4 ms·

Lolcats: deeper than you think?

21 points by andreyf 18y ago

unalone 18y ago
He might have somewhat of a point, but he utterly kills it by playing up the pictures. Something funny becomes signs of deep, passionate regret. (Was the walrus saga really clever at all, or tragic at all, past the first one?) Lolsecrets has "world-weary" cats. Lolsecrets is not very funny. It's a very poor example of lolcattery. And I know it's snobbish, but I don't like how it completely avoids talking about Caturday, which would have explained why people like lolcats much more succinctly (it depicts animals, which we see as having subhuman intelligence, saying things in a broken manner; the humor comes from being able to imagine certain cats saying certain things) and without the drama.
- albertcardona 18y ago
  What is undeniable is the culture woven under it all, of which lolcats are just an expression channel. The article is worth a read. The author argues that, beyond those merely comic, best lolcat pictures spark a giggle because of the human tragedy they depict.
  - unalone 18y ago
    Yeah, but I'm really not certain they do. Lolcats don't exist as measures of tragedy. There might be some amount of recognition there: we laugh because we imagine the cats as humans, saying the things they do. But that isn't the same thing as all as reflecting tragedy. I think a better article would be one analyzing just how willing people are to laugh at things that aren't funny, given any reason at all. The first bunch of lolcats were funny. Now, most of them are pretty stupid. All of the spinoffs - lolpresident comes to mind - are incredibly stupid. And yet, people enjoy them, and laugh hard at them, because they've been conditioned to think that big words over a picture are funny.
neilc 18y ago
Their flagship site, Icanhascheezburger.com, is one of Web 2.0's big success stories -- on track to top a billion page views this year -- and its content is entirely user-generated. Damn it, Icanhascheezburger.com is not Web 2.0.
- fallentimes 18y ago
  What is Web 2.0?
- lutorm 18y ago
  "Web 2.0 describes the changing trends in the use of World Wide Web technology and web design that aim to enhance creativity, secure information sharing, collaboration and functionality of the web. Web 2.0 concepts have led to the development and evolution of web-based communities and hosted services, such as social-networking sites, video sharing sites, wikis, blogs, and folksonomies." Wikipedia seems to think it is. How is ichc different in any significant way from youtube?
ojbyrne 18y ago
I think the real "web 2.0" story, percolating under the surface is 4chan.org.
- sc 18y ago
  http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/03/magazine/03trolls-t.html?incamp=article_popular_2 http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/03/magazine/03trolls-t.html?i...
palish 18y ago
"...depicts a male and female unicorn standing on a sliver of land in the rain as Noah's Ark sails away. Having arrived too late, all the unicorns can do is watch the ark recede into the distance as the waters rise around them. The image conveys so much regret -- the idea that we were so close, that we could still have these magical creatures among us today if only we'd been more patient. It's the sadness of missed opportunities." Am I the only one who has no idea what the article's point is? Hehe. I mean, I imagine you could write an article all about, say, reading lamps. If you really wanted to. But what's the point?
- deleted 18y ago
  [deleted]
Hexstream 18y ago
Somehow, I'm having a really hard time taking an article about lolcats seriously. (btw I love lolcats. But analysing them?)
mynameishere 18y ago
I think lolcats just represent infantilism. http://xkcd.com/231/ http://xkcd.com/231/ (<-- you've already seen it) Take a glance at the comments at Icanhascheezburger if you don't believe.

21 points by andreyf 18y ago

He might have somewhat of a point, but he utterly kills it by playing up the pictures. Something funny becomes signs of deep, passionate regret. (Was the walrus saga really clever at all, or tragic at all, past the first one?) Lolsecrets has "world-weary" cats. Lolsecrets is not very funny. It's a very poor example of lolcattery. And I know it's snobbish, but I don't like how it completely avoids talking about Caturday, which would have explained why people like lolcats much more succinctly (it depicts animals, which we see as having subhuman intelligence, saying things in a broken manner; the humor comes from being able to imagine certain cats saying certain things) and without the drama.

albertcardona 18y ago
What is undeniable is the culture woven under it all, of which lolcats are just an expression channel. The article is worth a read. The author argues that, beyond those merely comic, best lolcat pictures spark a giggle because of the human tragedy they depict.
- unalone 18y ago
  Yeah, but I'm really not certain they do. Lolcats don't exist as measures of tragedy. There might be some amount of recognition there: we laugh because we imagine the cats as humans, saying the things they do. But that isn't the same thing as all as reflecting tragedy. I think a better article would be one analyzing just how willing people are to laugh at things that aren't funny, given any reason at all. The first bunch of lolcats were funny. Now, most of them are pretty stupid. All of the spinoffs - lolpresident comes to mind - are incredibly stupid. And yet, people enjoy them, and laugh hard at them, because they've been conditioned to think that big words over a picture are funny.

neilc 18y ago

Their flagship site, Icanhascheezburger.com, is one of Web 2.0's big success stories -- on track to top a billion page views this year -- and its content is entirely user-generated. Damn it, Icanhascheezburger.com is not Web 2.0.

fallentimes 18y ago
What is Web 2.0?
lutorm 18y ago
"Web 2.0 describes the changing trends in the use of World Wide Web technology and web design that aim to enhance creativity, secure information sharing, collaboration and functionality of the web. Web 2.0 concepts have led to the development and evolution of web-based communities and hosted services, such as social-networking sites, video sharing sites, wikis, blogs, and folksonomies." Wikipedia seems to think it is. How is ichc different in any significant way from youtube?

ojbyrne 18y ago

I think the real "web 2.0" story, percolating under the surface is 4chan.org.

sc 18y ago
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/03/magazine/03trolls-t.html?incamp=article_popular_2 http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/03/magazine/03trolls-t.html?i...

palish 18y ago

"...depicts a male and female unicorn standing on a sliver of land in the rain as Noah's Ark sails away. Having arrived too late, all the unicorns can do is watch the ark recede into the distance as the waters rise around them. The image conveys so much regret -- the idea that we were so close, that we could still have these magical creatures among us today if only we'd been more patient. It's the sadness of missed opportunities." Am I the only one who has no idea what the article's point is? Hehe. I mean, I imagine you could write an article all about, say, reading lamps. If you really wanted to. But what's the point?

deleted 18y ago
[deleted]

Hexstream 18y ago

Somehow, I'm having a really hard time taking an article about lolcats seriously. (btw I love lolcats. But analysing them?)

mynameishere 18y ago

I think lolcats just represent infantilism. http://xkcd.com/231/ http://xkcd.com/231/ (<-- you've already seen it) Take a glance at the comments at Icanhascheezburger if you don't believe.