Emoji are often thought of flippantly, but they’re an increasingly volatile fault line along the tectonic shifts in the way we talk to each other. Consider, for example, last week’s acquisition of the 176 original emoji by MoMA, or the furor that erupted over Apple’s decision to change its handgun emoji into a squirt gun. Similar scrutiny is bound to be applied to Apple’s newest set of emoji, which features a couple more updates to its library of pictograms, including straps on the dancing lady’s shoes, better gender representation across occupations, and a slightly less ass-like peach. There’s also a new face-palm emoji that will inevitably prove popular as people drag each other on Twitter and talk shit about their friends in group chats.
Most importantly, though, there will be a gorilla emoji—and while that gorilla isn’t necessarily Harambe, aren’t we all Harambe, each in our own way, particularly when we are also gorillas or talking about gorillas? Here is a picture of the Harambe:
The addition of a Harambe emoji marks a happy ending of sorts for the millions of people who had been forced to communicate about the deceased gorilla using only a) Apple’s preexisting emoji of monkeys, or b) English. Numerous online petitions had been launched online during this time of censorship, but with the tacit public agreement that this gorilla is the Harambe they so ironically revere, these petitions can safely be retired, knowing that Harambe has been revived and can now stroll forever leftward.
