This video from France perfectly illustrates ‘this is fine’ meme

This video from France perfectly illustrates ‘this is fine’ meme

Protests have been continuing across many cities in France ever since French president Emmanuel Macron passed the unpopular pension bill on March 16. Amongst many things, the controversial legislation that was passed using the Presidents special constitutional powers pushes the retirement age from 62 to 64.

The protests against the bill have gotten violent in many places with demonstrators clashing with the police. A video against the backdrop of these protests is going viral on social media.

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The video, shot from inside a restaurant, shows diners normally going about their dinner as fire can be seen raging outside. Interestingly many people pointed out that the video mimicked the famous ‘this is fine’ meme.

The ‘this is fine’ meme shows an anthropomorphic dog sitting in a room that is set ablaze while trying to assume that everything is fine. This meme template was taken from illustrator K.C. Green’s webcomic series named Gunshow which was first published in January 2013. The dog’s frozen acceptance of the raging fire indicates self-denial or passivity in an out-of-hand or hopeless situation.

French media company Libération has traced this video to Le Stromboli, a restaurant in Saint-Etienne, a city in eastern-central France.

While talking to Libération, a representative of the restaurant said the video was taken on March 20 at their establishment. Explaining the situation, the representative added that there were garbage cans burning outside the restaurant but everything was under control as the firefighters were present at the scene