Amazon succinctly explains the premise of new Charlie Day/Jenny Slate movie with memes
Who needs a trailer when you can pitch I Want You Back with some "how it started/how it's going" memes?
Are trailers and commercials outdated? Young people are so used to getting everything they need from the TikChats and SnapToks that they might not have time or attention span to sit and watch a trailer, getting little hints of the plot of a thing while a voiceover names the actors in it, but the marketing team for new Amazon Original Movie I Want You Back seems to have hit on a nicely succinct alternative to old boomer trailers (though there will presumably be a trailer at some point).
We’re talking about memes, the occasionally funny pictures that people post on the internet with occasionally funny text pasted on top. Amazon has chosen to promote I Want You Back through the language of memes, and it’s surprising how effective it is… while also being kind of bleak, in a “is this what we’ve resorted to?” way. Here are the memes in question:
Both are based around the “how it started/how it’s going” format, meant to reveal some dark or comic twist between the two images. In meme one, we see Charlie Day kissing Gina Rodriguez in front of a whiteboard for “how it started” and then Day… drinking and looking at a photo for “how it’s going” (it’s not super clear, at least compared to the other meme).
That one has Jenny Slate and Scott Eastwood having the sort of “laying on the grass and laughing” moment that people have in real life and not just in romantic comedies for “how it started” and then Jenny Slate laying in bed with an empty hoodie for “how it’s going.” Do we even need more? It’s like a Raymond Carver story where you’re only given what you need and you can piece together the whole thing yourself. Beautifully poetic… in a “is this what we’ve resorted to?” way.
The movie also stars Manny Jacinto, Clark Backo, Mason Gooding, Dylan Gelula, Jami Gertz, Isabel May, and Luke David Blumm. It’ll be on Prime Video on February 11.