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2
Tenpoundbass
2025 Jan 13, 2:48pm
Tenpoundbass
2025 Jan 13, 2:48pm
There are two kinds of memes.
The early memes were just whacky out there images. Sometimes accompanied by an unrelated statement, that somehow humorously matched the image.
The newer memes only seem to work, when they are images and statements that goes against the official narrative.
Especially any political ideology that does not hold up to reality. Memes work on the side of truth. Propaganda posters aren't memes.
Had America had Memes in the 50's and 60's, we could have avoided 50 years of the Cold War.
Notice the media has never once called, or referred to Memes as Propaganda. I think they intentionally never did so to avoid the debate on what are memes vs what is propaganda.
The early memes were just whacky out there images. Sometimes accompanied by an unrelated statement, that somehow humorously matched the image.
The newer memes only seem to work, when they are images and statements that goes against the official narrative.
Especially any political ideology that does not hold up to reality. Memes work on the side of truth. Propaganda posters aren't memes.
Had America had Memes in the 50's and 60's, we could have avoided 50 years of the Cold War.
Notice the media has never once called, or referred to Memes as Propaganda. I think they intentionally never did so to avoid the debate on what are memes vs what is propaganda.
3
Ingrid
2025 Jan 13, 3:57pm
My favorites are those with animals. But I prefer to read the news in memes. They are usually way closer to the truth than the news!
4
Patrick
2025 Jan 13, 4:03pm
Patrick
2025 Jan 13, 4:03pm
HeadSet says
Tenpoundbass says
Yes, exactly. The Pfizer-government-TV complex lies to us over and over, and memes mock their lies.
It seems to me that every good meme exposes a falsehood.
Tenpoundbass says
The newer memes only seem to work, when they are images and statements that goes against the official narrative.
Yes, exactly. The Pfizer-government-TV complex lies to us over and over, and memes mock their lies.
5
Ceffer
2025 Jan 13, 4:03pm
Ceffer
2025 Jan 13, 4:03pm
They disrupt cognitive dissonance by appealing to basic comparative logic, not just humor. They are capsule parables, comparisons and homilies.
Part of the irony is that they use a selected group of established media images that were originally embedded for the opposite purposes of brainwashing us in some manner, so they use the bait but not the hook. They are designed to reverse the psyops that were put out there to lull and deceive us to begin with. Switcheroos.
Part of the irony is that they use a selected group of established media images that were originally embedded for the opposite purposes of brainwashing us in some manner, so they use the bait but not the hook. They are designed to reverse the psyops that were put out there to lull and deceive us to begin with. Switcheroos.
6
Patrick
2025 Jan 13, 4:05pm
Patrick
2025 Jan 13, 4:05pm
Tenpoundbass says
Right, propaganda just fails as memes, because lies just aren't funny. There is no tension there, just more of the same old Pfizer-government-TV bullshit.
Memes work on the side of truth. Propaganda posters aren't memes.
Right, propaganda just fails as memes, because lies just aren't funny. There is no tension there, just more of the same old Pfizer-government-TV bullshit.
7
Patrick
2025 Jan 13, 4:06pm
Patrick
2025 Jan 13, 4:06pm
Ingrid says
Right, I get my news mostly from memes these days, because the lies are so continuous and so outrageous that all you need to do is read the memes to know what they are lying about now, and what the truth really is.
But I prefer to read the news in memes. They are usually way closer to the truth than the news!
Right, I get my news mostly from memes these days, because the lies are so continuous and so outrageous that all you need to do is read the memes to know what they are lying about now, and what the truth really is.
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Patrick
2025 Jan 13, 4:09pm
Patrick
2025 Jan 13, 4:09pm
Ceffer says
Great point. A great meme breaks through the cog-diss. That's what makes the meme in the OP above so great, and that's exactly why the White House demanded that it be removed from all social media.
Ceffer says
Yes, we get familiar with the lies in the media and the associated images, so that makes the creative re-use of the images very powerful.
They disrupt cognitive dissonance by appealing to basic comparative logic
Great point. A great meme breaks through the cog-diss. That's what makes the meme in the OP above so great, and that's exactly why the White House demanded that it be removed from all social media.
Ceffer says
they use a selected group of established media images that were originally embedded for the opposite purposes of brainwashing us in some manner, so they use the bait but not the hook. They are designed to reverse the psyops
Yes, we get familiar with the lies in the media and the associated images, so that makes the creative re-use of the images very powerful.
1. Tension is the spring which powers humor.
There has to be some tension which gets released as laughter for any meme to be funny. It's usually the tension of knowing you're not "supposed to" laugh because it's "inappropriate" or just because you know that the people in power are hiding something.
Example: In the meme below about the death jabs, you know we were all told ad nauseum how "safe" the death jabs supposedly were. The truth is that they frequently cause horrifying injuries and death, so there is tension between what we are supposed to believe as dictated by the TV, and the truth that we're not supposed to speak.
2. A sudden shift of perspective releases the tension in the spring
A lot of humor is in suddenly understanding something from a different angle. In this meme, it's in suddenly seeing the familiar class-action lawsuit ads on TV, but now for the death jabs which were told were so, so, so safe, safest thing ever...
3. Tacit cultural knowledge sets the scene
Tons of background cultural knowledge can be communicated in a single image if we are familiar with it. A lot of people know the movie that meme image is from, and they know the American cultural stereotype of a guy with a beer and a cigarette watching TV, and the idea of "I told you so" when watching TV. So all of that sets up the context for suddenly being told that the death jabs were actually not safe after all.
What else makes for funny memes with good points?