The Maris Racal meme refers to a humorous video (or multi-panel meme) sourced from multiple viral videos—and subsequent stills made from these videos—of Filipino entertainer Maris Racal displaying drastic emotional shifts while typing on a laptop.
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Meme basics:
- Meme Creator: Maris Racal
- Meme Type: video, multi-panel, exploitable
- First Appearance: April 18th, 2021
- Origin Source: X
- Used to Convey: drastic emotional shifts, irony, humor
- Peak Popularity: Sept. 2023 (approximate)
What is the Maris Racal meme?
The Maris Racal meme is derived from two different viral videos, one from 2021 and one from 2023. Though slightly different, both are used similarly because they communicate the same thing: Maris Racal, shifting her emotions (which include crying, intrigue, suspicion, happiness, and fear) while typing on a laptop, seemingly searching or studying information on the laptop screen.
What does the Maris Racal meme mean?
This meme is used to showcase shifts in emotions or thought processes, often ironically. When this meme is in photo form, one still from one emotional pole is compared to another, with different situations humorously ascribed to them.
Origin and spread
On April 18, 2021, Racal shared a clip on her X account of a scene from the Filipino drama Maalaala Mo Kayashe, in which she appears as the character Jai. She captioned the post “I really salute Jai! I love her. #MMKLovingPapa.”
Responses from Racal’s followers suggested potential out-of-context captions for the clip, thus meme-ifying the video.
With such an overwhelming response, Racal recreated the scene on Sep. 23, 2023. In this video, she added her own narrative: a bang-cutting gone wrong, but with the original crying-while-typing, emotionally erratic conceit.
Who is Maris Racal?
Maris Racal is a 27-year-old Filipino actor and singer who rose to fame in 2014 as a contestant on Pinoy Big Brother. After gaining popularity as a musician on YouTube, she began her professional music career, singing in It’s Showtime‘s girl group Girltrends (made entirely from Pinoy Big Brother housemates) and ASAP‘s girl group BFF5. From there, she began appearing in Filipino dramas and feature films and recorded two albums, Stellar and Ate Sandali, to great acclaim.
Turns out, Racal is not without her own controversy.
Racal has had a high-profile dating history; first being linked to actor-singer Iñigo Pascual during their time working on Filipino drama series Hawak Kamay. From 2019-2021, Racal dated beloved musician Rico Blanco, but the two broke up in July 2024. In December 2024, a cheating scandal erupted surrounding Racal and a former co-star of hers, Anthony Jennings.
On Dec. 3, 2024, Jamela Villanueva, Jennings’ ex, dropped a series of photos on her Instagram story, exposing an intimate relationship between Jennings and Racal that had been happening long before Racal had broken up with Blanco. The fans, of course, were heartbroken by it all.
Meme examples
There are many examples of the Maris Racal meme, especially among Filipino fans…
@thesommerfelds Laban lang Ate Maris 🫢 #MarisRacal #Screenshots ♬ original sound – Wingki
Nowadays, however, a lot of these memes have to do with Racal’s intimate romantic life; a real reason to cry, laugh, cry again, and concentrate on one’s laptop.
@patitlagonesad nakita ko lang sa X😭
♬ 오리지널 사운드 – 산다라박 Sandara Park
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