Why Are You Locked in the Bathroom?

Submission 2,181

Part of a series on Deus Ex. [View Related Entries]

About

Why Are You Locked in a Bathroom? refers to a humorous dialogue from The Malkavian Mod mod for the 2000 video game Deus Ex. In the mod, protagonist JC Denton converses with his own reflection in a bathroom. Starting in 2019, the dialogue has been used as source material for memes.

Origin

On June 8th, 2007, modder MadGangster released a preview video^[1] for his The Malkavian Mod mod for the 2000 video game Deus Ex, releasing the mod on University of Florida's Plaza hub on that day.^[2]^[3] The mod alters the UNATCO headquarters in the game, creating an insane and nonsensical experience. The word "Malkavian" in the name of the mod is a reference to the clinically insane clique of vampires in the Vampire: The Masquerade universe.

On November 30th, 2010, YouTube^[4] user Jagobah uploaded a full playthrough video of version 0.25 of the mod. The playthrough included a scene in which protagonist JC Denton finds himself locked in a UNATCO bathroom and starts talking to his reflection in a mirror, who advises him to get a job. In the middle of the dialogue, an apparition of JC Denton intrudes upon the conversation (shown below, 7:37 mark).

- Why are you locked in the bathroom?
- You talking to me?
- Maybe you should try getting a job?
- Okay, where?
- Majestic 12.
- Maybe you should join Majestic 12… in a body bag.
- I have some good news for both of you.
- Ok?
- And?
- I have contamination and mutants in my brain.
- …just another parasite.

On January 24th, 2011, YouTube^[5] user Cow uploaded the dialogue to the platform, with the video accumulating over 165,000 views in 13 years. Another upload, made by YouTube^[6] user Kyle on April 20th, 2014, garnered over 810,000 views in 10 years.

On August 9th, 2012, YouTuber^[11] NanoBite posted the earliest discovered meme based on the dialogue, a Source Filmmaker Team Fortress 2 meme that received over 390,000 views in twelve years (shown below).

Spread

On August 23rd, 2018, YouTuber^[10] Mirebeau Studios posted a version of the meme based on the dialogue, a Persona meme that received over 106,000 views in six years (shown below, left). On December 1st, 2019, YouTuber^[7] MarioInATopHat posted another meme based on the dialogue, a Why Do Women Only Like Stupid Jerks Who Treat Them Like Shit? meme that received over 3.6 million views in four years (shown below).

The virality of the video was followed by more memes based on the dialogue posted to YouTube in the following months. For example, on December 11th, 2019, YouTube^[8] user Cheatzy posted a Norman Osborn meme that received over 58,000 views in four years (shown below, left). On March 6th, 2020, YouTube^[9] user Gumie posted an Anonymous Asexual meme that garnered over 35,000 views in four years (shown below, right).

The dialogue remained a popular subject of memes in the following years, being used together with various meme formats on YouTube and referenced in memes on other platforms.