Check Out This Hot Meme, Just Don't Let Your Girlfriend See You
There is a new meme. Is it smarter/prettier/funnier/better in bed than our old favorite meme? We'll never know if we don't take a look.
The premise is simple enough. Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram and Reddit users label the three characters in this stock photo to tell dank stories of heartbreak, jealousy, and lust, often between abstract ideas instead of actual people.
And though it's blown up in popularity in the last week, some careful meme archeology has uncovered examples of the form going back at least a few months. Take a look at these early uses of "Guy Checking Out Another Girl"1 from Brazilian memers @chinisalada and @AlbertoLage:
After that, there are traces of "Dude Checking Out A Woman Who's Not His Woman In Front Of His Woman" across college meme sites around Facebook.
Here's an August 4 post from a University of Wisconsin meme Facebook group:
But the first use of the meme to really take off on English-speaking Twitter was, somewhat curiously, this simple jab at late capitalism from German language Twitter user @n1m161:
But for the most part, the "Guy Checking Out Another Girl" memes tend to be less "political" and more "relatable":
Since the weekend, these three star-crossed lovers have become a runaway hit in different niche parts of the internet. Like the gamers:
Existential dread Twitter:
The tech angle:
Sports fans:
Indian cinema critics:
And, of course, those people who seem to exist for the sole purpose of combining memes together:
A definite turning point came when Twitter discovered other stock images featuring these characters (all by photographer Antonio Guillem):
Which allowed for a new level of meta-memeing:
And, finally, a resolution to the drama our three protagonists have been dealing with so publicly:
And just as everyone on the internet — including celebrities — got tired of it, the meme passed on in favor of younger, cooler memes:
As an aside, perhaps the best thing about this meme is the hilariously specific names people are using to describe it. Some favorites include "Guy With A Girlfriend Ogling Some Other Girl Stock Image Meme," "Guy Looking At Another Girl Meme," "Guy-Looking-At-Other-Girl Meme," "Guy Looking At Other Woman Meme" and "Three White People Walking Meme."
