I Am Tired Of Earth. These People.

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About

"I'm Tired of Earth. These People" is a memorable quote uttered by the character Doctor Manhattan in the 2009 superhero film Watchmen. The line, which is based on a monologue from the 1986 comic book Watchmen, has been the subject of image edits, recontextualizing the meme's subject as Doctor Manhattan.

Origin

In December 1986, the issue of the comic Watchmen entitled "Chapter IV: Watchmaker" was published by DC Comics. In the comic, the character Doctor Manhattan wanders the planet Mars and reflects on his life on earth.^[1] He says, "I am tired of this world-these people. I am tired of being caught in the tangle of their lives." The book also includes panels of Doctor Manhattan gazing at the stars and sitting on a crater, which would later be used in memes (shown below).

On March 6th, 2009, a film adaptation of the book was released in the United States. In the film, Doctor Manhattan (portrayed by Billy Crudup) says, "I'm tired of Earth. These people. I'm tired of being caught in the tangle of their lives" (shown below, left).

On October 8th, 2013, Tumblr ^[1] user a-midnight-nation shared the panel of Doctor Manhattan gazing at the star beneath the caption, which features the line from the film. The post received more than 133,000 notes in less than seven years (shown below).

Spread

On August 25th, 2017, iO9^[2] published a report on the panel, which they explain is not from the original comic book.

On January 21st, 2018, Facebook ^[3] user modalmemes posted an edited image of Michel Foucault to look like Doctor Manhattan with the quote. The post received more than 300 reactions and 200 shares in less than two years (shown below, left).

Later that year, Facebook^[4] user drcommodore posted a similar version, replacing Dr. Mahattan with Facebook found Mark Zuckerberg in his congressional hearing. The post received more than 930 reactions and 80 shares in less than two years (shown below, center).

On December 11th, Instagram ^[5] @sonny5ideup posted a Ight Imma Head Out meme with SpongeBob SquarePants edited to look like Doctor Manhattan. The post received more than 32,000 likes in less than 24 hours (shown below, right).