Surviving the pandemic

A shout-out for the things that have been getting us through

What is it?

Simon Orgill, creator of lag-my-jas meme website Coloured Poetry, member of vannie Kaapparody duo Sep & Simon and one of“three brasse talking kak and making kak” on YouTube’s The TALK KAK Show, is representing in the time of Covid by creating kwaai lockdown-related memes and tweets which reaffirm that we can — and should — always remember to dala what we must. Even in times when we weren’t allowed to dop or roek entjies. How do memes help us ‘kap aan’ during the age of the pandemic?

Memes help keep us afloat during these unprecedented times, which are becoming more precedent the longer this cursed pandemic lasts. Whether it’s the people selling “glasses ”f or R500 with dop right behind it on FB Marketplace or the fact that people stockpiled toilet paper and now have reserves in case there was megapoop on the horizon. If toilet paper ever became currency, some people would be wealthy AF.

What was your favourite lockdown regulation to meme-ify?

I enjoyed the back-to-beach one. People, especially coloured brasse, were so excited to go back to the beach, for what? To lam like this again on the beach? The president provided lekker comedic relief with his mask mishaps and the whole country found humour in what can only be described as a devastating experience for families who lost people and business. You’ve also created Types Of videos, like ‘Brasse at the Matric Ball’ and ‘Manne at the Beach’ in which you parody said manne/brasse. What types can we look forward to lag’ing at?

It’s all relevant to what’s happening; what I’m feeling at the time. When I did the matric ball parody, matriculants were being robbed of their end-of-school celebrations.It made me nostalgic.

How often have you wanted to reply to a work e-mail with LMBIMMSP?

Yoh, every day.I despise e-mail construction formalities. Why must we say “Hi” every time we reply to the same person?And business attire, how does the measure of what you wear determine your ability to do a job? I’m so happy I am working from home in my onnie right now. Then when people drop the “As per my last e-mail”... OK, Shakespeare art thou enjoying thy broth? Things like this make me want to LMBIMMSP for real!

What would your response be if entjies were banned again?

You know enjties really did a number on us. We were running around like crooks trying to get enjties, experimenting with exotic entjie names, and everyone became a Caesar smoker. One thing it did was unify the nation — everyone became the bra that was loafing entjies. If it happened again we’d be more prepared. We’d come together to ensure that everyone gets a skyf. There’s no way we’ll pay R150 for a box of entjies ever again.

For director Craig Brewer this is a significantly bigger film than he’s used to working on. He’s keenly aware that the original was “the first time back in 1989 that African-Americans were seeing a movie with predominantly African-American actors cast as royalty, with wealth. There were enormous sets and gorgeous costumes.” He’s thankful he’s had the opportunity to reimagine the world of the original more than 30 years later. “I’m no longer a teenager like I was when I saw Coming To America; I have teenage children who march in Black Lives Matter marches; I have teenagers who, on their social media, are learning about the problems of the world. As much as I believe in their causes, there’s a part of me that’s dealing with what Akeem is dealing with — I want my kids to be safe and I want there to be peace. Is Akeem going to turn into his father as we all do to some degree? I didn’t find that question as interesting before.” As far as his hopes for what the audience of the new film will take away, Brewer said: “First and foremost I want them to have a good time. The great thing about seeing Eddie and Arsenio in a movie again is that it’s like seeing old friends and realising that lots has changed but some things stay the same.”