Best of the Best: The ‘Video Killed the Radio Star’ Meme Was the Highlight of 2018
This meme has everything
Ah, 2018 — arguably the best year in recent memory for memes. While we were graced with the likes of the Tide Pod, leftist Gritty, American Chopper discourse, and, of course, surgery on grapes, another, more superior meme, has quietly been gaining traction on the Internet. Inspired by 80's band The Buggles’ hit song, the “Video Killed the Radio Star” meme is, in my opinion, the best meme to come out of 2018.
Trust me when I say this meme has something for everyone. Are you: a fan of niche conspiracy theories? A pop culture junkie who loves tongue-in-cheek references? Convinced there’s more to Princess Diana’s death than meets the eye? Then this meme, in all its irreverent glory, is for you.
The setup, like that of any other iconic meme, is pretty simple: in a photo, “video” is used to designate someone shady, usually a murderer in some capacity (whether they’re suspected, convicted, or merely good at “killing” things in a nonfatal way depends on the context of the specific meme), while “radio star” is used to denote a victim of said murderer. Keeping in mind the title and lyrics of The Buggles’ song, the meme is either sacrilegious as hell or pure genius, depending on who you ask.
Twitter user @ka5sh is widely credited with creating this meme, due to his truly on-point take on the JonBenét Ramsey murder case:
(For those of you unfamiliar with the tragic yet gripping case: six year-old beauty queen JonBenét was killed the day after Christmas in 1996. Lots of weird shit was found in her home that suggests the murder was committed by a member of her family, despite DNA evidence exonerating them. @ka5sh’s meme references a popular theory that JonBenét’s brother Burke killed her.)
There’s also this version, featuring Princess Diana and Queen Elizabeth. I won’t not believe that there was more to Diana’s death than the royal family has let on…
But not all of the memes deal with conspiracy theories or unsolved murders. In this version, Tejana queen Selena is pictured with her former fan club president Yolanda Saldívar, who actually was convicted of murdering the pop star. (RIP mi reina, Salinas.)
If you have strong feelings about respect for the dead, or are just completely uninterested in conspiracy theories, you will probably find this meme offensive and/or boring. For everyone else, though, let me just say that there’s no way Burke didn’t kill JonBenét. Anyway, happy meme-ing!
We’d love to hear from you, too. What did you adore this year? What made you smile? What’s the newest thing to bring into the New Year? Drop us a line at editorial@newstand.com with what you’ve been into.
