The “Unfollowing Now” Meme Hilariously Paints TV And Movie Characters In A New Light

Just when you thought you were caught up with all the latest memes, people on Twitter are refreshing an old format and making it new again. The "unfollowing now" memes have people joking about classic movies, TV shows, fairy tales, and more by comedically drawing attention to problematic plot lines and characters. Parodying when people unfollow public figures after major scandals, the meme trend makes fun of so many nostalgic flicks and stories. From jokes about Ratatouille and Monsters Inc. to 10 Things I Hate About You and Mean Girls, the 23 best "unfollowing now" memes are sure to make you laugh (and make you think twice about your favorite characters).

You may only just be hearing about this meme trend, but it turns out the "unfollowing now” meme began in July 2019 as "I'm softblocking right now," according to Know Your Meme. It appears to have stemmed from Twitter user @Turing_Police's tweet (which has since been deleted), which read, "oof. Yikes, thanks for letting me know. I'm softblocking him right now. Sorry I saw a joke tweet he made a while back and followed. didn't know he's been trying to end your family's bloodline for seven generations so that his malign magickal influence can ravage the world unchecked." It was a reference to the character Dio from JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, and it set the stage for people to play on the premise.

As with all memes, though, it died down after a while. The latest iteration of the “unfollowing now” meme came on Sept. 5, 2021, thanks to Twitter user @ChillStableGuy. He tweeted a joke about Goldilocks and the Three Bears that read, "wow, ok, unfollowing now. I loved her oatmeal reviews, had no idea she was stealing the oatmeal from a loveable family of three rural bears."

Since then, the trend has blown up on Twitter, with so many of them pointing out a plot point you may have missed or just willingly missing the point of the film to make a funny meme — and TBH, the results are pretty hilarious.

This Ratatouille “unfollowing now” meme calls out Alfredo Linguini for using Remi’s cooking to get ahead:

This Hannah Montana meme did not believe it was the best of both worlds:

And when it comes to Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events, this Twitter user can’t get past Count Olaf’s suspicious plans, even if he is a great actor:

Honestly, Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory kinda set itself up for this one:

And what about Disney’s Aladdin? Turns out he’s flexing under false pretenses to seduce Princess Jasmine:

In Monsters Inc., Monstropolis is literally a city powered by the screams of children:

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street features some pies baked by Mrs. Lovett, courtesy of the fresh meat from Sweeney Todd’s barbershop customers. So, yeah, it’s a little problematic:

It’s hard not to make a classic Dracula version of this meme, especially when he seduces women using his dark powers:

In this meme version of The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy kills a woman with her house and then steals her red slippers:

And someone is taking on Batman for his questionable actions:

What’s in a name? Well, when it comes to Dennis the Menace, literally everything:

The classic Red Riding Hood story got a meme, too:

TBH, it would be a tragedy if there wasn’t a Game of Thrones reference:

Mean Girls’ Cady Heron was just as mean as Regina George after a while:

The cult classic 10 Things I Hate About You also got memed for Heath Ledger’s Patrick Verona:

The Good Place’s Eleanor Shellstrop was def messy, but this fan is upset at the show’s turn of events:

Monster may be in the name, but some people were just focused on this Sesame Street character’s cookies:

And another Twitter user is taking on Sleeping Beauty:

Then, there’s the early 2000s jam from The Killers’ “Mr. Brightside”:

And the German fairy tale Rumpelstiltskin is all about him being “after” the queen’s kid:

As for mermaid and siren tales, ultimately, it’s all about smashing men’s ships and drowning them:

Of course, many of the memes just reiterate the already established plot in more stark terms, but anything for a laugh, right? The “unfollowing now” memes are finally back in action after a brief hiatus, so take a scroll and see which of your favorite movies Twitter can ruin for you.