4 Years Later, the Creator of the Martin Scorsese “Absolute Cinema” Meme Finally Speaks Out
It’s one of the most recognizable images on the internet. In black and white, legendary director Martin Scorsese raises both hands with an expression somewhere between awe and reverence. Above or below him, two words: “Absolute Cinema.”
The meme has been used to celebrate everything from Oscar-winning films to anime fight scenes, last-second sports goals and cats knocking glasses off tables. Now, nearly four years after it first appeared, the person widely credited with creating it has stepped forward.
“My Biggest Contribution to the Internet”
The moment came recently on X, formerly Twitter, when a viral post asked users to share their biggest contribution to the internet. Among the replies was one from the account @YashChillinn, whose owner pointed out that he was the one who created the “Absolute Cinema” meme.
For many younger internet users who had seen the image countless times without ever wondering where it came from, the reply was a revelation. It also served as a reminder of how internet culture works: some of the most widely shared images in the world begin with an ordinary user posting a joke that takes on a life of its own.
Where the Photo Came From
The image itself predates the meme by almost three years.
On January 2, 2020, The New York Times published an interview with Scorsese. It was illustrated with a striking black-and-white portrait of the director with both hands raised, mid-gesture, looking almost as if he were witnessing something miraculous.
At the time, nobody thought of it as a meme. It was simply a dramatic portrait of one of the most influential filmmakers in history, the director of Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, Goodfellas and The Departed.
The Post That Started It All
On December 1, 2022, @YashChillinn posted a clip from the anime Chainsaw Man next to the Scorsese photo with the caption “Absolute Cinema.” The post praised an animated sequence by Takuya Niinuma, and the joke was simple: even Martin Scorsese, one of cinema’s great gatekeepers, would have to raise his hands in admiration.
According to accounts of the meme’s history, that original post didn’t explode overnight. But it established the format: Scorsese’s raised hands plus a grand declaration of artistic greatness.
Why Scorsese? The Marvel Connection
The meme works so well because of who Scorsese is, and because of what he once said about superhero movies.
In 2019, Scorsese famously said that Marvel films were closer to theme parks than to cinema. He later expanded on the argument in a New York Times opinion piece, saying that the franchise blockbusters dominating theaters lacked the risk, mystery and emotional danger he associated with true filmmaking.
The comments sparked a massive debate. Directors, actors and fans argued for months about what does and doesn’t count as “cinema.” The internet responded the way it always does: with jokes.
Even before “Absolute Cinema,” a different meme called “This Is Cinema” used a separate photo of Scorsese, taken by an Associated Press photographer in 2016. It was mostly used to mock his comments. “Absolute Cinema” flipped the joke. Instead of a cranky critic dismissing everything, Scorsese became the ultimate judge happily declaring things to be cinema, often things he probably would never watch.
How It Took Over the Internet
The meme spread gradually at first, then all at once.
In March 2023, an X user posted the image in reaction to a post about Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining, one of the earliest widely shared uses. Over the course of 2023, “Absolute Cinema” became one of the internet’s go-to reaction images.
By September 2023, it had spawned its own spin-off format, “Kino is served,” borrowing the online slang term “kino” for high-quality film.
Today, the meme appears everywhere. Fans use it for great movie scenes and TV episodes, but also for dramatic moments in football and basketball games, video game cutscenes, music videos and even everyday chaos caught on camera. Sometimes it’s sincere praise. Often it’s ironic, used to celebrate something gloriously ridiculous.
There’s even an emoji version: 🤚😐🤚.
Scorsese, Gen Z Icon
The meme has helped turn the 83-year-old director into an unlikely hero for Gen Z.
That status has been boosted by his daughter, Francesca Scorsese, whose playful social media videos have shown her father reacting to modern slang and internet trends. The clips have racked up millions of views and introduced Scorsese to a generation that may know his face from memes before they ever watch Goodfellas.
Meanwhile, Scorsese keeps working. His 2023 epic Killers of the Flower Moon, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Lily Gladstone and Robert De Niro, earned 10 Academy Award nominations and showed that, memes aside, he is still making the kind of films the phrase was originally meant to describe.
The Strange Life of a Meme Creator
Stories like this are common online. The people who create the internet’s most famous images rarely become famous themselves. They post something funny, it gets screenshotted, cropped, reposted and remixed thousands of times, and the original source is lost.
In most cases, there is no money and little recognition. What remains is the quiet satisfaction of knowing that something you made became part of how millions of people talk to each other online.
That appears to be what @YashChillinn was celebrating when he finally spoke up: not fame or credit, but the simple fact that one post from December 2022 helped give the internet one of its favorite ways to say “this is amazing.”
Absolute Cinema at Four
As the meme approaches its fourth anniversary, it shows no signs of fading. New generations of internet users keep discovering it, and every great movie scene, shocking sports moment or beautifully animated fight still seems to earn the same response.
Somewhere, Martin Scorsese is raising his hands. And thanks to one anime fan on X, the whole internet knows exactly what that means.
