Watching TV Shadow vs. Reading A Book Shadow Redraws

About

Watching TV Shadow vs. Reading A Book Shadow Redraws refers to an exploitable meme that grew popular on X / Twitter in February 2024. X user @SaveYourSons reposted art originally by Instagram user @yo_runner, depicting the difference between the shadows projected by a boy watching TV versus a girl reading a book, with the implication being that the girl's imagination was wilder than the square box impression left on the boy. Redraws of the memes changed the shadows of both characters to parody the "deep" message of the original image.

Origin

On June 21st, 2023, Instagram^[1] artist @yo_runner posted an image showing two stick figure characters, one watching TV and the other reading a book. The shadow cast by the boy watching TV is a square, while the girl reading a book casts a whimsical shadow. The image gathered over 1 million likes in eight months (seen below).

The image was reposted by X^[2] user @SaveYourSons on February 15th, 2024, gathering over 16,000 likes in four days.

Spread

Various X users posted parody versions of the image in February 2024, oftentimes with the shadows cast by the children edited or altered in a humorous way.

On February 16th, X^[6] user @ecto_fun posted a version of the image where the boy's shadow was changed to look like the Eraserhead baby. The post gathered over 14,000 likes in three days (seen below).

On February 17th, 2024, X^[3] user @Z84VETZOEN0SG42 quoted the post with the boy's shadow changed to a mech figure, writing "armoured core" and gathering over 8,000 likes in two days. On the same day, X^[4] user @MedranoMalo posted a version of the image where the girl's shadow is shown to look phallic. The post gathered over 45,000 likes in two days (seen below, right).

Also on February 17th, X^[5] user @Trey_Nobles posted a version of the image where the boy casts a shadow that looks like Sonic the Hedgehog. The image gathered over 25,000 likes in two days (seen below, left). On February 17th, X^[7] user @Baeyonetta posted a version of the image where the boy casts a shadow that looks like Bayonetta. The post gathered over 8,000 likes in two days (seen below, right).

Various Examples

Search Interest

Unavailable.

External References