About

This Is My Neighbor refers to a scene in the 2006 comedy film Borat that's used as an exploitable image macro in which humorous captions are added to a series of still images, often with various object-labeling elements placed over the characters. The meme series showcases something that is competing or very similar to another thing, only to be beaten in the last panel. This meme also uses Borat's catchphrase and common reaction image "great success."

Origin

The 2006 film Borat (full title Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan) opens with the titular character Borat Sagdiyev (played by Sacha Baron Cohen) introducing his town to the viewers. At one point, he introduces his neighbor Nushuk Tantuli Akbai and explains the ongoing rivalry between them. The clip of this moment was posted on YouTube^[1] on April 30th, 2011, by BouncingThings and received 255,000 views in 10 years (shown below).

He is my neighbor, Nushuk Tantuli Akbai. He is pain in my assholes. I get a window from a glass, he must get a window from a glass. I get a step, he must get a step. I get a clock radio, he cannot afford. Great success!

The exact first example of the scene being used as a meme is unknown, but one of the earliest known examples comes from a post by Redditor SexyGungan69 to the /r/prequelmemes^[5] subreddit on March 31st, 2021, receiving nearly 43,000 upvotes and 200 comments in roughly one month (shown below).

Spread

A blank version of the dialogue was posted to the subreddit /r/MemeTemplatesOfficial/^[2] on May 10th, 2021, by u/the_second_of_them that helped to spread the format and allow additional users to create their own (seen below).

Taking the theme of rivalry to heart, This Is My Neighbor became a vehicle for overt country vs. country attacks, as showcased in the meme tweeted by Twitter^[3] user @r_HistoryMemes on May 17th, 2021, that got 145 likes in two days (shown below).

The meme continued to grow and expand into other franchises where there are two rival characters. This is exemplified in the meme tweeted^[4] by @Reddit_HKM on May 12th, 2021, that received 247 likes and referenced Hollow Knight characters (shown below).

Examples

Template

Search interest

External References