An Out-of-Touch Adult’s Guide to Children’s Culture: What’s Wrong With Smurf the Cat?

Things are getting surreal this week in popular culture. There’s the weird blue smurf/chimera cat who suddenly appeared everywhere at once, the wildly popular TikToker whose whole point is making sure the faucets are working properly, and a recently discovered universal trait among men: thinking about the Roman Empire.

What is Cat Smurf and why is he suddenly everywhere?

The undisputed CEO of online retailer Zoomer this week is Smurf the Cat. The image you see above has captured the popular imagination of people online around the world to such an extent that it has gone from non-existent to literally everywhere in a matter of weeks.

Cat Smurf is pretty cute, I think, with a mushroom cap and a snail on a stick, but it’s hard to understand why he’s so gooey as to inspire a TikTok hashtag with over 800 million views , three unfunny “response memes” ( Strawberry Elephant , Pineapple owl and Blueberry Cat ) and a submeme of sorts where the joke is ” I see that damn cat Smurf everywhere .”

I can’t explain it, so I’ll just state the facts: Smurf the Cat was created in 2014 by artist Nate Hallinan . It sat on his website for nearly a decade until late August when internet users began remixing, sharing the image and creating TikToks about it, usually including part of Alan Walker’s “The Specter.” Smurf Cat is also known as Shailushai, Blue Mushroom Cat, and Shailushai, although his creator titled the original image “Smurf Sighting.” Now you understand it.

Why is TikTok obsessed with the guy who checks the taps?

Speaking of inexplicable yet adorable internet celebrities, TikTok is crazy about Travis Stock , aka Phantom Sivart. Stock is known for his short videos in which he checks to see if public faucets are working. If they do, he states, “Yes, dog! This one works!” and sings a little song. He has 1.2 million subscribers and his videos have received over 37.6 million likes. This video was watched by more than 20 million people . Like everyone else, I love the faucet guy because he’s funny and genuine, and I wish I could get as excited about faucets as he does.

On a more meta level, it’s amazing that there are armies of smart media professionals, marketing managers and content specialists who work hard every day to figure out what people want to watch and share online, but it turns out to be what they want to see. the guy is happy because the tap is working.

Meme Question of the Week: How often do you think about the Roman Empire?

Last month, Gaius Flavius, a Roman reenactor from Sweden, posted a video on Instagram encouraging women to ask their boyfriends or husbands how often they think about the Roman Empire. Some women took them up on their offer, and it turns out men think about the Roman Empire every day . Check this Twitter thread for confirmation. More proof: I literally just thought about the Roman Empire. Right before I came across this meme, I was listening to Songs for Pierre Chouvin, an entire album about the Roman Empire by The Mountain Goats, who think so much about the Roman Empire that they wrote an entire concept album about their oppression of pagans. Conclusion: all men constantly think about the Roman Empire. I mean aqueducts! These straight roads! Chariot racing! Just something to think about, man.

What is Love Splash and why does everyone cringe at it?

Unlike the crane operator, the cat Smurf, and musings about the Roman Empire, the viral “Love Splash” meme makes sense. According to Lilianna Wilde, the woman who coined the phrase on TikTok, a love surge is when you have “so much love in your limbs that you can’t contain it and you feel like you’re going to explode.”

In the video that made her TikTok famous , Wilde shows her partner Sean “shaking with the electricity of love” until Wilde catches it too and they both start shaking until they “explode with the electricity of love!”

Wilde’s viewers get that weird feeling of awkwardness for someone that you only get from 100%, uncut Internet cringing, probably from memories of your own secret love-inspired lapses in decorum. As her commenters put it: “This video made me think about breaking up with my boyfriend, just to make sure I never risk a love surge,” “I need a love breaker,” and “It’s okay to have secrets.” …”

To be fair to Wilde, she starts her video by saying that a splash of love is “the worst couple thing ever,” so at least there’s a content warning. Good-natured jokes are one thing, but she doesn’t deserve the hate she’s getting .

Viral Video of the Week: Cardi B – Bongos feat. Megan Thee Stallion (official VMA performance)

This week, the MTV Video Music Awards made it clear that women will be in charge of music in 2023. If Taylor Swift winning nine awards, including video of the year, artist of the year and song of the year, doesn’t convince you, then Cardi’s live performance of B and Megan Thee Stallion’s “Bongos” should put all doubts to rest. Another highlight of the show, especially for the older cats: a medley of hip-hop legends Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five, Slick Rick and Doug E. Fresh, Nicki Minaj, LL Cool J, Lil Wayne and Darryl “DMC” McDaniels to celebrate this event. 50th anniversary of hip-hop. I mean, LL sings “Mama Said Knock You Out?” “Show?” Slick Rick and Doug E. Fresh. Come on ! Some of these artists may be eligible for Social Security, but they can still rock a crowd even if you’re worried about them breaking a hip.