Stephen Amell isn't amused by people repurposing an Arrow set photo for memes, and he is making his disapproval extremely clear. Amell played Oliver Queen on the hit CW show for eight seasons. The series focuses on Queen's attempt to rid Starling City of crime and corruption by becoming the hooded vigilante known as the Green Arrow.
Amell's dark and gritty interpretation of the Green Arrow brought the comic book character to a new generation. Arrow was such an enormous success that it created multiple spinoffs such as The Flash, DC's Legends of Tomorrow, Supergirl, and others that are now referred to as part of the Arrowverse. As Arrow neared its conclusion, audiences were shocked to witness Queen sacrifice his life to save the world. Queen's death and the actor's departure from a show that helped define Amell were emotional for the actor. However, some of Arrow's cast members chose to commemorate the conclusion by taking a series of goofy photos gathered around Queen's tombstone. Echo Kellum, who played Mister Terrific on Arrow, first posted some of the images that have gone viral. One of the photos featuring a smiling Grant Gustin from The Flash giving the peace sign next to the gravesite. The image has gained popularity as a meme, but Amell isn't amused.
This week, Amell reposted the meme with explicit language to communicate how much he hates the meme. Look below to see Amell's words to people that have repurposed the picture.
The repurposed photo came in light of yesterday's Facebook and Instagram blackout. Users were unexpectedly unable to access their accounts for almost six hours, although Twitter never went down. The photo was meant to be a friendly jest at the expense of Mark Zuckerberg-owned companies. While social media buffs may have found it funny, Amell did not. The actor's colorful language about the Arrow meme easily conveys his hatred of it. He does not explicitly mention the reason for his disdain, but several factors could have played into his comment.
An astronomical amount of memes featuring the image, which is generally used to celebrate moving on from someone else's misfortune, are currently circulating the web. It is difficult to be too critical of Amell since the meme has become tedious due to its overuse. The memes also take away from the impact of Oliver's death on the series, something that Amell holds dear to his heart. Amell had the Arrow symbol tattooed on his arm to commemorate his time as the Green Arrow. Amell is still emotional about his departure from the character and cast of Arrow, something as fresh to the actor as the dirt on Oliver's grave.
Source: Stephen Amell