[Air-L] the case for critical commons

[Richard Forno]

Speaking of the viral nature of the Hitler meme (some of which I find  
amusing, like the one JH posted this morning) I received THREE of them  
this week:    on Tuesday, one was done about the election in  
Massachusetts.  Then the Creative Commons one hit my inbox today.    
And now this one parodying itself.   'tis all in good fun, IMHO -- and  
some of them are rather well-written.

My German is rusty (er, "ganz rustiche") as the next person's (Charles  
aside!) but from a pure production perspective let's remember these  
videos all follow the same broad construct:  There's a controversial  
item for discussion and the central character in the video gets  
furious and takes it out on his underlings, with wonderful raw emotion  
and facial expressions shown by all involved.  Lather, rinse, repeat.   
Godwin's law aside, IMHO it's perfect fodder for satire and parody.

Some are better than others, to be sure.   FWIW saying, my first  
"Downfall meme" was during the 2008 financial crisis when Hitler  
realized all his money was invested in Countrywide and other subprime  
can't-lose mortgage deals.  ;)

My 2 cents this Friday...

-rick


On Jan 22, 2010, at 12:56 , live wrote:

> Ditto on what others said about the meme.
>
> And given what you feel about them, I think of all of the Hitler  
> meme vids created, this is the one for you Charles:
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqqxRPZdfvs
> Hitler rants about the Hitler Parodies
>
> Cheers,
> -Sharon Greenfield
>
> On Jan 22, 2010, at 8:31 AM, Charles Ess wrote:
>
>> Very sorry to have to say this ...
>> How profoundly disappointing, if not on the edge of insulting.
>> If (a) you know German reasonably well, and especially if (b)  
>> you've seen
>> the terrific film, Der Untergang, that is ripped off here - it  
>> doesn't
>> strike me as funny at all.
>> The kindest thing that I can say about it from my standpoint is  
>> that it is a
>> weak attempt at humor that depends first of all upon complete  
>> ignorance of
>> German, and secondly a strikingly uncritical willingness to accept  
>> the now
>> very tired trope of Hitler as the archetype of reactionary evil.  
>> (Part of
>> the irony here: I don't think he was all that reactionary,  
>> especially with
>> regard to new technologies.)
>> As sympathetic as I am to the argument attempted to be made here -  
>> this
>> seems to me to thereby works directly contrary to its intentions.
>>
>> Sorry - no one bats a thousand, not even the redoubtable Jeremy!
>>
>> - charles ess
>> Institut for Informations- og Medievidenskab
>> Helsingforsgade 14
>> 8200 Århus N.
>> Denmark
>> mail: <imvce at hum.au.dk>
>> tel: (+45) 8942 9250
>>
>> Distinguished Research Professor, Interdisciplinary Studies
>> Drury University, Springfield, Missouri 65802 USA
>>
>> Exemplary persons seek harmony, not sameness. -- Analects 13.23
>>
>>
>>
>>> in case you've not seen this
>>> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VREJV--VHSw
>>>
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> The Air-L at listserv.aoir.org mailing list
>> is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http:// 
>> aoir.org
>> Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
>>
>> Join the Association of Internet Researchers:
>> http://www.aoir.org/
>
> _______________________________________________
> The Air-L at listserv.aoir.org mailing list
> is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org
> Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
>
> Join the Association of Internet Researchers:
> http://www.aoir.org/
>