Zipes and "Memes"

[Zoe Ullman Nagel]

Well I just wrote my whole blog post, thought I pressed post, but I
must have pressed something wrong and my whole post just disappeared.
Please excuse the quality of this blog post because it's not going to
be nearly as good as my original.

A meme, in my understanding of it, is any sort of text that gets
passed along because of its cultural and social relevance and
significance. Zipes uses "The Frog Prince" in its various forms as an
example of a meme because for one, it's been around for hundreds of
years and yet continues to be a story we retell and reshape to make up-
to-date with our current values. Childrens' versions emphasize the
values of independence, individuality, and finding one's identity
while adults' versions continue to focus on the sexual selection
aspect, guiding us in the various methods of finding a mate, an
evolutionary reading of the story.

One current-day example is youtube. "Viral" videos are frequently
found on youtube, gaining upwards of millions of hits and then being
shown through other outlets such as TV, Facebook, Twitter, etc.
Technology has obviously helped advance the passing along of memes.
One specific example is this recent video filmed on Vanderbilt's
campus that kind of pokes fun at greek life. I literally watched as
this video was linked to over and over by different people, even
alumni, and posted on people's walls because of its cultural relevance
to Vanderbilt students specifically. I know that I've used some of the
phrases said in the video thousands of times in my life.

A more sad meme is this horror story that my friend passed along to me
the other day. This girl in Chicago was out at a bar when she met this
cute guy who said he went to a prestiged school. He offered to walk
her home, where she then invited him in for drinks. He then brutally
raped and beat her. The transmission of this story is that the girl
who this happened to is living in Chicago and is a friend of this girl
from Kansas City. The Kansas City girl e-mailed the story to her
family and friends, and one of her sisters who she e-mailed the story
to is friends with my friend. My friend then e-mailed the story to me
and the rest of my friends, and we, in turn, have passed it along to
our friends all over the country. I can't tell you how many horror
stories I've been told about people my age dying from driving
accidents (involving drinking, drugs, texting, etc.) or alcohol
poisoning, etc. These horror stories become memes because they're
meant to scare us from doing these things. They're supposed to
essentially teach us something valuable, which The Frog Prince is also
meant to do, which is why they become memes in the first place.

Lastly, I just commented on how when I google the word "meme," several
interesting sites came up, including "The Daily Meme" and this other
site that's more devoted to pop culture memes, so things having to do
with celebrities, catchphrases, etc. So again, this kind of just shows
how the memes of my generation are very dependent on technology
because we live in this era of technological advancement, where a
major source for where we get our information comes from outlets such
as Facebook, Twitter, online news, and more.

[Robert Snook]

While most young people around college or high school age have heard of the term "meme," it is most likely in reference to a photo with some associated text that they found on the internet. Jack Zipes presents a much more nuanced definition (or at least an attempt at a comprehensive definition) in his essay "What Makes a Repulsive Frog So Appealing: Memetics and Fairy Tales." Zipes references Richard Dawkins' proposal that "most any cultural artifact can become a meme" and that a "meme is not eternal and that it cannot endure outside systems of cultural evolution." Zipes believes "The Frog Prince" has become a meme because humans are attracted to memes that will assist them in reproducing their genes and certain aspects of their culture. While different aspects of the tale may appeal to different age groups, it has appeal because it addresses certain aspects of human behavior. Additionally, the development of the printing press helped facilitate the reproduction of these memes and allowed them to be spread. 

Similar to the importance Zipes attributes to the printing press and the printed word in the spread of cultural memes, modern technology has led to a rapid rise in the spread of memes throughout the US and the world. Radio, television, and, most importantly, the internet have connected individuals across the world at a level never seen in the rest of human history. Stories and cultural jokes can spread in a matter or hours or even minutes. As Zoe mentioned, viral videos, especially those that individuals can relate to, are spread with the help of Facebook and Youtube. Additionally, dozens if not hundreds of internet memes have developed that make jokes about a cultural phenomenon. One example is that of the "lazy college senior" (link to a selection of the meme: http://www.quickmeme.com/Lazy-College-Senior/ ). This meme is relatively simple as it only involves a photo of someone who looks around the age of a college senior and then text that is similar to what a college senior would say (example: "Paper should be 5-8 pages long. 5 pages it is."). While much shorter and with less of a social goal than the fairy tale memes, these memes seek to make a joke of a common cultural phenomenon that most in America can relate to. In the past decade, the advent of the internet has helped to make memes a part of daily life for many Americans. 

