When it comes to Gen Z and the internet, we never take anything seriously. We can see this with all of the internet jokes and memes that have come out in regards to shows that we watched as kids. With the rise of social media usage, trends come and go. A trend that I’ve noticed that never disappears is the memeification of childhood TV.
A time I remember a meme being made of a show I watched as a kid would probably be with SpongeBob from “SpongeBob Squarepants.” The meme was making fun of the Krusty Krab Pizza song that SpongeBob had been singing. SpongeBob had put on a voice to sing the song, turning it into a funny memory for children. Now, I see it all over social media as a way to make fun of insane weather conditions.
There was also a series of pictures of Fletcher from “A.N.T. Farm” that was turned into a running joke for months. People would title the photos with captions such as “You’re not going to use your calculator for basic math” and “You didn’t tell your best friend, right?” When a new meme hit, people would reference the Fletcher memes as the start of it all.
The most recent childhood tv meme I’ve seen all over TikTok would be a bunch of videos and pictures of Henry from the show “Henry Danger” from a certain episode where he is constantly checking what his little sister is doing with his phone. The memes would be paired with songs like “Rain On Me” by Ashanti and “Let Me Know” by Tamar Braxton. They would be captioned “Me just smiling because I heard nothing of what you just said to me” and “When it’s my turn to pass a car accident on the freeway after I was just yelling at other nosey drivers for slowing down.”
After the “Henry Danger” meme had blown up, people on the internet had started to notice that a lot of meme-worthy stuff is included in the TV kids consume. Whether it be a funny face a character made in reaction to something or an interaction between two characters, childhood TV is constantly being memed.
Childhood TV was created to bring joy to kids and I find it interesting that the same kids who enjoyed these shows as children are still finding ways to enjoy them again years later. I chose to write about these memes because I’ve noticed how it’s become a part of internet culture. Instead of referencing a random saying that grew popular online, we’re now referencing these memes. Gen Z may struggle to take things seriously, but when it comes to memes, we know what we’re doing.
Memes are inevitable. You’ll see them everywhere on the internet. Whether it be a meme of a random photo on the internet of a famous person, memes are widespread. But a type of meme that will never die down is the memefication of childhood TV.
