Decent piece. More angles:
1) Laser eyes means overlap of crypto & political culture.
2) The Chinese contribution is visual, not verbal. As with TikTok, visuals cross language boundaries.
3) The mainstream is now fully downstream. The internet goes first, politicians react last.
1) Laser eyes means overlap of crypto & political culture.
2) The Chinese contribution is visual, not verbal. As with TikTok, visuals cross language boundaries.
3) The mainstream is now fully downstream. The internet goes first, politicians react last.
The Chinese source image that @mattyglesias references has Chinese characters on the forehead of the closest zombie.
But that didnāt travel across language boundaries. The visuals did.
That may be the main way the enormous Chinese internet has influence abroad: the visuals.
But that didnāt travel across language boundaries. The visuals did.
That may be the main way the enormous Chinese internet has influence abroad: the visuals.
By contrast, India speaks English. And is on track to comprise the plurality of English speakers on the internet.
So while the Chinese influence is visual due to language barriers (assuming no AI), the influence of the Indian internet on the rest of the world will be verbal.
So while the Chinese influence is visual due to language barriers (assuming no AI), the influence of the Indian internet on the rest of the world will be verbal.
Visual China, Verbal India
Itās an over-simplification, of course, as the Chinese are highly verbal on their domestic internet and India is starting to ship movies like RRR that visually appeal to the globe.
But as a first order heuristicā¦
Itās an over-simplification, of course, as the Chinese are highly verbal on their domestic internet and India is starting to ship movies like RRR that visually appeal to the globe.
But as a first order heuristicā¦
Oh boy.
Thereās one more level!
The Chinese characters on the main zombieās head translate as āpublic intellectual.ā
So the meme predicted that a zombie army of public intellectuals would be posting dark Brandon memes in defense of dark Brandon.
And that is what happened š
Thereās one more level!
The Chinese characters on the main zombieās head translate as āpublic intellectual.ā
So the meme predicted that a zombie army of public intellectuals would be posting dark Brandon memes in defense of dark Brandon.
And that is what happened š
The fact that the main zombie had āpublic intellectualā on his head completely changes the interpretation.
It shows the Chinese artist knew it was a joke ā something the AR-15 throne alone might not communicate, but the keyboard, glasses, and balding head do!
This was a parody.
It shows the Chinese artist knew it was a joke ā something the AR-15 throne alone might not communicate, but the keyboard, glasses, and balding head do!
This was a parody.
This is a crazy cross cultural media story.
The Chinese artist didnāt just know about Game of Thrones. They knew enough Western culture to mock the public intellectuals who would post online in defense of Biden, with their keyboards and glasses.
It wasnāt metal. It was parody.
The Chinese artist didnāt just know about Game of Thrones. They knew enough Western culture to mock the public intellectuals who would post online in defense of Biden, with their keyboards and glasses.
It wasnāt metal. It was parody.
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