How a Chow Yun-fat film inspired the viral 'Chinese Beaver' meme
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The "Chinese Beaver" meme, a mashup of Cantonese drama and internet humor, has captivated users online.
What it is: The meme features an animated character, often mistaken for a beaver, delivering an emotional speech in Cantonese. The character has become a part of the "literally me" character meme subcategory, which is a representation of emotions one can't quite articulate.
— dmaiel (@DamielBernaldo) November 17, 2023
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Origin story: The animation comes from a 2022 Bilibili video by B Teaches Animation, inspired by a scene in the classic 1986 Hong Kong action film "A Better Tomorrow." The cinematic masterpiece, directed by John Woo, was Chow Yun-fat's breakout role in the Hong Kong film industry.
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The meme recently gained traction on TikTok and X, where millions of users have been captivated by the dramatic speech and the character's expressive face.
Decoding the dialogue: Voiced by Chow, the speech reveals a profound plea for action against escalating triad violence. The character expresses frustration at losing power in the criminal underworld and passionately declares his determination to reclaim what's rightfully his.
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idk what bro said but i felt that https://t.co/KimwXapEkJ
— juju 💰 (@ayeejuju) November 19, 2023
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Meme magic: The humor lies in the disconnect between the character's passionate Cantonese speech and the Western viewers' cluelessness about its content. It has spawned variations, including another animation of the character in a different scene and even English-dubbed versions.
this is the first i’ve heard it dubbed, mf was spitting real shi and we all laughed at him💔 pic.twitter.com/dUgl1A4HDW
— ₭ma🧣 (@KmaFr_) November 29, 2023
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The sequel pic.twitter.com/kXDiaq1Hra
— Axy 🇦🇲 (@notaxyy) November 19, 2023
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