Memes

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In 2015 at the Met Gala, Rihanna's yellow dress called everyone's attention; it gave a lot of play on the net. The main purpose of the Met Gala is to be talked for calling attention, not for the best dress. Rihanna's dress burst Twitter and the Internet with the form of memes. According to Bratich as stated in the article Occupy All the Dispositifs, "the meme was not designed merely to spread information, but to facilitate the passage from information to action; its key characteristics are imitation and transfer"(Bratich, 2013). Rihanna's dress was by Guo Pei Haute Couture design, on the red carpet became the subject of endless memes.

The dress turned into the Wizard of Oz's yellow brick road, a gigantic Spanish Omelette, the base of a pizza, or the SpongeBob SquarePants. As Bratich stated, "memes, jokes require a third person: not just the enunciator or the target, but a ‘‘neutral spectator’’ who judges"(Bratich, 2013). Rihanna always gives a lot of play on the red carpet and this time she did not disappoint the spectators.

The story behind the meme, the designer felt comfortable that was approved by the spectators, she belongs to the Haute Couture. As stated by Guo Pei "She comes from the East and wants to be accepted by the West". When she launches into the campaign to assert herself in Europe, there is a battle between acceptance and assimilation. Racism stems from a lack of understanding, from the fear that you are going to lose something of your own culture. As stated by Bratich "an Internet meme is a piece of culture, typically a joke, which gains influence through online transmission"(Bratich, 2013). A way to relate is comparing to different cultures, even the Spanish culture created a meme of Rihanna's dress. 




References: 

Bratich, J., 2013. Occupy All the Dispositifs: Memes, Media Ecologies, and Emergent Bodies Politic. Communication and Critical/Cultural Studies, 11(1), pp.64-73.

Trendencias.com. 2020. Rihanna Y Sarah Jessica Parker Protagonizan Los Memes De La Gala Met 2015. [online] Available at: <https://www.trendencias.com/alfombra-roja/rihanna-y-sarah-jessica-parker-protagonizan-los-memes-de-la-gala-met-2015> [Accessed 24 October 2020].

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