Existential Crisis of a GIF
Endless travels of a GIF across the internet as it is never fully able to express itself or fulfill its potential.
I close my eyes
Only for a moment,
then the moment's gone
All my dreams
Pass before my eyes, a curiosity...All we are is just GIFs on the internet
Just GIFs on the internet...- Dust in the Wind, Kansas
If you think about it, a GIF is the most well-travelled yet underrated thing in the world. A certain 3-second clip cut out from a beloved sitcom or movie, gets forwarded a gazillion times, each time getting compressed by different algorithms until it is barely legible. A bunch of pixels that would put an Indian 3gp video to shame. Trust me, the GIF deserves better, and it does want to do better. It is not the GIF's fault that its life is controlled by absolute nincompoops, foolish featherless bipeds.
Take, for example, my favourite GIF of all time. Le and behold, Michael Scott exposing his blot
Now, this 1.5-second Michael Scott and his blot GIF set out from its home (The Office Sitcom) after being torn apart from their entire family (the whole 20+ minute episode). On a journey to catch all the Pokemon, there are, and there are 1000+ fuckin' Pokemon. What the actual fuck is going on at the Pokemon company? How much are they gonna milk out of a 10-year-old's journey of self-discovery? I'm sorry, I got distracted, which is a regular occurrence in this newsletter.
Like I was saying, the GIF set out on a journey across the internet all alone being forwarded, looped, laughed at, and even looked at inappropriately sometimes. All of this is just to express itself and fulfill its potential. But still failing at its purpose, time and again for all eternity. For, a momentary GIF is mostly all but forgotten in the next 5 minutes. It's like in the Disney Pixar movie 'Coco'. The GIF dies twice, once when it was taken away from its family and friends to wander across the internet, and the second time when the GIF is forgotten.
But the GIF forgets an important thing. That at the core, it is just a small part of its family. Although torn out for entertainment purposes of the aforementioned bipedals, the GIF can never be separated from its source. From its family, and friends. That the journey across the internet is bumpy, you almost die every day (both literally and figuratively), but you are known by the names and reputations of your family and friends. What makes this perception even more beautiful is that there will always be someone who tells the world that you're their favourite GIF in a hilarious newsletter. Family, friends, and love all make this endless journey worthwhile.
The GIF might feel like it has not lived up to its potential, or expressed itself properly but to be honest, it's doing a rather splendid job. Even if things go wrong, the GIF's family and friends would never think less of it. For, it is a dangerous business, going out your door. You step out on the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there is no knowing where you might be swept off to. But what is certain is that the GIF is not alone when it carries the love and warmth of its loved ones in its heart. This, the GIF must always remember.
As you might have figured out by now, this newsletter is not about GIFs.
If you have read this far, please DM me and let me know what you thought about today's newsletter. If it even makes a single person's day, my day is made, too.
Yours seducingly,
Frodo Mercury
The Lord of the G-Strings
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