Does art imitate life? Or is it the other way around and really, life imitates art? Well, if you ask the internet, the answer is apparently the latter. In the wake of the ongoing college admissions scam, actors Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman’s TV roles that included scam storylines have been turned into memes. The instant memeification has happened as a way of making light of the fact that both women were charged on Tuesday based on their alleged involvement in the scam. It would seem the Twitterverse is having a difficult time separating Loughlin from her beloved Full House persona, Aunt Becky, and the same goes for Huffman’s most famous role to date as Lynette from Desperate Housewives.
To summarize the case: the Department of Justice indicted nearly 50 individuals on Tuesday following a massive sting investigation dubbed “Operation Varsity Blues.” The gist of the scam is that these reportedly rich and powerful people may have opted to bypass any traditional and legal routes to get their children admitted to elite universities, instead allegedly paying bribes amounting to anywhere between $200,000 to $6.5 million to ensure it happened.
According to the FBI, Loughlin and her husband Mossimo Giannulli allegedly paid $500,000 in bribes for their two daughters to be designated as crew team recruits for University of Southern California, despite the fact that neither girl actually rowed. Huffman and her husband, Shameless star William H. Macy, reportedly paid $15,000 to have their older daughter’s SAT test scores doctored by a special proctor at a “controlled” testing center.
Damning as all of this is, though, the sufficiently shook Twitterverse can’t help but find connections between the real-life Loughlin and Huffman and the famous TV characters they’ve played. In Loughlin’s case, people are clearly having a hard time wrapping their head around the fact that sweet Aunt Becky could ever commit such a crime.
I’m not mad I’m just… disappointed #AuntBeckypic.twitter.com/N93Udf2nc4
— Jack Murphy (@theJackmurph03) March 13, 2019
https://twitter.com/melaniemarie09/status/1105827596883902464
I wonder if the FBI will “have mercy” on aunt Becky…
— Trey Kennedy (@TreyNKennedy) March 13, 2019
#AuntBecky is going to the…😂 pic.twitter.com/DBMHoKluEz
— Laroy Grayson, Jr. (@laroydmvgrayson) March 13, 2019
Aunt Becky…SMH pic.twitter.com/xAhBQzORGW
— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) March 12, 2019
Fans had a bit less trouble believing Huffman would be involved in trouble, conflating many of the scandalous storylines her Desperate Housewives character, Lynette Scavo, got caught up in with Huffman’s current legal woes.
https://twitter.com/_A1va/status/1105497705646837765
Lynette Scavo kicking down doors, paying colleges, etc. pic.twitter.com/OsVjDQxVJN
— Veronica (@Verrroniiica) March 12, 2019
Why does this sound like an episode of Desperate Housewives? Lynette Scavo would totally use bribery to get her kids into college pic.twitter.com/Csso94Trcn
— sabrina 🤍 (@tealambition) March 12, 2019
We all knew Lynette Scavo was bound to go to jail sooner or later pic.twitter.com/xuUQOTDjL6
— victoria (@Vicccy) March 12, 2019
Live look at Felicity Huffman getting arrested today pic.twitter.com/0RcQWBqFzi
— Brandon Schuster (@brandonwrites) March 12, 2019
And here’s the kicker: the Twittersphere also reminded the world that life really could be imitating art, because both Loughlin and Huffman’s characters had arcs involving bribes. Huffman’s bribery arc was pretty simple, but it involved a bribe, nonetheless.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again : Lynette Scavo is the most realistic character from the Desperate Housewives universe pic.twitter.com/YfROP7Dzhs
— rhoudeboy (@rhoudeboy) March 12, 2019
With Loughlin, the shoe was on the other foot with Aunt Becky. In 1993, an episode of Full House saw Aunt Becky chastise Uncle Jesse (John Stamos) for trying to cheat the couple’s toddler twins into a prestigious preschool. In the episode, Uncle Jesse justifies his behavior, saying, “The most important thing in the world right now is their education. I’m their father — if I don’t lie for them, who will?” But Aunt Becky, the voice of reason, reminds Uncle Jesse that no matter track the twins are on, all that matters is that they’re normal and healthy.
So, does life imitate art? Would it be in poor taste to say the jury’s still out?
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