Where Are They Now? A Look Back On Iconic Memes
The internet is a dark and scary place, which harnesses the energy to make you the bud of a collective joke shared by the rest of the world… whether you like it or not.
But whoa boy, it’s so worth it.
Memes. What are they? Where’d they come from? Who am I? Shut up, we’re about to take a trip down meme(ory) lane, look at some OG memes, and find out where they are now.
First World Problems Girl
You’ll remember First World Problems Girl as, well, the girl with the first world problems. You know, like someone on the internet disagreeing with her, or having too much food in her fridge.
But that big, sweaty, crying mess (my nickname in high school) glowed the fuck up. Her name is Silvia Bottini, an Italian model and actress.
Judging by her Instagram she’s just busy living her best life, being hot and working in LA. Get it, girl.
Scumbag Steve
We all know a Scumbag Steve. He’s that friend who never pays you back, the housemate who uses all your toothpaste, that piece-of-shit ex who blows your phone up at 3am — the worst.
Steve’s real name is Blake Boston, and did I miss the memo that becoming a meme earlier in life means you grow into a hottie who could absolutely get it? And by it I mean tie me down and beat the shit out of me.
d a d d y
Blake is a dad(dy) to two kids, and his public internet presence now is pretty much confined to just Twitter, where he spends a lot of time voicing his political opinions and condemning President Donald Trump.
OK Blake, we see you, bitch. Call me! 0405 262 2…
Overly Attached Girlfriend
Overly Attached Girlfriend (Laina Walker) is the aftermath of a video contest to win Justin Bieber tickets back in 2012, where entrants were asked to perform a rendition of Bieber’s bop, ‘Girlfriend’. Now Laina didn’t win, but the internet did, being blessed with this equal parts creepy and brilliant YouTube video.
Understandably, it went completely viral with 19 million views and countless re-makes and parodies to date. Best of all, it sparked the Overly Attached Girlfriend meme as we know it.
Laina took her 15-minutes of YouTube fame and stretched the shit out of it, uploading videos regularly to her channel and amassing a pretty huge fanbase.
She just recently uploaded after taking a year’s break from YouTube, but judging by her Instagram, she’s just living her best life with her really cute dog. Happy for you, boo.
Success Kid
Alright, parent of Success Kid, I have some questions. How’d you get your baby to do that? How is your baby already cooler than I will ever be? What’s the key to happiness?
Seriously though, this is the kind of baby that makes me think that I might want children of my own one day. Then I remember that just last week I wore speedos as underwear to work, am a literal child and would be a terrible father. OH WELL.
Aaaaanyway, enough of me spiralling into an existential crisis! The kid’s name is Sammy Griner, and he was just 11 months old when his mum, Laney shared the photo on Flickr. Here’s what Success Kid looked like in 2016.
You can’t follow him on social media because he’s a child, duh.
The ERMAHGERD Girl
You know that sensation where you can hear the sound a still image is making? You’ll know what I’m going on about if you’ve seen one of the ERMAHGERD girl memes.
Her real name is Maggie Goldenberge, a nursing student from the US.
“I just can’t believe this is my 15 minutes of fame—I was hoping it would come in another form. But I guess you have to take what you can get,” Goldenberge told Vanity Fair in 2015. AGAIN, WHY ARE THEY ALL SO HOT?!
Bad Luck Brian
Ooft. When it comes to drawing the short straw in becoming a meme, Bad Luck Brian is your man — painted as the most undesirable and unlucky human on the planet. But honestly, same.
His real name is Kyle Craven, a regular dude who works for his father’s construction company building churches.
He also has a YouTube channel, and this month did some McDonald’s commercials in the US playing his Bad Luck Brian character. Werk, get that coin, sis!
Well, there you go. Whether you were wondering or not, you now know what six super obscure internet memes are doing with their lives. You can check that one off of your to-do list.