Jenkins and Memes -- BBC

The article I'll be referring to can be found here:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-19973271

The BBC article is  great because it highlights the aspects of what a meme is. Still, some would argue that this is horrible, because it centralizes a decentralized concept for those who aren't in the loop. Defying the very viral nature of a meme. But we'll ignore the latter opinion for now.

The initial concept the BBC introduces is the amount of remediation the meme is subjected to. There is an original image, or icon, that then becomes wildly popular. The internet is the most common repository for such icons. Which then is spread from audience to audience until it becomes an even greater icon, garnering enough attention for popular media to comment on it, as in the case of Romney's comment regarding binders and women.

Moving forward, the BBC article touches upon what Jenkins was talking about in his article, where popular culture is creating much greater access to politics and political interpretation than ever before. The Romney-binder example may be a bit limiting. The Hillary Clinton meme where she is seen texting on her phone is a better one.

Why is it a better example? The main reason is that it was used by both parties, Republican and Democrat. This creates an essence of egalitarianism due to equal access to the image, and by default, the meme itself. Jenkins perhaps puts it best where he writes:

...we may be able tot alk across our differences, if we find commonalities through our fantasies. This is in the end another reason why popular culture matters politically -- because it doesn't seem to be about politics at all (239).