Remember that The Nanny also taught us not to cross picket lines!
As we all know very well by now, the SAG-AFTRA union officially entered a strike on July 13, after the AMPTP failed to negotiate fair terms as per their contract renewal. The decision to strike had been looming for a while, ever since the Writers’ Guild of America started its own strike on May 2, and SAG-AFTRA’s president Fran Drescher confirmed in a fiery press conference that the AMPTP refused to meet the union’s demands or even, by the sound of it, negotiate in anything akin to good faith.
Drescher’s speech announcing the strike immediately made the rounds all throughout the Internet, with people praising her power and passion and her unwavering support of her fellow actors as she went after studio executives. “The eyes of the world and, particularly, the eyes of labor are upon us,” she said forcefully. “What happens to us is important. What’s happening to us is happening across all fields of labor. When employers make Wall Street and greed their priority and they forget about the essential contributors who make the machine run, we have a problem”.
Fran Drescher is not fucking around and I love it pic.twitter.com/kiAsS4BeiH
— john teufel (@JohnTeufelNYC) July 13, 2023
Such a beautiful, reportedly off-the-cuff speech was bound to have massive shockwaves on social media, both serious and also more lighthearted—and that, of course, includes memes. After all, one of the very important lessons that Drescher’s iconic character Fran Fine in The Nanny taught us was that you should never cross a picket line. So it’s no surprise that we have a mini-renaissance of The Nanny memes on our hands.
Let’s start out strong with a throwback to the very episode—aptly called “The Strike”—in which Fran Fine declares that never crossing a picket line was one of the three unbreakable rules her mother taught us. The other two, for completion’s sake, were to never make contact with a public toilet and to never wear musk oil to a zoo—which is still pretty solid advice.
Fran been holding it down since The Nanny https://t.co/hjNQLHGi5K pic.twitter.com/Mr5bxVLAbb
— ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡° ) free palestine ?? (@milkofcolor) July 13, 2023
That episode also does give a pretty good descriptor for the current situation.
rewatched the picket line episode of the nanny last night and captured this gem of a screen cap pic.twitter.com/xVmJzghzqd
— evelyn gee frick (@evelyngfrick) July 14, 2023
“The Strike” is already pretty relevant, but let’s make it even more so.
https://www.tumblr.com/behindthegeraniums/723029460740440064
The cycles of history really are a fascinating thing.
And yet another reminder that Fran Fine has always been pro-union (and you should be too).
The Nanny Strikes Back pic.twitter.com/lKdwIE9Loi
— Jack | ? (9-1) Go Birds! (@JackInacker) July 14, 2023
How could we forget this iconic fit?
can’t believe fran drescher is leading a sag-aftra strike and no one has brought up the mao skirt she wore on the nanny pic.twitter.com/kznxtq689k
— werner herzog’s skater pro (@COINTELPR0ZAC) July 15, 2023
And some more about Fran Fine’s style because let’s face it, it was everything.
I’m sorry I must have missed the hype, but the fact that THE Fran Fine is a union leader is blowing my mind, to be a comrade AND to have worn these outfits? i love you, fran ❤️ https://t.co/OG9EnvfnE3 pic.twitter.com/wvnWXBiM2f
— sophie ??? (@sophiechowder) July 13, 2023
Drescher mentioned Versailles in her speech, something that feels incredibly fitting considering it happened in July.
“eventually, the people break down the walls of Versailles” pic.twitter.com/fEEu9QfuRm
— liz (@anticapitalizm) July 13, 2023
And while we’re on the topic of cycles of history, let’s not forget this.
The last time SAG struck simultaneously with the WGA its leader was Ronald Reagan.
Therefore we can conclude that Fran Drescher will soon be President of the United States of America. pic.twitter.com/S0Yi9A55hg
— Jordan Hoffman (@jhoffman) July 13, 2023
Let’s talk about leaders of rebellion against machines.
La mujer que pensábamos que lideraría la rebelión contra las máquinas / La que acabó liderándola pic.twitter.com/GoHgv8P4VO