matthew 11 on Dependence

The picture shows cartoon villain Cruella de Vil, bloodshot eyes staring straight ahead, hands clutching the wheel of her infamous coupe, black-and-white hair waving wildly in the wind, oversized fur coat flapping behind. In a word: crazed. Over the image someone has typed: 

Me trying to excel in my career, maintain a social life, drink enough water, exercise, text everyone back, stay sane, survive and be happy. 

Beneath the meme, a caption reads, “every day.” It’s followed by a string of comments, “Amen,” “Yep,” “Like lookin’ in a mirror,” and so on. People can relate, and not just the same old suspects. A quick survey of the peanut gallery’s profiles and you can’t help but notice the breadth of demographics represented, male and female, old and young, black and white. 

(Then again, it’s Instagram, so who can say for sure?) But this much is clear: it takes one of Disney’s trippiest images to capture the white-knuckle pace of modern life. If only what we were chasing with such fanatical intensity was a van full of dalmatians.