AboutWhat does the meme depict?

The 'My Eyes!' meme, also known as 'SpongeBob MY EYES!', features an image from a scene in the 2004 SpongeBob SquarePants movie. In the scene, one fish reacts dramatically after King Neptune unveils his bald spot, causing a bright light to reflect off his head. The light is so intense that it figuratively 'burns' the eyes of nearby fish, one of whom exclaims, "Bald! My eyes!" while his eyes appear smoking and burning. This image has been widely used in memes, GIFs, videos, and image macros as a reaction to shocking or absurd visuals, and sometimes more literally in scenarios like solar eclipse events.

OriginWho did it first?

The meme originates from the 'SpongeBob SquarePants' movie, which was released on November 14th, 2004. In a notable scene from the movie, King Neptune, who has been hiding his baldness under a brown paper bag, is persuaded by SpongeBob to remove the bag. Upon doing so, the shininess of his bald head emits a light so intense that it leads to nearby fish, including one screaming "Bald! My eyes!", experiencing visible discomfort and burning in their eyes. The earliest known upload of this scene was by a YouTube user @Bornflyhuhu on April 26th, 2009. Another significant upload featuring the isolated clip of the burning eye fish was posted by a YouTube user @IAmHufff on October 9th, 2013.^[1]

Origin: 2009