Cuphead is very au courant in meme circles, which gives the meme a little viral oomph. The second is that the “triple gay” insult is tongue-in-cheek and might even be read as a meta-commentary on the practice of using “gay” as a slur online. “Above” or “below” images are a longstanding online trope, but the ‘Triple Gay’ meme adds two things to it: one is Cuphead, a popular and somewhat controversial game. In one famous Facebook status that makes fun of the trope, a man writes that the first person to comment is “gau,” then becomes the first to comment by correcting his own typo. It’s an old messageboard tradition to mock the poster who comments above or below you, especially by calling them gay, and it seems to have blossomed even further on social media. “Person above me” memes have been around for some time. Let’s take a look at where “triple gay” came from and what it means. And maybe it is, but there’s a lot more going on here.
This new meme, starring the protagonist from the popular game Cuphead, looks offensive at first blush. This autumn, Tumblr is busy calling things “Triple Gay.”
