Craig of the Creek recreated an iconic meme and the Internet made it go viral. Matt Burnett and Ben Levin are no strangers to filling their show with pop culture nods. However, Twitter wasn't just going to let a frame-perfect homage to the Conceited Reaction meme go unnoticed. For those who might not know the meme by name, if you've ever seen the reaction image of a dude taking a sip and then pursing his lips, then you know of the meme. Levin and Burnett know a thing or two about pop culture references from their time on Steven Universe as writers. It's nice to see the show finding little moments to delight viewers like this.
For those who don't know about the Conceited Reaction, knowyourmeme has a handy explainer. Basically, Conceited is a rapper who was in a battle against another performer named Jesse James. True to his name, Conceited heard one of his opponent's bars and couldn't resist playing up his reaction for the camera. The entire thing landed on YouTube in 2013 when G-Unit Asia uploaded footage from the battle. People immediately saw the meme potential and now it's become a go-to reaction image on the Internet. This is doubly true on "Black Twitter," showing off different sides of Black life has been a goal for the creators of the show. They explained how they went about it in one episode with Kotaku.
"When we were coming up with how to approach this episode, we were making a point to really bring a different aspect to the black relationship," storyboard artist Tiffany Ford explained. "A fighting game isn't a stereotypical black thing to see on TV. There are many stereotypes for black people on TV and they don't include Capcom games and having super knowledge for those kinds of fighting games. It was really special for us to bring that to families or kids who grew up with those hobbies, but didn't see themselves represented as liking those kinds of games."
"We like to get very specific with our references and make sure they feel nuanced and real to someone who really is obsessed with that kind of thing," Burnett added. "Fighting games have that depth and super nerdy nuance of counting frames and such. The 1% of the viewing audience who is as into this as we are, they're going to catch that."
Do you love Craig of the Creek? Let us know down in the comments!
*Saves to reaction folder*
Took the words out of my mouth