Journal 17 - Truth is a Virus

Robert Zhu

ASA4 A01

In Truth is a Virus, Boyd talks about the power of meme warfare and it’s influence on a population. I am familiar with meme’s prior to this article because they are all over social media, but the article made me realize that meme’s are more than just a joke. In meme’s all there needs to be is a description and a picture what it is referencing to - whether it is the truth or not. I find that this can be a problem politically because it can sort of twist the words or ideas of the picture it is representing. This “joke” can spread very fast and become popularized with different versions of the meme which then becomes the new truth. There is even a UC Davis Meme page on facebook and I have come to realized that a significant amount of meme’s posted has pictures of politicians and it does have an effect on how I perceive the person. For example, if the meme on a specific person has descriptions related to examinations and the college life, it would slightly change how I see the person whether positively or negatively.

Journal Entry #17: Boyd & Dominguez

                The reading, “Truth is a Virus: Meme Warfare and the Billionaires for Bush (or Gore),” by Andrew Boyd seemed very relevant for the contemporary issues the world is facing right now. Memes have become a source of cultural resistance, and their influence is continuously growing in social media. Because these messages are brought onto social media platforms, such as Facebook or Twitter, the general public might seek out to learn more about what is occurring within the political sphere. It is a comedic form of cultural resistance, and because these memes are so silly they resonate with so many people around the world. Now although they might spread awareness, memes also fail to tackle the issue at hand, which is huge prevalent issues that are being either minimized or dismissed altogether. They are humorous, but in the same dynamic, they fail to acknowledge the weight of the problem. To see that Donald Trump holds the most significant seat in America, with no experience, morals, or sympathy, is extremely troubling to people, especially marginalized communities. However, these memes attack his strange orange skin color, and bad, fake hair, and his funny but intelligent way to speaking during his speeches, but the fact that this racist, sexist, and ignorant man has been elected to be the leader of the free world is insane. These memes might spread a certain amount of awareness, but their extent of effectiveness stops right about there, and these real issues are not resolved in any way. The reading, “Electronic Disturbance,” by Ricardo Dominguez actually acknowledges this issue, and urges for more activism and a proactive approach through the mainstream social media and the huge platform it provides. As time goes on, social media is growing more and more, Dominguez believes that electronic activism can actually allow for some change in social, political, and economic spheres.  

Journal Entry #16: Le

            The short story by Nam Le, “Love and Honour and Pity and Pride and Compassion and Sacrifice,” was very interesting in that it was not only a darker mood, but it also resonated with me when thinking about my own relationship with my father. Because many of our parents choose to deal with their children through a much more harsh, or strict, discipline, there is sometimes a type of resentment that builds up. Because this resentment develops, a lot of children distance themselves from their family as they grow into their adult lives. In hindsight, this is not the best timing seeing as once the children have matured into their adult lives, their parents are obviously much older, and unfortunately there is not as much time left. And so, once children do return for the sake of time, there is a clear divide between the parent and the child. Neither share common thoughts or feelings about most things, and it is rather unfortunate. At the end of the story the father and son reunite and become more close, but this ending does not seem practical or realistic for most children. In my case, my elders will always hold onto their ideals, as narrow as they might be, and will always find the need to impose them onto me and my way of life. This will always be present in my relationship with my elders, and maybe at the last minute, when it is too late really, certain dislikes might dissipate and we might become closer. But until then, there will always be a certain amunt of distance. 

Journal Entry #15: Fiske & Jordan

             John Fiske’s writing, “Shopping for Pleasure,” offered a different perspective in that shopping centers serve as spaces for women to resist against their expected roles which have been formed by cultural pressures.  Although he has made a good argument, I find it hard to believe that these shopping centers do not hold women back at the same time, in several ways. By continuing to shop in these shopping centers, women perpetuate the cycle of capitalism and neoliberalism, and the hegemonic power is therefore reinforced. Now although these shopping adventures serve to release some of the tension from their lives, the act of shopping at these malls does not appear to be all that effective. The one positive result, or benefit, from this act of women shopping in these malls for “retail therapy,” as one might say, is that these women feel a sense of relief, and the shopping essentially is their way to vent their frustrations about their lives. This reminds me of that previous reading about small acts of resistance, and although I agree with the argument that large rebellions against the dominant group might be futile, these small acts of resistance do not seem to stand in comparison to the larger picture of forces at play. John Jordan’s writing, “Art of Necessity,” kind of fit into this whole thought process for me as well. This is because the DIY protest group, Reclaim the Streets, also takes part in relatively small acts of resistance, but they seem to be accumulating a more effective result than the women resorting to shopping as an outlet from their oppressive, cultural roles. It was a bit of a difficult reading compared to Fiske’s writing.

