Jessica Lyne
ENG1020
Mr. Landreville
14 September 2014
Memes
Internet memes have taken over social media. It’s nearly impossible to log into Facebook or scroll through your Twitter feed without seeing numerous of these comedic pictures. Internet memes have become a popular form of discourse and formed their own genre of communication.
Why are these little pictures so popular? Perhaps they are a form of comedic relief for people, just something short and simple to put a smile on their face. However, it has been argued that these seemingly harmless pictures give way to racism and other social discrepancies in society.
Internet memes can be harmful and often attack a person’s way of life and beliefs.
To understand internet memes we must explore how they are set up. Memes typically consist of a picture with a few words at the top, and a punch line at the bottom. They are usually very short in nature consisting of only a few words. This plays a large role in their appeal. If memes were sentences or paragraphs long people probably wouldn’t take the time to read them and they would not have become the popular sensation they are now.
The subgenre of a meme plays a vital role in how a meme is setup. For example, a common subgenre of memes is “Bad Luck Brian.” The setup for this meme is unique from others. The “Bad Luck Brian” meme features a picture of a nerdy looking preteen boy with s large, goofy smile on his face. This is a real yearbook photo of a boy that someone uploaded

when creating the first “Bad Luck Brian” meme. This picture plays a significant role in how the meme is perceived by the audience. The awkward photo of this boy illustrates a person that definitely does not have good luck. In all of these memes there are a few words at the top of the picture describing something good or completely normal. Then at the bottom of the picture there are usually just one or two words of something that would be considered “bad luck” and are contradictory to the words above it. All of these “Bad Luck Brian” memes are setup in the same way and therefore, form their own subgenre of memes.
“Bad Luck Brian” is only one of the countless subgenres of memes. Another popular group is the “Kermit Drinking Tea” meme. This subgenre of memes is also set up in a way that sets it apart from other memes. In this particular subgenre, the top few words consist of Kermit calling something or someone out, and then at the bottom often stating “that’s none of my business tho.” In the middle there is a picture of Kermit from Sesame Street drinking Lipton tea.
Both of these features make the subgenre unique from others.
The fact that Kermit the frog is the main character in this subgenre plays a large role in the comedy of the meme. We usually associate Kermit with the children’s television show,
Sesame Street. It is very different to see Kermit as the star of these memes that often have crude

jokes. The children’s character playing a role in more adult humor provides comedic relief to the meme.
These memes seem harmless, right? However, there are many other memes that are seen as racist or sexist. One example is the subgenre “High Expectations Asian Father.” This entire subgenre of memes is based on the stereotype that Asian parents have unrealistically high expectations for their children. It is obvious, just from the title of these memes, they are racist.
This could offend people of different cultures that have to deal with this stereotype.
The meme that I created is part of the subgenre “Socially Awkward Penguin. “Socially
Awkward Penguin is an advice animal image macro series featuring a penguin lacking both social skills and self esteem.” (knowyourmeme.com) This meme is comedic and describes the adversities of social interaction. This “socially awkward penguin” cannot seem to interact with anyone without causing some kind of awkward outcome. This subgenre is set up in that the words at the top describe a normal occurrence, while the bottom describes an awkward

interaction. The middle of the meme consists of a picture of a penguin who, quite fittingly, looks very awkward. The penguin looks as though it is marching with its wings back. The original picture of this penguin was taken by nature photographer George F. Mobley for National
Geographic’s Wild Animals site (knowyourmeme.com). No matter who you are you have probably experienced some kind of awkward interaction in your life. This relatability is what makes the meme so funny and popular among people.
I personally chose this meme because it is one of my favorites. I experience awkward situations all the time it seems and I love reading though this subgenre of memes and realizing that I’m not alone. The meme that I created is actually an experience that happened to me and why I thought it would be a good choice. I believe that the relatability of the memes is what makes them comedic.
When creating my meme I followed the format of the “Awkward Penguin” subgenre. My first line consisted of a normal occurrence (buying a movie ticket) and the second line consisted of the awkward interaction. This formatting allows it to fit into the “Awkward Penguin” subgenre.

Memes seem to have been an overnight sensation. They are all over the internet and are now a part of our daily lives. They offer comedic relief in a time of hardship and relatability to practically everyone. These little pictures are now a common genre of discourse in our society.