Bart's Monkey's Paw

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About

Bart's Monkey's Paw refers to a reaction image of The Simpsons character Bart Simpsons making a wish while holding The Monkey's Paw, a fictional artifact that grants wishes but subverts them in an undesired way. In late September 2023, the image gained popularity online as a meme format, used to express regret over past wishes coming true not in a way one intended.

Origin

On October 31st, 1991, episode seven "Treehouse of Horror II" of season three of animated television series The Simpsons premiered in the United States.^[1] In the first segment of the episode, inspired by W. W. Jacob's short horror story The Monkey's Paw, the Simpsons come into possessions of The Monkey's Paw, an artifact that grants wishes to its owner but subverts them in terrible ways. After Maggie makes the first wish, Bart asks the Paw for the Simpsons to be made rich and famous.

Paw, this is Bart. I wish for the Simpsons to be rich and famous.

The image of Bart holding the Paw and making a wish has been used as a reaction at least since 2016. On June 18th, 2016, an anonymous 4chan^[2] user used the image in a post on the /pol/ board of the site, writing, "I wish for Britain to leave the EU and for Donald Trump to become US president." (shown below).

Spread

Prior to 2023, the reaction image saw occasional use online, primarily on 4chan and on X / Twitter.^[3]^[4]

The format achieved more prominence in September 2023 after X / Twitter^[5] user @hayasaka_aryan made a meme in which they expressed regret for wishing for more Star Wars movies and TV shows back when they were eight years old. The post (shown below) garnered over 190 reposts and 2,400 likes in two weeks.

Following the post, the format spread further across X / Twitter. For example, on September 28th, 2023, X^[6] user @TheStrxggler posted a meme that received over 470 reposts and 3,700 likes in two weeks (shown below, left). On October 11th, 2023, X^[7] user @ReviewPossum posted a meme about catgirls becoming real that received over 80 reposts and 1,400 likes in four hours (shown below, right).