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An earlier version of this article erroneously attributed the final set of quotes to Jamie Cohen. They are actually from Instagram user Juulpuppy. This article has been corrected.
What began as an innocent tickle half a century ago now provides the art of a darker, more contagious laugh.
The cheery kid characters from the popular Mr. Men and Little Miss franchises have hit a new wave of virality this summer, thanks to being cast in an unabashedly more somber meme that’s jumping across platforms, brands, and politics. Where is the official series? someone like “Little Miss Jealous”, the meme delivers someone like “Little Miss At My [Expletive] Breaking point.”
Some creators and social media watchers call it comedy for our times.
Giorgio Angelini, the filmmaker who followed the Pepe the Frog comic meme arc in the “Feels Good Man” documentary, sees a similar initial dynamic at play with the Little Miss meme: “She’s not just grumpy anymore. She is reeling from anxiety and depression because the world is heating up, democracies are crumbling, and those in power seem to be more Mr. Greedy than Mr. Concerned about Action.”
British author and illustrator Roger Hargreaves launched his Mr. Men series in 1971 after, according to the book series’ website, eldest son Adam, 8, asked, “What does tickling look like?” . The resulting creation, “Mr. Tickle,” was the first in a cast of simple, colorful Mr. Men characters that, according to the site, sold a million copies in three years.
The Affectionate Books: In which readers see how the title character’s personality trait affects their lives. — spawned comics, songs and BBC adaptations throughout the decade. Hargreaves then began publishing her Little Miss spin-off books, building a growing group of characters who “resonate with a multi-generational audience through self-expression, color, simplicity, and humor,” the website says. Adam Hargreaves has overseen the series since his father’s death in 1988, most recently. adding characters like “Mr. Calm,” as well as celebrity inspirations like “Little Miss Spice Girls.”
Fast-forward to this month, when just one Instagram account, “LittleMissNotesApp,” has attracted nearly 2 million followers by posting Hargreaves’ characters under captions like “Little Miss Lexapro,” “Mr. Vape Cloud,” and “Little Miss Lexapro.” Miss Aggressive Drunk.” The account credits user “Juulpuppy,” who last spring began posting art updates like “Little Miss Weed Psychosis.”
Back in April, “A lot of the memes I was doing were pretty dark and I wanted to make an relatable meme that didn’t take itself too seriously,” Juulpuppy says by email, speaking on condition of anonymity. out of concern for your privacy. Books for young readers have inspired some of his previous “remix” releases, including “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie” and “Diary of a Wimpy Kid.”
“Visual comedy takes advantage of unexpected partners and I love leaning into that with all the memes I make,” continues Juulpuppy, who says she is a 21-year-old Brooklyn woman. “This trend is so contagious because couples are so ridiculous and hang out with so many people. Any title can be applied to a Little Miss image, so no one needs to feel weird about this trend.”
“We get to see cute imaginary versions of ourselves and laugh together at the messy nature of our flawed personalities, which I think is very genuine and sweet.”
Nicole Gagliardi, a 22-year-old student from San Francisco who is linked to the “LittleMissNotesApp” account, says via email: “I think people resonate with this meme for the same reason they like to know their personality type or their star sign: They like to watch something they can relate to, and there’s something for everyone.” Gagliardi also credits TikTok user @starbucksslayqueen for some of his account content.
The hashtag “Little Miss” has over 140 million views on TikTok, and some creators post the song “Cash In Cash Out” by Pharrell Williams.
When the meme shot up again recently, Max Knoblauch’s wife told him so it reminded him of something he had done.
Sure enough, Knoblauch, a Queens-based writer, illustrator, and comedian, paired Hargreaves’ characters with contemporary-toned subtitles in 2014, for a feature on Mashable created with editor Annie Colbert.
“The word from the top was that the galleries are doing very well,” recalls Knoblauch, so he drew “Mr. Men Children’s Books Reimagined for Millennials,” featuring characters like “Mr. Student Loan Debt” and “Underemployed Little Miss.”
Knoblauch says his article was born out of a comical psyche of the time: “We would acknowledge things like student debt and these larger problems, but we would acknowledge it in a way that exists and has no solution. I think now comedy reflects [the view]: ‘Maybe there is a solution and we just won’t do it.’ ”
Knoblauch, a millennial himself, says he enjoys current memes, which he sees as bleaker, more absurd and more nihilistic. “The ones I did were so, ‘Wow, this is the peak of 2014 here’ — just bad things happening, but they could be fun. Now, well, they’re bad and they’re not getting better.”
Still, he sees Hargreaves’ characters as always meme-friendly: “He’s a drop with a smile and he was very positive.”
“The original Hargreaves books were created to explain very specific traits that were referential enough that many children could access them,” says Jamie Cohen, an assistant professor at CUNY Queens College who specializes in media studies and digital culture. “Like memes, Hargreaves’s books are reductive and shareable.”
The appeal of the meme, he says, is that it allows people online to share a hyper-specific personal description. “I think it’s good that people use it to present really specific traits like neuroses, trauma, or divergent characteristics, which I think is good because it helps people hear new vocabulary and unfamiliar characteristics in a fun and serious way.”
Cohen compares Little Miss parodies to recent viral trends like the American Doll meme, in which childhood-linked nostalgia is combined with today’s comedic sensibilities.
Although it’s not known what sparked the recent rise of the Hargreaves meme, the “dreamgirltat” Twitter account helped popularize the trend when it shared a character titled “Little Miss Smokes Too Much Weed” on April 17. The tweet received more than 36,000 likes.
That image previously appeared on the “NotYourGayBestie” Tumblr account, which is linked to New Jersey food service worker Mike Di Carlo. He tells The Post via email that the recent Twitter trend “surprised” him: “I loved how he completely took over all platforms. Nothing but absolute love and admiration for the Hargreaves/Little Miss characters.”
Naturally, companies are following the trend. Organizations such as LinkedIn, M&M’s and the Philadelphia 76ers have seized on the meme, as well as PBS, “The Kelly Clarkson Show” and the “Les Miserables” production account.
“I think the corporate trajectory of this meme takes away from its initial purity,” says Juulpuppy. “I have seen so many ads using the format, and many companies and organizations that have caused so much harm to humanity are trying to get on board. It has definitely dampened my enthusiasm for the whole trend.”
Juulpuppy says, “It’s a double-edged sword, creating something that can be molded to fit any identity.”
Source: www.washingtonpost.com