About

Why Can't You Like Music or Girls or Something? is an exploitable MS Paint webcomic in which a father asks his child, whose interest is ladders, why he can't instead be interested in something more socially acceptable, like music or girls. Originally posted in 2008, the comic gained virality online as an exploitable meme format in the late 2010s.

Origin

On December 12th, 2008, Blogspot^[1] user Soggy Shrub posted a single-panel webcomic titled "Weird Boy." In the comic, a father asks his child, who collects ladders and pictures of ladders, why he can't have another more normal interest, such as music or girls, instead (shown below).

On January 31st, 2012, Redditor SilverWyrmling then posted the comic to the /r/funny subreddit,^[2] where it gained over 580 upvotes in six months.

On April 11th, 2016, the Facebook^[3] meme page I love Tatsumaki so fucking much posted the earliest found meme using the comic as an exploitable. In the meme, images of ladders are replaced with images of One Punch Man character Tatsumaki. The post gained 12 reactions and seven shares in seven years but was circulated further through reposts in the following years.

Spread

Prior to July 28th, 2020, an unknown user posted an edit of the comic in which ladders had been replaced with weapons and tactical gear (shown below). The edit gained viral spread in 2020. For example, on July 28th, 2020, Twitter^[4] user @SlavicGerman reposted it. On September 15th, 2020, Tumblr^[5] user tendie-defender reposted the image, with the post gaining over 90 reblogs and 170 likes in three years.

In late 2020 and the following years, the format saw further spread online, primarily between Tumblr and Twitter. For example, on November 15th, 2020, Tumblr^[6] user jay-cult posted a Lego Ninjago version of the meme that gained over 720 likes and reblogs in roughly two years (shown below, left). On March 3rd, 2023, Twitter^[7] user @DeMickyD then posted a Morrowind meme that gained over 750 retweets and 5,200 likes in four days (shown below, right).

Various Examples

Template

Search Interest

External References