[Mary Elizabeth Gambke]

I think both Zoe and Robbie did a great job of identifying Jack Zipes’
definition of a meme. Essentially a meme is a “cultural artifact” that
is relevant, viral and also memorable. According to Zipes memes are
deeply embedded in our minds and culture and that is the reason we
spread them. I think it is interesting that certain fairy tales are
considered memes, but currently we think of memes more as a photo with
witty text as Robbie stated or an internet video.

As Zoe pointed out, Zipes uses “The Frog Prince” as an example of a
fairy tale meme because it has been around for hundreds of years and
is culturally relevant due to specific values that are applicable to
both adults and children. In addition, this particular fairy tale has
taken various forms since the Grimms’ version of it. In class on
Tuesday our group even pointed out how odd we felt the Grimms’ version
was compared to the version we know today, particularly the part where
the princess throws the frog against the wall as hard as she can and
has zero repercussion for her actions, except of course to live
happily ever after with the frog prince in his kingdom. Today we
usually think of the story where the princess kisses the frog that
turns into a princess or of Disney’s version, The Princess and the
Frog. However, as Zipes states “not every fairy tale is a meme or can
be a meme.” A fairy tale that I do believe can be considered a meme is
Little Red Cap. As discussed in class previously, this particular tale
has taken many forms since the Grimms’ version and the lessons that
can be taken from it are still relevant today.

From Zipes’ explanation of a meme, I was drawn to the statement “we
tend to spread them almost as if they were viruses.” This immediately
reminded me of viral online videos. These videos are often absurd,
outrageous, sometimes inappropriate and spread like wildfire through
the online community via various forms of social media. Some popular
ones that come to mind are the various versions of the Old Spice Man
that have been posted on youtube because of video responses to the
original commercial and as Zoe touched on the Shit _____ Say videos on
youtube.

In addition, modern day memes are also used to raise awareness about
certain issues. Recently there have been an overwhelming amount of
reports of teens committing suicide due to bullying. There have been
several viral videos circling the web in response trying to help
prevent future suicides. One video was created by students at
Quinnipiac University titled “100 Reasons to Stay” that was shared
through Facebook, Twitter, celebrity blogs etc. to help those dealing
with depression and suicidal thoughts. The “It Gets Better Project”
has millions of hits and also features thousands of videos, many by
celebrities, which remind teenagers of the LGBT community that they
are not alone and that love and happiness can be a reality in their
future.

Also, I am not sure if this was created by someone in our class or if
it was a coincidence but yesterday someone created a page on Facebook
called Vandy Memes featuring a photo with text relating to life at
Vanderbilt. Many of them are pretty funny, my favorite right now says
“Oh you never miss your Friday 8am? You must not know what Tin Roof
is.” But hey, who has class on Fridays anyway?

[Huntley Lewis]

The previous posts have effectively captured the meaning of ‘meme’ according to Zipes’ “What Makes a Repulsive Frog so Appealing: Memetics and Fairy Tales.” Additionally, my colleagues provide ample evidence that modern day memes often occur via the internet, usually through video media, and then pervade other media after becoming “viral.” I will attempt to explain Zipes’ definition of meme as well as draw modern comparisons as much as possible without being repetitive.

 

Zipes introduces the concept of meme and its impact on cultural evolution through the analogy of a gene and its subsequent impact on the physical evolution of humans. According to common evolutionary theory, genes which have mutated into giving their holders an evolutionary advantage continue to get passed down through reproduction, ultimately turning into common advantageous traits. In much the same way, a meme is a cultural tool or idea that provides a cultural advantage to those who posses it. Because of its advantageous nature, humans are prone to spreading the meme both through practice as well as continuation of the tool or idea. Zipes asserts that some fairy tales, such as “The Frog Prince,” provide such a cultural advantage, explaining both the popularity and continuations of the tale as well as common social practice of the idea presented in these memetic fairy tales.  

 

I think the most apparent meme in today’s culture is Facebook. Facebook was originally invented with the idea of creating an online network of people and their lives as well as an effective way of managing that network. It can be argued that enhancing one’s network as much as possible increases opportunities to obtain employment, seek and rate possible mates, and advertise desirable characteristics about one’s self. From my perspective, all of these things provide a cultural advantage to many people from different cultures. Because of this and the fact that Facebook and its relative concepts now pervade all other types of media, Facebook can be considered a meme of modern day culture. Intriguingly, Facebook also serves as launching point for other memes in today’s culture such as the YouTube videos and other viral media which my group members highlighted.

 

Zipes’ concept of memetics and the role of fairy tales within that concept remains an interesting and applicable outlook to cultural evolution. By applying this concept to modern day memes, we can more effectively observe and analyze the current state of today’s culture as well as attempt to predict the future of cultural evolution.

--
Huntley Lewis