Gumball "Cause I Am Free!"

Submission 771

Part of a series on The Amazing World Of Gumball. [View Related Entries]

About

Gumball "Cause I Am Free!" or simply "I Am Free" refers to a scene in The Amazing World of Gumball episode "The Weirdo" in which Gumball splats goo into a bully's hand, making him ask, "What is wrong with you? Why'd you do that?" Gumball then sings, "'Cause I am free! It's the key, doesn't matter what people think of me," while flying away with Darwin and Sussie. The scene became a meme on TikTok and YouTube in mid-2024 because video creators made increasingly low-quality and moldy versions of it.

Origin

On March 8th, 2017, season 5, episode 29 of The Amazing World of Gumball called "The Weirdo" aired on American television.^[1] A song in the episode is "I Am Free," composed by Xav Clarke.^[2] It centers on the character Sussie's philosophy that she is free because she doesn't care what people think of her.

The full-length song and scene was uploaded by YouTuber^[3] First Last on March 10th, 2017, gaining over 2.5 million views and 38,000 likes in seven years. At the video's 2:15-minute mark (shown below), the main bully character tells Gumball, "Give me your wallet." Gumball walks up to him and puts goo in his hand, making the bully ask, "What is wrong with you? Why'd you do that?" Gumball then sings, "'Cause I am free! It's the key, doesn't matter what people think of me," while flying away with Darwin and Sussie as the animation style changes into a childlike drawing.

On September 9th, 2022, TikToker^[4] @bigyummychocolatebar posted a low-quality and moldy version of the original scene, amassing over 576,600 plays and 52,900 likes in two years, becoming the first known meme to use the scene (shown below).

Spread

In 2024, the meme resurfaced en masse. For instance, on May 30th, 2024, TikToker^[5] @freezyfreeze333 posted a low-quality version of the scene with text reading, "My brain has officially Melted," gaining over 2.1 million plays and 425,000 likes in two months (shown below, left).

On June 5th, TikToker^[6] @rodogblue_tt also posted a low-quality version, writing in text overlay, "My a$$ tweakin after pulling an all nighter and trying to run on 3hrs on sleep and a cup of milk," amassing over 146,100 plays and 22,700 likes in a month (shown below, right).

During the same timeframe, iterations surfaced on YouTube, like a Team Fortress 2 version posted by YouTuber^[7] KiegKillsReality on June 2nd, 2024, amassing over 127,700 views in a month (shown below, left).

On June 21st, YouTuber^[8] More SolidSableye posted an even lower quality version of the scene, gaining over 100,000 views in a month (shown below, right).