The Power of the Meme
BY GEENA KANDEL
Memes are ubiquitous images and ideas that are constantly replicating, mutating, and reacting to external influences. These phrases, videos, and pictures are especially prevalent in the age of social media and gain a great deal of power from their ability to be widely shared. And memes are indeed powerful, particularly in the world of politics. Anyone with Internet access has witnessed the pervasive capability of the meme.
A good example of a viral meme was the “Texts from Hillary” Tumblr, which consisted of a series of captions accompanying Diana Walker’s October 2011 photograph for TIME Magazine of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. In the picture, Secretary Clinton is sitting in a military plane, sunglasses on and cell phone in hand, texting away. The picture fast became an Internet sensation. In the submission you see here, a photo depicting Barack Obama and Joe Biden looking at a phone is paired with a caption that states, “She’s going to love the new Justin Bieber video!” Hillary’s popular photo is subtitled with a comical yet terse, “Back to work boys.” Images like this one have the ability to spread swiftly, perpetuating a particular perception of political figures. The meme described above played upon the popular view of Joe Biden as a bumbling and gaffe-prone Vice President and Hillary Clinton as competent and confident Secretary of State. Instead of reading a lengthy article about these individuals’ policies and stances on the issue, the politicians are simplified into recognizable caricatures with a mere image and caption.
Similarly, memes like the “Hey Girl, It’s Paul Ryan” Tumblr focus on Mitt Romney’s Vice Presidential pick and create a painless method for getting your political fix. The “Hey Girl” meme uses photos of Paul Ryan paired with cheesy pick-up lines that often relate to his background as Chairman of the House Budget Committee. Examples include suggestive captions like “That is a graphing calculator in my pocket but I’m still happy to see you” or “When it comes to budget cuts, you know bigger is always better”. Of course, all of these begin with the casual and flirty “Hey Girl” salutation. While these images and headings can be enjoyed best if one has a preliminary knowledge of Paul Ryan’s political history, they do not require an extensive knowledge of his politics and positions on the issues. And while I enjoy a good laugh from the memes’ casual and flippant attitude and emphasis on Paul Ryan’s attractive nerd-chic appearance, the meme perhaps cheapens him as a person and as a political figure.
And just as memes are renowned for their powers of propagation, they also are (in)famous for their ability to evolve and transform in response to external pressures. A clear example of this phenomenon is the creation of the “paulryangosling” Tumblr and Twitter accounts because of the success of the “Hey Girl” memes and Mitt Romney’s selection of Paul Ryan as his running mate. While the “Hey Girl” memes were popular for their witty professions of admiration and lust for the political figure, these newer memes are far less sympathetic to Paul Ryan and his political stances.Rather, these examples take the initial carefree salutation of “Hey Girl” and follow it with thinly veiled reproaches of the politician.
These memes are certainly humorous and entertaining but due to their popularity and speedy dissemination through social media sites they can far too easily become viewed as fact rather than amusing parody. This phenomenon is by no means unique to memes. This readiness to believe or want to believe in the oversimplified versions of political figures and their policies are common in political satire television shows, websites, Twitter, and Tumblr accounts. It is not a crime. Perhaps it’s not even such a bad thing. But these accounts should be looked upon as a source of hilarity and fun and encourage us to learn more about the issues and people at hand. Even if the facts don’t come with a silly picture or mocking commentary.