Deeper meaning behind Robert Pattinson's 'you see how this looks, right' Primetime quote
Primetime is finally out in cinemas the US after the early trailers for the film went viral for Robert Pattinson’s masterful portrayal of Chris Hansen, but the viral meme that came out of those trailers has a secretly deep meaning.
Pattinson is currently considered an outside contender for the Oscar for Best Actor for his portrayal of the wildly controversial To Catch a Predator host.
The actor has spoken not only about his response to Hansen’s criticism of the film, but in an exclusive interview with LADbible has spoken about going viral for his version of Hansen’s iconic line: “You see how this looks, right?”
The line, made iconic by Hansen when he would confront paedophiles who arrived at To Catch a Predator’s sting houses hoping to meet children, was a meme itself in the 00s, an irony that Pattinson is fully aware of.
Pattinson said To Catch a Predator becoming a meme was ‘strange’ but wasn’t surprised when the trailer became a meme itself
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In the early years of the internet and social media, To Catch a Predator became a viral meme, particularly clips of Chris Hansen saying: “You see how this looks, right?”
This was something that fascinated Pattinson about the script, the idea that this incredibly serious show about catching paedophiles had somehow become almost comedic.
When asked about the irony of the clip of him saying this becoming a meme 20 years on, Pattinson said: “I think that’s one of the things I found interesting about the characters and the story, it’s one of those weird internet things, why has he been co-opted? When you look at the chronology of how people were receiving the show… it was a segment on the news, that’s what it was.
“To be so popular immediately was so strange, but then it was co-opted so quickly by people doing parodies and people normalising it and it being something which people were imitating just immediately.
“You’re like ‘Why? What was it about the alchemy of the different elements that made it first of all something where people interpreted the news as sort of like… funny? Because it wasn’t supposed to be funny.
“But then it had this second life as this internet thing, which in some ways was ironic, it’s so difficult to understand why anything happens on the internet but I kinda thought there was a possibility that that might happen.”
Chris Hansen has spoken quite positively about becoming a meme, embracing the fame that has come with it
Chris Hansen has spoken about becoming a meme on multiple occasions, most notably in 2019 when he appeared on the H3 podcast.
He said: “It’s amazing to me because a whole generation of people who were kids or not even born when we started doing To Catch a Predator now know me through YouTube clips and memes.
“I think it’s great. You have to embrace it—if you take yourself too seriously in this business, you’re done.
“At first, back at NBC, everything had to be very rigid news broadcast format. But when I saw the online reaction, I realized people loved the catchphrases and the dramatic moments. So why fight it?"
The movie has received to rave reviews, with an 87% score on Rotten Tomatoes at the time of writing.
Variety raved about the film, particularly its performances, saying in their review: “This uncompromisingly grimy approach would be actively repellent were it not for the extraordinary performances, which make Primetime a thing you cannot stop watching even as the desire to flee to the nearest shower cubicle grows.”
Primetime is available to watch in the US in cinemas now, and is available to watch in the UK in cinemas on 31 October.
Topics: Robert Pattinson, TV and Film, Film, Celebrity, Viral
Michael Slavin