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.”
