Hey guys, have you seen this new character? He's super chill. He was created by Philip Banks as an original character and uploaded on the 4th of October with the caption, My New Character.
His whole deal is he's a chill guy that lowkey doesn't give a fu-Since then, the chill guy has been extensively exploited by the greater internet, appearing in memes until the trend absolutely exploded in August 2024, hurling directly into September with great force. You see, it is incredibly easy to take the already existing piece and warp it to follow any direction a meme creator wants it to go. There are countless edits of Chill Guy, some of which pair him with quotes from Dexter about the difficulty of human connection, implying Chill Guy looks calm on the outside, but actually possesses deep inner turbulence. It is quickly spiralling out of control in the same way fan art for other creations can, like Brazilian Hatsune Miku or other popular characters. Except in this situation, Chill Guy is created directly as an almost anti-special kind of dude.
He's not a celebrity, he's just a goofy little fella created by Philip Banks, who is totally in on the meme which is great to see, but has expressed some dissatisfaction with some of the ongoing representation. Chill Guy has become so huge that organisations like the Atlanta Hawks reposted him, but completely failed to credit Phil Banks as the original creator, which is a little sad. And Banks has expressed dismay at the new naming of his creation, As it is actually called Chill Guy and not My New Character as many seem to think. Whilst Banks makes it clear that he understands how the internet works, and how easy it is for memes to become warped and skewed from their original perspective, this trend has become an example of how a piece of art can easily become distanced from the original creator. Chill Guy is no longer defined by his ability to not care.
He is defined by whatever people on the internet want him to be defined as, for better or for worse. and it's gotten to the point where cosplays of the dude have become the norm. By appearing so chill, he's essentially become a blank slate for people to project their ideas and fantasies upon, and the original caption has become this ongoing trend, perhaps independent of its creator's intention. In short, the Chill Guy creation exists as not only a piece of art referencing the original character movements on social media, but also demonstrates the fact that it is extremely easy for an artist's work to swiftly spiral out of control into pieces completely different to what the original portrayed. What meme would you guys like me to give a lesson in next?
Let me know in the comments below. And remember, like and subscribe! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!
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