What’s the Deal with All Those Viral Bird Box Memes?

By Stephan Cho  |  December 28, 2018 | 11:06am
Image via Netflix
Movies News Bird Box
What’s the Deal with All Those Viral Bird Box Memes?

Those of us who couldn’t stay away from their phones this holiday season were likely inundated with memes about Netflix’s Bird Box, a dystopian film that few would have predicted would inspire quite so many memes.

While Bird Box was released on Dec. 21, during a week when many were trapped at home with their families, some on Twitter have speculated that this viral phenomenon may not have started out quite so grassroots.

One strain of the Bird Box phenomenon you may have seen on social media is the “the lady from bird box” meme, which started after one Twitter user referred to star Sandra Bullock as the lady from that Netflix movie.

Fans reacted, as expected, by listing (and GIF-ing) some of the Academy Award winner’s most famous roles. BuzzFeed also responded with a post titled “Dear World, Sandra Bullock Is So Much More Than ‘The Lady from Bird Box.’”

The original tweet in question, however, comes from an account with just 20 tweets to date, most of which were made after “the lady from bird box” went viral. There’s something perhaps a bit suspect about just how effectively the ‘90s nostalgia, “kids these days” Gen Z-shaming and GIF-friendly star appreciation of the “lady from bird box” meme tap into social media engagement.

Perhaps it’s just that lots of bored people stuck at home just decided to catch the Netflix film Bird Box this holiday season, but it’s worth taking a peep into why these memes have taken off so rapidly.

 
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