AIBU?
To find the Paddington memes so irritating and borderline offensive?
BarbaraVineFan · 12/09/2022 19:29
Getting lots of Paddington memes on my Facebook feed related to the Queen's death. Even saw a disgustingly twee one today with an image of Paddington and the Queen walking off into the distance hand in hand, with a caption something like 'I'm very tired now Paddington, will you take me to Philip now?' 🙄
Now I know the Paddington sketch from the Jubilee was mildly amusing, I enjoyed it at the time, but for some reason this mawkish and ridiculous association of a child's toy with the death of a respected leader is really pissing me off. Is it just me or does anyone else feel the same?
Am I being unreasonable?
AIBUYou have one vote. All votes are anonymous.
IglesiasPiggl · 12/09/2022 20:47
Nope, I quite like them. Don't find them irritating at all. One of the last high profile things the Queen did before she died was participate in a popular sketch with a popular children's character. So of course people are going to associate her with that.
Isahlo · 12/09/2022 20:47
Afterfire · 12/09/2022 19:37
That made me laugh 😆
My neighbourhood announced on Facebook they’re going to do a “clap for the queen” on your doorstep thing like the whole nhs covid thing and my 10 year old who has autism and is very black and white about things said, “why do that? She can’t hear them. She’s dead”.
🙈🙈
Sparklingbrook · 12/09/2022 19:31
'I'm very tired now Paddington, will you take me to Philip now?'
I don't understand that one. Unless Paddington is also dead.
Your ten year old is a hero
megosaurusrex · 12/09/2022 20:47
Howling at some of these comments 😂 😂 I don't find the paddington thing offensive, I am surprised by the whole thing though, given it was only one sketch last year. I don't think anyone made an association with them before then? I have a feeling the Queen would've liked it though.
Antarcticant · 12/09/2022 20:49
limitedperiodonly · 12/09/2022 20:42
But it's not, is it? Have you somehow missed all the coverage about her life and achievements which were ready to roll from the moment her death was announced or are you just being contrary?
Antarcticant · 12/09/2022 20:30
Queen of Marmalade
It does seem odd that this tiny, tiny fragment of her 70 year reign now seems to be defining her death.
Yes, I agree the official coverage has focused on the Queen's life and achievements.
However, the thread is not about the official coverage, but about the popular reaction in the form of memes.
Hence, the thread title is: AIBU To find the Paddington memes so irritating and borderline offensive? not AIBU to find the official coverage of the Queen's life and achievements so irritating and borderline offensive?
Had the thread title been AIBU to find the official coverage of the Queen's life and achievements so irritating and borderline offensive? my response would have been different.
sunglassesonthetable · 12/09/2022 20:53
*Yes, I agree the official coverage has focused on the Queen's life and achievements.
However, the thread is not about the official coverage, but about the popular reaction in the form of memes. *
So perhaps you should have said
It does seem odd that this tiny, tiny fragment of her 70 year reign now seems to be defining her death.
on Facebook.
Deguster · 12/09/2022 20:54
I was really saddened to hear of the queen’s death, and it’s right that she is mourned by the nation, but this spectacle is now mawkish and depressing. The ludicrous Paddington meme sums up my feelings on the subject in a WTF way. And that fucking poem should be folded up and posted up the writer’s arse.
I have enormous admiration for the queen’s commitment and charitable work. BUT wall to wall death coverage lasting days and dirge music everywhere? She was 96. She led a comfortable life relative to literally everyone, reached a grand age and is rightly lauded for her astonishing service. Given her known hatred of waste, why not donate the marmalade to a food bank and the stuffed bears to a children’s hospital, then find some meaning in your life that does not involve vicariously attaching yourself to a stranger’s family. It’s not Dynasty.
Antarcticant · 12/09/2022 20:58
sunglassesonthetable · 12/09/2022 20:53
*Yes, I agree the official coverage has focused on the Queen's life and achievements.
However, the thread is not about the official coverage, but about the popular reaction in the form of memes. *
So perhaps you should have said
It does seem odd that this tiny, tiny fragment of her 70 year reign now seems to be defining her death.
on Facebook.
Well, I anticipated that the presence of my comment in a thread that was about Facebook, discussing memes specifically and hadn't made any reference at all to the official TV coverage would mean it was self-evident that that was what I was talking about.
Confuciusornis · 12/09/2022 20:58
I loathe it. Partly because it seems to me to be of a piece with the ridiculously patronising way elderly people are often treated in this country. Remember when oldies would go on X Factor and the audience would say ‘ahhh’ and Simon Cowell would tell them how well they’d done as though they were little children? Well, they weren’t, and not was the Queen. She was an adult who kept working until two days before her death and we should respect that and remember her as such. All this Paddington nonsense is mawkish infantilisation.
Always4Brenner · 12/09/2022 20:58
Isahlo · 12/09/2022 20:47
Your ten year old is a hero
Afterfire · 12/09/2022 19:37
That made me laugh 😆
My neighbourhood announced on Facebook they’re going to do a “clap for the queen” on your doorstep thing like the whole nhs covid thing and my 10 year old who has autism and is very black and white about things said, “why do that? She can’t hear them. She’s dead”.
🙈🙈
Sparklingbrook · 12/09/2022 19:31
'I'm very tired now Paddington, will you take me to Philip now?'
I don't understand that one. Unless Paddington is also dead.
Her certainly is clap for the Queen give me strength.
limitedperiodonly · 12/09/2022 21:00
MadeWithCare · 12/09/2022 19:37
I thought it was just me. They're very cute but surely completely inappropriate and possibly offensive. Paddington is not a deity.
It's not at all inappropriate or offensive. Paddington in this instance is a psychopomp. The belief that spirits or deities taking familiar form, often birds but just as easily bears wearing duffle coats, lead your soul to the afterlife is a very well established concept of many ancient and current religions.
Just because you haven't heard of it doesn't make it wrong and it could be said that people who mock those beliefs are the ones who are being offensive as well as ignorant.
EarringsandLipstick · 12/09/2022 21:04
Justwanttotravel · 12/09/2022 20:55
This one is is constantly on my Facebook feed - the fact they haven’t spelt Philip correctly is grating 😬
This is possibly the worst thing I've ever seen.
The spelling, the grammar, the apostrophes 😩 and that's before the cloying sentimentality. It's dire.
sunglassesonthetable · 12/09/2022 21:04
Well, I anticipated that the presence of my comment in a thread that was about Facebook, discussing memes specifically and hadn't made any reference at all to the official TV coverage would mean it was self-evident that that was what I was talking about.
People on SM complaining about SM.
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