Meaning
What does It’s Been 84 Years mean?
It’s been 84 years is a memorable quote uttered in the movie Titanic, by the present-self of the character Rose DeWitt Bukater, who reminisces the events of the tragedy in the scene.
A screengrab of actress Gloria Stuart saying the line now serves as a template for the meme, which most often appears in an image macro format. These memes are used as reaction memes that usually refer to something that happened in the past, with a bitter-sweet, romantic, or nostalgic uptake.
In gaming communities, the meme is sometimes used to mock developers who hold back or delay the release of long-awaited game titles.
via MEME
Origin
What's the origin of It’s Been 84 Years?
The movie Titanic was released in 1997, based on the real events of the infamous shipwreck-tragedy that shook the world in 1912. The movie was the most successful piece of filmmaking history, being the first ever film to reach the billion-dollar mark in revenue.
The scene that features the meme appears at the very beginning of the movie, where we see one of the protagonists, Rose, telling her story about the tragedy. That’s when she utters the line: “It’s been 84 years”.
Spread & Usage
How did It’s Been 84 Years spread?
The meme started to spread online in around 2013, as a reaction GIF on various forums like Twitter or Facebook, but it wasn’t very popular until 2014 when it surfaced on 9GAG.
Following that, the template went viral and started circulating in various boards of Reddit, as well as on Memegeneator and other meme-sharing platforms.
In December, 2014, a Twitter account called been84years was created.
External resources
- Reddit.com – r/OutOfTheLoop/
- Twitter.com – ohmwrecker