The "I'm Gonna Tell My Kids" Meme Is Rewriting History in Hilarious Ways—Here's Why

From Oprah Magazine

• The "I'm Gonna Tell My Kids" meme is just the latest viral Internet moment taking over social media.

• The meme, which originated back in September 2019, features people delivering comedic revisionist takes on notable cultural figures.

• "I'm Gonna Tell My Kids" has touched on politics, culture, music, and history. Still wondering what exactly it all means? We've broken it down for you here.

The "Lady Screaming At A Cat" meme is so two-weeks ago, and social media has quickly and swiftly found a new source of comedy: Rewriting history.

Parents are often given a gift they don't know is a gift—the mindless pleasure of telling white lies to their children. No, really: Think about Santa Claus. But don't worry; studies have shown that telling a white lie every once in awhile to your kids isn't too bad, as long as you eventually let them know their knowledge is incorrect. (Otherwise you could turn out like this writer, whose mother told her Cat on a Hot Tin Roof was about a woman named Cat who lost her cat on the roof of her house on a hot summer day and burned her feet instead of being social commentary on mendacity, mortality and the fate of man, leading her to a very embarrassing interaction with a playwriting professor in college...but that's another story for another day.)

The internet as of late has decided that they are going to pre-prepare the little white lies in the form of the "I'm gonna tell my kids" meme, which involves a lot of mental loopholes and a ton of laughter. But what is the "I'm gonna tell my kids" meme?

Here's how it works: A photo is posted to social media, and the person posting usually just says "I'm going to tell my kids" the image they posted is of a certain celebrity—when in fact it's far from the actual celebrity mentioned. Usually the image posted shares some traits or characteristics in common with that cultural historical figure.

It's almost too simple to put into words. Allow me to show you some examples:

You see? That...that most definitely is not Danny DeVito.

According to Internet Meme Encyclopedia KnowYourMeme, the meme's origin goes all the way back to September 2019, when Twitter user @Wake_n_Bacon referred to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's blackface controversy and posted an image with the caption reading " "I gonna tell my kids in 2055 that this was Justin Trudeau."

But the meme truly took off in mid-November 2019, when Twitter user @_MTGBayBee posted a photo of rapper Lil Wayne with the caption "Im telling my kids this is Bill Gates" and the next day, Twitter user @lowendfury tweeted a picture of Giancarlo Esposito from Breaking Bad with the caption "gonna tell my kids this was obama." By November 20, the meme was in full force when it was inadvertently thrust into the mainstream by, well, outrage and good timing.

Gregory Allen Howard, co-screenwriter and producer of the recently released film Harriet, revealed in a Q&A that 25 years before Cynthia Erivo brought Harriet Tubman's story to the big screen, Hollywood executives suggested that, um, Julia Roberts might play history's famous Black female leader of the Underground Railroad.

"I was told how one studio head said in a meeting: 'This script is fantastic. Let’s get Julia Roberts to play Harriet Tubman,'" Howard said. "When someone pointed out that Roberts couldn’t be Harriet, the executive responded: 'It was so long ago. No one is going to know the difference.'"

Of course, the internet exploded, people were outraged, and the "I'm gonna tell my kids" meme was given new life.

Seriously, typing "gonna tell my kids this was harriet tubman" into Twitter will have you swimming in a sea of Julia Roberts photos.

Now, there's an endless amount of "I'm gonna tell my kids" memes, and some get political:

(John Mulaney is a comedian, and this is not Beto O'Rourke.)

And people aren't afraid to ascribe religious worship, either.

But on a lighter note, this meme also works for things you wish were true—like wishing the gone-but-n0t-forgotten-and-forever-underrated buddy comedy Happy Endings had run for as many seasons as Friends:

Some are flat out, hilariously untrue, but I would love to live in a world where they were:

While others are simply just reframing references from millennial youth in hilarious ways.

There are also plenty of nonsensical ones that exist for the most niche of niche markets:

That is Real Housewives Of New York's holiday-loving queen, Dorinda Medley, and not American soccer legend Megan Rapinoe. But then again, we've never seen the two of them in the same room...

Michael Scott from The Office rolls up in that scene playing Lady Gaga, quotes Britney Spears and says "It's Britney, b*tch." Guess what? Apparently it was possible to add another layer of untruth on top of that!

Another aspect of the meme is Twitter users ascribing famous couples onto other people they hope will one day will fall in love.

This one will only make sense if you've seen Succession.

And of course, celebrities are getting in on the joke, too. Kevin Jonas of The Jonas Brothers, definitely knows who Blink-182 is.

And Jackée Harry wants to forever remind you that She. Is. Not. Kym. Whitley.

Oh, and the grandparents are getting involved, too.

And of course, there's the joke for actors who look a lot alike:

Isla Fisher has many, many stories about being confused for Amy Adams, including the time she replaced herself in her own family's holiday card with a photo of Amy Adams, so. This one does not need to be explained.

Have you come across your own hilarious "I'm gonna tell my kids..." memes? Share in the comments below—or tag us on social media with @oprahmagazine.

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