Self-Proclaimed Free Thinkers / So-Called Free Thinkers

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About

Self-Proclaimed Free Thinkers or So-Called Free Thinkers is an image macro sarcastically mocking memes and criticisms of anti-conformists. The meme features a line of identical robots from the 2004 film I, Robot pointing out the irony of nonconformists when they enjoy something in-line with the popular consensus. However, in the meme, these consensus subjects are typically absurd, banal or purposely ridiculous.

Origin

On July 16th, 2004, 20th Century Fox released the film I, Robot in the United States.^[1] The film features a translucent robot character design, which was then rendered through computer-generated imagery.

On January 27th, 2021, iFunny ^[8] user Twunk posted a meme that featured a line of robots from iRobot and the caption "Self proclaimed 'free thinkers' when the cha cha slide comes on." The post received more than 48,000 reactions in less than one month (shown below).

Spread

That week, on January 29th, 2021, Twitter ^[2] user @careinq tweeted a meme that featured a screenshot of the robots in a group, with the caption, "Self proclaimed 'free thinkers' when the cha cha slide comes on." Before the account was suspended, the meme received more than 280,000 likes and 30,000 retweets (shown below).

The "Cha Cha Slide" continued to spread online, popularizing the format. On January 29th, 2021, Redditor doobertscoobert2 shared the meme on the /r/okbuddyretard, ^[3] where the post received more than 7,000 points (99% upvoted) in less than one month. That day, Tumblr ^[4] user hotvampireadjacent shared the meme, received more than 30,000 notes in less than one month.

January 29th also saw some of the earliest variations of the meme. That day, Redditor Parker1055 shared a variation that reads, "Self proclaimed 'free thinkers' when the Macarena comes on." The post received more than 9,000 points (99% upvoted) after being shared in the /r/memes^[5] subreddit (shown below, left).

Over the next week, the meme continued to spread on Twitter, moving from music or group dances to situations that the nonconformist has no control over. On February 5th, Twitter^[6] user @s4m31p4n tweeted the image with the caption, "“Free thinkers” at the dmv when their license expires." The tweet received more than 5,600 likes and 490 retweets in less than one week (shown below, center). Twitter user @RealOldPaul tweeted,^[7] "The 'free thinking' jury when they hear that I drove drunk and killed a family that was on the sidewalk." The tweet received more than 790 likes and 110 retweets in less than one week (shown below, right).