Spoilers follow for Phantom Thread, so if you've yet to see that beauty, go do that.
Oscar-nominated Phantom Thread is more than an exceptional film. It's also a surprising fount of memes.
On its face, the Paul Thomas Anderson movie doesn't seem like it would inspire such a wide range of jokes. The 1950s period piece tells the story of genius dressmaker Reynolds Woodcock's torrid love affair with the passionate and challenging Alma Elson. They circle each other like rival sharks as their relationship gets more nuanced and complicated.
And then Alma starts poisoning Reynolds to balance out the power dynamics. And it seems to work for them!
It's an odd, unexpected movie, with bright moments of light comedy. But you'd never guess that it would become one of the most meme'd movies of 2017.
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And yet here we are!
It's incredibly easy to find jokes about Phantom Thread on Twitter. The love story has evolved past its winding ways and inspired some truly funny memes.
But why? What is it about the movie that lends itself to so many humorous observations? Why have people adopted it as a whimsical cultural touchstone?
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It's because Phantom Thread has the confidence to defy all expectations with a very bizarre and memorable plot device that also manages to be weirdly universal.
Reynolds and Alma's shifting struggles to balance out the expectations and needs in their relationship is painfully relatable. Most relationships have tensions around variations of the same thing.
Relatability, romance, and absurdity is an excellent recipe for excellent memes.
However, Alma's solution to this problem, and Reynolds' acceptance of it, has an air of #goals about it. Her poisoning and his willingness to be poisoned is extreme, but there is undoubtedly something hugely romantic about this deal.
The relatability of the problem and the romance of such a dramatic solution makes it primed for memes similar to something like #ThisCouldBeUsButYouPlayin.
But the secret sauce that makes the memes so good is that Alma's solution is so very absurd, so completely extra.
Relatability, romance, and absurdity is an excellent recipe for excellent memes.
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The Phantom Thread memes also celebrate the movie. They don't come from a place of ridicule or meanness.
The people making the memes seem to genuinely appreciate the story Anderson has told, and these jokes are a way of celebrating it.
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Phantom Thread has been nominated for six Academy Awards. In a crowded field of excellent films, it has yet to emerge as a favorite in any category. But hopefully, Anderson can see these delightful memes made by adoring fans as a worthy prize all their own.
