Memes
www.9gag.com has taken over my life since I encountered it around 3 years ago. Basically, it’s a fun site where people post things like cartoons about politics, silly situations in everyday life and the rare inspiring message. It’s similar to the site www.reddit.com, which I believe Canadians are more familiar with.
Whilst scrolling through the posts the other day, the question of why memes were so popular came to mind. A meme, according to www.urbandictionary.com, is “an idea, belief or belief system, or pattern of behaviour that spreads throughout a culture either vertically by cultural inheritance or horizontally by cultural acquisition”. Similar ideas are normally represented by simple drawings like the ones in the picture at the end of this blog. But why where they so popular? From the use of memes in university lectures to tacky posters in hole-in-the-wall restaurants, it seems as though these memes have made their way into our society, intricately weaving themselves into our cultural meanings. In this blog, I will be focusing only on the images of human faces and how so many people can relate to them.
In a CAP course on women’s studies last semester, we explored what makes comics so important in popular culture. One aspect which caught my interest was how the less detail an illustration of a person had, the more people could identify with the character. In other words, more people would be able to identify with this smiley face: ☺ rather than a realistic sketch of a person. The following illustration is from Scott McCloud’s “Understanding Comics” to clarify this point.
Perhaps this is why memes are used so extensively – to convey an idea that everyone can relate to. This way, the memes are able to enhance familiarity and reduce the need to supply context behind an image. These images are tailor-made for the purpose that they fit and the more likely they are to be shared, the more accessible they are which encourages more people to use them and boosts their popularity.
I wonder what this says about our society. Are we developing a new way of communication through the highly visual delivery of memes? Maybe this is the result of mixing traditional comics with the internet. What do you guys think?
Sources:
http://www.idrawdigital.com/2009/09/review-understanding-comics-the-invisible-art-by-scott-mccloud/
Speaking
Ryan Avery is 25 years old and is the youngest World Champion of Public Speaking in history. He competed against more than 30,000 people from 116 countries and on the 22nd of February, he came to UBC to share his secrets with us.
We began the meeting by watching his award winning speech titled “Trust is a Must” which lasted for around 7 minutes. For the rest of the hour, Mr Avery opened the floor to the audience for a Q & A session and for the rest of the hour, I was captivated by his confidence, determination and benevolence. One of my goals here at university is to surround myself with people like Mr Avery – goal-oriented people who know exactly what they want in life. I realised that the only thing stopping me from meeting these people on a more personal level (or eventually becoming someone that I look up to) is my own self-consciousness. I’ve taken a couple of steps towards building up my confidence including joining Toastmasters International, however, each step I take out of my comfort zone is daunting and terrifying.
There is great irony in the way I feel and how I’ve learnt to view the culture around me. Being a CAP student has opened my eyes to the extent of how deeply messages of popular culture have been internalized by myself and my peers but it seems as if my mind has a greater affinity for negative messages. This makes sense since without these messages, one could never improve but what about chasing your dreams and standing up to your fears? Mr Avery addressed the point of how public speaking was one of the most common fears amongst people and suggested that this fear stems from a biological aspect. Think about it; you’re standing in front of a crowd of people who are all staring at you and you have no weapon to protect yourself. So when do the positive messages of independence, which are prominent in popular culture, come in to help?
I guess what I am trying to understand is how popular culture can influence us in different ways. Personally, I find it easier to begin to doubt my physical appearance than it is to do something about it. Maybe it will take a longer time for certain messages to sink in compared to others, after all, we live in a world that focuses on quick-fixes rather than long-term happiness. Ryan Avery suggested that we marry our goals and embrace the journey towards it. Besides, life is a journey.
Check out Ryan Avery’s website at www.averytoday.com
Watchmen
Watchmen, a graphic novel by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, is a story about ordinary people with an extraordinary urge to uphold justice. The catch is that they all started out as everyday citizens who are, by no means, perfect. This means that their beliefs and values are embedded into everything that they do, resulting in a story about the anti-hero. For example, Rorschach, the first vigilante we are introduced to, puts the law above all else, making him incapable of adapting to novel situations where advocating the law may not be the best choice.
