Obituary

Michael Jackson Eating Popcorn was footage of the King of Pop calmly chewing popcorn while chaos unfolded around him, and the internet adopted it as the official pose of delighted spectatorship. It was the meme of watching drama without being involved in it — the perfect response to a friend's messy breakup, a disastrous live stream, or the news cycle doing its thing. 'Me watching the argument from the group chat' was its most common caption. It died in 2019, not from overuse, but because it had become so synonymous with watching that it felt less like a joke and more like a job. The chewing continues.

Portrait: Alan Light · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Born

2017

Died

2019

Cause of death

Died mid-chew, satisfied

Last sighting

A video still, 2019

Resting place

Section G, Row 12

Category

photo