What's The 'Lisa Simpson's Presentation' Meme? How 'The Simpsons' Scene From 2001 Became A Viral Exploitable Meme Explained

Over the nearly three and a half decades the series has run for, The Simpsons has sparked numerous memes and jokes that spread worldwide on the internet. One of the most memorable scene-turned-to-meme features Lisa Simpson giving a presentation from an episode that aired back in March 2001.

Whether it's used for ironic jokes or those hard-to-swallow truths, Lisa's meme delivering a speech in front of a blank screen works for almost everything and, somehow, still manages to stay relevant on the internet over two decades later.

Here's the story behind the immortal Lisa Simpson's Presentation meme and why it remains in use to this day.

Where Is 'Lisa Simpson's Presentation' Meme From?

On March 11th, 2001, the season 12 episode of The Simpsons "Bye, Bye, Nerdy" aired in the United States. In the episode, the character Lisa delivers a presentation on bullying throughout the history of mankind.

Almost two decades later, the scene was used in a memetic format by Redditor thomas22howe, who posted in May 2018 a screen capture of the scene to the /r/MemeEconomy subreddit. They titled the post, "Simpsons memes are always a good investment so BUY BUY BUY."

How Did The 'Lisa Simpson Presentation' Meme Go Viral?

After the scene was posted on Reddit in 2018, Lisa's Presentation scene was popularized as an exploitable image in which people added text to the screen, often featuring a shocking statement about a subject of interest.

For example, Redditor Paralaxien posted the image with the phrase "Why Anime was a mistake" on the screen in the /r/MemeEconomy subreddit, while Redditor Callippus posted a version in which the screen reads "Why I Don't Need Therapy" in the /r/2meirl42meirl4meirl.

These are just two examples of the meme in action, but its main purpose is to serve as the vessel to help the meme's maker express their thoughts or beliefs about something, and that ease of use and adaptability have helped it stick around all these years.

For the full history of Lisa Simpson's Presentation, be sure to check out Know Your Meme's encyclopedia entry for more information.