Internet Memes: Shoop Da Woop Imma firin Mah Lazer
The orginal firin mah lazer video
Imma firin mah lazer meme crossover with lolcats
A variation on the theme
Shoop Da Woop
The shoop da woop meme began a few years ago when somebody on the 4chan imageboard took a picture of the villain, Cell, from Dragon Ball Z, added blackface to it and had him firing a laser out of his mouth and screaming either “Shoop Da Woop” “Imma firin mah lazer,” or “Imma chargin mah lazer.”
Blackface was first invented in the early nineteenth century. It was created by minstral shows and vaudeville as a way for white actors to stereotypically play black characters in order to amuse their audience. These days, blackface is construed as racist and politically incorrect, but amongst the bowels of the internet, there are no rules. Anything can and will be used to create funny.
The pictures (and videos) of a blackface cell weren’t that impressive themselves, but the meme quickly spread to include all sorts of media altered to be a person with blackface firin lazers to humorous results. Political figures, cartoon characters, even other memes, (creating meme crossovers), were fodder for the "shoopers."
This meme has mostly run its course but it remains significant because it shows how a simply odd and seemingly irrelevant image can have a lasting impact upon a whole consciousness of people. And, it does, a little bit, reveal some of the underlining racist tones of an internet which is touted to be the grand equalizer that brings us all together.
Learn more about crazy internet memes
- Internet Memes: Get Rickroll’d
Rickrolling is the internet's favourite naughty little prank. It's fun and easy to use, you can do it too - Internet Memes: The lol cat
A bit on the history and pride of the internet's greatest export, the lolcat - Internet Memes: Don't let your child become a hero
How a child's suicide was exploited for maximum laughs - Internet Memes: Milhouse is not a meme is a meme
Milhouse is not a meme is a meme. The internet's first meta-meme. Sort of. - History of Internet Memes: The Rise and Fall of Boxxy
The true story of a young girl who became a meme and the internet boys who destroyed her.
Thomas The Tank Engine is Firin Mah Lazer
Comments
Zinc on September 27, 2012:
One thing to note, the original "blackface" was used largely because segregation did not allow mixed race acting troups-- thus when a white troup needed to depict a black character they had to use blackface or run afowl of segregation laws. In many areas of city society, certain jobs were stereotyped as black, such as bellhops and waiters-- when a white theatrical production wanted to depict these, blackface was used-- it was not necessarily for comic relief.
FAGOPOOP on December 02, 2011:
plsheeeeerp
ash on November 28, 2011:
shoop da whoop
Dark Assassin on October 21, 2011:
THAT BE FUNNY because... IMA FIREIN MAH LAZA!!!!!!!
shoop da whoop on October 01, 2011:
Ima chargin mah la
zer...blahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
Beararam on July 26, 2011:
Hey Tom, STFU
Anonymous on October 04, 2010:
DR OCTOGONAPUS BLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRGH
shoop da woop on March 17, 2010:
imma firin mah lazer
anthony on January 24, 2010:
lolz
Tom on December 09, 2009:
That's just stupid. I certainly didn't know this was blackface. For that matter, I didn't even know what blackface was until I read this article and looked it up. To say that there are racist undertones in a totally benign internet meme, and to then claim that a majority of people on the internet are racist, screams of poor logic.
If you polled most people on the question "Do you object to the use of Blackface in the Shoop Da Whoop meme as a means of racial stereotyping?", I think that the most common reply would be "What's blackface?"
For that matter, I'm not sure that this is even supposed to be a depiction of blackface. To me, it just looks like a large, square, red lipped cartoonish mouth. Pretty run of the mill.
Jii on November 29, 2009:
This video was the first time I ever saw Shoop Da Woop, cracked me up: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSVNbxjdvv8
An Hero-storian on October 09, 2009:
I have a degree in History and frankly if you need any help with this work then you can certainly have my sword.
BLARG!!!!!!!!!!!!! man729853638983652896 on July 08, 2009:
ima chargin mah lazah!
lolololol
type it in 2 google and the list is endless...
like, a big yellow sign - "warning - f****ng big lazer!"
or "caution, this sign has sharp edges"
or "warning - warning sign coming up"
or "my boss told me to change the stupid sign-so i did!"
blackface of sign gags? what's more funny...?
plz post thoughts!
FreezepopMorality (author) on February 02, 2009:
This one makes it into a lot of youtube videos. Unlike some of the others I decided to write about, you'll find this one outside of the hardcore 'nerd' zones of the internet.
Christoph Reilly from St. Louis on February 01, 2009:
I have seen the Ima firen ma lazer, so I'm not completely out of touch.
