Monthly Review: March 2012

Monthly Review: March 2012

March was abuzz with the arrival of Kony 2012, a half-hour documentary film detailing the atrocious crimes of Ugandan warlord Joseph Kony and how to help in tracking down and arresting him; The highly anticipated release of Mass Effect 3 was met by unexpected criticisms from the fans who were disappointed with the lackluster ending sequence; North Dakotan food columnist Marilyn Hagerty's earnest review of a local Olive Garden restaurant went viral in the news blogosphere and earned her the honorary title of “the cutest food blogger ever"; Badly drawn versions of Disney cartoons from Finland known as Dolan swept across Reddit this month to many readers' puzzlement; The infamous "orthodontic retainer lisp" from our teenage nostalgia became the butt of the joke this month, with the launch of a phonetically translated image macro series known as "Berks" (Books); more info below!

Kony 2012

Kony 2012 is an online vigilant campaign which aims to arrest the Ugandan guerrilla group leader and head of the Lord’s Resistance Army Joseph Kony before the end of 2012. Upon its release on YouTube, the video accumulated nearly over 86 million views in the first month. Meanwhile, Twitter hashtags #makekonyfamous, #kony2012, and #stopkony became globally trending terms, some of which ranked higher than New iPad that was released on the same day.

Rustle My Jimmies

“*That Really Rustled My Jimmies*”:https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/that-really-rustled-my-jimmies is an expression that is used to convey feelings of discontent or discomfort in response to someone else’s post in imageboards and discussion forums, most notably on 4chan and Reddit. Since its birth through greentext stories on 4chan, the expression has since spawned a series of image macros that are mostly based on cute illustrations or photographs of various animals, along with the caption conveying that either jimmies have been rustled or unrustled.

Mass Effect 3 Ending

Mass Effect 3 Ending Reception refers to a grassroots campaign started by the fans who were disappointed by the game's less-than-memorable ending sequence. Although the game itself received positive reviews and critical acclaims, endless parodies and commentaries of its ending flooded all over the online gaming communities.

Bad Luck Brian

Bad Luck Brian is the latest advice animal character who just can't catch a break. Featuring a photo of a blonde teenage boy with a plaid sweater vest and braces, the series explores a wide range of embarrassing and tragic memories that have failed us during our childhood.

Dolan

Dolan is an MS Paint web comic series featuring poorly drawn Disney characters. Inspired by the Disney character Donald Fauntleroy Duck, The main character Dolan is often portrayed as a psychotic killer and sex addict in these comics. According to the website Uncle Dolan, the comics were originally created during the summer of 2010 by artist Sekolut on the Finnish image board Kuvalauta (see also Spurdo Spärde).

Differenze Linguistiche

Differenze Linguistiche (English: Linguistic Differences) is a series of vertical rage comics illustrating various stereotypes or misperceptions associated with Western languages and their phonetic systems. The comics are usually centered around a single word or a phrase that is phonetically translated into multiple languages and they often single out one language in juxtaposition against the rest of relatively similar sounding languages. The meme originated with the Italian Facebook group Differenze Linguistiche created on February 27th, 2012.”

The Rest of the Best

• Chris Hansen Cat is an advice animal image macro series featuring a photo of a cat positioned as if it is seated at a table accompanied by feline-related puns and LOLcat jokes. The macros often begin with the phrase “Why don’t you have a seat” popularized by Chris Hansen, the former host of reality TV series To Catch a Predator.

• Berks (also known as “Gersberms”) is an image macro series featuring a photo of a young woman holding several books from the children’s horror fiction series Goosebumps. The phonetically written captions are meant to sound like a speech impediment caused by the use of an orthodontic retainer.

• Goldman Sachs Resignation Letter refers to a New York Times op-ed post in which Goldman Sachs executive Greg Smith publicly quit in a scathing letter criticizing the multinational investment bank’s culture and business practices.

• Marilyn Hagerty’s Olive Garden Review is an earnest restaurant review written by North Dakotan newspaper columnist Marilyn Hagerty which became the subject of celebration and mockery after being posted online in March of 2012.

Back on the Radar

• Neil DeGrasse Tyson Explains His Meme: The internet famous astrophysicist spoke freely about his GIF reaction meme during his appearance on the tech news show On The Verge.

• Photo Fads Parodied on South Park: In a recent episode of South Park, the ongoing phenomenon of photo fads were parodied with silly acts like "Faith Hilling" and "Taylor Swifting."

• Meatspin Returns: After many years of its online presence as a classic shock site, Meatspin suddenly went offline for days without notice this month, leading to speculations that the site was no longer sustainable. To many Interneters' relief, the site was resurrected several days later.

• OWS Protest's Six Month Anniversary: Hundreds of protesters tried to rekindle the flame of Occupy movement with a six-months special reunion in the Zuccotti Park. Amidst the chaos, a "death threat" tweet against cops hit a nerve with the New York Police Department, leading to a Florida resident's Twitter account getting subpoenaed by the Manhattan District Attorney's office.

• Lulzsec Return Rumor: Earlier this month, a group claiming to be associated with Lulzsec released e-mails and passwords of nearly 179,000 users on a dating website for military service members.