America finds levity, humor in online meme

Bernie Sanders photo goes viral with a little unifying fun

One never knows what’s going to be a unifying factor for Americans. So imagine our surprise when Americans of all walks of life got in on the meme action with U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders. The fun began with a photo of Sanders taken during the inauguration for President Joe Biden.

In the photo, Sanders is wearing a stern expression – at least, it appears to be stern, but it’s hard to tell for certain behind his face mask. He’s in winter gear, wearing a coat and a fuzzy pair of mittens, legs crossed, on a chair watching the inauguration.

The photo itself isn’t terribly exciting. The background appears to be white steps, with another chair two rows behind Sanders.

And then, someone decided to have some fun with it.

We aren’t certain where it began, but someone used a little computer magic to cut Sanders out of the photo, and inserted him into other photos.

The Sanders image has been added to classic paintings, historic photos, animation, sports photos and more.

He’s now found sitting on the couch in the opening scene from Friends, hanging out on a bench with Forrest Gump, and sitting with the Golden Girls. We’ve even seen some memes set in Yuma locations.

Photographer Brendan Smialowski of Getty Images, who took the initial photo during the inauguration, didn’t anticipate the photo would become so famous. He told Rolling Stone, “it was a good slice of life,” but he didn’t anticipate it would snowball into a meme. In fact, he noted, “The picture itself is not that nice. It’s not a great composition. I’m not going to be putting this in a portfolio.”

For his part, Sanders seems to be embracing the meme fun. His campaign store is selling sweatshirts and T-shirts featuring the image, with all the proceeds going to Meals on Wheels programs across Vermont.

The website is now sold out, noting, “Due to overwhelming demand for this item, it will be 4-8 weeks until you receive your sweatshirt.”

Sanders had a bit of a chuckle with it afterward, telling Seth Meyers on Late Night, “I was just sitting there, trying to keep warm, trying to pay attention to what was going on.”

Whether or not one is a fan of Sanders, the memes are a refreshing bit of levity. And let’s face it – we all need to laugh once in a while.

The Sanders memes are a great place to start.

Unsigned editorials represent the viewpoint of this newspaper rather than an individual. Columns and letters to the editor represent the viewpoints of the persons writing them and do not necessarily represent the views of the Yuma Sun.