The Pol Pot meme template typically uses historical photographs of the Khmer Rouge leader to facilitate dark humor or historical commentary. Most often, these memes focus on the regime's extreme anti-intellectualism and the 'Year Zero' policy, particularly the infamous trope of targeting individuals who wore glasses as a perceived sign of being an intellectual. In internet culture, these images are used ironically to satirize radical agrarianism or extreme societal resets. While inherently controversial due to the historical context, the template persists in niche history-meme communities where users remix his image to mock authoritarian absurdity or specific historical events.