We're all familiar with the quote, "if you don't love me at my worst, then you don't deserve me at my best." With the rise of online dating, this phrase spread like wildfire, becoming ubiquitous on people's personal profiles. The quote is widely attributed to Marilyn Monroe, who allegedly said, "I'm selfish, impatient, and a little insecure. I make mistakes, I am out of control, and at times hard to handle. But if you can't handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don't deserve me at my best."
Regardless of where it came from, it's a good quote. Life is full of ups and downs, and nobody's perfect. If someone doesn't appreciate you when you're a hot mess, then they shouldn't get to be with you when you're hot. True beauty lies within. Recently this quote came exploding back into popularity as a meme. It's pretty simple. People post a "bad" photo for "love me at my worst," and a "good" photo for "deserve me at my best." For example, here's one for Captain America:
Here's one for Pokemon:
And here's one for Ron Swanson, the famously stoic character from the sitcom Parks and Recreation:
Like the "distracted boyfriend" meme, the "deserve me" meme is pretty versatile, and the juxtaposition of the before and after images is always funny. Twitter users had a blast applying it to everything from Jon Snow to Eli Manning to Nintendo consoles. However, the meme hit its apotheosis when superstar singer Mariah Carey made one about herself. You'd assume that celebrities have better things to do than look at memes on the Internet, but apparently Mimi - or should I say, Meme? - knows what's trending.
Maria tweeted two photos of herself, and absolutely nailed it. For "love me at my worst," she posted a photo of herself looking pretty rough, as her frumpy character from the 2009 film Precious. For "deserve me at my best," she posted a photo of herself looking ultra-glamorous, from the cover of her 2005 album The Emancipation Of Mimi. Everyone found the tweet hilarious, and it shook the Internet, getting 145,000 likes and 45,000 retweets.
This person thought Mariah could have used a different photo for "love me at my worst:" Her notorious movie flop, Glitter.
This Twitter user riffed on Mariah's Photoshop fails and perceived obsession with being thin.
Of course, after Mariah's internet-breaking tweet, the meme exploded into overdrive. Other celebrities joined in, like Waitress star Katharine McPhee and Uzo Adoba from Orange Is The New Black.
The Ron Swanson version is my personal favorite, but I have to admit, Mariah did a great job. Maybe next she'll post her own version of the "distracted boyfriend" or the "American Chopper Argument." Celebrities - they waste their time on Internet just like us!
In a related story, Barack Obama tweeted a hilarious meme for Joe Biden's birthday...