Me Gusta
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About
Me Gusta is a Rage Comic face that is typically used to express one's approval of an awkward or perverse situation. The caption "me gusta" translates to "I like it" in Spanish. In its beginning, the phrase conveyed an odd sense of pleasure in sexually perverse contexts, but the meaning has since broadened to describe a more general state of being disturbed and/or pleased at the same time. The original illustration was created by May Oswald in early 2010.
Origin
The colloquial Spanish phrase "me gusta" was first adopted into a Rage Comic drawing by illustrator May Oswald (formerly known as Matt), who uploaded her artwork to 4chan [5] and Reddit [6] on March 18th, 2010. The drawing was also uploaded to her personal Tumblr blog[3] and DeviantART[4] account.
During our interview with Oswald on May 6th, 2021, she revealed that the original post to 4chan was a carefully constructed effort to get the meme to go viral, which she did by posting examples of the face in memes from various accounts and IP addresses.[13]
Here was the plan. Oftentimes, when a new Rage Face was coming out in 4chan at that time, how the thread would happen is that there would just be the face, and then with the colorful language of 4chan, there would be the equivalent of, "Hey, new Rage Face just dropped. See what you guys can make of it." So my intention was to do the exact same thing, "Hey, new Rage Face just dropped." Post the image. But what I came in with was that I had made about two or three example comics to kind of get it out there with sort of what I was intending this face to be used for.
The first meme featuring Me Gusta after Oswald's initial post to 4chan used the character in a four-panel comic with a cat reacting to being pet, which Oswald revealed in our interview was actually a meme she made herself (shown below).
Oswald eventually revealed herself as the creator of the Me Gusta face in a Reddit thread,[1] as well as an Ask Me Anything (AMA) thread[2] on March 8th, 2011.
Spread
In December 2010, the single topic blog Me Gusta Face[12] was launched to curate the comics. As of May 2012, the series ranked in the "Fuck Yeah" tier on Memegenerator [7] and thousands of "Me Gusta" rage comics can be found on Tumblr [8], Memebase[9] and on Reddit's popular F7U12 subreddit.[10][11]
Interview with Know Your Meme
On May 6th, 2021, Know Your Meme interviewed May Oswald about the origins of Me Gusta, history with the meme and how it actually went viral online early on.
Various Examples
Template
Derivatives
No Me Gusta
No Me Gusta is a variation of Me Gusta. It is used as a symbol of awkward dislike.
Bubbles No Me Gusta
Bubbles No Me Gusta is a scene in which the Powerpuff Girls character bubbles states the words "no me gusta" then proceeds to have a face resembling the NO face.
Me Gusta Mucho
"Me Gusta Mucho" is a variation of Me Gusta with the mouth changed to a smile. It is used to show extreme pleasure as opposed to simple pleasure.
Search Interest
External References
[1] Reddit -- Insert's user page
[2] Reddit -- My 'Me Gusta' Visa Card Arrived! Cashiers get a kick out of it. Even met a Redditor with it. / 3/8/2011
[3] Reddit – As requested: I made Me Gusta. Ask me anything. / 3/8/2011
[4] Tumblr -- Apparently I started the Me Gusta meme. / Posted on April 21st, 2010
[5] Deviant Art -- ME GUSTA. / 3/18/2010
[6] Reddit -- Me Gusta / 3/18/2010
[7] Reddit -- I don't get the Me Gusta face. / 3/22/2010
[9] Tumblr -- tagged "me gusta"
[10] Memebase -- Me Gusta category
[12] Tumblr – Me Gusta Comics
[13] KYM – May Oswald Interview
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