The article The Curious Case of Pepe the Frog: On the Ontology and Value of Internet Memes by Anthony Cross speaks of how a common frog meme became popularized and ended up being used to promote the ideas of white supremacy. The article begins by explaining how former President Trump used Pepe the Frog to pass across a message that was interpreted negatively. The meme had already been used in various instances to promote white supremacist ideas (Cross, 2017, para. 2). Therefore, when the former president used it, it showed that he was in support of white supremacy ideas. The meme was known for being a hate symbol because of its previous uses. No single individual can claim to be the author of a specific meme. Often, a meme receives meaning from the way that different individuals use it over time, even as it also affects the actions of a specific community. They end up being thematic templates within the community being used. The paper further summarizes the main points of the article and shows its relation to one of the screenings.
After Pepe the Frog meme has been used to show negativity for a long time, several individuals have come up with a movement to rehabilitate the meme, using the hashtag #savepepe (Cross, 2017, para. 25). However, rehabilitating the meme will be difficult if individuals continue to share negative ideas concerning the meme. The article acts as proof of the fact that media plays a crucial role in promoting certain ideologies, in this case, white supremacy ideas. Media offered a platform for the sharing of the meme, and many individuals preferred to associate negativity with the meme. Media offers a platform for expression, and individuals are often not limited to what they can say. Therefore, it is common for certain topics to take a course of their own as promoted by the ideas that the majority share concerning them. This is the case for Pepe the Frog meme. Since many individuals have used it to promote racist ideas, the ideas have become the norm whenever individuals see the meme.
A different video that reviews Beyonce’s song shows the same concepts. Beyonce has a song where she states that her heritage is black, and individuals from different races have had different reactions concerning the song (Saturday Night Live, 2016, 0:24-0:44). From this film, black individuals did not have any problem with the video, whereas white individuals seemed unhappy and perplexed. The video shows that there was chaos in areas where white individuals were since they least expected Beyonce to identify with black individuals. Like the article, the video acts as proof that media plays an essential role in promoting certain ideologies concerning racial disparity. It centers on the fact that Beyonce’s declaration of her black heritage brought about chaos in society rather than looking at how individuals would have appreciated her black heritage. Beyonce’s song was linked to movements such as the black lives matter, which is seen as a negative movement in many places.
The song also relates to the article by showing that an original author of a specific concept is not in control of the interpretations that individuals have concerning what they have produced. In the article, the Pepe meme frog has been reproduced and used on many different occasions to show negativity to the extent that some individuals are trying to rehabilitate it. In the screening, Beyonce does not have control over the interpretation of the song. The public sees it as a way of promoting racial disparity instead of appreciating one’s heritage, and this is what the video is centered around. In conclusion, both the article and the screening act as proof that media promotes certain ideologies that are beyond the control of an individual who initially produces specific content. The article shows how media has been used to promote the idea that the Pepe Frog meme encourages white supremacy. The screening shows how the public has interpreted Beyonce’s song such that they see it as an encouragement of the existing disparity between different races.
References
Cross, A. (2017). The curious case of Pepe the Frog: On the ontology and value of internet memes. Aesthetics for Birds. https://aestheticsforbirds.com/2017/01/26/the-curious-case-of-pepe-the-frog-by-anthony-cross/
Saturday Night Live. (2016). “The Day Beyonce Turned Black” – SNL. [Video]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ociMBfkDG1w
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