When Donald Trump was sworn-in that dreaded Friday, social media platforms were awash with memes. And these memes were hilarious. Admittedly, it seems almost perverse to laugh on such a grim occasion. Yet, the eruption of online jokes was not something unique to the inauguration — the internet has repeatedly demonstrated its propensity to convert tragedy to comedy. Still, the phenomenon triggered several questions in my head. Why are we laughing? Is it wrong to laugh? Worse, is it dangerous?
Baby-boomers are always eager to chastise us Millennials for our (supposed) flippancy towards serious topics. To them, parody is a symptom of immaturity. Yet, comic relief does not always trivialize its subject matter. While memes may exaggerate the truth (e.g., “alternative facts,” ha-ha), they must also retain a sliver of realism to be effective. As a result, memes can be conducive to the critical analysis of a topic. For instance, “fake news” — Trump’s childish retort to the CNN reporter — was promptly appropriated by Twitter users. These responses are not only an affront to Trump’s inferior intellect but they also underscore the hollowness of his rhetoric. Repeated online like a mantra, “fake news” is a glaring reminder of how coarse and ill-qualified Trump is as a leader. At the same time, the internet is a merciless arena. Part of the memes’ entertainment value arises from how unapologetically cruel they are.
More than a coping mechanism, laugher disarms the threat at hand. We empower ourselves when we transmute pain into pleasure. It’s simply the act of turning something unpalatable into something easier to swallow. Humour dissolves fear and gives us the clarity needed to grapple with hardships. Moreover, it takes bravery to ridicule authority. To laugh is to declare that you are impervious to the oppressive force. Laughter demonstrates fortitude amid turmoil.
The genius of memes stems not from the quality of their subject matter but their potential for repetition. The anatomy of a viral joke is simple. A successful meme is one whose meaning is immediately clear and doesn’t require specialized knowledge to decipher. Also, it must faithfully distill its topic while making an impression on the audience – one salient enough to urge them to share it. This prolific quality of memes makes them a fearsome rival to Trump’s wide-spreading poison.
Trump’s victory continues to be surreal and horrifying. His leadership is something that eludes comprehension and it should stay that way. In fact, the perils of “normalizing Trump” has been parroted throughout many social media platforms already. Perhaps such an abnormal event requires an equally abnormal coping strategy. Certainly, we cannot laugh away racism, xenophobia, misogyny, or homophobia. However, we must remember that a defeatist attitude emboldens Trump’s movement and his followers. Thus, these memes deliver more than just catharsis. In addition to consoling us, they demand us to examine the pitfalls of commonly-accepted information. We may have to swallow the Trump presidency whole, but perhaps washing it down with mild optimism will reduce the aftertaste.