What Are You?

The film and its hero

Predator was released in 1987, directed by John McTiernan. Arnold Schwarzenegger plays Dutch, the commander of a special forces team sent into the jungle of a fictional Latin American country on a mission to free hostages. The squad runs into an invisible alien hunter, and they have to survive in conditions where the enemy is almost never seen.

Schwarzenegger created one of the most memorable images of his career in this film. The shot that became a meme belongs to the episodes of the confrontation with the hunter, when the character looks exhausted, smeared with blood and mud. His face conveys not so much fear as the bewilderment of a man who has run into something he cannot explain.

Where the caption came from

The phrase "What are you?" became established as a caption for the shot on the Russian-speaking internet. Its meaning matches the character's reaction to encountering an unknown creature: he doesn't understand what he's dealing with and is trying to figure it out. The short phrasing conveys the same emotion as the shot, so the caption and the picture are perceived as a single whole.

The exact date the caption first appeared, and who proposed it, have not been established. All that can be said is that the meme took shape in a milieu where viewers readily caption shots from 1980s films, and the practice then became established in comments and discussions.

Meaning and use

The meme's main function is to express bewilderment at something seen. The picture suits situations where reality has exceeded expectations: a strange news item, an inexplicable act, an illogical response from a service, or a text that's impossible to make sense of. The caption sounds like it's addressed to the situation itself, not to any particular person.

Sometimes the meme is used in a more ironic vein, describing devices, gadgets, or interfaces that behave unexpectedly. The joke rests on the contrast between the hero's seriousness and the mundane occasion for it. This is a typical trait of film memes: the shot becomes a universal reaction even if the viewer doesn't remember the plot.

Why the meme has staying power

The shot reads well without context. The emotion is plainly visible, and the dark tones and blurred background create a sense of danger that can easily be transferred to any situation. Schwarzenegger's recognizable face further draws attention to the picture.

For fans of Predator, the meme can be a way to recall the film and its iconic moments. For those who haven't seen it, it works as a standalone reaction, not tied to the plot. That's why it's convenient to use even decades after the film's release.

It also matters that the picture doesn't require any judgment of the film itself or its merits. The character in the shot needs no explanation, and the viewer recognizes the intonation without knowing the plot. It can be used in serious conversations about film, in light jokes, and even in situations that have nothing to do with cinema at all. Such flexibility usually indicates that a meme has moved from the category of "movie quote" into the category of a shared language of emotion.