‘Overly Attached Sweetheart’ Meme Star Turns On Line Popularity Into Comedy Profession
Laina Morris is the actual people behind the net meme referred to as “Overly Attached Girlfriend.” She’s deftly abused her websites reputation, turning a spoof entry to a Justin Bieber contest into a full-time career of putting comical movies on YouTube.
AUDIE CORNISH, VARIETY:
Therefore will it be cool are an Internet meme? What goes on if it is the image that becomes the laugh contributed by scores of complete strangers? NPR’s Jasmine Garsd questioned one girl, who had been established from obscurity through a meme.
JASMINE GARSD, BYLINE: You may never have heard of Laina Morris, however, if you’ve invested plenty of time online, you’ve seen the woman photo. Inside it she’s got this discombobulated wide-eyed glare. Several years ago, that picture turned into an incredibly preferred Web meme known as the overly attached girlfriend. It usually have a tale authored about it, which goes something such as this – took you a quarter-hour to get home. Google Maps claims it will take 12. who’s she?
Or this – I was appearing through your text messages earlier in the day. That’s mom?
In 2012, Morris heard bout a Justin Bieber contest.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “BOYFRIEND”)
JUSTIN BIEBER: (Vocal) basically had been your boyfriend, I would never ever enable you to run.
LAINA MORRIS: generally, the guy asked individuals to make a parody with the song “sweetheart” while making it “Girlfriend.” And that I have no idea. I simply thought that it would be truly funny to enter the contest, but make song actually weird and strange (laughter).
(SOUNDBITE OF YOUTUBE VIDEO CLIP, “JB FANVIDEO”)
MORRIS: (Vocal) easily is your gf, I’d never allow you to set without limited recording product taped under your case.
GARSD: It is proper that Morris’s fantastic citation into online popularity ended up being Justin Bieber, whom himself had been uncovered on YouTube. She failed to victory the competition, but certainly the woman Twitter friends published a screenshot of the woman searching specifically menacing to reddit, popular posting website. Within hrs, the picture had opted viral.
MORRIS: these early morning, it had end up being the meme acknowledged overly connected gf today. It strike a million horizon that day.
GARSD: It’s impossible to discover how many times the meme featuring Morris happens to be contributed. She says obtaining recognized about roadways got peculiar at first.
MORRIS: you understand, it actually was very exciting. It had been complicated needless to say, and that I was not precisely sure the thing that was attending happen or the way it took place originally.
GARSD: She states she does not like a few of the humor she is observed scrawled over the girl face on the web, but she also feels disconnected.
MORRIS: for me, it’s this fictional character – this overly connected girl. Yeah, its myself, but it is not really myself.
GARSD: extremely connected sweetheart won’t be her, but Morris is cashing around on her popularity. She plugs brands like Audible, Autotrader and Kia. She actually is furthermore came out on proper athlete’s YouTube station and Samsung’s. She wont say simply how much she helps make off of all this, but at era 23, she is had the oppertunity to stop the girl tasks to focus on her YouTube channel, which has over so many fans and secretes one funny videos per week, in this way one spoofing people who pose as Super pan enthusiasts.
(SOUNDBITE OF YOUTUBE VIDEOS,”#SPORTS – EXTREMELY BOWL”)
MORRIS: i am going to watch the halftime program, however, because, like, if things goes wrong and I don’t tweet regarding it, that, like – I would personallyn’t even reveal my face in public areas, you are aware? Which is merely humiliating.
GARSD: Morris keeps a face for tvs and also the earnestness of a social networking celebrity. The videos tend to be pretty, and she 
states fundamentally she might always become a comedian or an author. And even though the comedy greats had gotten their own begin in standup, possibly YouTube so is this generation’s version of a dimly lighted comedy nightclub where you get chops. Morris is in fact really lucky. The web is filled with those that have observed helplessly as an unflattering photo or videos of these happens viral. However for committed getting, she says she cannot whine.
MORRIS: I guess I’m fortunate in that I’m type of in on laugh, i guess.
GARSD: And in a viral industry, are not we? Jasmine Garsd, NPR Reports.
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