Meme Memetic and Rhetoric Devices

This week I will be using memes 3, 4 and 10 from my sample list. 

This post will be focusing on the specific rhetoric and memetic techniques employed by the memes, the types of humor used and the way the beliefs and values impact the viral success. These memes present an aspect of dominant features of a culture where "Christian Problems" are portrayed in the context of a typical church service. These memes all focus on the use of physical human expressions to depict their church issues which then add to the understanding of how the creator of the meme feels about those issues. For example, the phrase "went to church, remembered to turn my cell phone on silent" would not mean much, but when paired with success baby, one can understand the meaning behind the sentence.  

That brings us to looking at the humor behind the memes and what makes the pictures paired with the sentences amusing. These memes all employ the use of whimsical and playful content in order to be seen as humorous. Mr. Bean himself is a popular meme because of the nature of his character; a goofy out of sorts man who doesn't take life seriously and usually doesn't react appropriately to situations. The facial expressions he uses are humorous by themselves, so the meme creator sought to combine an already humorous photo with a sentence that would bring out the humor of both the picture and the description, creating a kind of symbiotic relationship between the two. This brings out a joking and whimsical nature of the audience perceiving it and draws attention to the meme. The 4th meme also provokes emotion by the girls expression in conjunction with the sentence. The meme originated when a parent told her daughter she was taking her to Disneyworld, to which the girl responded with a confused look on her face. This internet sensation is known for the ironic response creating the humor of the face which is then paired with the confusion of worship group songs that no one knows creating a playful and whimsical meme. The 3rd meme as mentioned earlier, uses the success baby to illustrate their point. The success baby meme itself falls into the high arousal-"awe" category based on the fact that the meme revolves around a cute baby. The playfulness and whimsey however again come from the pairing of the picture and words. 

These humor devices definitely have an impact on the way their ideas are framed based on the ideas and the way they are portrayed. These types of Christian memes aim to unite the Christian culture by connecting them with situations they can all appreciate, but they also manage to do it in a way that is in line with their beliefs. For example, memes that use other forms of humor and arousal such as Superiority or Anger/Anxious stories could fall in a grey area as far as their humor among Christians. Some might think the memes were acceptable while others would argue they are not in best taste and could fall tarnish their reputation because their memes look no different than secular memes. By using playful and whimsical memes, Christian memes are able to join in the popular culture of meme making and provide a sense of community while at the same time keeping their humor separate from the world without it becoming too cheesy or watered down.