Spider-Man Points at Spider-Man Meme

by Zach Brinkley

The Spider-Man pointing at Spider-Man meme first appeared in 2011 and has been used countless times by people across the internet to make hilarious and sometimes harsh comparisons between people, music, and much more. Bringing to the light how similar two people or things are made this meme legendary.

Source: Know Your Meme

Origin

The image originally comes from the 1967 Spider-Man cartoon. In this episode of the show, the villain impersonates Peter Parker and begins to commit various petty crimes. Eventually, the real Spider-Man catches up with the imposter and his evil assistant as they are trying to steal another expensive item. As he catches them in the act, Spider-Man runs into his imposter and both men point at each other, giving us the famous meme today. Both masked men fight and act as if they are the real Spider-Man.The climax of the episode is when both men dressed as Spider-Man had to prove to the police which one was the real hero.

Source: kidscartoonmania

The Early Memes

The first known post using both the real Spider-Man and the imposter pointing at each other was done so by using an image macro on Sharenator. This post took place around February of 2011. An image macro was commonly used in the early days of internet memes. It was a simple yet affective way to make people laugh. Having a picture with a relatable and funny caption was the formula for a funny meme. The following years brought on more of the same text on image meme creations and uses of the original scene in the cartoon series. As the years passed, the meme began to spread and become more popular among people on a multitude of social media platforms including Twitter, Facebook, Reddit, etc. The use of the meme was very simple in the beginning with only the picture and a word or two. Instead of today, where people will independently post the meme, posters back then would mainly use this meme in text conversation or use it as a simple reply to people on twitter.

Source: Know Your Memes

Current Meme Status

Today, this Spider-Man meme is as versatile as any meme online. Seven years after its first initial sighting on the internet, the meme has continued to be a staple among many in the social media landscape. The Spider-Man meme has been used by celebrities, politicians, and professional sports franchises social media accounts. The meme is meant to show the similarities between two people or other objects. It has a unique everyday use that many twitter users seem to enjoy. Even the music industry has been at the center of many Spider-Man meme uses. Whenever people on twitter hear a new artist that sounds similar to an already well established one, the memes begin to flow. It has also been used to bash artists and athletes.One Spider-Man will have replaced with a trash can and the remaining hero will have the persons name across the chest. Just recently, the Boston Red Sox social media account used the meme. However, their take on the meme was mean?t to be humorous. They tweeted out a video which shows two of their players doing a similar movement while standing during batting practice. The tweet was captioned *spiderman meme*.

Source: Boston Red Sox Twitter

Analysis

The Spider-Man seeing Spider-Man meme has evolved from something so simple to something that is constantly changing. It seems as if every few months some twitter user will create the meme based off of something that happened in current events and it will go viral. The meme started off with good intentions by many and has slowly turned into a negative. If an hip hop artist or athlete find themselves at the center of a newly posted Spider-Man pointing meme, it is most likely not going to be something positive. It was mean?t to show how similar two people were and how we all didn?t see it, but that is simply not the case anymore. In today?s society, jokes and memes on social media have become very dark or negative. When the humor is dark and negative, that will typically reflect the attitude of the meme maker. I believe that most people on social media are using memes as a way to make serious issues or events funny. As of late, politics have been at the forefront of memes. People are very quick to take serious issues within our society and turn them into memes.