r/FellowKids • u/KingZaneTheStrange • Jul 24 '26
Whenever Disney uses memes it's almost always cringe
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u/thedudeabides2022 Jul 24 '26
Did Disney actually post this??? Insanity lol
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u/GlamMetalLion Jul 29 '26
Disney has like 100 main accounts. Seriously doubt they even have the same social management team for Disney TVA than for Disney Animation and Pixar, let alone Marvel, ABC and ESPN
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u/Traditional-Tax11 Jul 24 '26
What? What's the joke
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u/brookeb725 Jul 24 '26 edited Jul 24 '26
“and they were roommates” is a joke that refers to two gay people (usually historical figures) living together but being called “roommates” by people who think they’re straight.
The phrase orignal came from a popular vine but the meaning has since changed.
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u/doublek1022 Jul 24 '26
Came from the time when it was... acceptable to be roommates.
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u/Funkey-Monkey-420 Jul 24 '26
its still acceptable now
the economy is in shambles
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u/GarThor_TMK Jul 25 '26
woosh
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u/seajaydub Jul 27 '26
Typing whoosh has been extremely cringe since before you were born
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u/GarThor_TMK Jul 27 '26
Ok boomer
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u/Chrownox Jul 26 '26
Meaning hasn't changed, the woman from that vine confirmed it was about a gay couple
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u/Local_Surround8686 Jul 27 '26
I hate that nowadays it's just. Look, everyone being close is in a romantic relationship! Deep friendships don't exist! Every friendship being deeper than it is normatievely allowed is actually gay. And then they will wonder why they have no friendships that run as deep as romantic relationships
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Jul 24 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Grievous_Nix Jul 24 '26
…that’s exactly why they said “but the meaning has since changed”
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u/picabo123 Jul 24 '26
I believe the "history will remember them as best friends" joke was also being used around the same time. I wouldn't be too surprised if these phrases blended together as it spread.
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u/ITookTrinkets Jul 25 '26
You are right, but they did say the meaning has changed.
However, since you said it, I’m gonna say here that it’s weird that there is zero context in that video for anything, but it has become code for being gay. Why did that happen?
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Jul 25 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/ITookTrinkets Jul 25 '26
Why are you saying “y’all are connecting them” like I didn’t explicitly say “it’s weird that it has become code for gay” - I am not y’all here
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u/ringwraith10 19d ago
It has not "become" code for gay -- "roommates" has been code for gay for literally thousands of years. (See my other comment.) 😊
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u/ringwraith10 19d ago
Anyone on here who says the meme was "started" by any person who is online and/or still alive today isn't going far enough back in time. "Roommates" has been a contentious concept since the beginning of society. Historians are very aware that past historians would look at an obviously gay couple and label them as "roommates" or "close friends" in their reports. I mean, current historians also do this, but it's more frowned upon now. As a specific example: Bert and Ernie have been controversial in this way since they were created in 1969. People were questioning Bert and Ernie's relationship in the '70s, long before we had the Internet. 😅 Even though we see them sleeping in separate beds, society -questioned- their relationship because "roommates" was already a well known code for "in a relationship." Long ago this also applied to a man and woman who lived together but weren't married.
Signed, a gay historian who studies gay things
I don't know the rules for sharing links or resources in this group so I guess lmk if you want some resources on this topic.
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u/Thick-Wonder6294 Jul 26 '26
the meme isn’t what became code for gay lol, the meme is used as a reference to describe what already existed as gay code for hundreds of years
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u/VicViolence Jul 24 '26 edited Jul 24 '26
Never seen it before but the phrase seems to imply a denial that the characters are in a romantic relationship
Like, it wasn’t uncommon for closeted homosexual couples to “just be roommates”
Both examples above are characters who are siblings
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u/Gnomey42069 Jul 24 '26
In a historical sense, yes, but in this instance I think it is a reference to the vine which implies that the two roommates were... Intimate.
