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PaperclipPerfector  2d ago (text post)   1513 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for November 10, 2024

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Looking at internet memes going around in response to the election, I've been surprised by a lack — so far — of ones referencing the movies Valkyrie (2008) or Inglourious Basterds (2009). Is anyone else surprised by this? Or are they out there, and I've just missed them? Am I not looking in the right forums?

Normal people don’t usually make memes about murdering their political enemies.

this is true, for strict definitions of "normal" and strict definitions of "enemy". Al Qaeda was a political enemy, was it not?

...More generally, though, I think you're more or less entirely correct in this case. "Resist the Fascists" signaling is mainly signaling; there is not actually a way to hurt the outgroup much worse than previously without getting in too much trouble, and a lot of the signaling is being driven by at least a subconscious understanding that nothing is actually going to happen.

Why should there be any memes referencing these movies? First of all, they are old. Yes, they are old movies if you're a meme-making Zoomer. Secondly, "the Nazis won", how do you make a meme about "Nazis winning" with a WWII movie? If Trump had lost, you could at least imagine a Downfall meme with "Harris has won in Wisconsin and Michigan and is gaining in Georgia" - "it's okay, Pennsylvania should vote for me and Vance" - "mein Fuehrer, Harris got 51% in Pennsylvania, the Vance counteroffensive didn't succeed"

Why should there be any memes referencing these movies?

Because Valkyrie is about an attempt to assassinate Hitler, and Inglorious Basterds ends up being alternate history with a successful assassination of Hitler and Goebbels.

First of all, they are old.

Didn't stop this Inglorious Basterds meme from being posted on /r/moviescirclejerk just two years ago. It's text reads: "Plot holes: in Inglorious Basterds (2009), the antifascists kill and scalp Nazis instead of voting blue."

Well, "voting blue" clearly didn't work to stop Nazi II: Electric Boogaloo. And like so many people on Twitter and Tumblr are saying, we've got about 90 days left to somehow save Our Democracy and the lives of millions of Women, Latinx, LGBTQ+…

If failing to kill Hitler gets you into the history books and played by Tom Cruise in the movie about you, then imagine your legacy for taking out Hitler 2.0: Orange Edition?

The best Downfall one I've seen recently is "Hitler reviews footage of supposedly Nazi rally in Madison Square Garden where they wave Israel flags". It didn't even require the second part.

Those types of memes were more popular with the far left, not liberals. The far left has gotten burnt out by the Gaza genocide (as they call it) and the increasingly neoliberal corporate bent of the Democratic Party. The far left is disgusted enough with Democrats that they are no longer willing to take up arms on their behalf, even rhetorically.

I haven't seen too. The anti trump memes are weak. I guess they are still in shock. Let's hope they improve. But I doubt that there are real trolls left on dem side.

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