In a world riven with hate, greed, slander and grudges, everybody loves to laugh.
Laughter boosts our mood with hormones called dopamine. It strengthens our relationships and sweeps us away from the troubles of life.
Hey, what's not to love?
Except when we look closer at what makes us laugh.
In this era of mass jumbling of information, we can openly laugh and mock other indirectly: through memes.
"What the heck is a meme?...And why am I in it?"
Thousands of 'ha-ha' reactions bubble into the screen. It is a post of a senile woman squinting at a monitor, confused at what is her own picture.
Men and women, cats, goats, babies, cartoons and especially celebrities, are often caricatured on social media for a good laugh.
Thus we see millennial pop culture. A creative twist to your mundane life, bringing casual chuckles or a minor epiphany.
As artistic plays on imagery in social media, concerned parties are questioning whether memes are corrupting our intelligence.
In a debate held by the Oxford Union, one side asserted that social media corrupts societ. They claim that social media trends (e.g. memes and GIFs) spur addiction and instant gratification in the your.
Yet the proponents of social media asserted that these media aid those battling with depression and anxiety. They say that people who are socially awkward and reserved can now reach out to the world without having to physically expose themselves.
But the most marking trend that the debaters missed was the meme phenomenon.
In any other era (e.g. Confucianist Korea), that meme of the old lady would be an atrocity. But today's culture allows for posts of memes with President Duterte, President Trump, Osama bin Laden, classical personas and even revered national art. Take this:
Remember the painting of babaylans burning anitos in a bonfire to herald Spanish-imported Christianity?
On Pinterest, the accent shifted to their bare bosoms and the Tagalog subtitles said: "This is the disaster that ensues when you lose your bra."
Do memes, a medium of mockery, topple societal structures and mutual respect?
Do they harbring a liberal, carefree world the ancients so craved for?
Or do they pique their targeted audience to finally address issues, to overthrow those outdated structures for new ones?
To a daily social media user, memes are often just good for you to chuckle on after a dragging day.
But for the memes with great political and social magnitude, activists can gain a vaster audience than ever before. These ideas gravitate to a bigger platform---and this can either be a benefit or a danger to society.
Amplified by social media, the potential of revolutions rise to a point unimaginable to any other point in history.
Ancient Filipinos tapered patriotic lyrics into kundiman love songs, hidden from Spanish censors.
Two thousand years ago, the Greeks and Romans layered social issues with mockery and symbolism, conspiring for change in regulated societies.
In the Dialogues of the Gods, a satire by Lucian, the Roman deity of mockery, Momus, says: "Well, all of you may have turned into earth and mere water---but I haven't."
Yes, you haven't, Momus. Sneak out the word while they're still laughing.
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