There is no telling what makes a meme stick and whether it will rise to Internet stardom -- but once one has started to take off, there is no stopping it.
Over the past few months an odd meme has appeared regularly in the GIF communities on Imgur and Reddit. The meme -- known as Javert or "Javert your eyes" -- stems from the 2012 film Les Misérables.
[seealso slug="best-memes-2014"]
The GIF features a disappointed Russell Crow, who plays the role of Javert in Les Mis, and it serves as the perfect reaction GIF for countless scenarios. And that's how the meme was used for a long time. Imgur's community director, Sarah Schaaf, told The Daily Dot that "Javert has actually been used as a reaction GIF for years." Schaaf cited the example of "When I am too old to play in the ball pit," which appeared in 2012.
Example: MRW (My reaction when) I'm told that I'm too old to participate in the toy lightsaber battle my little cousins are having before Thanksgiving Dinner.
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Things started off slow for Javert, but we have officially reached the tipping point. The inside joke is starting to pop up all over the Internet and like most memes, it will soon become annoying (if it hasn't already).
Eventually, people started modifying and placing Javert into every situation you could possibly imagine, turning a simple reaction GIF into a meta experience.
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Image credit: Imgur, letmeowtrightmeow
Imgur user Zechling noticed that the meme really started to take off on Tuesday, so he created a comprehensive guide on "How to Javert." His extensive gallery, below, provides examples of Javerts, its possible origins, the meme's evolution and rise to stardom during Thanksgiving 2014 when user MjingaSana rotated Javert with the caption "MRW my Mom says I can't open the oven to see if the turkey is done."
MRW you leave a negative comment, below.
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[H/T:The Daily Dot]