Internet Culture

Pedantic ‘Simpsons’ fight breaks out over ‘distracted boyfriend’ meme

Hell hath no fury like someone who messes up a ‘Simpsons’ reference.

Photo of David Covucci

David Covucci

simpsons distracted boyfriend meme

If you’ve been on the internet over the past week, you are no doubt hyper-aware of Twitter’s leading meme, the distracted boyfriend. It immediately inundated the internet, but it’s also showed some serious staying power, with an impressive ability for iteration and its meta nature.

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One way the meme has managed to continue to be enjoyable and stay relevant is by replacing the heads of the stock photo actors with people and characters from pop culture, adding another entire level to the meme. Here’s one from the popular animated television series The Simpsons (I’m sure you’ve heard of it)by weird Twitter power user Doug Exeter.

https://twitter.com/DougExeter/status/900832118082859008

LOL. I laughed when I saw it. I even smashed the retweeted button. You see, it’s from the iconic Simpsons‘ episode “Last Exit to Springfield” where Mr. Burns decides to challenge the union at his nuclear power plant, stripping employees of their dental plan. Meanwhile, it’s revealed that Homer’s oldest daughter, Lisa, will need braces, lest her mouth become horribly disfigured.

At the union meeting, when Carl announces that their new union contract offers them a free keg of beer at each meeting if they give up their new dental plan, Homer tries to put two and two together and—WAIT A DAMN SECOND.

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That meme is wrong. He hears “Dental Plan—Lisa needs braces” in his head, but what he is being whiplashed by is the possibility of a free keg of beer.

Right? Right.

And heavens be to he who messes up a Simpsons meme online.

https://twitter.com/gddg01/status/901118411232731137

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https://twitter.com/ak_simun/status/900834071625871360

https://twitter.com/coxie86/status/900834906573463552

https://twitter.com/saturnbattery/status/900834814739218432

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Doug Exeter was clearly not having any of it.

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https://twitter.com/DougExeter/status/900835081660407808

Well, yeah, who the hell wants pedantic piss ants up in the menchies when you make a good Simpsons tweet? Nobody, that’s who! But it’s wrong. And his attempts to defend himself went no better.

https://twitter.com/DougExeter/status/900835396187279361

Is it?

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https://twitter.com/DougExeter/status/900836192006144001

A detractor even made the correct version of the meme.

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That said, Doug Exeter had the final trump card.

https://twitter.com/DougExeter/status/900914447794950144

https://twitter.com/DougExeter/status/900945162318209024

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Right now the scoreboard is 8,600 to 28, so let’s just call it a perfectly cromulent meme and move on.

 
The Daily Dot