A billboard advertising John Oliver’s Last Week Tonight was turned into a giant meme Tuesday by conservative guerrilla street artists the Faction, who tweeted the finished product out to fans.
After we fixed @billmaher’s billboard last month, we didn’t want @iamjohnoliver to feel left out. 🙁
The artist invoked the right-wing NPC meme to satirize Oliver, replacing his face with a non-playable character (NPC) image used to depict liberals as mindless partisan zombies. The name of the show was also scrubbed from the billboard, rebranded instead as The Orange Man Bad Show with John Oliver.
It makes for the second HBO advertisement in Los Angeles, California, that the Faction has vandalized since the start of 2019, part of a campaign to fight “Trump Derangement Syndrome” in the media.
In mid-January, media outlet Culttture ran exclusive footage of the Faction targeting a billboard advertisement for liberal comedian Bill Maher’s Real Time talk show with the same meme.
Street artists @TheFaction1776 hit a billboard in West Hollywood last night covering his face with an NPC meme.
“@BillMaher is a cheerleader for the wind-up opposition- that spews rumors and supposition as fact, to an audience ready, willing, and able repeat them as gospel.” pic.twitter.com/ZCXqp2UdjB
This week, elsewhere in the city, a fellow conservative street artist who goes by the name Sabo trolled Hollywood by posting faux movie posters.
Most went after Empire actor Jussie Smollett, over the debunked claim that he was the victim of a hate crime, and Democratic Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam, who faces a political crisis over allegations related to a racist photograph from his old medical school yearbook.
Parody movie posters depicting actor Jussie Smollett as the “Black Prankster” and nominating him for “best fictional story” appear in a bus shelter near Fox Studios in Los Angeles today. Posters are signed by conservative street artist “Sabo” @CBSLApic.twitter.com/hUZF89iMYt
David Gilmour is a reporter who specializes in national politics, internet culture, and technology. He previously covered civil liberties, crime, and politics for Vice.
On the day that Japan surrendered to the United States at the end of World War II, Sailor George Mendonsa was in Times Square. Overcome with emotion at the news that the war had ended, George grabbed a stranger and kissed her square on the lips.
That stranger was Greta Zimmer Friedman. She was wearing a nurse’s uniform, since she was a dental assistant.
As they locked lips, photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt snapped a photo. The photograph, taken on August 14, 1945, became one of the most famous photographs of all time.
It was years before George and Greta were confirmed to be the couple, but they both spoke about the moment in interviews.
George told CBS News about the iconic kiss a few years ago, explaining what was going through his head at the moment he kissed Greta. He said, “The excitement of the war bein’ over, plus I had a few drinks. So when I saw the nurse I grabbed her, and I kissed her.”
According to both George and Greta, the kiss wasn’t particularly romantic. It was just an act of celebration and joy.
Now, George has passed away. The 95-year-old fell and had a seizure at the nursing home he lived at in Rhode Island. Greta passed away in 2016.
George’s daughter, Sharon Molleur, told CNN, “When I look at that photograph, I just think of my dad’s service, and how happy he was that it was all over.”
Although George and Greta may be gone now, their famous Times Square kiss photograph will live on forever.
Ryan ToysReview is a children’s YouTube channel featuring a young boy named Ryan playing with his toys. Ryan ToysReview is the top-earning YouTube channel in 2018.
Online History
On March 16th, 2015, Ryan’s parents started the Ryan ToysReview channel. The channel has gained over 18.3 million subscribers and 27.5 trillion views in four years. That same day, Ryan ToysReview uploaded its first video “Kid playing with toys Lego Duplo Number Train” when Ryan was just 3 years old (shown below, left). The video has accumulated 47.5 million views and 34,000 likes in four years. On April 13th, 2016, Ryan ToysReview uploaded their most popular video “HUGE EGGS Suprise Toys Challenge with Inflatable water slide” (shown below, right). The video has garnered 1.7 trillion views and 2.2 million likes in two years.
