Man Released from Prison Reacts to Memes From the Last Five Years

A man who was in prison for five years has reacted to recent memes—from Harambe to Storm Area 51—in a TikTok video that will leave internet users stunned.

In the TikTok video, a man named Morlock, who runs an art collective in Portland, Oregon, said: "I was in prison for the last five years and I'm being asked to tell whether or not I know any of the following memes from the period while I was gone."

He first reacts to the "Left Shark" meme, which came about during the Super Bowl XLIX Halftime Show in 2015, when one of Katy Perry's backup dancers caught the attention of viewers for his goofy dancing.

Anyone spending time online at the time would have known about the "Left Shark" meme, but Morlock said: "Yeah, absolutely no. No idea what the hell that is."

Next up was a photo of Harambe, the gorilla who became a meme in 2016. In May of that year, a three-year-old boy fell into the gorilla's enclosure at Cincinnati Zoo. Harambe began dragging the child around until a zoo worker killed the animal with a single shot.

The outpouring of grief and rage that the story sparked was soon mocked by social media users who transformed Harambe into a meme. But instead, Morlock guessed: "Sign language gorilla? Nope. No idea."

Morlock then reacted to the "Dat Boi" meme, which was also popular in 2016. It features a 3D character model of a green frog riding a unicycle, and was often accompanied by the catchphrase: "Here come dat boi. (O s*** waddup!)"

But Morlock simply guessed: "Frog on a bike? Unicycle? Nope. No Idea."

The TikTok video then sees him react to the Fyre Festival cheese sandwich meme from 2017. The failed festival was supposed to be a glamorous event taking place in the Bahamas, promoted by influencers including Kendall Jenner and Bella Hadid, but instead, festival-goers arrived to find a chaotic scene, and the festival was soon canceled.

One Fyre Festival attendee shared a now-iconic photo of a sad-looking cheese sandwich, which he described as "literally slices of bread, cheese, and salad with no dressing," and claimed that that was what guests were being fed. The photo was widely circulated on social media at the time.

However, Morlock did not know what to make of the meal and simply said: "A salad... sandwich... nope."

Morlock is then asked to react to the "This is so sad Alexa play Despacito" meme, which was popular in 2018, and evolved into a meme used by internet users to explain how they were feeling. Morlock is asked to pronounce "Despacito," but confusedly says "Despacey?"

When looking at photos from the "Storm Area 51" event of 2019, that saw thousands of people head to the desert after responding to a Facebook event, Morlock said: "I still have no idea."

Then, in response to the Bernie Sanders "I am once again asking" meme from 2020, Morlock guessed: "Bernie Sanders in a jacket? Nope?"

Finally, he reacted to a screenshot of the TikTok of Nathan Apodaca, otherwise known as Doggface, drinking Ocean Spray cranberry juice while skateboarding and listening to "Dreams" by Fleetwood Mac, which became a huge trend in 2020.

But to Morlock, he was simply a "dude drinking Ocean Spray cranberry juice."

Newsweek has contacted Morlock for comment.