A friend of mine posted this image in our friend discord server.
Another friend of mine responded to it "rage era was a cancer and a blight."
And I decided that 8am on a sunday morning was a perfect time to write a mini-essay on my opinions on meme history and so I've decided to share it here with you guys. I'm not sorry.
The rage era might have eventually metastasized into cancer, as it was the era when memes entered the mainstream (which is why I believe the rage era is looked back upon with such disdain nowadays), but when it began it was a memetic movement that was sincere and whimsical. Rage comics, like all memes, began on 4chan- and when they did begin, they were like classic offensive and crude 4chan memes. Project Chanology (4chan's big protest and actions against Scientology) began in 2008, which the rage era of memes beginning shortly after. Not to mention the iPhone and smartphones came out in 2007, putting internet access into the pockets and making it more accessible to normies. Chanology brought a lot of newfags to 4chan and sort of began 4chan's entrance into widespread internet and cultural knowledge and out of pure obscurity. This, I believe, is why Rage Comics became the cancerous blight that they did. Rage comics were on 4chan, being normal vulgar 4chan memes, but then the normies and newfags arrived as a consequence of chanology, and in their foolish fervor to embrace the soopr sekrit klub of 4chan, embraced rage comics and cross-pollinated them to normie spheres.
Sure, rage comics might have been cringe at times, but they were sincere and fun and whimsical like humor should be. This sincerity and whimsy carried over somewhat into the dank era, which was a transitional time for memes. Irony really began with the surreal era as we know and only got worse as time went on leading to irony being the dominant emotion present within memes and meme culture to this day. And I believe irony became the dominant force in meme culture as a reaction to the whimsy of memes being taken over by the normies. In order to keep memes pure and non-normie friendly, they delved too deep, too ironically, into surrealism and irony as a sort of cultural immune system against normie incursion. Your boomer parents aren't going to post a deep fried surreal meme that doesn't make any fucking sense to anyone but internet retards, but they might post a rage comic.
And in recent meme history, particularly with the rise of schizo-posting, rage comics have had a sort of comeback but as surreal and ironic memes. See all the memes with trollface being a cannibalistic murderous schizo. This is perfectly illustrative of the general history of memes on the internet, from whimsy to surreal irony. This could also be seen as a reflection of modern culture as well. The early 2000's were a time of kind of weird optimism and sincerity with the excitement of the new frontier of the internet, like with the aesthetic of frutiger aero being one with bright colors, nature, and a cool, bright sleek future to now where the dominant aesthetic is largely flat, colorless and corporate.
In conclusion, rage comics were originally like any other 4chan meme (e.g. sincere, whimsical, funny and good [as far as 4chan memes can be]), but the coincidence that they became a thing right around the same time as smartphones and chanology is what lead to their inevitable shittification at the hands of normies and memes were all downhill from there. Rage comics can be seen as sort of analog or representation of the overall cultural cycle of the internet, from fun and whimsy, to mainstream popularity, to the final resting place of culture, surrealism and irony.
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How do you feel about Dungeon Meshi (i think i spelt that right) getting more popular? I feel like i’ve only seen u post about it but now its popping up a lot more on my twt / tiktok
Mixed feelings! Glad it has an anime now and that ppl are enjoying it, because its really good!
I myself think its annoying when ppl are like "im gatekeeping x media bc its important to me 😡" so thats not how I feel on the other end. It has impacted lots of ppl so if it can get a bigger reach and impact more, thats good. ^_^
if i did not have the time or energy or resources to read it, I would've hated feeling alienated just bc it became a favorite media of mine after the anime came out
Its more like. Idk.
I know ppl who hope it gets Bigger for more official merch but I just don't want it to get Embarrassing ykwim.
I need it to not get so popular that in a few years I'm hiding the volumes from my shelf because its an embarrassing, beat to death thing thats present in every store, backpack, socks, sweater that looks like characters clothing, funko pops, etc. something i cant even enjoy anymore bc its been wrung dry and overexposed and misinterpreted, "of course u like it EVERYONE likes it!" and now I'm tired of it, and wouldn't want ppl to associate me with it LOL 🧿🧿🧿
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me: colin morgan? the scarf one from merlin?? nah what a—- [i trip][hundreds of photos of 2012 colin morgan in a blue chequered shirt spill out of my pockets] w-what a ridiculous idea haha these aren’t mine im just [gathering them up frantically sweating] listen alright i might have watched a series or two but it's not like i- alright just- listen—-[thousands more pictures of colin scatter across the floor as I shuffle about on my knees] shit fcuk im just holding them for a friend just listen okay
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The rotation of Christmas music that plays in the store I work at includes the following:
Any version of “Last Christmas” you could think of and then some, EXCEPT Wham’s
Various people trying to come up with weird new verses to “Jingle Bells”
Joey Ramone’s cover of “What a Wonderful World”
This one cover of “Do You Want To Build a Snowman” that’s sung in like. That specific really breathy way that pop singers do Christmas songs sometimes y’know?
The song from the Victorious Christmas episode
Three songs from the Phineas and Ferb Christmas special
“I Have a Dream” by ABBA except not the ABBA version
- DO YOU REMEMBER THE 25TH NIGHT OF DECEMBER
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