On November 20, 2016, Ryan’s family started a second channel called Ryan’s Family Review which posts vlog-type videos dedicated to Ryan’s full family. The channel has gained 3.5 million subscribers in two years.
On December 3rd, 2018, Forbes listed Ryan ToysReview as the highest earning YouTube Channel in 2018 earning $22 million.
Toy Line
On February 13th, 2018, Media Brand Pocket.Watch announced a partnership with Bonkers Toys to develop a toy line around the Ryan ToysReview brand. Ryan hand-selected products for his line at only 6 years old. Site i4u reported that, “targeted to children ages 3 and up, the line at launch includes fifteen collectible toys and four different t-shirt designs featuring some of Ryan’s favorite things; including his pal Gus, The Gummy Gator, and pizza.”
On August 6th, 2018, The Ryan’s Family Review channel posted a video entitled “SURPRISE RYAN with All of His New Toys and Merch Ryan’s World from Walmart!!!” The video gained 12.6 million views and 22,000 likes in a year (shown below).
Nickelodeon Show
On February 14, 2019 Nickelodeon‘s president, Brian Robbins, announced that Nick Jr will be hosting a new live-action show called Ryan’s Mystery Playdate staring Ryan of Ryan Toy’s Review. The same day Nick Jr. uploaded a trailer of the new show to YouTube (shown below). The video has gained 186,800 views and 1,100 likes in five days.
EastEnders is a British soap opera created by Julia Smith and Tony Holland which has been broadcast on BBC One since 1985. Set in Albert Square in the East End of London in the fictional Borough of Walford, the program follows the stories of local residents and their families as they go about their daily lives. Over the course of the program’s lifespan, the show has produced several controversies and memes.
History
Julia Smith and Tony Holland wanted to create a soap opera for primetime television on BBC One after seeing the success of ITV’s Coronation Street. The project had a number of working titles — Square Dance, Round the Square, Round the Houses, London Pride and East 8. EastEnders aired it’s first episode on February 19th, 1985 on BBC One and gained over 17 million views. By the end of the 1986, EastEnders beat the 1965 Royal Variety Performance broadcast to become the most watched television broadcast ever in the history of the United Kingdom, with the December 25th, 1986 episode where character Den Watts gives her wife Angie Watts divorce papers, which was watched by 30.15 million people.
Today, EastEnders remains a significant program in terms of the BBC’s success and audience share, and also in the history of British television drama, tackling many dilemmas that are considered to be controversial and taboo issues in British culture and social life previously unseen on United Kingdom mainstream television.
As of May 2016, EastEnders has won nine BAFTA Awards and the Inside Soap Award for Best Soap for 14 years running (from 1997 to 2012), as well as twelve National Television Awards for Most Popular Serial Drama and 11 awards for Best Soap at the British Soap Awards. It has also won 13 TV Quick and TV Choice Awards for Best Soap, six TRIC Awards for Soap of The Year, four Royal Television Society Awards for Best Continuing Drama and has been inducted into the Rose d’Or Hall of Fame.
Reception
EastEnders has been considered the most popular television program in the United Kingdom. The show, when started, was so popular, that after episodes had aired, electricity use in the United Kingdom rose significantly as viewers who have waited for the show to end begin boiling water for tea. EastEnders is the BBC’s most consistent program in terms of ratings, rising from 55–60 points on the Appreciation Index to 85–95 later on, a figure which was nearly 10 points higher than the average for a British soap opera.
Notable Storylines
Over the course of the program’s lifespan, it has been shown various notable storylines which have captured the attention of the British media and viewers overall.
Sharongate
“Sharongate” is the term used for a storyline involving Sharon Watts (Letita Dean), Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden) and Grant Mitchell (Ross Kemp) where Sharon has an affair with Phil Mitchell, Grant Mitchell’s older brother.
