"You like me, you really like me!"

Sally Field's famous quote, allegedly made during the acceptance speech for her second Oscar in 1985, has been parodied many times on the internet. It's moved well into the "meme" category now, like "beam me up, Scotty". However, those experiencing the Mass Memory Discrepancy Effect are sure they remember her saying it at the Academy Awards. She even went on to parody herself a couple of years later, but the original shows her just saying "you like me right now".

There's an interesting theory that all actors and actresses want to be remembered, no matter what the reason. So, if something they did gets misquoted and ends up getting a life of its own, they will "bandwaggon" it to maximize their exposure from it, even up to the point where they know it was incorrect but just want to milk the publicity from it.

Accidental PR is PR all the same...

Places in the Heart

The quote came during the acceptance speech for her second Oscar at the Academy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles, California. She's since declared it was meant as a jokey reference to her dialog in Norma Rae.

The context is important too, so here it is in full:

I haven’t had an orthodox career, and I’ve wanted more than anything to have your respect. The first time I didn’t feel it, but this time I feel it — and I can’t deny the fact that you like me, right now, you like me.

-- Sally Field, 1985 Academy Awards

Sally is an activist for many rights groups, including women's and gay rights - she even won a human rights equality award in 2012 and was arrested in 2019 whilst attending a climate change protest. That's not whats freaking out the Mandela Effect community though. It's the fact her brother is a scientist at CERN...