DEEP DIVE

Redditors have added a twist to the Charlie Kelly conspiracy theory meme by inserting a second panel to show him enthusiastically explaining something to a seal. The seal in question has human hands, which are interlocked as if the seal is waiting for its turn to speak or is thoughtfully contemplating what Charlie is saying.

The original meme comes from an episode of It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia in which the character Charlie Kelly, who is played by Charlie Day, tries to explain a crazy conspiracy theory involving mail fraud and someone named Pepe Silvia to his friend Mac. The image of the seal originated on an r/PhotoshopBattles thread where it was posted with the caption “thinking about that embarrassing thing you said years ago like.”

In mid-October 2020, the two memes were combined to make it look like Charlie Kelly is explaining his theory to a fat seal. These memes usually depict scenarios of “me explaining” something to an incredulous, confused, or smug audience. The format is particularly popular on the Dank Memes subreddit.

grandma please from dankmemes

A Perry The Platypus meme:

Poor guy though from dankmemes

He has to learn from dankmemes

Thanks but I am all set from dankmemes

It’s complicated from dankmemes

Commentary on the way Reddit users interact with each other:

Aww this is so wholesome from dankmemes

you cannot escape it from dankmemes

I didn’t do it God promise from dankmemes

A dark Karen/anti-vax joke:

Well that proves a point from dankmemes

The Bois have come to eat from dankmemes