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Dark times: Britain in British vs other history books

This two-panel meme uses the cursed Garfield format to joke about the starkly differing portrayals of Britain in history textbooks. The top panel shows the canonical, smug Garfield standing with crossed arms, labeled 'Britain in British history books', referencing how British history books often present a sanitized, positive view of Britain's history that downplays its harmful colonial past and wrongdoings. The bottom panel features a horrifying, distorted eldritch version of Garfield lurking behind a door, with a shocked, frightened Jon Arbuckle holding a rifle standing nearby. This panel is labeled 'Britain in any other history book', referencing how non-British history books (especially from countries impacted by British colonialism) are far more critical of Britain's historical actions, portraying it as an expansionist, harmful power. The text at the bottom of the lower panel reads 'BULLETS DON'T WORK JON', leaning into the horror tone of the cursed Garfield format.
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Contrast of how Britain is portrayed in British versus non-British history books

Overview

This two-panel meme uses the cursed Garfield format to joke about the starkly differing portrayals of Britain in history textbooks. The top panel shows the canonical, smug Garfield standing with crossed arms, labeled 'Britain in British history books', referencing how British history books often present a sanitized, positive view of Britain's history that downplays its harmful colonial past and wrongdoings. The bottom panel features a horrifying, distorted eldritch version of Garfield lurking behind a door, with a shocked, frightened Jon Arbuckle holding a rifle standing nearby. This panel is labeled 'Britain in any other history book', referencing how non-British history books (especially from countries impacted by British colonialism) are far more critical of Britain's historical actions, portraying it as an expansionist, harmful power. The text at the bottom of the lower panel reads 'BULLETS DON'T WORK JON', leaning into the horror tone of the cursed Garfield format.

Origin notes

This meme was originally posted to Reddit with the original title 'Dark times', as noted in the given metadata. It uses the popular internet 'cursed Garfield' (also called nightmare Garfield) meme format, which contrasts the normal cartoon Garfield with a terrifying, monstrous version to illustrate a stark difference between two opposing ideas or portrayals.

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