One of the annoying thing I've found with memes/inside jokes, besides the fact that most of them aren't interesting or funny, is that people seem to expect you to know random stuff that are totally non intuitive, famous, or even obvious. Here's a good example of one where I think is actually pretty good, from New Prince of Tennis
Other than the fact that it might take a while for people to realize this is actually a real scene in New Prince of Tennis as opposed to some kind of clever photoshop, it is quite self explanatory. Atobe literally developed the power of x-ray vision to help him see through his opponent in the middle of a tennis match. It's so ridiculous that it is completely self explanatory.
Unfortunately, vast majority of memes aren't that. It seems like they expect you to know some obscure stuff as if it's as well known as 'I have the high ground'. Again, if you somehow never heard of Star Wars, it's pretty self explanatory after seeing the scene that Obi-Wan indeed has the high ground. Some stuff, like say Chuck Norris jokes, are stuff where even if you didn't know why anyone should care about a guy named Chuck Norris it'd be readily obvious what the gag is.
I guess it's hard to come up with good memes even if the bar seems to be relatively low. I remember Charles Barkley was saying that if a professional broadcaster makes a prediction that was wrong he should be banned from making predictions for 3 years. There should be the same rule for coming up with a meme and getting a "I have no idea what's going on' reaction from a casual observer.
Other than the fact that it might take a while for people to realize this is actually a real scene in New Prince of Tennis as opposed to some kind of clever photoshop, it is quite self explanatory. Atobe literally developed the power of x-ray vision to help him see through his opponent in the middle of a tennis match. It's so ridiculous that it is completely self explanatory.
Unfortunately, vast majority of memes aren't that. It seems like they expect you to know some obscure stuff as if it's as well known as 'I have the high ground'. Again, if you somehow never heard of Star Wars, it's pretty self explanatory after seeing the scene that Obi-Wan indeed has the high ground. Some stuff, like say Chuck Norris jokes, are stuff where even if you didn't know why anyone should care about a guy named Chuck Norris it'd be readily obvious what the gag is.
I guess it's hard to come up with good memes even if the bar seems to be relatively low. I remember Charles Barkley was saying that if a professional broadcaster makes a prediction that was wrong he should be banned from making predictions for 3 years. There should be the same rule for coming up with a meme and getting a "I have no idea what's going on' reaction from a casual observer.
