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Loading ...I’m sure all of you were huddled around your computers at work, speculating on when it would be ok to make jokes about the appropriately named boy, Falcon Heene, who was allegedly floating above the Denver landscape in a hilariously strange homemade balloon yesterday. Certainly we at atom were (though we all know Falcon isn’t the first hilarious balloon boy). While productivity in offices across the country slowed to a halt (what economy?), the true champions of internet culture were feverishly compiling mashups, videos, and 140 character gems of insensitivity to keep us entertained for the remaining 15 minutes of this news cycle. In case you were wondering, when the internet looses its shit, its shame is close to follow. Everyone was glad to find that Falcon is ok, but it didn’t really stop people from cracking jokes well before we knew that.
First, of course, the twitter blew up.
Nailed it, Alex!
Though color commentary pales in comparison to a live (albeit fake) feed from the boy himself.
Soon after, we all realized that this young aviator was also a reality star! His eccentric, punk rocking, storm chasing parents were on Wife Swap twice (hence the weird weather balloon space ship they had chillin’ in the backyard, duh).
Gangsta rapping six year olds? Being named Falcon? It’s like this kid was birthed by the internet, betrothed to infamy, and then served to us for his 15 minutes on a silver balloon platter. Before you knew it, Collegehumor had this video posted.
In the words of our friends at Collegehumor, “How meta is that?” (pretty meta).
In this accelerated world of news/entertainment/mockery/cruelty/post-modern-whatever, the #balloonboy meme ran the full gamut of internet- mockeryin mere hours, coming full circle by being married to another short lived, but ubiquitious meme.
The office favorite, though, was this timely but slapshod T-shirt urging Falcon into history.
Nice turn around, guys.
And with that, is it over as quickly as it started? Maybe. And that would be ok (totally, totally ok).
