Narrative Criticism: Successful Black Man

       In analyzing the internet meme of Successful Black Man, narrative criticism would be one of the most appropriate methods to break down the meme. The method is based around the idea all experiences are based around stories; messages tell a narrative that enables humans to relate to it. Even if the narrative is something unfamiliar, the established history/culture and coherence of the story is something that is instinctively ingrained within human beings. With successful black man being a meme that portrays an image of a straight-faced black man in a business suit in front of a brown background with captions that portray the man as negative stereotype- but then “dismissed” with a positive continuation at the bottom of the image, it is clear that there is a narrative being told. Using the method of narrative criticism, that narrative will be explored.

      Successful black man fits the criteria needed to perform of a narrative criticism. For one, there are two events taking place in the meme. The first event starts off with a stereotype of young black men (example: “I was beaten by a bunch of cops”). It then follows that stereotype with a positive event that negates the initial interpretation of the first statement (example: “in a 5k race for charity “). In addition, the two events correlate with each other in a timely fashion that is not random; the second caption makes sense only after reading the first caption. The unified subject in hand would be the image, or even more so, the idea of a successful black man and how he is perceived by the creators and audience members of the meme.

      While analyzing the meme and identifying what narratives can it potentially be conveying, questions that come to mind are what were the intentions of the creator?; how does the general audience member perceive the meme?; is the successful black man intended to be portrayed as someone that hates his own race? With these in mind, the question that resonates the most with one is would this internet meme exist in internet culture prior to the election of President Barack Obama? The meme is rooted in the idea of racism; the joke would not make sense if the reader did not understand the given stereotypes of black people. With the second event of the meme being a caption that disregards the first blatantly racist event, it is possible that successful black man is a narrative of American citizen’s false perception that the election of the first African American president meant that the country had embarked on a collective post-racial state of mind. By dismissing racism with the second event, the meme is reflective of people’s actions and attitudes after the election: it’s okay to be racist (whether it is blatant or obliviously) as long as the man in power is of color.

       The other method that could be used would be fantasy-theme criticism. The method would allow for one to study the way minority groups (in this case, African Americans) are stereotypically perceived and how the meme portrays that perception. The method would enable an analyst of the script or scenarios that are bestowed upon black culture, from before and after the era of “post-racism.”        

Hypersignification of Successful Black Man

           The Cultural Logic of Cultural-based Meme Genres by Limor Shifman focuses on the multifaceted meanings behind memes. Often, internet memes are regarded as whimsical sets of pictures that help kill time on a slow day. While true, Shifman also argues that memes have cultural significance that is often overlooked.  While dissecting the undertone meanings behind internet memes, Shifman refers to the phenomenon as a hypersignification; which essentially is another way of describing the subversive meanings and symbols that are conveyed by a message.

                In the article, Shifman breaks down the idea of hypersignification in internet memes with three categories: photo fads, reaction photoshop, and stock character macros. Photo fads deal with memes that trend based off an original homemade photo; reaction photoshop entails memes that have been altered from its original photo; and stock character macros studies memes that use ordinary stock photos that are placed within the context of the comical meme. The meme in focus, Successful Black Man, would be considered a stock character macro.

Shifman notes that the purpose of stock photography is to provide standard images that display basic human emotions and activities; in turn, they rely on social stereotypes and scripts to get a message across.  A photo of a father and daughter playing catch on a lawn with a white picket fence suggest the script of a happy (perhaps nuclear) family; likewise, a photo of a middle-aged woman loading a minivan with sporting good supplies suggest the idea of a “soccer mom” taking her children to or from a soccer game.

The hypersignification of stock character macros allows the reader to see alternative possible meanings of the Successful Black Man meme. The meme consist of black man with a straight face wearing a business suit in front of a brown backdrop; the top of the page reads an aggressive statement that is later changed into the beginning of a positive/healthy statement when the viewer reads the bottom portion of the page (close to a set-up/punchline format).  Shifman notes that the meme would not make any sense if black men were not perceived as aggressive. Shifman also notes that the original stock photo was titled “handsome African American business man dressed in a black suit.” The makers of the stock photo could have just titled it handsome man in black suit, but by doing so, they wuld have challenged the general notion that a handsome man in a suit would not be a young black man.

The article also states that while looking into the hypersignification of an image can show progressive meanings, it can also show the opposite effect. With this meme, for instance, it uses the image in a way the article notes is rooted in racism. Although it can be seen as opposing racial stereotypes by having the punchline contradict the stereotypical set-up, Shifman notes that the use of the image and the irony within the meme can dismiss racial prejudices that minorities face. Memes such as this make racism seem like “only a joke.”

Work Cited

Shifman, L. (2014) The cultural logic of photo-based meme genres. Journal of Visual Culture, 3, 340-458.

Successful Black Man

 The meme chosen shows the upper body of a straight-faced African American male in a business suit in front of a brown-patterned background. Above the man’s head is a sentence that presents a stereotypical statement about black men, such as “I’m going to get fried chicken and grape soda.” On the bottom of the page, there is a continuation of the above fonts that, within context, changes the at-first stereotypical declaration into a well-intended and educated statement. The fonts that follow the fried chicken and grape soda quote is “off school lunch menus and replace it healthier alternatives.” 
 The meme is widely known as “Successful Black Man.” The image itself was originally taken from ShutterShock and listed under the name “handsome African-American man dressed in a black suit.” In 2010, it was submitted onto the website memegenerator.com where it gained popularity through the internet meme community. As of today, there is an estimated 40,000 versions of the meme floating around the internet.
 One has separate views for what Successful Black Man meme can be symbolic for. On one hand, it can be seen as a reflection of how America perceptions of African-Americans have shifted over the last decade. Instead of a meme that portrays black men as angry and aggressive matter, it shows a business man with good intentions and a penchant for healthy lifestyle choices. One finds the meme’s growing prominence during the presidency of Barak Obama to be an interesting parallel: both the man in the image and the president are seen as being upright citizens that speak properly with good leadership skills- all traits that defy racial stereotypes of black men. Perhaps the message behind the meme would not be as widely received by the general public if it were not for having an African-American president.
On the other hand, it can be giving the impression of being an empowerment to black men by dismissing racial stereotypes; which can be counter-intuitive if what’s primarily being highlighted is the racial stereotype. Although the meme dismisses the stereotype by using the technique of misdirection, it still relies on the portrayal of black men being angry, aggressive, and taking part in criminal activities to get the joke across. Just as the meme can be a reflection of how America perceives African-Americans in the era of president Obama in a positive light, it can also be a reflection of how America perceives African-Americans in a negative light. The meme can be symbolic of certain people’s claim that America is in a “post-racial” state. With this false notion in mind, some people may be more prone to not noticing (or acknowledging) when something is racially insensitive because they believe such an insensitivity no longer exist. Associating black people with fried chicken and grape soda is no longer offensive, but rather, a light-hearted jab at a social group. If this indeed is what the meme is a reflection off of, then the primary target audience would likely be people that subscribe to the idea of being in a post-racial America.