Harry, You Don't Need to Sell It To Me

About

Harry, You Don't Need to Sell It to Me is a reaction image meme format based on a fan-made exchange between the Spider-Man 3 characters Peter Parker and Harry Osborn. The format has been used to express full support for controversial subjects by reinterpreting their perceived drawbacks as features.

Origin

On May 4th, 2007, the superhero film Spider-Man 3 premiered in the United States.^[1] In one scene of the film, Peter Parker / Spider-Man has a conversation with his best friend Harry Osborn, during which he learns that Harry is the person whom Peter's alienated girlfriend Mary Jane fell in love with (scene shown below).

On January 11th, 2023, Facebook^[2] user Nck Neme posted a three-panel meme based on the scene, with the dialogue replaced with an unrelated exchange about the then-upcoming video game Hogwarts Legacy. In the meme, Harry warns Harry against buying the game as it would "cause harm to the trans community and fuel antisemitism," with Peter responding that his mind is set and that Harry "doesn't need to sell it to him." The post (shown below) received over 1,400 reactions in four months.

Spread

In the following weeks, the post received viral spread online through reposts. For example, on January 12th, 2023, Twitter^[3] user @mythPloughman reposted it in a reply to another tweet, with the post gaining over 40 retweets and 840 likes. On January 12th and 13th, Redditors^[4][5] Hoshef and SageManeja posted Political Compass versions of the meme that gained over 460 upvotes in 2,800 upvotes in four months.

On January 23rd, 2023, iFunny^[6] user noon_SS posted the earliest viral recaption of the original meme that gained over 18,900 smiles in four months (shown below, left). Prior to February 16th, and unknown iFunny user posted a meme about school choice that was widely circulated in the following days (shown below, right). For example, on February 16th, Instagram^[7] user ap4liberty posted it, gaining over 4,200 likes in three months.

The format maintained popularity online in the following months, with variations of the meme appearing on Facebook,^[8] Twitter,^[9] Reddit^[10] and other websites.

Various Examples

Templates

Search Interest

External References