May the Fourth Be with You
What? May 4th has been recognized as “Star Wars Day” almost since the franchise started in 1977. It’s derived from the film’s line: “May the Force be with you.”
So What? Star Wars is so ingrained in pop culture that you may already know all about this unofficial holiday. However, between debates of who shot first (Han totally did) and whether or not Ewoks are cute (they’re adorable), some families may forget the deeper spiritual implications of Star Wars.
Now What? Luckily, Plugged In has you covered. In addition to our reviews of Star Wars’ many entities, Kennedy Unthank’s latest blog, “The Theology of … Star Wars,” unpacks the Light and Dark sides of the Force, as well as the eastern spirituality that inspired them and how those worldviews compare to Christian ones.
Fun Fact: The first recorded use of this phrase was May 4th, 1979, the day after Margaret Thatcher became the first female Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Her party took out a newspaper ad reading: “May the Fourth Be with You, Maggie. Congratulations.”
‘It’s Gonna Be May’ Meme History
What? In 2000, boy band NSYNC released smash hit “It’s Gonna Be Me,” wherein singer Justin Timberlake pronounced the word “me” as “may.”
So What? On April 30th, 2012, Timberlake became a meme sensation when an image of him paired with the phrase “It’s gonna be May!” appeared on Tumblr to announce the forthcoming month. Since then, social media feeds have been flooded with variations of the meme every April and May.
Now What? The “It’s Gonna Be May” meme is actually one of the internet’s more innocent memes. And Timberlake has joked that the mispronunciation haunts him to this day. But this can also serve as an opportunity to teach your kids about what they reshare online. While some memes, such as this one, are just silly ways to participate on social media, others can be harmful or inappropriate—such as “Bad Luck Brian,” which became a source of defecation and masturbation jokes, or “Scumbag Steve,” which is widely known for marijuana references.
What’s the Deal with OnlyFans?
What? OnlyFans is an adult website wherein creators charge a subscription fee for access to their photos and videos, most of which are explicit. Although according to The Times, the site has tried to “broaden its appeal beyond pornography to content posted by celebrities and sports stars.”
So What? OnlyFans requires users to be 18 or older. However, Ofcom (the United Kingdom’s media watchdog) is investigating the site for flaws in its age-verification process which are allegedly allowing minors to view explicit content.
Now What? Obviously, parents should be aware of OnlyFans and the harmful content it contains. But the site has also been referenced in a number of TV shows and films (South Park, Solar Opposites, Abbott Elementary), the primary joke being that people (mostly women, mostly teachers) supplement their poor incomes as OnlyFans creators. And parents should be wary if their kids start using the joke themselves as it could be hurtful to the target (if untrue) or raise a red flag for inappropriate conduct.
2 Responses
1) The Fourth will be with you. Always. (Never knew that was a Thatcherite phrase, though.)
2) You mentioned some aspects of “Bad Luck Brian” I would very much like to have forgotten, but I’m happy for how his life has turned out: He’s been happily married for ten years, and do you know what he does for a living? He helps with his father’s business — constructing churches.
3) Sounds to me like OnlyFans is partially trying to go back to what I recalled it originally portraying itself as (think Masterclass chefs and musicians, not necessarily just adult content). Not that I’m necessarily condoning that decision, but I wonder if its, Tumblr’s and (temporarily) Playboy’s decisions may have been first and foremost PR-motivated.
The mention of the various jokes in pop culture broke my heart, though. Especially when those jokes come at the expense (no pun intended in my case) of the poor. When I was young and very zealous in church, probably from my youth group, I would have been very judgmental against something like OnlyFans in a way that my parents and even my minister-uncle were not (he once pointed out to me, in a context that matched the technological abilities of the day, prior to the American rollout of high-speed Internet, that some people do participate in things like this because of economic need). But the thought of shows making fun of something that some people don’t really have a 100% fair “choice” in doing seems cruel, to say nothing of how it can come across as its own kind of unsolicited “shaming.”
Good article.