But why do people love Watchmen? This novel embodies the very worst of human nature through its harsh illustrations of corpses, criminals and anti-heroes. Upon encountering this novel, I was close to giving up by the end of the first chapter. Why would I want to read about all this misery when the horrors of the human race is already evident everywhere and ready to jump at you when you asked for it? As I powered on through the book, somewhere near the middle of it, everything was suddenly so intriguing. I was familiar with the characters and the situation at hand by then and so, I could fully engage with the story. I felt like I was getting an inside scoop on some secret conspiracy and when comparing it to the real world around me, I would go as far as to say that there was truth in what was being said in the story.
One aspect of the novel which caught my attention was the way that global issues and ideas were represented through the characters. In class, we discussed how Dr Manhattan, the story’s only true ‘super’ hero with abnormal powers, could be seen to portray America as a feared nuclear power during the 1980s. A news broadcaster says “The superman exists, and he’s American” (Moore, 4.13) to announce the arrival of Dr Manhattan which seems to reflect America as a superpower. An other identity that Dr Manhattan is associated with is that of God. He can see into the doomed future of humanity but does nothing to change it. At first glance, the message behind this may be one along the lines of claiming that if there is a God, he does not care for the human race. My interpretation of it is as follows: perhaps to God, every particle in existence is just as important as the next. In other words, a rock is no different to a human being because fundamentally, they both share the same particles. This way of thinking gives no reason for a God to worry about what happens to humanity. The apocalypse is merely a rearrangement of particles in space.
Time portrayal in Watchmen was another interesting aspect. The rearrangement of time can be seen most clearly through Dr Manhattan’s point of view when we learn more about him in chapter 4. As he recalls his past, his narration includes facts of the future soon to come, as if all these events are happening simultaneously. Portraying time in this complex way is something that few medium can achieve including graphic novels and movies. Thankfully, there is also a movie of this book which helped to clear up any confusion I had whilst reading the book.
To conclude, I highly recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a change-up in what they normally read. After reading the book, go ahead and watch the movie – I was pleasantly surprised at how true the movie stayed to the original plot.
Sources:
Moore, Alan, and Dave Gibbons.Watchmen. Book club ed. New York: DC Comics Inc., 19871986. Print.
Soup
In Japan, one compliments the chef by slurping up their noodle soup as loudly as physically possible. Not only does this practice indicate the customer’s enjoyment of the meal, it also allows the meal to be eaten before it has a chance to cool down. Now jump on over to Cheltenham, England and you’ll see that in the rare instance that somebody is gorging on a steaming hot bowl of noodles, they do so in puckered silence.
This topic came to me when I remembered an instance where my friend, who was drinking his soup from his bowl, was told off by our other classmates for his lack of manners. It is a well known fact amongst them that the correct way to drink soup was to do so with a spoon. The spooning technique itself was also quite important – you must scoop away from yourself to show, I don’t know, selflessness or something like that.
My apparent fascination with the table manners of different cultures lies in how they reflect the mannerisms of the locals. By simply walking through the streets of these two places, the contrast between the young people of Japan and those of Cheltenham is quite clear. The Japanese go about their day adorned in bedazzled badges of their favourite animated characters and wearing all the colours of the rainbow. Cheltonians seem to be more inclined towards dull grays, blues and blacks and oversized clothing. The shared enjoyment of a meal among strangers in Japan could be seen as a reflection of their attitude towards others in the sense that they seem content in displaying themselves in a more flamboyant, open way. In the case of my former classmates in England, I noticed that the most important aspect that they held onto was what kind of first impression they gave. Everybody was incredibly polite but, save the handful of close friends, that was the extent to which they would ever present themselves to others. Again, their table manners can be reflected in how they act – very, very polite.
Our culture is so deeply ingrained into the way we act and I believe that it is the small things that become quite prominent when one is in the state of culture shock. Please keep in mind that this short blog was written purely from my (probably very bias) point of view and I would love to know what kind of thoughts other people have on this idea. Comment below!
Parodies
Did you know that UBC has an archive full of historical documents about Vancouver? It is located in the basement of the Koerner library and on a cold misty day, we CAP students were lucky enough to spend a lesson in the toasty warmth of the Rare Books and Special Collections wing of the archives.
