Meme 👏 Critique 👏
Memento Artem
Disclaimer: This issue of The Clocktower is 98 percent fake news and 100 percent awesome. The events described are fictitious and any similarities to real world people or events are a coincidence. April Fools! If you have concerns or complaints please write them down, put them in a bottle and gently place the bottle in Holmes Lake. We’ll get back to you as soon as possible!
To meme or not to meme? That is the question. Memes have become increasingly more influential on modern society. They challenge our perceptions of reality and fundamentally enrich our daily lives. Like art, memes must be reviewed, allowing us to better reflect on what they offer the world. In this article, I take a look at some memes and critique them. So let’s get into it.
Vines
During its prime, Vine provided hours of enjoyment and hosted viral content that has created lasting impact upon internet culture. Although the app was shutdown in January 2017, many vines still have maintained their popularity and continue to make cultural waves. While it would be difficult to critique the insane amount of popular vines, I’ll critique an all time classic.
“‘Bwah!’ ‘Ah! Stop! I could’ve dropped my croissant!’”
A man is scared while carrying a croissant on a plate. However, he quickly recovers and manages to keep the french pastry from falling. This vine perfectly demonstrates the resilience of mankind in the face of danger. Also, it shows nothing can get between a man and his croissant.
PC: @alishamechalke on Twitter
“No one:”
This meme format finds its origins on Twitter. People have posted situations that mock others or grab attention. Additionally, they may involve an unsolicited act. The one pictured explores the weird world of California graffiti. What else to represent the Golden State like vandalism promoting a healthy dip.
PC: u/rames1208 on Reddit
“Forbidden Foods”
Let’s take a trip to the Forbidden Snacks subreddit. This subreddit plays on the concept of pareidolia or the tendency to find a meaning in something that is relatively neutral in nature. Here we find things like cleaning products that look like juice or minerals that look like cookies.
The example pictured shows a delicious example of a “forbidden s’mores” which is actually a sample of the mineral neptunite. These memes are brilliant. Not only do they play off of the fundamental human concept of pareidolia, but they take it further and make an ongoing community effort to find tasty “forbidden snacks.” A simply scrumptious idea. (P.S. Don’t try to eat inedible things.)
We’ve reached the end of our journey, my friends. Now that you’ve been Phil’d in, I hope you had a great time critiquing memes with me and see how diverse they can be and how, even in their strangeness, have long reaching implications on internet culture. ‘Til next time!
Cameron Cizek is a senior studying computing.