Nicolas Cage

About

Nicolas Cage is an Academy Award winning actor who’s appeared in over 60 films and played a versatile range of characters of from the “bad boy” roles in the nineties (Con-Air, Face Off) to the more recent “adventure hero” characters in Ghost Rider and the National Treasure franchise. Despite the critical acclaim for a number of his performances, the varying quality of his movies and occasionally over-dramatic acting have made him a significant figure in Internet culture. (See also: Internet God: Nic Cage from the Know Your Meme blog)

Career

Raised by literature professor August Coppola and dancer / choreographer Joy Vogelsang, Nicolas Cage grew up in the artistically inclined Coppola family, the most notable relative being his uncle Francis Coppola and cousin Sofia Coppola. In fact, being self-conscious of his surname and the legacy of his uncle Francis Coppola, Cage changed his acting name to “Nicolas Cage” early on in his Hollywood career, which was apparently inspired by one of his favorite comic superheroes Luke Cage.

After kicking off his movie career with a very minor role in Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982), Cage’s true screen debut came in the following year with the role of punk-rock boyfriend Valley Girl (1983). He landed his first critically acclaimed gig with Coens brothers’ Raising Arizona (1987) in which he played an ex-con man trying to straighten up his life and heroine’s young brother Ronny in romance comedy Moonstruck (1987), for which he received his very first Golden Globes’ Best Actor nomination.

Online History

Nic Cage was the subject of several YTMND’s with the earliest ones made in 2005. Notable versions include “Nicolas Cage Loves Mario Kart”^[1], “Cage Rampage”^[2], “Nic Cage has Great Hair”^[3], “Cage Loves Katamari”^[4] and “Nic Cage Doesn’t Change Facial Expressions”.^[5]

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eBay Auction

On September 16th, 2011, an auction appeared on the shopping website eBay of a photo from 1870 that was described as “Nicolas Cage is a Vampire.”

“Nicolas Cage is a Vampire / Photo from 1870 / Tennessee: Original c.1870 carte de visit showing a man who looks exactly like Nick Cage. This is not a trick photo of any kind and has not been manipulated in Photoshop or any other graphics program. It’s an original photo of a man who lived in Bristol, TN, sometime around the Civil War.”

The Daily Mail^[7] reported that the photo came from a Civil War era photo album filled with strange death portraits, and that the Nic Cage lookalike did not include a name.

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Reputation

Cage is known for being plagued with financial troubles, and has apparently made several poor real estate decisions including the purchase of a medieval castle in Germany. According to the Houston Chronicle^[8], the IRS alleged that Cage failed to pay $6.2 million in federal income tax.

Fudgesicle Story

On September 14th, 2011, Reuters^[6] reported that at a Toronto film festival Nic Cage claimed to have woken up to a man in his bedroom eating a Fudgesicle frozen ice cream snack.

“It was two in the morning. I was living in Orange County at the time and was asleep with my wife. My two-year old at the time was in another room. I opened my eyes and there was a naked man wearing my leather jacket eating a Fudgesicle in front of my bed.” “I know it sounds funny…but it was horrifying.”

Cage claims he was able to talk the man into leaving his house, but said he could not continue living the house after the ordeal.

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Notable Sub-Memes

The Wicker Man

In 2006, Nicolas Cage starred in a remake of the 1973 British horror/psychological drama The Wicker Man as sherrif Edward Malus. His character investigates the disappearence of a young girl on a small island, which leads to him discovering the existence of a neo-pagan cult. The movie was a massive critical failure, much of which was blamed on the unintenionally funny acting of Cage. A video highlighing some of its funniest and worst scenes was uploaded by Youtube user Enoosti on January 1st, 2007 and has garnered over 2,980,000 views as of the September 16th, 2011. Two of the most notable scenes sparked a fair number of derivatives including NOT THE BEES! and How’d It Get Burned.

Your Argument is Invalid

Your Argument is Invalid is a catchphrase often associated with a photoshopped image of Nic Cage taken during the filming of the movie Next. The photo was altered to make Cage’s hair look like a bald eagle, and was captioned with the text “My hair is a bird. Your argument is invalid.”

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You Don’t Say?

“You Don’t Say” is a black and white drawing, often used in rage comics, of Nicolas Cage developed from a scene in the 1988 black comedy film Vampire’s Kiss, which revolves around a troubled literary agent’s descent into madness after convincing himself that he is turning into a vampire. In rage comics, the face is used as a sarcastic response to an obvious observation or statement.

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Nic Cage as Everyone

In November 2009, the single topic blog Nic Cage as Everyone launched on microblogging site Tumblr with the sole purpose of collecting photoshopped images of Nic Cage’s face on anyone.

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Nic Cage Wants Cake

On June 15th, 2009, Internet animator Happy Patridge (aka HappyHarry) uploaded an animation to the social flash website Newgrounds called Nicolas Cage Wants Cake. Set to a self composed dance song featuring vocal clips from the movie The Family Man, the song depicts Cage’s absolute desire to have a cake which he is repeatedly denied. The video has had a number of remixes and parodies, and has accumulated over 3 million views on YouTube as of September 16th, 2011.

Homestuck

Nic Cage’s films have been a recurring theme in the webcomic Homestuck with characters John Egbert and Vriska Serket admitting to being fans of the actor’s work. Con Air is often featured with the bunny from the “Put The Bunny Back in the Box” scene even becoming a significant plot point.