Do you recall seeing this before?
Or maybe this?
These are what millennials or gen-z’s would call “memes”. We all know that one friend who keeps bothering us every single second of the day just to send us countless memes.
These memes can give us that light-hearted laugh and something to look forward to everyday. In this article, I will be explaining why us humans might find memes so exceptionally funny.
1. Memes can be connected to our culture
What is your ethnic background? Are you African, British, Indian or Japanese? Well, whatever race you are and what environment you grew up in, there are probably some cultural differences that sets you apart from others and makes you unique.
If a group of people were to have the same background, they would most likely have a lot of cultural similarities that makes it easier to relate to one another.
Catchphrase: This concept can also be applied to memes.
Take YouTuber and content creator, Steven He, as an example:
Click here for Steven He’s YouTube channel.
Steven He makes jokes and remarks on the Asian culture and the standards or stereotypes as an Asian.
Being an Asian myself, I can relate to his content because ever since I was younger, I was always expected to be that perfect straight-A student with a bajillion extra curricular activities.
The meme Steven He is most recognized for, which is shown in the image above, is the “Emotional Damage” meme. To put it simply, emotional damage is words that represent the disappointment of an Asian parent towards their kid if they do not live up to their expectations.
I find this meme very funny and relatable, and I don’t think there could be a more perfect way to represent a common Asian stereotype in better words than “Emotional Damage”!
A few other examples:
Click here for JOLLY’s YouTube Channel.
Click here for Primz’s YouTube channel.
2. Memes can be related to something we find enjoyable
Do you have a hobby you enjoy doing or a movie/TV show you like to watch? These hobbies can have a common shared experience, and these movies/TV shows can have scenes that you may find absolutely hilarious.
Catchphrase: This concept can also be applied to memes.
Take a look at this meme:
Click here for TwoSetViolin’s YouTube channel.
Now, if you don’t know who or what this is, you may be thinking, “What in the world is Ling Ling 40 hours?” This is a meme that is popular throughout the musical audience, specifically those that play an instrument.
This phrase that Brett and Eddy (TwoSetViolin) commonly use throughout their videos, “Ling Ling 40 hours” or “Practice 40 hours a day”, is basically saying that in order to get good at music, or just anything general, one must practice 40 hours a day like Ling Ling. Ling Ling is this made up character that is a musical prodigy that can achieve the impossible.
Furthermore, practicing 40 hours a day is an exaggeration, because there’s only 24 hours in a day.
I play piano and violin, so being a musician, this is quite accurate because practice does make perfect!
A meme applied to a TV show (a very famous one at that):
I’m sure everyone here is familiar with the kids TV show, Peppa Pig. Have you noticed that Peppa Pig is drawn quite strangely? Her snout is always on the side, and her two eyes are always on one side of her head.
This meme finally shows what Peppa would look like if she directly faced us, and that is a total of four eyes and four nostrils!
Anyone who grew up with Peppa Pig would find this meme absolutely comical!
3. Memes can be cute
That cute little baby you saw the other day at the park. It was extremely adorable, wasn’t it? Humans find soft, round, and big-eyed things pleasing to the brain. Plus, when a cute text is slapped over a cute image, it instantly makes it appealing or in some cases, funny.
Catchphrase: This can also be applied to memes.
A cute meme:
![25 Cute Memes to Make You Feel Better[2023]](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!6wzQ!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F38c254f7-f535-4d05-8932-b14c37bc8016_494x517.jpeg "25 Cute Memes to Make You Feel Better[2023]")
Applying the concept of what humans find cute, we have a kitten. This kitten checks all of the boxes. It looks soft, its face is round, and it has adorable black boba eyes. This certainly put a smile on my face and made me awe!
A lot of cute memes I found online are cat related, so enjoy the next few cat memes!
4. Memes can be a distraction from reality
Find yourself depressed, burnt out, or just plain bored? Do you feel the need to check your phone 24/7 during times like those? If yes, then you would need something to keep you distracted from your life.
Catchphrase: This concept can be applied to memes.
Instead of dealing with the underlying issue, you decide to cheer yourself in another way, and that other way might be memes. With the internet being a big thing in our modern day world, there are probably millions and millions of memes that can be found. Since memes are so funny, during your stage of depression, you might just look at a meme or two, but then actually end up looking at a bunch of them for hours on end.
Memes are a perfect distraction, but it can become unhealthy if you look at your screen all the time.
Many people who have depression choose not to deal with it, or might not even realize they have depression. Scrolling on your phone until 6:00 AM in the morning, looking at these memes that can supposedly “cure depression”, can be a sign of depression.
5. Memes can just be what we find humorous
What is your sense of humor? Perhaps you have dark humor or like potty jokes. Well, look no further than memes. Memes, memes, memes. Whatever humor you have, memes can capture this perfectly.
Catchphrase: This concept can also be applied to memes.
Check out some of these memes according to your sense of humor:
Wordplay humor/puns:
Wordplay or puns is taking a word and twisting it to fit a context that makes sense.
Dark humor:
Dark humor is taking a dark subject and making it amusing.
Physical humor/slapstick:
Physical humor or slapstick is the body language or facial expressions one might find funny.
Dry humor/deadpan:
Dry humor or deadpan is used in situations that are tragic and expressed with an expressionless character.
