The ‘Dicks out for Harambe’ page owners defend themselves

“We paid our respects the only way our generation knows how. We made memes.”

On Memorial Day this year, a small boy fell into an enclosure in Cincinatti Zoo and Harambe the gorilla was shot dead. The reaction was mixed: many blamed the parent, some were horrified at the execution of an endangered species, and some didn’t really care.

Harambe was 17 years old at the time, and could have lived to 35 years in the wild.

A recent spark of dark humour has given way to the “Dicks out for Harambe” movement.

It was even “Dicks out for Harambe day” on Friday last week.

I asked the creator of one the of the popular pages for this movement on Facebook for their opinion in the matter:

I’m writing about why people are making fun of Harambe, do you have a few minutes to chat? 

“Sure fam, we’ll do anything to help spread the word of our boi Harambe.”

Tell me how it began.

“It started on a dark day here in America. On May 28th, 2016, we heard the grave news that a voice of our generation was slain before his time. We paid our respects the only way our generation knows how… we made memes.

“And now we shit post memes on the reg to keep his spirit alive.”

Sounds interesting, do you know anything about who was the first person to use the phrase?

“There wasn’t really a ‘first’. It was more a social awakening that shook the soul of America. Millions of young people pulled our their dicks and delivered the piercing battle howl ‘dicks out for harambe!’ as we watched our fallen hero transcend this dimension and pass into the eternal void.

What made you create the page?

“Really it all began because his death was super dramatized and way over the top and people just started making memes about it and the #dicksoutforharambe started trending all over twitter and facebook, but no one knows the first person to do it. It just kind of happened.

“He was a local icon of sorts in Ohio as he resided in the Cincinnati zoo for a long time and our ‘journalists’ in the US don’t ever report on anything of substance so we heard about harambe for a week or so over and over.

“You can use this all in your piece – as long as it’s for Harambe.”

That’s a great insight you’ve given me, thanks.

“In summary, it’s the millennials’ response to something dumb that happened and we thought it was super funny so we keep it going. Glad I could help.

“Good luck with your article and keep that dick out for Harambe fam.”

To be honest I’d love to know your thoughts on the more serious side of his death?

“I read into that when it happened if you want more of my personal belief on it. If you follow American news, you know our authority figures kill everything that moves so… I can get behind the movement.

“From what I saw, it seemed to be the zoo that was ultimately at fault for having such faulty security measures in place that a toddler managed to descend into a gorilla enclosure. As for how they handled retrieving the child… I don’t really know enough about gorilla behaviour to answer.

“Some say a tranq would’ve made him go ballistic before he was sedated, others argue the opposite. It seems there are experts – though who really knows how ‘expert’ they are – arguing both points. It is unfortunate that an endangered species was killed do to simple negligence.”

Thanks.

Many people have come to the conclusion that the Gorilla could have even been protecting 4-year-old Isiah. A gorilla is willing to protect a human being, and the first decision is to shoot him. Brian May tweeted: “Why was this Gorilla murdered ? No trial – no reason. No excuse. Who will prosecute?”.

There is even a petition floating around that aims to rename one of Universal Studios’ rides. A petitioner wrote: “Many people are still saddened over the death over his death and I believe that renaming Kong: Skull Island to ‘Harambe’s Revenge’ will not only help ease their pain, but also help keep the legacy of Harambe alive and pay tribute to him.”

 

Everyone is joking about it – is it really “paying homage” to the deceased gorilla if you’re laughing about his death?

If we’re really saddened by what has happened then we should be campaigning to retrain all American zookeepers, so that maybe next time something like this happens, the death of an innocent animal could be prevented.

But for now 16-year-old boys will sit behind their computers trivialising the death of an endangered creature for likes. Lowland gorillas are endangered and stupid people aren’t.