Chernobyl Fans Turning to Memes to Process Horrors of HBO Miniseries

There is no getting around it: HBO’s Chernobyl miniseries is a horror show. Literally, a real life horror show as it tells the story of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster that very literally brought the world to the brink of destruction and while entertainment often plays certain elements up or down in order to tell a good story, the reality of Chernobyl is itself so guttingly horrifying that even with the series mercifully toning down some of the truly haunting moments, the five-part series can be difficult to watch. So much so that viewers have started turning to memes in order to process what they’re seeing on the acclaimed series.

In the first episode of Chernobyl, entitled “1:23:45” in reference to the exact time of the disaster on April 26, 1986, the nuclear reactor core at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant explodes It’s something that was previously believed to be impossible and that, coupled with the culture of fear and secrecy in the then-Soviet Union, deputy chief-engineer Anatoly Dyatlov repeatedly insists that the incident isn’t as bad as it really is. He even goes so far as to tell his workers that they can’t possibly be seeing the signs of the exploded core that they are very obviously seeing. It’s his insistence and denials in the face of the evidence that has made Dyatlov the “villain” of the series and, thus the subject of most of the memes.

From darkly humorous takes on The Simpsons, an eerily perfect “change my mind”, an Avengers: Endgame take and even a hilarious Jonathan Frakes “You’re Wrong” supercut the Chernobyl memes are plentiful as a way for fans to cope with the horror the shows presents. The show is very much a lot to take in, but as the memes prove, people are certainly talking about it — and perhaps learning something in the process. You can check out some of our, well, favorite Chernobyl memes below.

Are you watching HBO’s Chernobyl? How are you handling the bleakness of it all? Let us know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @lifeinpolaroid to talk about the series.

Yep.

You can’t change his mind.

Oddly accurate

Again, yep.

Oh this one’s too accurate

High yikes

Are these helping yet?

Leave it to the birds

“steamed hams”