I’ve never really liked video games much. This set me apart a long time ago. I had nothing to do at friends’ houses when other kids showed up and it turned into game time. I’d sit waiting for it to be over mostly, because if it was my turn to play, my time would be up quickly. Since I did not have any system at home, it was impossible to build any skill, and as they became more advanced, I watched the graphics go from looking nothing like the pictures on the box to what we have now. Games are basically interactive movies with soundtracks that become as well known as anything else out there. Or maybe games and culture have become so intertwined that it is impossible to separate them from each other. 

Outdated perspective? What has been lost may have given me an edge. It is the edge of being an outsider with an anthropologist’s non judgemental viewpoint. I don’t play games, but I enjoy gaming culture. 

 

A few years back I discovered the Youtube gamer encoded channel, “Hey Ash Whatcha Playin’?”, and now see Ashley Burch as a recognized comedian who can still go “deep gamer” within her community or on another level, the discourse of gaming.  James Gee could add that in a sense, I missed out on the “acquisition and learning” of video games. I cannot participate in the discourse of gaming because I did not learn it as it developed, and now it is unlikely that I will ever be part of it. But I am able to observe changes in the way that kids communicate in reference to gaming culture. As an observer, I do not need to know the rules, since I am not interacting within it.

 

Last summer at an arts focused camp for children aged 7-11, I noticed a difference in the way the kids have been using Legos. When given 20 minutes of free time in the morning, many of these children built with a curious similarity. They were organizing all the colors so that one structure would be completely blue, another all pink. I remember being the same age and using all different colors to build with. I don’t think anyone sorted them out before starting to make something. This new kind of selected construction is a pattern I have noticed among kids roughly the same age for the past few years. Could it be that the combination of squamous forms and sectioned colors in Minecraft and Roblox has unexpectedly trained children in a new kind of design thought? Within the video game discourse, kids have gotten so used to the pixilated angular style of both Minecraft and Roblox that it may be blending with their sense of aesthetics and for a time, reality. Also of interest was my students’ repeated request for “Lazy Sunday”, a song from Bloxburg Boombox in Roblox. The actual track originated as library music, a genre only known by the most dedicated crate diggers. Library music was background music recorded by studio musicians in the 1970’s. It should have no context with children today. The song is nothing special, and it was not intended to be. Gee writes, “The individual instantiates, gives body to, a discourse every time he acts or speaks and thus carries it and ultimately changes it  through time.”Gee et al, p 3. Background is background is background. However for the time, the song is on the playlist as much as anything from the enormously popular Disney film, “Encanto”. I recognize Lazy Sunday as sounding “Late-60s/Early 70’s” and I see Roblox as clunky compared to other graphics, but to these students, it is all very important in a way I do not comprehend. 

 

Amidst all this aesthetic discussion lies a deeper meaning within the context of language, literacy and communication. Searching, “Minecraft Memes” on Google reveals a top 10 list as you would expect, which we know is probably not the real stuff because it comes up right away. By the “real stuff”, I mean something that would resonate with middle school children at the current time, not last month. These lists are usually a little behind the wave. One of the only “15 Best Minecraft Memes” I could get without being indcoctrinated to the game shows some kind of portal. 

 

 

In this meme, I would probably be the teacher who describes our reality governed by physics where everything is finite. The Minecraft gamer of a younger age can recognize that within the constructs of the player’s world, this does not apply. Kids who play individually constructed world games like Minecraft are making their own spaces. They are building their own worlds. In this sense, they are building their own reality.  The generator depicted in the meme can supply an unlimited amount of blocks for the player. The possibilities are endless within the discourse of Minecraft. This aligns with concepts of futurism and new attitudes about science fiction. People imagine the kind of world they want to live in. 

            

            

 

 

Meme Blog # 2

10/06/2022

 

 

 

Memes and Critical Literacy

 

 

            What are memes? Let us focus in on the most bare bones of definitions we can find. A “meme”, according to Wikipedia, is “an element of a culture or system of behavior that may be considered to be passed from one individual to another by nongenetic means, especially imitation”(“Meme”2022). Long before anyone manipulated an image in photoshop, memes have existed as a form of literacy. We can leave out a large piece of history here to ensure that this blog posting will be read by the class. Making a jump, most people are familiar with the brand, “OBEY”, a clothing label started by artist and designer Shepard Fairey. 

