In 2014, a young man took an iconic photograph. He was simply standing on a sidewalk in a lush suburban street, hands clasped in a singular pose that would come to be iconic. The photograph, subject, and accompanying phrase would go on to live many lives on the internet. Our understanding of this man as an internet folk hero would grow and develop over the years but we would never wonder why, because the answer was in the original: You Know I Had To Do It To Em. 

It started out with a simple tweet by user Lucky Luciano, a pseudonym after the famous American Gangster. It was a basic Fit Check. His all white ensemble with a pink tinge in the foreground, suburban street with sedans in the background. This image was so normal it stood out. This picture could be anywhere in America. The post reminded us all of someone we knew who would post indecipherable things on social media, referencing some larger event or phenomena that only they seemed to be tapped into. He resonated because he let us all know that these people exist in every high school, in every corner of the American internet. 

Once we were familiar with him as an icon, circulating the original image with various different captions, we began to distort him. Once we had recognized his original narrative, we immediately started to change it. We could take him anywhere or replace him with anyone. His pose, his words, his location could be swapped out in any order. Others began to take his place and we were able to dress him up and change his location. 

You know I had to do it to him might be the best example of a meme we have. Every part is mutable. We have spent years dedicated to making sure we have edited every part of it we can. His words, his face, his outfit, his location, his stance, his personality that we have all collectively decided on. We have written this narrative ourselves for no other reason than the pure fun of it all. There is no greater reference point for him either. He is not a person any of us had familiarity with before, except for the original followers who liked the tweet before he belonged to the internet. But that made it better. 

At any point on the internet, we can decide who you are. If that is to happen, all parties involved must know that the real person in real life and the representation we have decided to play with on the internet are not the same. The You Know I Had To Do It To Em kid, or Lucky Luciano probably got the best deal in this situation anyone could get. Every time he exists as a meme character in whatever piece of media, we are well aware we’re dealing with a single image and not any kind of false notion of a real person. We know we do not know this person’s real name or story, nor do we want to. We want our own mythology, as we have always wanted our own mythology. 

When the meme took on a new life in 2018, he began to develop a new characteristic. On tumblr, he took on a Where's Waldo element. In barren landscapes or busy streets, people would photoshop him hiding in plain sight. It took us a while to recognize he was there, but he always was. In looking we began to accuse him of hiding, rather than being placed there. He was a cheshire cat, appearing and disappearing at will, where he didn’t belong. If the internet is a long arduous journey, a road populated with characters we meet, for a while Lucky Luciano was our ever-appearing companion. Inserting himself to images and history he hadn’t previously been in. His character had taken on new lore, as a devious trickster who could be anywhere at any time.

This addition to the lore cemented that he was not a real person but an internet character. His abilities were now superhuman and purposely incongruent with his surroundings. He was fully ours now. This ability to take an image and build our own narrative is what makes the internet fun. The characters and stories that populate the world are ever changing and we give them ability to move through time, space, and society in a way we’ve never seen before. The problem often is these people are real or were created by someone else. We will do it regardless of the ethics and morals. For so long, we did not think about it, and it’s so hard to be good, when all we want is to craft our little stories and make our little edits. It’s hard to believe the fun we thought was harmless can ruin lives. It’s even harder to believe there’s a way to do it that’s still harmless and still fun.

The only thing I can hope to offer is that being good makes it better. You Know I Had To Do It To Em being almost entirely separated from the real person gives us creative freedom. He can be whatever we want him to be because we can divorce him from his real life. He can move about the world with this following him but every meme has almost nothing to do with him. We are not bogged down with details, and therefore in the clear. There is not the guilt we have with someone like Jake Novak or other people who posted and now belong to the internet. We do not want You Know Had To Do It To Him’s details and he does not want to offer them to us.

luckylucianoog

A post shared by Lucky (@luckylucianoog)

We know next to nothing about this real man. We can find it if we go looking for it. It’s not hard and others have done the exposé. We can know him if we want to but that won’t get us closer to understanding him and it certainly won’t make the meme better. As far as the phrase, You Know I Had To Do It To Em, we may never know the answer nor do I want to know concretely from any source. The common understanding and rumor is readily available. The tweet was posted on Tuesday, September 2nd and many believe that the “It” in question references the all white outfit. You Know I Had To Do It To Em, He had to… wear white after Labor day.