Evil Kermit: the perfect meme for terrible times

Kermit the Frog’s internet popularity continues with Evil Kermit. But why is the Muppet Show character so relentlessly successful online?

Kermit is back. The Muppet Show character continues to be a rich source for meme creators, and the latest iteration? Evil Kermit. The perfect devil-on-the-shoulder meme for these times of geopolitical global despair, when the temptation is to throw one’s hands in the air and succumb to our worst impulses.

Colloquially known as Evil Kermit, the meme is a screenshot from the 2014 film Muppets Most Wanted, in which Kermit the Frog meets his evil twin, Constantine, who wears a Sith Lord-style hood. In the film, Constantine is a criminal mastermind who has recently escaped from a gulag and urges Kermit to behave badly.

It was Twitter user anya who first shared the screenshot on 6 November about the temptation to steal a cute dog. That original tweet has since been retweeted 24,000 times (and of course, ripped off by other people, and retweeted again).

It turns out Anya Sudarkina is a 19-year-old student who is relaxed about her new meme fame, although rather poignantly, she said she didn’t think Evil Kermit would take off because she has “really low meme confidence”. But it also turns out that she’s pretty awesome, musing to The Verge: “How’d I even think of a tweet so genius? Am I Einstein? No, I am prettier.”

Sudarkina doesn’t mind that folks ripped off her original tweet because she recognises that the only means of a meme gaining currency is to be picked up and shared by humour accounts or Facebook profiles with huge followings to reach a wider audience. Then the dream is for the meme to take on a life of its own, and grow with original additions. The wit and creativity of people is one of the best things the internet showcases, especially when we’re drowning in internet woe. Evil Kermit has jumped off-platform and is finding its way across Instagram and Snapchat too.

Many of the best Evil Kermits relate to relationship problems, where the internet often provides comfort in the form of memes.

But there’s also fashion …

… and just our general laziness.

There are now multiple Evil Kermit accounts dedicated solely to the dark side. And Instagrammer meme.w0rld even Photoshopped the image into Miss Piggy – Kermit’s on-off love – to get in on the action. Eventually, a Twitter Moments was created about Evil Kermit, solidifying its place in the meme establishment.

But that’s none of my business …

But frequent internet watchers will know that this is not the first time Kermit has gone viral. Back in 2014, Kermit blew up broadband connections thanks to the But That’s None of My Business meme, which saw a screenshot of Kermit sipping tea in a Lipton advert become the perfect visualisation of shade, (or a pointed response to uncouth behaviour).

Embarrassingly, TV show Good Morning America picked up the meme and referred to it with the hashtag #tealizard, apparently not realising that Kermit the Frog is, um, a frog. It was an awkward appropriation of a meme which many argued had originated on Black Twitter. Which it had. It was also probably the case, however, that the producers on GMA just didn’t get the meme when referring to #tealizard, or perhaps referred to it wrongly knowing it would result in publicity. (But there is a legitimate debate to be had as to who receives credit and who does not when a meme goes big.)

Why Kermit?

Kermit was also a popular choice for My Face When meme, which takes a traditional reaction macro format. But why Kermit the Frog? Most memes have a short shelf-life, but Kermit has now been floating around the internet for near three years. The key is flexibility and adaptation to current affairs. But there’s something else too. The familiarity we feel with Kermit. The fact he is a childhood favourite from the days of Sesame Street. (See also: Arthur’s Fist, originating from children’s cartoon, Arthur).

Kermit was created in 1955 by Jim Henson and the character has even appeared in the pop charts and “written” an autobiography, as well as appeared on numerous Muppets shows and meeting US first lady Michelle Obama.

“He is an incredibly recognisable and loveable character, so people feel comfortable using him to signal things about their identity”, Don Caldwell from Know Your Meme told the BBC.

Evil Kermit probably won’t be the last we see of the Muppet in meme form then, but where Kermit will go from here is anybody’s guess. No doubt he will get picked up by another brand, used inappropriately and be hammered into saturation. But that’s none of my business.

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