 

The ubiquitous face of WWF wrestler, “Andre the Giant” with the simple moniker below it became popular in skateboarder circles and blossomed into an arguable mainstream presence. The name of the brand is taken directly from John Carpenter’s 1988 horror sci-fi satire-comedy film, They Live. In the context of the film, “OBEY” was a command to be followed by an oblivious, mind numbed public and was a criticism of increasing commercialization during the Reagan era. The re-contextualized word as a brand humorously poked fun at those in on the joke, but then over time, the context changed. It simply became a name brand on clothing to be printed, sold and worn. Was the joke lost? Did anyone care? 

            

            Current memes are notoriously hard to track. They can become layered with context and meaning as they change hands. Overtime, an image that begins as carrying one meaning to be read by a social group can be flipped by another group. The consequences of such actions may render the original message lost forever. This can remind everyone to check and re-check before posting. You never know the impact an image can have. Navigating the turbulent waters of meme decoding comes with potential risk. In the interest of finding subject matter that relates to people aged 11-15, I will analyze memes that involve “Spongebob Squarepants”. The character’s distinctive stuttering laugh and at times overly positive naivete add up to fit the character into many meme contexts. Let me explain. If you know the cartoon, as many middle schoolers might, you can almost hear Spongebob when you see the image. Memes must have an element of being immediately recognizable in at least one aspect. Otherwise they are visual white noise. The meme shown below can be categorized as critical literacy for youth because of several factors. It utilizes a character kids already know. Spongebob will be “read” and recognized instantly across multiple cultures and languages. 

As a critical literacy tool, this meme depicts what kids are told to do and expresses humor about the outcome of following such example. Misconceptions young adults have about being on their own and how great that will be show themselves as opposite. Grueling day jobs, financial problems and what can be interpreted as depression all hit like a wall. This kind of meme can be understood by both teens and adults. The fun of Spongebob is sucked out by reality. But it is a criticism of how that reality is determined by the adults in the life of the younger people. There is nothing to look forward to except an occasional Arizona Iced Tea. A second meme shows Spongebob with way too many limbs grasping desperately at too many activities. “Me at Online School” speaks across cultural lines. Most middle schoolers would be able to relate to this one. Again there is the idea of what is supposed to be happening and what actually is happening. Critical literacy is part of this meme in the sense that “online school” is titled and expected to occur. The student turns on the computer, logs into the zoom classroom, and then is instantly surrounded by a multitude of distractions which are speculated to contribute to a frenzied state. This state is hardly a space for learning. The structures in place are attempting to regulate one thing, and the meme breaks it down. The world just isn’t like that.

 

The second meme featuring the Jiffy cornbread and ramen noodles is another attempt of black people laughing at our struggle. Many black people are not wealthy and with the absence of wealth there is an obvious struggle for food. Jiffy cornbread can be bought at one dollar per pack and ramen is only thirty three cents per pack. Even to this day if I ever needed a meal and had one dollar to my name, I know I can get two packs of noodles and make it through the night.

What memes speak to critical youth literacies and insider/outsider knowledge? Share on course Padlet.

Within my recent visits to my highschool I've come across this young man named Alexis. In every class he constantly talks  and interrupts the teacher if he doesn't agree with something .However, he was never afraid to share his work and completed everything 30-40 minutes before his peers. Sometimes he would purposely come late to class because he knew he only needed 20 minutes to complete work that took some the whole period. I spoke with the head teachers of each classroom and asked what they can do in a situation like this. They all simply said nothing. Alexis mentioned he didn't want to do extra work because he didn't need it, and he could not really get in trouble because he had the top grades in his class. But where does that leave us? I think it speaks to him needing to be placed into a higher level class. Unfortunately, many highschools including mine do not have the resources for AP below the grade of 12.  So now we  have this  young  man full of potential far outside of the  classroom he  is present in but he cannot expand and he is simply unaware of it. It reminded me of a quote from Baldwin's Sonny's Blues: “These boys, now, were living as we'd been living then, they were growing up with a rush and their heads bumped abruptly against the low ceiling of their actual possibilities.” It's the sad truth of lack of opportunities, which unfortunately is the truth for any  growth who  does not  appeal to the dominating discourse of the world.  I often feel I have been robbed of my potential but here I am writing this  in hopes of  changing that for  students when I begin to teach.

The importance of this lies in why I am pursuing this career. We can count out the money aspect because anyone can simply see the dispositions finically of pursuing a career in education. I have no other answer than it's something I am familiar with and aligns with all the reasons I think of myself as the teacher I stated above.