Amongst the bits and bobs of ephemera stored away in neatly labelled folders, I came across Colin Upton’s comic book collection and fished out a short smaller-than-A5 sized comic titled “Bible Stories for Atheists #1: The Flood” (You can find this comic in Colin Upton comic books Folder 1-6, Box 1). Colin Upton is a Canadian cartoonist who grew up in Vancouver, hence his collection in UBC’s archives. This particular comic that I was attracted to was self-published and intended to be sold for 75 cents a piece to anyone who was interested. The story is as follows…
Noah is ushering animals into his ark and his wife is having a hard time believing that the great flood as predicted by God is actually happening. She thinks that the flood is not fair for those who haven’t sinned. When she confronts Noah with her thoughts, he replies with “ […] God commands it! How dare you question God’s will!”. In a rage, Noah’s wife runs into the ark and burns it down with a torch. She then screams up to the sky, telling God that without humans on earth, “No one [will be] left to suffer for your sick amusement”. The rain stops but Noah is not happy. He kills his wife by beating her with his walking stick and drowning her in a puddle of water. Noah then apologizes to God, blaming his failure on his wife and the comic ends with him walking away and saying that he needs a drink.
My initial reaction to this comic was one of humour. Being an atheist myself (and when I say atheist, I use the term very lightly), I felt like I could appreciate this parody in all it’s comedic glory, however, the more I thought about it, the more I wondered where the line should be drawn. Is it alright to write about a well known bible story in this way just because it’s funny? I suppose the medium in which this joke has been conveyed was suitable, but what do you theists out there think about this? The purpose of this short blog was to bring up the idea of parodies of religious stories to light and hopefully collect some opinions on this matter.
The cover image of Bible Stories for Atheists by Colin Upton.
Sources:
http://hicandhoc.tumblr.com/post/24156497295/bible-stories-for-atheists-by-colin-upton
Greetings
Two summers ago, I was fortunate enough to go to Nairobi in Kenya with a group of people from my school where we helped to renovate a primary school located on a farm. On top of many life lessons that I took home with me, one outstanding aspect of the culture that I experience there lied in the way that I was enthusiastically greeted by complete strangers. Everywhere we went, whether it was driving clumsily down bumpy roads or walking through bustling streets, toddlers and small children would run up to us shouting “How are you!” with the brightest smiles on their faces. Also, waving to random locals from the bus windows was almost always appreciated and completely normal. When we were working at the school, the children would come right up to us and ask us questions whilst running their fingers through our hair and touching our clothes.
During the evenings when we had free time to rest before dinner, we would talk about the hospitality and gratitude that we were being greeted with and how we wished it was the same back in England. I wondered why the differences between cultures was so extreme. After much consideration, I realised the reasoning behind the saying of how people who have nothing are much happier than people who have everything. The places that we visited in Kenya were surrounded by poverty and the smallest things that many of us take for granted everyday could bring the greatest joy to the people that I met there. In their society, it was totally acceptable for them to welcome us with such openness because, I suppose, they had nothing to lose. In comparison to our society, where I feel as though my every movement is being judged by my peers according to silent socially constructed rules, the pressure of losing respect in terms of my social status outweighs any possible benefits that I may reap by greeting another person in such a loud, vulnerable way. With all these complex concepts in mind, a simple smile given to a stranger would probably stir some sort of negative suspicion.
When it comes to making life long friends, maybe it is better to keep one’s guard up until one feels that their friend is trustworthy enough. I must admit that those happy greetings will be missed greatly whilst I’m away.
Taste
Finals are over, you’ve arrived back home and you’re snuggled under a blanket whilst watching snow fall from the sky, glistening under the moonlight. What are you thinking about? In these moments, I find myself contemplating what it means to ‘be an individual’ – an abstract concept that has always puzzled my mind.
