A FAMILIAR MEME. A NEW CONTEXT.
A white cat with a gray-brown patch on its head opens its round mouth very wide. The cat, named Oatmeal, became the basis of many videos where the mouth opens in time with the music.
Add your captionThe editor opens with this picture. You can download the finished meme as a PNG.
The image shows a light-colored cat in a strong close-up. The fur is white, with a gray-brown patch on its head, its ears stick up, and its eyes are narrow and almost calm. The mouth is open so wide that it almost fills the whole face: the reddish-pink maw looks round. The background is blurred and beige, and the shot looks like it was taken at home.
This exact frame turned into a reaction picture. It looks like a frozen moment when the cat said or did something unexpected.
According to descriptions, the cat's name is Oatmeal, and his owner is a Twitter user. There were two original images: in one, the cat has its mouth closed; in the other, the same cat has a huge mouth drawn in a graphics editor. So the wide mouth is not the cat's real habit or a captured moment, but a joke.
On October 9, 2020 the owner posted the pictures on a Discord server; on October 10 they were reposted to Twitter, where they quickly gathered more than a million views; and on October 11 videos were already being made from them.
The key change happened when users started laying sounds and music over the opening mouth. The cat's mouth opens on every strong beat, as if it is the one 'delivering' the beat. The video only makes sense together with sound: the beat cannot be heard from the picture.
Later the cat got a second life in a browser game: a site where you click on the image to make the cat 'snap' its mouth, and countries compete in a leaderboard. According to reports, it became popular in several countries in August 2021. Who exactly created the site is not reliably established.
The expression on the face differs strongly from the sound you would expect: serious eyes and a completely carefree movement. Moreover, an open mouth by itself implies an exclamation, and the caption fills in what the cat is shouting.
The second reason is musical. Any track can be 'sung' with this mouth, and each author turns the cat into a drummer in one video and a secret opera singer in the next.
The invented examples below show different ways to use the frame.
'Me when someone in the chat finally types my name.' The cat with its mouth open conveys sudden delight.
'My reaction to the word "bonus" in a newsletter.' The reaction is exaggerated, and the reason is minor.
'My brain at 3 a.m.: remember that time in school...' The open mouth becomes the silent scream of a memory that arrives too late.
'When my favorite track starts playing on screen instead of an ad.' Here the mouth moving in time with the music works as a reflex.
A short phrase above or below the face works as a caption. If you're making a video, the key is to hit the beat: the laugh comes from the match between the sound and the opening mouth.
For a static picture, one short line explaining why the cat is so surprised is enough. Don't try to guess the animal's thoughts: the picture conveys only its appearance, not the cat's mood.
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