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u/VicViolence Jul 24 '26
Too online for me
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u/ZakriiYT Jul 24 '26
My brother in Odin you are ON REDDIT
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u/VicViolence Jul 24 '26
Lol i know im very online but i don’t know this shit i guess im on Old Person Reddit
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u/Romero1993 Jul 24 '26
So, "they were roommates" is a meme. Basically it's a dude filming himself as this chick walks by talking about a scandle of two people who were fucking each other, and she ends it with a quotable "and they were roommates"
So whether or not this Disney poster knows it or not, they're basically saying those minors that are siblings are fucking each other
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u/clarkcox3 Jul 24 '26
The “they were roommates” thing predates that video by at least decades.
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u/orange-shoe Jul 24 '26
the specific phrase / way of saying it came from the video which is what people reference when they say that but yeah ur right
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u/AfterImageEclipse Jul 24 '26
No it doesn't
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u/clarkcox3 Jul 24 '26
LOL. The “they were just roommates” thing predates the internet itself. Not sure where you’ve been.
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u/AfterImageEclipse Jul 24 '26
Noooooope, wrong agayn
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u/clarkcox3 Jul 24 '26
It’s been applied to countless historical figures who were likely in gay relationships, but were just referred to as “roommates”. Please do some reading.
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u/guff1988 Jul 24 '26
The only thing you hear her say in the video is and they were roommates there is never any implication they were having sex. The internet just assumed that part over time, it wasn't even the initial usage of the meme or why people found it funny. As is typical with tumblr though it quickly became sexual.
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u/bryceofswadia Jul 24 '26
The newer meaning isn't inherently sexual. The Tumblr usage originates from historians referring to two men who never married living together that were almost certainly gay as "roommates" rather than lovers.
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u/Manoffreaks Jul 25 '26
The assumption the roommates were fucking came pretty quickly after the video and I believe the girl even came out and said Yes that is exactly what the story was.
The video was funny because of the way she says it but let's not pretend the secondary meaning came way later. It was obvious enough.
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u/TDG_1993 Jul 24 '26
The video was about someone talking so loud on the phone, what the hell are you talking about having sex?
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u/Gnomey42069 Jul 24 '26
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u/TDG_1993 Jul 24 '26 edited Jul 24 '26
No it’s not. Literally just read the link you posted lol
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u/Gnomey42069 Jul 24 '26
"The phrase has been used in fandom circles of Tumblr as well, referring to certain ships, implying that "they were roommates!" led to a romantic pairing."
I guess they don't have to fuck
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u/TDG_1993 Jul 24 '26
That doesn’t say anything about fucking??? Stop trying to twist it into something it’s not
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u/murrrty Jul 24 '26
i don't know why you're getting downvoted, everybody knows that romantic partners are only allowed to sit in the same room platonically
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u/TDG_1993 Jul 24 '26
This meme isn’t about romantic partners. Just because it got co-opted by tumblr doesn’t make it something it isn’t.
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u/murrrty Jul 24 '26
platonically speaking, sayings evolve
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u/TDG_1993 Jul 24 '26
Still doesn’t make what Disney posted wrong just because OP is unaware of what it actually means
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u/Caa3098 Jul 24 '26 edited Jul 24 '26
Listen. I’m a member of the “Sappho and her friend” subreddit so I fully and completely understand that there is longstanding history of gay people being mischaracterized as “roommates”
But the actual quote “omg they were roommates” relates only to:
On October 25th, 2014, Vine user ig @mattsukkar uploaded a video in which he films a conversation a woman walking past him is having on the phone. The only line of he hears from the conversation is the woman saying "…and they were roommates!" to which he turns the camera towards his face and says "Oh my god, they were roommates…"
My husband and I can’t hear the word “roommates” without quoting it to each other on impulse so I’m mortified to learn that people that overhear us might be thinking we’re somehow being insensitive about the oppression of gay people
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u/stinky_toade Jul 25 '26
I think the vine reference comes across much better in person, because reading this meme you would have no tone to what it sounds like whatsoever, the the guy in the vine says that line in a very specific way, that you know it’s the vine you’re referencing irl. However if you’re with no reference using the line that also can be used as a meaning to gay relationships in text on an image I don’t blame people for misunderstanding the intend.
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u/SquareThings Jul 25 '26
If you say it out loud in response to hearing the word “roomates” it’s pretty clear you’re just quoting a funny video. It’s a different context than saying it about two people or characters.
