Memes of the Year: 2021 Edition

By ALVIN YAN

Though 2020 was a bit of a trainwreck, quarantine gave people a lot of spare time to come up with some hilarious and iconic memes. 2021 was no different, and with the year coming to a close, a round-up of the best memes of the year will be done by none other than me, a meme enthusiast. 

First up on our list is the Anakin and Confused Padme “For the Better, Right?” meme. Remember that old 2002 film Star Wars: Episode II: Attack of the Clones? This meme came from a scene in that movie and went viral after first appearing on Twitter in April and later garnering massive attention on platforms such as Reddit and Facebook. 

The meme references a romantic picnic scene between Anakin (played by Hayden Christensen) and Padme (played by Natalie Portman), during which they talk about their differing viewpoints on the Galactic Republic’s governance system. Though the dialogue depicted in these memes is entirely made up, they still represent the essence of the scene, with Padme being confused about the true intentions behind Anakin’s words. 

While this meme template might feel a bit dated and overused, its contents are usually quite original and humorous and still bring out a chuckle. ★★★★☆

Another series of memes that made waves around the internet were the “Social Credit” memes. These make reference to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and their proposed social credit system. 

This system would give citizens a score based on their day-to-day actions, rewarding “good” behavior. However, the system extends beyond morality, and the CCP decides what's good and what's bad. For example, praise of the CCP could net you rewards, while criticism could get you silenced or “disappeared.”

The internet took this concept and spun it into satire, creating memes in which someone either panders to the CCP to the extreme to earn social credit, such as by denying genocide, or speedruns being banned from China, such as by calling Taiwan a country. 

In my humble opinion, this meme is funny, just not in the conventional sense. It manages to mix satire with a deeper political issue: the context of an authoritarian regime desperate to preserve its reputation in the eyes of a global audience. ★★★★☆

Perhaps one of the more iconic entries on this list, the Vin Diesel “Nothing Stronger than Family” meme became a consistent reference for quite some time. In the film series Fast and Furious, Dominic Toretto, played by Diesel, makes numerous remarks on the importance of family. Though “family” has been a catchphrase of Diesel’s character throughout the series, the recent addition of a new movie in the franchise brought the reference back to the front page of the internet.

While the phrase itself is wholesome, redditors ran with the interpretation. For example, a meme might say, “You don’t need logic when you have family,” as if family alone can help you defy the laws of physics. The quote and its altered interpretations eventually went viral on many social media platforms. 

While it was funny the first few times I saw it, it quickly became stale, relying on the same joke over and over. ★★★☆☆

The fourth entry on this list was created as a result of a global economic crisis. In March, a cargo ship by the name of Ever Given became stuck in the Suez Canal. The common theory was that a strong gust of wind blew the ship off course, causing it to wedge itself between the two banks of the canal. 

This was very problematic, since it blocked other ships from passing through the canal, sealing the shortcut between the Mediterranean Sea and the Indian Ocean. As a result, international trade came to a halt, and ships either waited around the canal or had to sail all the way around the southern tip of Africa. This led to hundreds of millions of dollars being lost to damage and delays.

Authorities were so desperate to free the ship that they brought pathetically small excavators to the site to dig away at the dirt under the ship’s bow and stern. These efforts obviously proved futile, but they also served as a perfect visual metaphor for a meme about small efforts that can’t possibly solve a gargantuan problem. 

Overall, it’s a pretty niche meme, and with the eventual liberation of the ship, the format got old rather fast. ★★★☆☆

Last but not least, Bernie Sanders’ incredible drip at President Biden’s inauguration in January definitely deserves a spot on this list. The Vermont Senator wore a winter coat, wool pants, and mittens. This is in stark contrast to everyone else, who wore their formal looking attire.  

People over at Twitter loved it, and the first posts about this received thousands of likes and retweets. This photo was photoshopped with different backgrounds to give it a funnier context, and these memes were posted on every corner of the internet.

I really like this meme. Every time I look at the way he sits in that chair it makes me think that he must be quite comfortable, especially with the coat and mittens he has on to keep warm. It's just one of those memes that never gets old, and gives you a nice chuckle every time. ★★★★★