme featuring a behind the scenes photograph of Robert Pattinson in the film Good Time. The photo shows Pattinson wearing a brown track jacket and standing in a kitchen. On August 9th, 2017, filmmaker Josh Safdie posted on Instagram^[8] the image of Robert Pattinson wearing a track jacket and camo pants while standing in a kitchen. They captioned the picture, "Proto-Connie (very early on) from @goodtimemov – opens in NY/LA this Friday with sneaks tomorrow night!" The post received more than 1,700 likes in a little over three years (shown below).

"You Think You're Better Than Me" / "I Am Better Than You"

'You Think You're Better Than Me' / 'I Am Better Than You' is a memorable piece of dialogue from Good Time. Online, people have used a two-panel image macro of the characters speaking the lines to compare two related things. At one point in the movie, Pattinson's character Ray says to Connie, "You think you're better than me." Connie responds, "I am better than you" (clip below)

On February 19th, 2020, Redditor Ricardo_H1302 posted a variation in the /r/criterion^[9] subreddit. In the post, Ray is labeled "Synecdoche New York" and Connie is labeled "8 1/2," two acclaimed arthouse films. The post received more than 240 points (94% upvoted) in less than two years and is the earliest known version of the meme (shown below).

Ephraim Winslow Kills a Seagull

Ephraim Winslow Kills a Seagull refers to a memorable scene from the 2019 film The Lighthouse in which Robert Pattinson's character Ephraim Winslow violently kills a seagull by bashing it against a water cistern. The scene gained immediate recognition with the viewers online, with posts about the scene being made by users on Twitter, 4chan, Facebook and other online platforms. For example, an October 24th, 2019, Tweet^[10] by phntmthrd received over 80 likes.

Robert Pattinson Potion Seller

Robert Pattinson Potion Seller refers to an image macro of Robert Pattinson wearing a Dior coat at a January 2019 fashion show. The image was reposted to Twitter^[11] by a fan in October 2019 and went viral due to the popular opinion that Pattinson resembled a "potion seller", referring to non-player merchant characters often found in role-playing video games.

This Is The Skin Of A Killer, Bella

This Is The Skin Of A Killer, Bella is a quote from Twilight in which Edward Cullen reveals to Bella that as a vampire, he has skin that twinkles in the sunlight. In 2021, the quote became a catchphrase with which people would post shiny objects in a parody of the film, particularly an image of Tracksuit Robert Pattinson edited to have a star-filled jacket.

I Saw High Life In The Theater

I Saw High Life In The Theater refers to a statement by film critic and TV writer Dana Schwartz she wrote while defending Cruella from the criticism that "Hollywood is out of ideas." The way she brought up the indie Robert Pattinson film High Life as a means of establishing her credibility led to parodies from film fans on the site over the following days.

Sickly Skinny White Men

Sickly Skinny White Men refers to a cliché in pop culture of sickly looking, skinny, white men having an advantage over other men when attracting beautiful women. The phrase was first used on Twitter in late 2017, becoming more widespread in the late 2010s. The cliché gained prominence going into 2021 due to the embodiment of it within celebrity couples, most notably Pete Davidson and Ariana Grande in 2018 and Machine Gun Kelly and Megan Fox in 2021. The cliché evolved to encompass more traits like cigarette smoking and Big Dick Energy, among others.

As zoomers grew up during the 2000s, sickly, skinny, white boys became more of a heartthrob archetype in movies, television and other forms of pop culture. A notable, primary example of this is Robert Pattinson's character Edward Cullen, credited by many to be one of the originals to popularize the archetype.

Search Interest

External References