Weekly Internet Roundup: Simple English, the Met Gala Cockroach, and Chinese Food Culture Wars

Hello, and welcome back to the internet roundup. As usual, it's been a busy week in the land of unhinged social media. This week has seen a lot of variety, and as usual, there has been plenty of discussion about it. Let's take a look.

Joe Biden, Advanced Memer

Who was it who said the (extremely center) left can't meme? Perhaps the runaway popularity of TikTok's AI presidents has made all the crusties in politics sit up and take a look at what the youth are doing, because Joe Biden referenced his memetic alter ego ‘Dark Brandon’ at the White House Correspondents' Dinner over the weekend. This follows the revelation that he was also selling Dark Brandon t-shirts on his website.

The meme was created as to counter the rightwing ‘Let’s Go Brandon' catchphrase used to mock Biden, suggesting the President has a darker, edgier side that is capable of outlandish feats of power (and revenge). The POTUS told attendees of the dinner that  "I'm going to be fine with your jokes, but I'm not sure Dark Brandon will be." Doesn't seem so free speech friendly, if you ask me. 

The Met Gala's Special Guest

The night where every other Twitter user seems to become a fashion commentator happened this week, but for some the star of the show was not any of the celebrities attending it. Joining in the grand tradition of the animal kingdom interrupting highly publicized human events, a cockroach found itself on the in front of the bright lights and cameras during the Met Gala. Some might call it an apt metaphor, others might just find it funny that the paparazzi took such an interest in an insect. I'm sure Karl Lagerfeld would have been proud. 

I Don't Think This is a Language Problem

A bilingual lady went viral earlier this week for saying something no English speaker has ever said before: that the language was easy. Claiming that communication with her girlfriend could be strained because both spoke English as a second language, she put this down to their shared tongue being simple. She then proceeded to point to some unreferenced ‘studies’ that supposedly suggested people who solely spoke English were dumber.

Almost immediately, she got called out for talking a load of garbage for almost two minutes. If ever we needed more proof that TikTok is Facebook-style misinformation for Gen Z, here it is.

Transatlantic Takeout Night is Canceled

I'm beginning to think that British people and Americans should have completely separate internets, if only so I don't have to write about the slow motion car crash that comes from the two nationalities discoursing on their many cultural differences. It's crazy how two countries that (almost) share the same language can not see eye to eye in so many ways, yet here we are. At least this time, the debate was low stakes. America found out what Chinese takeout often looks like in the UK, and it wasn't impressed. 

Perplexed by the the amount of fries and ‘curry sauce’ involved and confused by the fact that Brits call it ‘a Chinese’, it wasn't long before the other side had a lot to say about the quality of American Chinese takeout. It is possible to get both good, relatively authentic Chinese food and pandering but tasty meals in both countries, but pointing that out just gets in the way of a good argument.

That is everything that we're going to look at for now. Time to sit back, digest, and wait for the next wave of viral BS to roll in. Have a nice weekend.