In Loving Memory of Grumpy Cat

Tardar Sauce, the perpetually scowling feline known to the world as Grumpy Cat, died on May 14, 2019, at her home in Morristown, Arizona, due to complications from a urinary tract infection. She was seven years old. Born on April 4, 2012, Tardar Sauce suffered from feline dwarfism and an underbite that gave her face a permanent expression of theatrical displeasure. Her owner, Tabatha Bundesen, posted a photograph of the kitten on Reddit in September 2012. Within forty-eight hours, the image had been viewed millions of times. The memes were immediate and inexhaustible. Her dour face was paired with sardonic captions that resonated with a generation fluent in irony. Grumpy Cat became a brand: she starred in a Lifetime television movie, published multiple books, launched a line of merchandise, and appeared at countless events. But those who knew Tardar Sauce insisted that her grumpy appearance was purely physiological. By all accounts, she was a sweet, docile, and affectionate cat who purred readily and enjoyed being held. The joke was on all of us: we projected our cynicism onto an animal who felt none of it. Her family announced her death on social media, writing that she had "helped millions of people smile all around the world — even when times were tough." The outpouring of grief was vast and genuine. Grumpy Cat proved that in the age of the internet, a single photograph can create a global icon, and that sometimes the most powerful form of communication is a face that says, without words, exactly what everyone is thinking.