More Lebron's fault, Olympic memes

The invitation to remix is reminiscent of classical forms of story telling. For example, music is one form of source text that is continually reinvented through covers, parodies and remixes. Like songs, memes gained popularity due to their open invitation to participate, consuming, collecting, remixing and sharing. Using "lolcats" as an example, it is formed simplistically with minimal creativity and according to Clay Shirky (2010, 18), "the average lolcat image has the social value of a whoopee cushion and the cultural life span of a mayfly...yet anyone seeing a lolcat gets a second related message: You can play this game too". That is, while on the surface, memes may appear to have little cultural value but the more significant message of participation allows the prospect of mutation which in turn creates the potential for these macro images to become carriers for different ideas (Burgess 2008, 108). The cultural relevancy and value of memes stand for many of the characteristics of cyberculture today, of collaboration and participation, enticing user-created content and networking, but they also ignite the creativity of a number of ideas that, along with generic meanings, still convey messages related to: race, gender, class, belief, politics and so on. The meme narrative is short and comprehensive and yet, a caption, an image or a video can speak a thousand words. Whether it is cats, Bad Luck Brian, Scumbag Steve, Rick Astley, Willy Wonka, Lebron James, Kobe, Bryant, Yao Ming and a global event like the Olympics or the soccer world cup, individuals are defining themselves by using these iconic voices to do their talking. Social networks are feeding this trend perfectly, net-users continuously scroll through comment spaces to find the best remarks, images or videos and more often then not, this is shared with someone.

The Lebron's Fault memes below demonstrate Shirky's logic in that, the cultural relevance of memes extends beyond what appears on the surface, while the values primarily lie within the genre, there can be other significant messages attached to it. As touched on in the previous post, "Lebron's fault" stemmed from comments made by Lebron James during a press conference, where he told reporters he felt he was unfairly scrutinised by the media and fans for issues he should not be held accountable for. 6 months on, the ESPN article that reported the story is still active with fan responses (over 5000 of them) mocking James's comments, blaming him for personal problems, issues within the sport and real world problems- http://espn.go.com/nba/conversations/_/id/7556817/miami-heat-lebron-james-apologize-kendrick-perkins-tired-blame-game

 

 

Similarly, the Olympics have triggered a host of memes concerning issues ranging from mocking certain situations such as the domination of the U.S men's basketball team to real world circumstances such as, British colonialism, drugs, politics, world hunger, race, egalitarianism (or the lack of) and obesity.

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

 

 

Lebron's fault

Some may argue that internet memes are nothing more than a waste of time, however, their widespread adoption by net users is an indication of how online mass collaboration can lead to textual productions that generates a diversity of widely shared and newly formed meanings. Undoubtedly, one element of understanding this cultural phenomenon is that, part of the humour in many internet memes lies in mocking the source text. Indeed, the purpose to amuse and entertain is one of the key goals for 4chan, the popular online community many credit as the birthplace of memes (Walker 2010; Douglas 2008). 4chan's goal is to be "annoying on the internet", according to Oli, a 4chan member of over 5 years (Liu 2011, 1). Certainly, with actions such as viral campaigns to send Justin Bieber on a North Korean tour and hacking former U.S presidential hopeful Sarah Palin's e-mail, corresponds with Oli's comments. "Doing it for the lulz" is how Oli sums up why 4chan members communicate in such vigilant manner (Liu 2011, 2). To translate the internet jargon, "Doing it for the lulz" means "Doing it for the lol" (lol stands for "laugh out loud"). So essentially, the actions of 4chan are for comedic purposes. It is perhaps with truism that, with such intent, communities like 4chan and activities practiced by its members can be considered as "time wasters", especially to those who are less informed about online culture.

According to Shiftman (2007), the interactivity of the internet allows users to participate in the joke telling process, which is not that different to the traditional oral condition of joke telling, but still may significantly alter the experience of reading a humorous text. For example the "Lebron's fault" is an example of collective authorship that offers a culturally enriching media experience, that is not driven by money but creativity and personal enjoyment, at the expense of celebrate stars and unsavoury situations associated with them. The meme stems from an interview with Lebron James, regarding a comment he made about another player on Twitter. When asked if he would apologise for the comment, he insisted he would not, citing that he was sick of being blamed by fans and the media for incidents that was not his fault. To date, there are over 5000 fan comments on the EPSN article that covered the story: http://espn.go.com/nba/truehoop/miamiheat/story/_/id/7556817/miami-heat-lebron-james-apologize-kendrick-perkins-tired-blame-game

Many respondents to the article took his comments and blamed random things on him, such as, the declining economy, the bad weather or the fall of mankind. The article was published in February 2012 and it is still active with new fan comments being posted at the time of writing. With the comments, also came the memes mocking James.

Memes are funny and for the most part, they are silly in nature. But the proliferation of this phenomenon reflects contemporary culture's desire to be active participants in the media production process. As media continue evolve, so will the prominence of user-created content and the various themes, ideals and beliefs that comes with it. Such circumstances provide for a situation where producers and administrators alike must find ways to understand the traits of contemporary fandom.

 
 
 

Bitch Please!

The majority of memes are easily recognisable through its image or video and if one cannot instantly see the resemblance between the meme and its source text, then the meme will likely be less popular. For example, the Yao Ming face, also known as "Bitch Please", "Dumb Bitch" or "Fuck That Guy" is a rage comic-style drawing of former Houston Rockets star Yao Ming. The image is based on a photograph of Yao, from a press conference in May 2009. According to knowyourmemes.com, the comic drawing of the image first appeared on reddit.com in July 2010. The image has since been commonly used in meme templates and is typically used as a reaction face to depict sarcasm and the portrayal of a dismissive attitude towards a situation, input or opinion. Variations of the stock image include the "Fuck No Guy" which uses Yao's face, edited with a horrified expression.

This meme is particularly interesting because its source text, which is Yao's personality, he is considered to be shy, humble and sincere by most basketball fans. The meme's power relies precisely on the viewer's ability to register his personality traits to understand the sarcastic and satirical nature of the memes and to recognise the new environment into which Yao has been inserted and find humour in the incongruity of the situation.

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