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Memes. We can't live with them, and we certainly can't live without them. Memes are a truly unique product of our times, and have become a form of communication unto themselves. Memes have become a vital part of our culture, uniquely connecting all know what they mean, and that makes them important to how we interact with each other.
Biologist (and noted Islamophobe) Richard Dawkins coined the term "meme" in 1975 book called The Selfish Gene. The Information Age has pioneered memes into jokes that transcend class, culture, and race — though many of the funniest memes (especially these days) originate from communities of color on social media. Vintage memes, like the dancing baby and All Your Base even connect generations.
We've rounded up some of our favorite memes featuring celebrities. What makes celeb memes different from other grassroot memes is they reflect how we look at fame today. Fame was always aspirational, but today, fame is also viewed as an extension of humanity in a way that it wasn't in the past. Through social media, celebs are more accessible than before, and we get to see more candid sides of them. Sometimes that surface cracks, and the result is a meme that ends up on all of our Twitter feeds.
When future anthropologists and historians study this moment in time, we wonder if they will be baffled by the existence of memes."Why is everyone talking about a crying basketball player?" they'll ask. "What is a large adult son? And who the hell are these Kardashians?" Click through for the best celebrity memes — we'll update as more crop on on the weird, wide internet.
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