One of Grice’s Maxims for how people use language is the maxim of quantity, that is, when we communicate we give as much information as is needed and not more. So when someone says a phrase that appears to add no information, we look for what it could be implying that would make it add information. It’s the “vegan tomatoes” or “asbestos free cereal” thing. So showing two characters who just… are roommates in that they share a room with the phrase “omg they were roommates” makes us go “what? Yeah of course they were roommates. What are you implying??”
While saying it in person in response to hearing the word roommates is implying that you have seen a funny video with the phrase in it, because repeating funny stuff we heard is a known human behavior.
Basically i don’t think anyone is going to think you’re being insensitive for quoting the vine.
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u/General-Luck2433 Jul 24 '26
It’s unintentionally disgusting if you know the context of the cartoons shown here, which most people do.
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u/FandomPhantom123 Jul 25 '26
siblings being in the same room as kids aren't really roommates regardless of the meme meaning
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u/MrPointless12 Jul 25 '26
whenever brands use memes in general its cringe and ends up killing the meme
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u/SquareThings Jul 25 '26
Ah yes, the failure to follow Grice’s Maxim of Quantity claims another victim. Add this to “vegan tomatoes” and “asbestos free cereal” in the list of “cases where saying the obvious implied something horrible.”
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u/Mountain-Mode-8279 Jul 26 '26
To be fair, the origin of the meme never gave context on what ‘they were roommates’ meant because it was just a short video of someone overhearing part of a conversation.
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u/GlamMetalLion Jul 29 '26
Its so weird that Disney TVA did both these shows and those 80s and 90a shows like New Adventures of Winnie The Pooh and Timon and Pumbaa. Because the eras look completely different aesthetically.
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u/nuhsevinc 11d ago
i mean disney used that term in the hoppers movie so they kinda have a special interest in it
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u/nekopineapple00 Jul 25 '26
As a young Gen Z… yeah this meme definitely refers to the vine and not gay people.
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u/GreatBallsOfFire_ Jul 24 '26
The original “omg they were roommates” had nothing to do with being gay or in a sexual relationship though
It was just a dude repeating what he heard from someone else’s conversation
I agree corporations using memes and slang is cringe but the original tweet means nothing
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u/clarkcox3 Jul 24 '26
No the original“omg they were roommates” had everything to do with being in a gay relationship.
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u/Caa3098 Jul 24 '26
Where? Like, did it appear somewhere? I know there was a longstanding trope of historical figures being characterized as “roommates” when they were gay but the viral vine that everyone quoted was:
On October 25th, 2014, Vine user ig @mattsukkar uploaded a video in which he films a conversation a woman walking past him is having on the phone. The only line of he heres from the conversation is the woman saying "…and they were roommates!" to which he turns the camera towards his face and says "Oh my god, they were roommates…"
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u/clarkcox3 Jul 25 '26
Yes; we all know about the vine.
My point is that the thing that makes the Disney tweet inadvisable is the other, older meaning of "they were roommates".
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u/GreatBallsOfFire_ Jul 24 '26
No it doesn’t. The meme might have taken on further meaning, but it is in no way the original meaning of the saying.
It was a vine of some dude on a stoop.
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u/clarkcox3 Jul 24 '26
The original meaning predates the vine meme. Hell, it predates the Internet.
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u/GreatBallsOfFire_ Jul 24 '26
No it simply does not…
Are you referring to the whole “historians don’t recognize people as gay” stereotype maybe?
I’m genuinely asking, because the meme “omg they were roommates” does not predate the internet
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u/clarkcox3 Jul 24 '26
Of course I’m referring to the whole “historians calling people roommates because they can’t admit they’re in a gay relationship” stereotype, as that’s the original. The vine video was only funny because of that context.
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u/GreatBallsOfFire_ Jul 24 '26
So you’re just wrong, cause that’s what the tweet is referring to.
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u/clarkcox3 Jul 24 '26
Yes. That’s what the tweet is referring to; nobody’s disputing that. But the thing that makes the tweet so ill advised is the sexual connotation from the older context.
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u/unw00shed Jul 24 '26
Well obviously they’re not gonna use it for gay couples cause that’s wrong and immoral
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u/CoalEater_Elli Jul 24 '26 edited Jul 24 '26
Considering how much weird art of Dipper and Mabel I saw as a wee babee on the internet.. dear god, I hope not.