Or whoever ’s ask ( include yourself ) .
If you’ve spent even a minute on social media in the past few weeks, you’ve probably come across a Kamala Harriscoconut tree meme, something about living in the context, or most recently, “Kamala is BRAT.”
kamala IS brat
If you, a loved one, a friend, or a foe are wondering what the hell all this means and why everything has suddenly turned chartreuse green, don’t worry — I got you.
It’s all part of the recentmemeification of Kamala Harris, which first started as a funny little corner of the internet, particularly when a video of Harris asking, “You think you just fell out of a coconut tree? You exist in the context of all in which you live and what came before you,” went viral.
sleep with it , thread of kamala harris ’s funniest veep moments , starting with “ you think you decrease out of the coconut meat tree ? ” 1 / pic.twitter.com / wyo4j2WPxt
WHY it went viral? Well, as with any meme, it’s silly and doesn’t always make sense, especially when taken out of context (as Harris said herself, this isn’t anything new — you exist in the context of all in which you live and what came before you). A random clip of Harris, who’s already been dubbed goofy with her contagious laughter, cackling while asking, “You think you just fell out of a coconut tree?” is like, wait, what — a coconut tree? Once it’s meme’d, there’s no telling how far the joke will go. And this joke went faaaarrrr…
kamala falling from the coconut tree and into the oval officepic.twitter.com/yLCbORoOjK
Like, there were a million memes about the damn coconut tree and existing in the context.
Born to fall out of a coconut tree , forced to live in the circumstance
please countenance me back into the coconut tree I would no longer care to exist in this setting
A senator even joined in.
we ’ve draw US senators doing coconut meat tree memeshttps://t.co/YZ9UkKEcJX
Then came theBratmemes — which, let me back up and explain, ‘cause that’s why you’re here. While the mess of US politics has slowly unfolded this summer, in parallel, Charli XCX, a British pop star who’s existed somewhat on the periphery of popular music (if you don’t know her, you might know her song, “Boom Clap,” a summer radio anthem of 2014), released her now critically-acclaimed lime green album,Brat, in early June. The album cover and “attitude” of it became a viral sensation.
BRAT OUT NOWWWW!!!!!!!!!!https://t.co / JHsLbjO049pic.twitter.com / gmo4udz5ZN
Young people connected with Charli’s messy, unapologetic club-bops and declared it a “Brat Summer” (similar to Megan Thee Stallion’s “Hot Girl Summer” of 2019 and last year’sBarbiesummer). I think the bold tone yet stripped-down, accessible, and kinda messy aesthetic (a basic font and one-color story) resonated with fans coming off the heels of a very commercialized girlhood-obsessedBarbiesummer and other popularized"clean girl" aesthetics.
OK, but what doesBrathave to do with Kamala Harris? Well, withBratkinda at the center of chronically online Gen Z culture, and with Charli XCX herself dubbing Harris “brat,” Harris’s presidential campaign quickly co-opted the moment.
Yes,@KamalaHQ, the official webpage of the Harris campaign (formerly known as @BidenHQ), rebranded with aBrattheme and wrote “providing context” in the bio, an ode to Harris’s now famously meme’d speech.
The Biden campaign ’s official account , Biden - Harris HQ , has officially rebranded to Kamala HQ with a ‘ brat ’ theme.pic.twitter.com/xy4FhdE5h7
Alright, but what does being “brat” even mean, and why is Kamala Harris “brat”? Well, Charli XCX herself explained “brat” ina TikTok, saying, “You’re just, like, that girl who is a little messy and likes to party, and, like, maybe says some, like, dumb things sometimes, who, like, feels herself but then also, like, maybe has a breakdown, but kinda, like, parties through it, is very honest, is very blunt, a little bit volatile. Yeah, does, like, dumb things, but, like, it’s brat. You’re brat. That’s brat."
As for why Kamala is considered a “brat,” I did some good old-fashioned crowdsourcing and turned it over to my Zillennial group chat to get their opinions. My friend, who considers herself an OG Charli XCX fan (who I also refer to as “lawyer brat” below), told me Kamala Harris is “brat” because she’s bold, unapologetically herself, and tapping into young voters with relatability:
My other friend, who didn’t know what “brat” meant originally at the beginning of this article, started grasping the concept:
Basically, being “brat” is to be bold, be yourself, and have fun.
Like the opinions of my friends, I also saw quite a few TikToks online expressing thesame sentimentthat Harris is connecting with Gen Z, and that the “brat” memes are helping.
Kamala ’s personal aid telling her what bratwurst means and why they chose the logopic.twitter.com/slxazapfJb
Anyway, I’m kind of with that last comment — if Kamala Harris being a “brat” mobilizes young voters to the polls, I’m for it, but let me know what you think!
And LASTLY, if you’re still struggling to understand “brat,” I loved this comparison for Gen X’ers (and millennials as well):
Basically, being brat is a good thing!
I just asked a Zoomer to excuse “ Kamala IS brat ” to me . They said “ Brat ” was the title of respect of an album by Charli XCX . They said they could n’t really explain “ Kamala IS holy terror ” to me , but that it means something good.https://t.co/ihx68xxiMA
KK bye, brats!
