The True Stories Behind Popular Internet Memes

May 2024 ยท 2 minute read

From The Omen to The Ring, Hollywood has menaced us for decades with images of sinister little kids. This fear is embodied in Disaster Girl, a meme which spotlights a little girl standing before a burning building, smirking slightly at the carnage. Disaster Girl's face has appeared before countless scenes of wanton destruction, always with that same smirk. Who is she? An ancient spirit? The angel of death?

Actually, no. In 2004, she was just a regular little girl named Zoe Roth, a local of Lake Tahoe, North Carolina. According to Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Zoe and her brother, Tristan, were watching TV one afternoon when her mom came home and mentioned a huge fire taking place up the road. Zoe's dad, Dave Roth, scooped up his camera, and the family went to get pictures. By the time they got there, the flames were well under control by the local fire department, and everyone on the block had gathered to watch. According to Roth's blog, the future "Disaster Girl" portrait of Zoe was originally named "Firestarter."

Dave uploaded the photo online, and the image took off, becoming the Disaster Girl meme we know today. Now that she's a teenager, Zoe says she finds the whole thing pretty fun, other than some of the more controversial images. She also stated that, "I'd love for the meme to help me get into or pay for college somehow."

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