Entertainment
17 'The Fault in Our Stars' Memes That Would Make Even Die Hard Fans Laugh
During Sunday's MTV Movie Awards pre-show, an exclusive clip from The Fault In Our Stars movie premiered. Fans of John Green's beloved book were excited to get a preview of the relationship between Hazel and Augustus, played by Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort, but they may have been a bit disheartened by the reaction it received.
The scene shown in the clip is a classic in the book. Augustus pulls out a pack of cigarettes and Hazel incredulously asks him how he can smoke and starts to lecture him. Augustus explains that he's never actual lit one and utters this (slightly altered) classic line, "It's a metaphor, see. You put the thing that does the killing right between your teeth, but you never give it the power to kill you."
Those who had never read the book took to the Internet to mock the exchange and deride Augustus as pretentious. They're kind of right, being pretentious is one of Augustus's biggest flaws—on purpose. But without the context of the rest of the novel, they just criticized a moment that's actually important within the narrative.
Luckily, Green has a sense of humor and though the Internet was mocking his book, he was glad they were talking about it. Besides, not everyone was being negative, as "it's a metaphor" turned into a sort of meme on Tumblr, with some more lighthearted parodies. Green said he finds them "hilarious" and even picked a favorite.
That's not the only good TFIOS-inspired meme, however. Here are a few other great examples.
Image: 20th Century Fox
Metaphor is the New Blood Orange
As Christopher Palu would say, “Shut up, it’s a fucking cigarette.”
Image: sherlockholmeless/Tumblr
Fish Hooks Work Too
For Spongebob and Patrick, that is what does the killing.
Image: itsametaphorblog/Tumblr
Even Snapchat Got Involved
Well, technically it’s wordplay, but we’ll give you this one for creativity.
Image:johnnyakatati/Tumblr
"It's a metaphor mom"
If nothing else, at least TFIOS has made Furby relevant again.
Image: tuuku/Tumblr
Give the Other Literary Devices Some Attention
Although, Augusts didn’t use “like” or “as.”
Image: quintuplehorror/Tumblr
That's A Lot of Metaphors
Although, that lighter is awfully close to giving cigarettes the “power to kill you."
Image: lonely-lulllabies/Tumblr
The Original Metaphor
But how exactly do onions kill you? Unless here, killing is a metaphor too?
Image: aniwich/Tumblr
Ansel Elgort's Take on It
This tweet is from before that clip was ever released. If only Elgort had known what was coming.
Image: AnselElgort/Twitter
John Green's Personal Favorite
In a post on his own Tumblr, Green said he was “particularly fond of” this meme.
Image: mamalovebone/Tumblr
"it's a metaphor"
Because no Tumblr meme would be complete without some kind of Doctor Who take on it.
Image: interpretations/Tumblr