Netflix: X is Y

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Part of a series on Netflix Adaptation. [View Related Entries]

About

Netflix: X is Y refers to an image macro trend and phrasal template where meme creators create fake Netflix trailer screenshots that show out-of-place actors set to play classic, philosophical figures in new hypothetical Netflix films. The format was inspired by a Chris Pratt Voices Everyone tweet posted in early November 2021, but the general phrasal template and format were started within philosophy meme circles on Facebook, also in early November 2021.

Origin

On November 2nd, 2021, Twitter ^[1] user @A_bubbly_boi posted a tweet that joked about actor Chris Pratt playing the philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel in an upcoming Disney adaption of his "masterpiece" The Phenomenology of Spirit. The tweet (shown below) received roughly 11,700 likes over the course of 10 days.

Spread

On November 2nd, 2021, a screenshot of the above tweet was reposted to Facebook by Facebook^[2] page, Post-apocalyptic memes for Acid Left teens. The post received 183 reactions over 10 days.

On November 8th, 2021, Facebook^[3] page, Irracionalismo Moderno – decadência filosófica, created and posted a meme that used a fake Netflix Instagram trailer screenshot that showed Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson playing philosopher Michael Foucault in a new, not-real movie. The meme (shown below) received 561 reactions over the course of four days.

Other Facebook philosophy meme pages reposted the image in the days following. The first to do so was Facebook^[4] page, Epistemological Diarrhea sparkled with obstacles, whose repost, posted on November 8th, 2021, received roughly 3,300 reactions over four days.

The meme was also reposted to Twitter on November 8th by Twitter^[5] account @juniorhegelian. Their tweet received roughly 49,300 likes over the course of four days.

The format started being remixed by other philosophy-centric Facebook pages in the days following. The first known derivative was posted on November 10th, 2021, by Facebook^[6] page, Etymology Memes for Reconstructed Phonemes. Instead of "The Rock" and Michael Foucault, the meme showed actor Jude Law playing philosopher Ferdinand de Saussure. The meme (shown below) received roughly 1,500 reactions over the course of two days.

In the days following, more Facebook meme pages began posting their own fake Netflix: X is Y memes, showing actors like Ryan Reynolds playing philosopher Edward Sapir^[7] and Jack Black playing Slavoj Žižek,^[8] among other actor and philosopher pairs. The meme format also spread to Instagram^[9] by November 11th.