We Live in a Society

What is in the picture

The frame is a close-up of an actor in Joker makeup: white skin, red eyebrows, blue smudges above the eyes, a red nose and a red grin stretching to the ears, teeth visible, eyes on the camera, long dark hair. The background is dark. At the bottom, white capital letters read “WE LIVE IN A SOCIETY.”

According to press reports, frames like this are linked to Joaquin Phoenix’s makeup test for Todd Phillips’s film Joker (2019): the director showed the makeup test in September 2018. Here one should distinguish the photo source from the meme itself: the caption and the joke appeared separately from the film, and the meme is not built around the movie’s plot.

Where the joke about gamers came from

The formula has a backstory. Back in 2015, pictures of the Joker were circulating in which a “good guy” complains about injustice and rejection. In 2017, versions about gamers appeared: their hero believes that gamers are underappreciated and says so with a straight face. From spring 2018, such pictures were collected in a separate community called Gamers Rise Up, and the series parodied touchy people who are convinced that society is unfair to them.

The earliest versions used the Joker as played by Jared Leto; later the image was changed, and now the most common one is the makeup from the 2019 film. The phrase “We live in a society” comes from a well-known Joker line about the unfairness of the social order, and it became the concise ending of the captions.

How the formula works

A caption is usually built in two steps. First comes a small complaint or everyday inconvenience: the coffee ran out, the elevator broke, the show was canceled. Then the phrase “We live in a society” turns that complaint into a philosophical accusation. The smaller the reason, the funnier it is.

The key point is that the joke is ironic: the author does not seriously consider themselves a victim of the world, but plays the role of someone who does. The meme laughs both at touchiness and at the habit of blowing small things up to the scale of a problem for all of society.

Caption examples

“The coffee in the office ran out a minute before my turn. We live in a society.” A trivial reason, a sweeping conclusion.

“A five-season show, and it only has English audio. We live in a society.” Mild annoyance inflated into a grievance against the world.

“A spoiler in the headline a second before I sat down to watch. We live in a society.” A recognizable everyday misfortune.

“The store ran out of my favorite yogurt. We live in a society.” An extremely low-stakes reason for pathos.

The post-ironic layer

Over time the joke went beyond gaming. It is applied to all kinds of trifles, and its original meaning (the offended gamer) fades into the background. The formula has become a way to declare that the world is unfair, but in such a way that everyone understands the real subject is a trifle.

The post-irony comes from uncertainty: it is unclear whether the author is laughing at themselves or sincerely sympathizes with the character. This ambiguity is what explains the template’s staying power.

How to use the template

The captions that work best are those where the reason is small, everyday and familiar to everyone, while the final phrase stays unchanged. There is no need to explain the joke or add extra words: the contrast between the trifle and the pathos works on its own.

Make sure a caption does not turn into mockery of real groups of people. The meme originally pokes fun at the habit of complaining about “all of society,” not at people for their hobbies, gender or other traits. Do not attribute real beliefs to the Joker either: he is a film character, not a position.