In all honesty, Halloween costumes seem like a pretty good metric by which to judge the relevance of events from the previous ten months: if it made a big enough impact on the public psyche, you can expect to see it recreated in felt on October 31.
With that knowledge, the recent proliferation of the Couples Costume Idea meme has helped to identify the biggest events of the year, mixed in with some evergreen references and more recent pop-culture tidbits.
Also, a miniature mid-2000s emo revival. But we’ll get to that later.
A cursory reading of Twitter reveals those jokesters have seized upon the meme format’s political potential, weaponising the format against Aussie figures including John Howard, Tony Abbott, and Mark Latham.
Deep cuts referring to George W. Bush and even the absolute lad Jeremy Corbyn got a shout.
https://twitter.com/mckinnon_a/status/923071430278897664
https://twitter.com/liv_croagh/status/923092600566947840
https://twitter.com/liv_croagh/status/923100436827054080
https://twitter.com/rxcka_/status/922480185135456257
cute couple costume ideas pic.twitter.com/WkqHSFd8Vi
— charlie 🌹 hind (@charliehind_) October 24, 2017
https://twitter.com/pantsahoy/status/923308072671461376
https://twitter.com/LaziestCanine/status/923249342202265600
https://twitter.com/Cryptoterra/status/922964502026391552
https://twitter.com/KrangTNelson/status/923015500854104064/photo/1
Because this is the Twitter, meta-references to other memes have also made an appearance.
https://twitter.com/ThefuninfuneraI/status/922213446363566082
https://twitter.com/glitterytiddies/status/921534051911073793
https://twitter.com/Luita10/status/921039742644482049
Some more standard pop culture references have also made the cut. We anticipate Bunnings is going to run straight out of saplings following this:
Couples costume idea #bacheloretteAU pic.twitter.com/rXvWqAPAND
— BLM (@svpphic) October 25, 2017
https://twitter.com/drugproblem/status/922883301819461632
https://twitter.com/badgirlmomsen/status/923159554027868161
And, then to this writer’s utmost delight, some users seem to have used the meme to stage a revival of that very particular ‘scene’ aesthetic, replete with references to Panic! At The Disco, My Chemical Romance… and former Dance Gavin Dance vocalist Jonny Craig’s history of hawking Macbooks online.
Couple costume idea pic.twitter.com/94J6OOs4zv
— 🧙🏽♂️ (@FANTOMFREAK) October 23, 2017
https://twitter.com/Wifiwifey91/status/922653045690834945
https://twitter.com/Ruhquel/status/922975432470867968
cute couple costume idea pic.twitter.com/IEXnsK00s0
— uwu-tang clan (@nidoqueeen) October 24, 2017
It’s 2017, and we just earnestly mentioned Jonny Craig in an article, rendering this the most bizarre meme of recent memory. In celebration, please accept this timely and appropriately-titled throwback.
Now, if you excuse me, I need to find my hair straightener.
