Following along like the faithful little solider I am, I decided to tow the TGS company line and shell out my own “Mount Rushmore of ____” – and I can think of no better way to do re-do the American monument to honor the Premier Performer of our generation. Yes – a Mount Rushmore comprised of the master thespian himself…Sir Nicholas Cage. An actor so nice, his face will go up there twice…and then two more times for good measure!

Over the past 200 years (give or take 166 years), Nic Cage has captured the American spirit and transcended all genres to become a cultural meta icon. He is no longer just a man, but a living legend – A god amongst men with a whole subculture that celebrates his excellence and he has been forever immortalized in the deepest reaches of the Interwebs as he has become an ever evolving meme.

A National Treasure such as Cage deserves a National Monument. And what better way to immortalize his greatness than carve out his best meme’s into a big ol Rock in an otherwise useless state (seriously, is there anything else in South Dakota? Besides a strong envy of the greater Dakota to the North?). So, without further ado – here is the Mount Rushmore of Nic Cage Memes.

You Don’t Say:

No better place to start than with the meme that started it all from the Classic Cage Cinematic masterpiece – “The Vampire’s Kiss” (If it sounds familiar, I reviewed the film earlier this year in the first Cage Match article).

the You don’t Say Meme needs no caption – yet gets one anyways. The screenshot of Cage’s face has become the go to meme for basically any social media comment or response that needs the perfect “No Shit” comeback. It’s simple, yet poetic – it captures so much Cage Rage in just one look – and there’s only one man that could pull this look off.

Fun Fact: While the meme has internet notoriety and you know what it means without even saying the words…Nic Cage NEVER ACTUALLY SAYS THAT PHRASE. Don’t believe me? Here’s the full scene in all its glory:

 

Cage Valentines Card Memes

The late 90’s and early 2000’s saw a Cage Cinematic Renaissance – seeing his star rise to incredibly unfathomable heights with hit after hit from Leaving Las Vegas, to The Rock, to Face-Off, Con Air, Gone in 60 Seconds and 300 other films (the guy doesn’t sleep).  Then came the meme making, career defining movie that marked the beginning of the end of his time as an A-lister…National Treasure.

The massively success movie was a ridiculous guilty pleasure popcorn flick that spout out lines like ” I’m gonna steal the Declaration of Independence,” and “I’m so sorry I dropped you – I had to save the Declaration!” of course.

But we all know about the movie…now lets talk about the meme. The reason this gem goes up with the greats is because for some reason, the wonderful people of the World Wide Web thought it would be great to start stick the phrase on random creepy Cage Faces in the form of stalker-ish Valentines Day Cards. Genius.

If that’s not enough – the meme has taken on such a life of its own that few people realize that this coin-able catchphrase also never actually appeared in the movie. Or any Cage Classic…it just so happens the phrase fits with all the amazing expressions this cinematic chameleon makes.

 

Your Argument is Invalid

This one’s a personal favorite of mine. Aside from his Cage Rage and excessive overreaction in every role, Nic is known for one amazingly consistent thing throughout his films…ridiculous hair. From his forever bed-head in Raising Arizona, to the Mullet Maximus in Con Air – Cage has continued to awe and inspire theater goers with his amazing hair cuts over the past 30 years.

So to pay proper respect to this trend, this little gem was born. There have been many different incarnations and homage memes to Cage’s fantastic cuts – but none is as iconic as “My Hair is a Bird”. The reason this meme makes it on the monument is simple – with one ridiculous phrase a subculture dedicated to Cage’s hair has been given an amazing (albeit incredibly odd voice) that perfectly sums up the evolution of Cage’s acting and hairstyles all in one amazing meme.

It may not make any sense – but let’s be honest, this is all nonsense – so therefore Your argument is invalid.

 

Nic Cage as Everyone

The last spot is kinda cheating. But who cares, I am 92% sure they won’t be putting Cage’s face on Mount Rushmore for atleast another 15 years – and by then we can come up with another pick. But for now, the final spot goes to the “Nic Cage as Everyone” meme genre as a whole.

I’ve said it before – when used properly, the internet can be an amazingly wonderful place where all your dreams can come true and anything you can dream of Nic Cage’s face being on most likely already exists. You’ve got Cage as Animated Princesses, Politicians, pop culture personalities, famous actors & tv/movie characters and any cute little animal your mind can concoct.

Most of the credit and praise can be centralized to one spectacular corner of the web – the Nic Cage as Everyone Blog that also has a Facebook Page, email and incredible gallery of truly inspiration Cage Memes. Not sure if the genius behind this site personally creates every piece of magic or he/she collects them the same way I do – via a nifty Google Search the and a ton of free time.

It’s pretty tough to pic a favorite of these gems – so its best just to savor them all and let the Cage-iness wash over you.

 

Final Thoughts

While this article started in jest, I’m starting to think that’s just what this country needs –  a reality TV star as a president, a full shut down of civilized society & a clean reboot, and most importantly a monument built to honor his the Cage. Okay, maybe I could do without the other stuff – be definitely need the Meme Monument.

But that’s just my opinion – what’s yours? Did I miss a meme that deserves a spot on the great Mountain top? Or did I nail it once again? Let me know your thoughts in the comments – or you can angrily tweet your brief response to me @curroneus. Thanks for reading this little bit of nonsense. Have a Cagetastic Day!