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Around him, pixelated pink and magenta hearts pulse insistently in time with his feets movements.

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Patrick is in love.

What is it about Patrick that makes him so eminently GIF-able?

What is it about those shows that make them so ripe for harvesting GIFs?

They are quickly legible in almost any context.

Not just in love, but surrounded by pulsing hearts.

Not just sad, but teetering on the verge of sobs.

Not just happy, but waving a foam finger.

Once theyre out in the world, its not hard to see the appeal or the use case.

(689 million views on Giphy.)

(123 million views.)

Maybe youve gotten to a place where youre enjoying the melee.

Thats more likea Cersei-drinking-wine situation.

(47 million views.)

That idea is also at the heart of what makes a show particularly GIF-able.

And even assuming thats true, what is the girls name?

When you see her as you scroll past her on Twitter, theres no way to know.

I do not know who made it, or how long its existed.

TV and movies are GIF-able when their bits and pieces feel larger than the surrounding stories.

They become aphorisms and cliches.

TV becomes GIF-able when it becomes a bite-size reflection of something viewers recognize in their own lives.

And with that,

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