“Stranger Things” star Millie Bobby Brown apparently closed her Twitter account on Wednesday, after becoming the subject of ironic memes portraying the teenager as a violent racist and homophobe.
People have been circulating fake social-media posts and bogus quotes attributed to the 14-year-old actress, portraying her as a violent homophobe. The reason: As New York magazine put it, “because irony.”
Because of her downtrodden, bullied character on the hit Netflix drama, Brown has become a symbol of the underdog, named to “Time” magazine’s list of the 100 most influential people of the year. She established an anti-bullying Twitter account last summer and has demonstrated support for pro-LGBTQ causes, wearing an ampersand pin to the MTV Movie Awards last year in support of GLAAD.
Someone decided to spoof her activism, and things escalated, to the point that fake Snapchat-style posts were circulating that showed “Brown” voicing her intent to push gay people down stairs, run them over with cars and douse them with hot beverages.
the fact that gay twitter has collectively agreed to portray millie bobby brown as a raging homophobe is one of the funniest things on earth
— ｊａｒｏｄ (@jarodzsz) June 7, 2018
It was apparently inspired by a joke tweet portraying Brown as a racist.
The posts were quickly acknowledged to be satire, but many questioned whether a 14-year-old activist was an appropriate subject, particularly as the joke setups became more and more extreme. “i think y’all aren’t getting the point of the millie bobby brown meme?” wrote Twitter user @lovelessclub. “it was made by the gays as pure satire and mock of people who are actually homophobic.”
i think y’all aren’t getting the point of the millie bobby brown meme?
it was made by the gays as pure satire and mock of people who are actually homophobic
and the entire idea and meme of mbb being homophobic originated from this iconic stan twitter moment.
y’all need 2 calm pic.twitter.com/Wlp49UqS44
— daniel ?¿ (@thelovelesscIub) June 13, 2018
CBS News anchor John Dickerson shared the story on Thursday, saying it was further evidence that Twitter had approached total anomie.
Twitter continuing to approach that New York 1970s feeling. “Millie Bobby Brown Leaves Twitter After Becoming Homophobic Meme” https://t.co/58zuVVeuRt via @variety
— John Dickerson (@jdickerson) June 14, 2018
Some members of “gay Twitter” said the joke was to be partaken by LGBTQ people only.
The Millie Bobby Brown memes are to be enjoyed by the gays only
hets don’t interact
— ⭐️ LADY GAGA MOVIE ⭐️ (@AUTOAMERlCAN) June 11, 2018
Others pointed out that that’s not how things work, and the irony of the irony behind the gag.
It’s weird how the gay community has made her feel so judged and portrayed in a way that makes her feel uncomfortable that she felt the need to delete her twitter.
Seems kind of backwards.
— Daniel jackson (@TheDanMovement) June 14, 2018
Spokespeople for Millie Bobbie Brown haven’t commented.