You Ain’t My Mother
You Ain’t My Mother refers to a moment on an episode of EastEnders where the character of Kat Slater (Jessie Wallace) had revealed to Zoe Slater (Michelle Ryan) that she was her mother after Kat was raped by Harry Slater, her uncle.
The Secret Mitchell
The Secret Mitchell was a storyline involving the characters of Ronnie Mitchell (Samantha Womack) and Danielle Jones (Lauren Crace), starting in May 2008 and climaxing on April 2nd, 2009. It became one of EastEnders’ most dramatic storylines and also impacted on the “Who Killed Archie?” storyline. “Mitchell Week” which was aired in the build up to the storyline, the audience were introduced to Ronnie and Roxy’s father Archie (Larry Lamb), and learned that Ronnie had given a child up for adoption.
It was revealed that Archie had forced Ronnie to give Danielle up for adoption at a young age and the revelation that Danielle was Ronnie’s long-lost daughter was made to the audience when, after rowing with Ronnie, Danielle opened the locket she wore to reveal a photograph of her birth mother inside.
Danielle was later killed off in the episode after being run down by a car minutes after revealing her true identity to Ronnie, and subsequently dying in her mother’s arms.
Who Killed Archie Mitchell?
“Who Killed Archie?” was a storyline which began on December 25th, 2009, Christmas Day, when the character Archie Mitchell, played by Larry Lamb, was murdered by an unseen person. Events leading up to and following the murder put several characters in the frame, in the style of a whodunnit mystery. The culprit was kept a tight secret within the production crew as well, with only seven people knowing the identity of the killer. The murderer was revealed as Stacey Branning (Lacey Turner) during a live episode titled “EastEnders Live”, broadcast on February 19th, 2010, the show’s 25th anniversary.
Who Killed Lucy Beale?
Who Killed Lucy Beale? was a storyline from 2014 until 2015 where the character of Lucy Beale (Hetti Bywater) was murdered by an unknown assailant. Lucy Beale was discovered dead on Walford Common from a deliberately inflicted head injury. The storyline reached a peak during EastEnders Live Week on February 19th, 2015, the show’s 30th anniversary episode, during which Lucy’s brother Bobby Beale (Eliot Carrington) was revealed to have killed her following a confrontation at home. Bobby’s adoptive mother, Jane Beale (Laurie Brett), had covered for him, moving Lucy’s body to Walford Common and convincing Bobby that he was not responsible for his sister’s death.
Bubbly’s In The Fridge is a phrase used by character Vanessa Gold where she lashes her anger out in her house after she learns about Max Branning’s (Jake Wood) affair with Tanya Cross (Jo Joyner) on the soap.
“I’ve Got Nothing Left” refers to a line said by Ian Beale, a character on the program where he cries heavily over the loss of Lucy Beale, his daughter as part of the Who Killed Lucy Beale storyline which was to celebrate the show’s 30th anniversary in February 2015.
#FreeDot refers to a humorous campaign where fans called on for Dot Branning (June Brown) — who was arrested for the death of her son Nick Cotton (John Altman) on the February 20th, 2015 episode of EastEnders as part of the prograe’s live week — to be released as she was not responsible for his death. The #FreeDot hashtag trended alongside #EastEnders and #EastEndersLive on the 20th February 2015.
The image of Dot in the police car after being arrested which was associated with the #FreeDot campaign had sparked several Twitter picture memes.
“On the Google” is a phrase often associated with character Dot Branning in which she mentions whenever someone is showing her something on the internet or whenever she goes on the internet to search something on Google. “We can do it on the Google”, “She found it on the Google”, “Do the Google” are just some of the phrases Dot has said on the program.
What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Sonia is a phrase which mocks ‘what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger’ in which the character of Sonia Fowler (Natalie Cassidy) is rhymed with the phrase. Several pictures of Sonia when she was young are often associated with the phrase showing the innocence of the character.
