Dominic Cummings entered Spiderman meme into the British political history – here’s what it is | indy100

Dominic Cummings’ explosive testimony to the select committee threw up more surprises than many people could have possibly anticipated.

As well as making several shocking claims about the prime minister and what he says was the government’s poor handling of Covid-19, Cummings also chose to make several pop culture references throughout his testimony.

Along with making several nods to Jeff Goldblum in Independence Day, he also referenced the pointing Spider-Man meme which will possibly be the strangest note ever taken in British political history.

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When trying to explain just what the situation was like in government as the pandemic unfolded, Cummings explained: “It was like that Spider-Man meme with both Spider-Man’s pointing at each other. It was like that but with everybody.

“You had Hancock pointing at the permanent secretary, the permanent secretary pointing at Hancock, they are both pointing at the Cabinet, the Cabinet are pointing back at them. And all the different Spider-Man’s are pointing back at each other saying ‘it’s your responsibility.’”

I've clipped Cummings' 'Spiderman meme' dialogue for posterity https://t.co/ujKjr8LiZ8
— J A Earley (@J A Earley) 1622025275

This bizarre but somewhat apt analogy had people questioning what they had heard and quickly became a meme within itself.

Today on Normal Island we have a senior government advisor attempting to describe the Spiderman meme to an inquiry… https://t.co/jIJjIVMoSq
— James Felton (@James Felton) 1622026011

this is how i’m seeing dominic cummings after he started talking about people taking the role of jeff goldblum and… https://t.co/iGg7ZexW0p
— Abby Tomlinson (@Abby Tomlinson) 1622025219

Cummings mentions this Spider-Man meme to describe how everybody in Govt was pointing at everybody else as being re… https://t.co/xflNkmth7O
— nazir afzal (@nazir afzal) 1622025181

DC referencing this Spider-Man meme in front of the committee😭 https://t.co/EEIiZMpWpN
— Bri 🦖🇩🇲 (@Bri 🦖🇩🇲) 1622025005

For anyone who needs to see the Spider-Man meme with Dominic Cumming heads: https://t.co/JHiFJKVDuv
— Matthew Highton (@Matthew Highton) 1622025783

"You know that spider-man meme with all the spider-mans pointing at each other". I can't it's all too much. It's hi… https://t.co/VKDfhFpwIZ
— Ian Dunt (@Ian Dunt) 1622025030

Genuinely can’t believe that I’m watching a parliamentary select committee about a pandemic that has killed 128k pe… https://t.co/tOY9eMYrGc
— Nish Kumar (@Nish Kumar) 1622025082

i briefly turned on the cummings briefing everyone’s going on about and he’s explaining the spider-man pointing mem… https://t.co/6OdvTUOe31
— axaxaxas lmaö (@axaxaxas lmaö) 1622025035

I think this is what Dominic Cummings meant when he said SpiderMan meme... #CummingsEvidence https://t.co/brhwC0aw8i
— Florence Beasley (@Florence Beasley) 1622025790

— (@)

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So, at the end of the day the UK ended up leaving the EU due to the efforts of a guy who describes complex politica… https://t.co/22dWqTcS08
— Slough for Europe 🇪🇺💙 (@Slough for Europe 🇪🇺💙) 1622032607

"Spiderman meme" was definitely not on the Dominic Cummings bingo card... https://t.co/u3NRHA55WO
— OH GOD, WHAT NOW? Formerly Remainiacs (@OH GOD, WHAT NOW? Formerly Remainiacs) 1622025309

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Dominic Cummings Spider-Man statement with added Ted Hastings. https://t.co/if6illVOT2
— Matthew Highton (@Matthew Highton) 1622027464

“I once tried to use a Spider-Man meme to try and explain 128,000 deaths to a parliamentary select committee” https://t.co/f0VhGu1XkP
— Tony Turner (@Tony Turner) 1622029505

@SoozUK "I WANT PICTURES! PICTURES OF DOM CUMMINGS EXPLAINING SPIDER-MAN MEMES TO THE PARLIAMENTARY SELECT COMMITTE… https://t.co/BIgPAmvK6X
— Rev. A Mol (@Rev. A Mol) 1622037372

Note for editors: it's Spider-Man. With the hyphen.
— Chris Deeley (@Chris Deeley) 1622025384

If you are new to this sort of thing and are wondering just what on Earth this Spider-Man meme is all about then allow us to explain.

The meme comes from a 1967 episode of the Spider-Man animated series where a villain attempts to impersonate the Marvel hero. According to meme resource Know Your Meme, the first known use of the scene as a meme dated back to 2011. It is often used to demonstrate a person or group contradicting each other, blaming one another for the same thing or when two people who are very similar meet.

When Stan Lee and Steve Ditko created Spider-Man and his alter-ego Peter Parker in 1962, we doubt that ever in their wildest dreams that the character would ever be referenced in such a serious setting and in such an odd way.