Meme I don't understand

[sabotabby]

Can someone explain to me the thing where you take a politician's face and make it into the Joker? Comme ça:



Or:



I feel like this is an incomprehensible political statement. I mean, the Joker is clearly Chaotic Evil while most politicians are Lawful Evil (like Nixon said, if the president does it, it's not a crime) and also, the Joker is, well. Cool. Also, probably unconcerned with politics, and certainly not a socialist. Does this make the person holding the sign Batman? Are we all aware of Batman's class privilege and problematic politics?

It makes less sense than Guy Fawkes as an icon of 21st century rebelliousness. At least there's a paper trail there.

Comments

[outcastspice.livejournal.com]

I also don't get it.

[sabotabby]

It's one of the many things that makes me feel old.

[ghostwes.livejournal.com]

They should use Green Arrow instead; I think he actually considers himself a socialist. Of course, Obama would look equally absurd wearing a Robin Hood mask.

[sabotabby]

They should also learn what socialism is.

[marlowe1.livejournal.com]

And definitely stop relying on Websters which follows both the Republican and Communist party lines by claiming that it's a half step away from Communism.

[sabotabby]

Careful, or they'll retaliate with a bolded pronunciation guide.

[silmaril.livejournal.com]

You ask too much. I mean, there's that poisonous word there. It's horrible, you should be ashamed of yourself for using it where children can read.

(Not the "s" word, the "l" word.)

[marlowe1.livejournal.com]

I was just in a discussion where someone called Ron Paul a Fascist and I pointed out that extreme libertarianism is the opposite of fascism. He replied by saying that rightwing libertarians ARE fascists.

I think my next response was unkind. The words "read some fucking Orwell" were definitely used.

Ron Paul would make a good joker...

[sabotabby]

I could maybe buy Ron Paul as Chaotic Evil. Maybe.

Need a good "read some fucking Orwell" macro for all political discussions.

[marlowe1.livejournal.com]

If I wasn't so thoroughly sick of the quotes + picture memes, I would make some Orwell ones - complete with quotes about how calling everything Fascist diminishes the word.

I also brought up the best version of this which was when I was at Hillel and one of the people hanging out went "I got to get to Hebrew class. Hate it. The teacher is a Nazi."

[sabotabby]

"I got to get to Hebrew class. Hate it. The teacher is a Nazi."

In that case, I would assume that the person was being intentionally hilarious. Maybe I just have too much faith in humanity.

[marlowe1.livejournal.com]

Of course, that's second on the list of really dumb things that I remember years later. The first is still "I don't understand. If a woman puts a restraining order on you, why does she still expect child support?"

I assume that this guy was never going to compare himself to a knight.

[fengi.livejournal.com]

With Obama, the macro arose because the movie was popular at the time BUT also a way to indulge racist/feminizing imagery (whiteface and lipstick) without being called on it. "Whatever do you mean, it's the Joker. Are you saying the Joker is racist?"

[sabotabby]

Ah. I guess that makes a kind of sense that doesn't.

[akisawana.livejournal.com]

I would go with because the Joker was completely removed from any sort of logic and there was no form of dealing with him, his metaphorical forest had to be burned down. Also he stole a large pile of money and set it on fire, then set two groups of people against each other. So these politicans are absolutley unreasonable, with different wants than normal people, who cannot be predicted or trusted, who play groups of people off for chaos and votes, and who taint ideas by the very act of uttering them.

But I like the one about the whiteface/feminizing better. That doesn't require having actually seen the movie.

[sabotabby]

Oh, that's—startlingly complex. I wonder if that's actually it.

[the_axel]

There's a wikipedia article about the Obama image...

I'd guess the Harper image is just a good old fashioned Canadians jump on the American bandwagon.

[sabotabby]

Wow, does the far-right know that it was 'shopped by a Palestinian? That's fantastic.

[the_axel]

That would imply they had knowledge!

[symbioid.livejournal.com]

And of course you know who was all over that, right?

our favorite conspiramonger...


Also, Harper? Really? I mean, it's just so stupid, even when it comes from "my" side.

[marlowe1.livejournal.com]

Wow. Is he purposefully trying to emulate Rush Limbaugh?

[sabotabby]

Alex Jones should always wear Joker makeup. It makes him 10 times more hilarious.