"Truth is a Virus" & "Electronic Disturbance"

The usage of memes in ideological warfare is a relatively new concept that has taken the media and internet by storm. Using memes to spread ideas and concepts through the internet at a rapid rate allows for political agendas and other ideas to quickly come into view of everyone who views it, as it is easy to understand and comprehend for the most part. I think that memes do indeed play a huge role in the political atmosphere of today because movements and campaign can make memes to spread their ideas to a large audience, possibly luring people into their cause. The prevalence of memes has certainly increased with the continuing opposition to the political decisions and other movements globally. Misinformation in the memes can also lead to widespread misunderstanding of certain ideas and facts, making them more important than they appear as some people may use them as actual facts and be mislead.

The electronic disturbances used on the different platforms show the its overall purpose of sending subliminal/nonsubliminal messages to the audience in order to achieve its purpose. The agendas and propaganda that can be spread using these such interference show how easy it is to spread ideas in this day and age as social platforms are one click away on the internet compared to way back in the day when such actions required a lot of man power and effort to achieve. With social media outlets, such as Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram, such agendas and interference can be done easily as everyone can view it whether they want to or not. I think that this is already being done through the memes and subliminal messaging done through social media that almost everyone digests daily.

Andrew's presentation gave me insight into the world of writers and the Asian American representation in American literature. The stereotyping of such writers shows how difficult it is for Asian Americans to be successful in the literature world. Either writing about their experience , a cliche, or writing about Asian literature is something that is a double-edged sword as it shows how typical it is for them to write about themselves and their culture rather than writing about something more interesting. I think that it is also a fascinating point that Andrew brought up about how diverse non-white television shows are usually centered on the families because it gives the Caucasian audience a chance to see how life is like in different families of different colors.

Journal Entry #14: Merchants of Cool

          The documentary “Merchants of Cool” made complete sense to me because it broke down how various industries specifically market to the teenage demographic in strong and relevant ways. There’s a notion of popularity mixed into the situation, because whatever item was “in” at the time would determine if someone was cool enough within groups of kids. If you did not have access to that item, your popularity, or lack of, was automatically determined. I specifically remember as a middle schooler basically dying for a JanSport backpack because I knew all the cool kids wore the JanSport backpacks that were only one solid color. Of course, I never asked my parents knowing they would not waste the money for something as stupid as a cool backpack. Instead, I had this regular backpack that was probably half the price of the JanSport bag. I used to be really upset about it, but a short time later I realized how materialistically dumb I was being, and in hindsight, I am glad I never got the backpack. It is hard to think that these types of things will not matter when you get older, because as a kid these things consume your whole social life almost, but here I am in college, using what $10 bag I find at Target in the clearance section, and I honestly could care less. 

Media virus

As we have discussed earlier in this class, cultural resistance today can take many different forms. Also, due to the vast access and dispersion possible from the internet, there are so many more ways to impact culture. In the reading by Andrew Boyd, discussed his concepts of “media viruses” and the forms they take such as memes. There are quite a few interesting thoughts about how “media viruses” are able to tackle major issues in a potentially more subtle or indirect manor. While the media and internet can be used to spark cultural resistance, and spread knowledge of these issues, I think that the passive nature of the internet fails to convey the weight of the problem. Take his example of memes. While memes can be used to spark the desired interest, the connotation behind memes are playful and short lived. I do not think this is the best way to organize cultural resistance. I am not saying this cannot be an effect way of everyday resistance, but memes often fail to convey deeper meaning. They are meant for a quick laugh and a share but don’t often elicit further thinking. However, the author does talk about how these forms of resistance are staring points and can take off from there. I do agree that these forms of virtual media can be starting points but need cultivation and effort for them to grow into something more meaningful.