By: Hannah Fitzpatrick
The meme I will be analyzing in this blog post is the popular meme “but that’s none of my business” with Kermit the frog. This meme has been used by people who want to express sarcasm toward another person or group in a negative manner where they are insulting something they have done or said. The meme can be “relatable and humorous for people outside of the judgement, and could be spread through the peer pressure to conform”(3). The meme’s success starts by drawing in a particular viewer who is able to relate to the subject matter and to be able to add their own adaptation to the meme, in other words the meme exemplifies fidelity. Because of the fidelity the meme acquires, it allows people to be able to modify the existing meme to become even more relatable to themselves, therefore creating the meme to become popular as even more people are able to relate to the subject matter. The longevity of the meme also represents its success as it has been relevant for six years. In recent years, this meme has gone viral over the internet as the successful online meme demonstrates humor, intertextuality, and juxtaposition. This post will analyze the six characteristics of a meme and the motivations of the meme.
The famous character, Kermit the frog, in The Muppets and Sesame Street has made a reappearance in recent years as he has become an internet sensation to the public. On June 17, 2014 the meme was first introduced as there is a picture displaying Kermit drinking from a cup and the caption is “when ratchets say they real hair but you see them tracks…but hey that’s none of my business”. The popularity of the meme really took action “on June 20th, the @thatsnoneofmybusinesstho instagram feed was created, which highlights pictures of Kermit the frog with “none of my business” captions” (2). The instagram page did so well that it was able to acquire 130,000 new followers. This shows how impactful memes are on people, as in just three days the instagram page was able to gain that many followers.
This is the instagram image of the first created image of the meme “but that’s none of my business”.
Probably one of the most important characteristics of a meme is fidelity, as getting people to be interested in a meme in the first place is critical for the success of it. I believe memes in general are successful because they all include an image, which can be intriguing to the eye. The famous phrase “don’t judge a book by its cover” does not apply to memes as the image is what enraptures the audience. In the scholarly article “Viral memes: That’s none of my business, “Davison believes that for a meme to be successful, it depends on manifestation, the ‘observable, external phenomena’, in short, the appearance of the meme” (1). The audience is hooked when they first see the image and then are able to make a correlation of that image to someone they can relate to. The age group that predominantly uses instagram are generation Z and millennials. This correlates to the success of the Kermit the frog meme as generation Z and millennial both watched Kermit the frog growing up. This then ties into the humor aspect of a meme as many find it funny that a childhood television cartoon character has been molded to become a relatable internet icon. Many people find sarcasm to be humorous, and the Kermit the frog meme is based off of sarcasm which is appealing to the audience. It is funny how the meme portrays kermit to be a sneaky individual that “knows” everything about everything. In the past few years people have been using the saying “spill the tea” when referring to when they want someone to tell them gossip that is happening. The fact that Kermit the frog is drinking tea in the picture is humorous to the audience because it is insinuating that he knows the tea, or in other words the gossip.
The hook can also tie into the juxtaposition of a meme where people are then able to recreate the meme to have another meaning behind it. Many times people do this to make it into something that is more relatable to their own lives, which then provides the opportunity for others to also relate to the meme as well. This allows the meme to be as successful as it is because it keeps the meme to be relevant because it is continuing to be posted and reposted. Some people may have different humors so juxtaposition allows for there to be multiple forms of the meme where someone will be able to find a variation of the meme that they think is funny or relatable. With that being said fecundity, in which the meme can be modified, can cause the meme to suffer as people can be offended by the subject matter.
For instance, this modification of the “thats none of my business” meme can be insulting and hurtful to others
Fecundity of a meme is not always great for society as it can be offensive and portray false information. Whenever I think of the negative effects of fecundity with a meme is when the meme says something about political happenings around the world as many young people rely on social media to be their news outlets for them. When this meme is spreading false ideas and information it can be detrimental to the knowledge people acquire from it. Intertextuality can play into this role as well in the meme community. Many popular events in the world become cross-referenced with memes as they people enjoy the simplicity of how effectively a meme can spread an idea.
Here is an example of intertextuality of what someone thought of republicans politically
The longevity of the meme represents the success of it as the longer it is relevant the more popular the meme. It is said that the “that’s none of my business” meme is one of the most successful memes as it is still relevant after being first presented in 2014, which is six years. This meme has created the sociological and cultural motivations in society as many people act upon this meme in their daily lives. The success of the meme is undoubtably recognized and does not seem to be proven irrelevant any time soon.
Sources
(1) Coleman, Abbie. “Viral memes: That’s none of my business.”
(2) Frogger , Queso. “But That’s None of My Business.” Know Your Meme, February 3, 2020. https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/but-thats-none-of-my-business.
(3) Parr, Eloise. “Task 1–A Popular Meme: Kermit the Frog.”
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