Bingate
Bingate was a term used by EastEnders fans during 2017 and 2018 where the writing team for the programme focused too much on bins, bin collections and bin overflows. Many Twitter users criticized then executive producer Sean O’ Connor who had focused too much on issues that made the program “boring” and “dull.” Bingate became subject to various memes on Twitter and YouTube during 2017 and 2018.
Ronnie and Roxy’s Deaths refers to a moment on the January 1st, 2017 episode of EastEnders where the characters of Ronnie and Roxy Mitchell (Rita Simons) were killed off when they both died in an accident on Ronnie’s wedding day to Jack Branning (Scott Maslen).
This became subject to a lot of controversy surrounding executive producer Sean O’ Connor who was responsible for killing them off. Samantha Womack and Rita Simons had expressed their disappointment at the fact that the characters were killed off as they expressed their desire to return in the future. Barbara Windsor, who played Peggy Mitchell on the soap had expressed her anger at Sean O’ Connor for killing them off as well as Danny Dyer, who plays Mick Carter on the soap.
Many fans of Ronnie and Roxy expressed their anger that their deaths as they were very popular among fans. Many Twitter users had expressed their anger on the platform and called for them to return.
Malia Obama Clickbait Controversy refers to two February 2019 stories which were used in an attempt to smear former first daughter Malia Obama. The first showed pictures of her holding a bottle of wine while vacationing with friends. The second was the discovery of her Malia Obama’s private Facebook page which featured pictures of anti-Trump messages. While some conservatives attempted to use this information to smear the former first daughter, many others were quick to mock the smear attempts and claim the attempted smears only served to make Malia look cool.
Background
On February 17th, 2019, Radar Online posted a gallery of pictures of Malia Obama spending time with friends in a bathing suit while holding a bottle of wine (shown below).
On February 18th, 2019, The Daily Mail ran an article about Malia Obama’s private Facebook account, which had not been updated since 2017. The piece shared several photos taken from Obama’s Facebook page of her hanging out with friends, including Joe Biden’s daughter Finnegan. Notably, they shared a photo taken from her account of an anti-Trump message written on post-it notes (shown below).
Developments
Some online users attempted to use this information to attack Malia’s character. User @WilkowMajority attempted to say that because Obama, 20, was drinking underage and apparently having a lavish time, it was hypocritical she would not be attacked by democrats (shown below, left). User @zoevaldes also made it a point to note that Malia was underage drinking (shown below, right).
The vast majority of posts regarding the incident, however, featured backlash against the idea that people were using the information to smear Malia’s character. Many Twitter users voiced support for Malia and pointed to Republicans who had engaged in underage drinking such as Brett Kavanaugh. For example, user @ZackBornstein made such a point, gaining over 12,000 retweets and 64,000 likes (shown below, left). Twitter user @tmarie1311 posted an image of Lucille Bluth from Arrested Development in support of Malia, gaining over 10,000 retweets and 40,000 likes (shown below, right). Chelsea Clinton weighed in on the situation, writing “Malia Obama is a private citizen. No part of her life should be anyone’s clickbait.” The story was covered by Splinter.
This is what happens when you push your Uber driver over the edge. See us live in Melbourne! – https://www.fairbairnfilms.com/tickets/ Music by Lime Cordiale.
Miranda Lambert just shared some huge news. The country singer announced on Instagram over the weekend that she’d married the “love of her life,” Brendan Mcloughlin.
The announcement comes as a shock to Miranda’s fans, who had no idea that she was even dating anyone. She kept this relationship completely under wraps.
“In honor of Valentine’s Day I wanted to share some news. I met the love of my life. And we got hitched!” she wrote. “My heart is full. Thank you Brendan Mcloughlin for loving me for…. me. ❤️#theone”
The two reportedly married on January 26 after secretly dating for three months. Until now, Miranda hadn’t been in a public romance since April 2018, when she split with long-term boyfriend Anderson East. Her new boo is a major departure from her previous romances. Instead of a country singer, he’s a police officer with the NYPD.
Most importantly, the new couple looks deliriously happy.