Recently, through the process of making new friends and settling into university life, I’ve been experiencing a strange urge to quickly decide on my taste in music, fashion and so on. I feel as though it is time for me to form an opinion on as many topics as I can think of just as a basis to making myself a more interesting person. Perhaps this was ignited when I was given the assignment to write a five page essay on ‘taste’ in History of Music, or maybe these thoughts are the result of a build up of doubt about what exactly it is that I’m doing studying a CAP course. Either way, living on campus which is swarming with young people flaunting their trendiest winter jackets was bound to make me question myself about my tastes. So why is it so important to focus on developing one’s taste? Well, in UBC, a place which is dominated by hipsters on longboards, I feel as though the idea of whether you are an individual or not leans towards the side of obscurity. In other words, the more unknown bands you listen to and the faster you fall into new fashion trends, the more connected you are to your own identity as somebody who is different from everyone else. Those of you who have studied popular culture and media will understand what I mean when I say that this all adds to your social and cultural capital. And those of you who don’t, well, think of the hours spent on YouTube finding a nice song as an investment into making yourself more unique.
Perhaps you care not for what others think of you, but this blog was written under the assumption that at the end of the day, everybody wants to be different and praised for their difference. Through the way that one holds oneself as well as through materialism, a depth to one’s personality can be put on display for the rest of the world to see. With this in mind, maybe it’s time to start saving up for that Aritzia sweater.
798
Last summer, I spent a month in Beijing learning the language of my people. In between the three hour lectures and struggling over re-pronouncing long lost phonemes, we had some spare time to explore the area.
Whilst searching for souvenirs, I stumbled upon an artistic neighbourhood known as the 798 art district. This area was named after and formed around an old abandoned factory located in the northeast corner of the city. It was built during the 1950s under Chairman Mao’s reign, hence the communist motivational statements, such as ‘Long Live Chairman Mao’, printed across the ceiling in large red chinese characters.
798 district was the result of the people’s rebellion against this time of creative inhibition. The collaboration and experimentation between and among artists is evident in the scattered collections of sculptures and art galleries within the district. In this act of ex-corporation, which is the process by which the subordinate make their own culture out of the resources and commodities provided by the dominant system, a controversial popular culture was born. Artists soon branched out to using other types of material, such as fiberglass, paint and different types of metals, to further develop their messages.
One sculpture that caught my eye was a peculiar piece by Liu Qiang titled ‘29h59’59’. It depicts masses of naked people climbing over one another towards an animal’s udders who growls angrily yet succumbs to this unpleasant treatment. There are several ways to interpret this work. Initially, I saw this as a daring portrayal of the act of drinking cows milk and how very unnatural it is to depend on the milk of the mother of another species for healthy growth. Further contemplation of this art work led me to think about how the title ‘29h59’59’ related to the sculpture itself.
It is well known amongst the scientific community that the solar day gains roughly a second every couple of years. The ‘29h59’59’ could be referring to a time very far in the future where our standard 24 hours in a day might have become 29 hours. At this point, the human population may have ballooned to a number where the earth can no longer support it. Our hopeless desperation for natural resources is therefore represented by the chaotic crowds beneath the cow with three udders which depicts our insatiable need for consumption.
The relevance of this art piece and the Culture and Media CAP course that I am taking lies in the way that Qiang has embodied the taboo subject of the inevitable end to the world around us into his work. Embodiment requires the understanding of how our senses are involved in the meanings that we make. Through our sense of sight, Qiang’s play on perspective – tiny humans compared to a huge cow – confuses us and encourages us to formulate meaning behind his work. I couldn’t remember if we were allowed to touch the work or not but I do remember feeling hesitant towards the idea. The meanings that I had thought up determined the space around the work that I allowed myself to walk in and it is this interplay of meanings and senses which shows how ‘in touch’ I am with the world and with others around me.
Sources:
http://www.travelchinaguide.com/attraction/beijing/798-art-zone.htm
http://www.nasa.gov/topics/solarsystem/features/extra-second.html
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=earth-rotation-summer-solstice
Intro
Hello there.
My name is Clarice Yeung and I am a first year CAP Culture and Media Arts student.
I was born in Burnaby and flew over to Hong Kong when I was 6 months old. At the ripe age of 16, I flew to England to study at a boarding school for two years and now, here I am in UBC.
I’ve been fortunate enough to be exposed to different cultures around the globe from my travels and so, I like to think of myself as a student of the world. In this space, I hope to write about interesting objects or events within popular culture and media that I have encountered or experienced. Hopefully, this will give you another way to think about things as well as some insight into the strange grey matter that is my mind…