Jiya Kohar Week 8: Kirkification
The first meme I remember seeing was when I was scrolling through TikTok, one September night, and stumbled on a clip of Charlie Kirk being shot in the neck, followed by a montage edit of Bullseye. Moments after his death, far right political commentator, Charlie Kirk officially turned into a meme.
After the momentary shock of his assassination died down, Kirkification became rampant all across social media. Kirkification, or, to Kirkify, is defined as the process of editing or swapping one’s face with Charlie Kirk, usually to be presented as a mockery or meme. Since his death, more unhinged and deranged memes of Charlie Kirk have been spreading online. Kirkification has caught on for a couple reasons: 1. Provocative and dark humor performs well on social media, and 2. So many people genuinely despise(d?) Charlie Kirk.
The online reaction was the result of the extreme hatred of the reputation Charlie Kirk built online before his death. For years, he made a career off of his insanely provocative and abrasive alt-right political views. His clips circulated easily because of his high political connections and how inflammatory his content was. His organization, Turning Point USA, was founded to heavily advocate and spread conservative politics (that is closely aligned to evangelical Christianity). Even before his death, people either supported him strongly or intensely disliked him.
So when news of his death came, coupled with the fact that his literal assassination video was very easily accessible, the pre-existing hostility continued. And, because that hostility and disdain was already so established, Kirkification easily took off. Logically, in the majority of other “celebrity” deaths, joking about and creating memes of a recently deceased person would be unacceptable online and definitely wouldn’t have taken off how this has.
The initial rounds of memes created directly after his assassination paved the way for more Americans to be able to express their intense hatred of Kirk through mocking and humor. It has become a way for Americans to express how much they hate(d?) him by turning him into a running joke. And, I would argue, the reason so many people are comfortable with these derogatory jokes, is because they saw how derogatory and disapproving he was to (arguably) anyone other than a good ol’ God-fearing, white Christian man.
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After the momentary shock of his assassination died down, Kirkification became rampant all across social media. Kirkification, or, to Kirkify, is defined as the process of editing or swapping one’s face with Charlie Kirk, usually to be presented as a mockery or meme. Since his death, more unhinged and deranged memes of Charlie Kirk have been spreading online. Kirkification has caught on for a couple reasons: 1. Provocative and dark humor performs well on social media, and 2. So many people genuinely despise(d?) Charlie Kirk.
The online reaction was the result of the extreme hatred of the reputation Charlie Kirk built online before his death. For years, he made a career off of his insanely provocative and abrasive alt-right political views. His clips circulated easily because of his high political connections and how inflammatory his content was. His organization, Turning Point USA, was founded to heavily advocate and spread conservative politics (that is closely aligned to evangelical Christianity). Even before his death, people either supported him strongly or intensely disliked him.
So when news of his death came, coupled with the fact that his literal assassination video was very easily accessible, the pre-existing hostility continued. And, because that hostility and disdain was already so established, Kirkification easily took off. Logically, in the majority of other “celebrity” deaths, joking about and creating memes of a recently deceased person would be unacceptable online and definitely wouldn’t have taken off how this has.
The initial rounds of memes created directly after his assassination paved the way for more Americans to be able to express their intense hatred of Kirk through mocking and humor. It has become a way for Americans to express how much they hate(d?) him by turning him into a running joke. And, I would argue, the reason so many people are comfortable with these derogatory jokes, is because they saw how derogatory and disapproving he was to (arguably) anyone other than a good ol’ God-fearing, white Christian man.
When I saw my first “Kirkified” meme the only thing I could think of was Megamind. The blue, underwhelming, very insufficient villain that many have grown to love. The fact that so quickly after his death so many people were making jokes at his expense really shows the impact, whether positive or not, that he has left on American society. While I fully disagree with the majority if not all of his views I do find that his life should not have ended the way it did. However, many use his views as valid reasoning behind why he died. Charlie Kirk repeatedly advocated for the second amendment even going as far as to say that it is necessary that some be sacrificed in order to maintain that right, although, I don’t think he considered he would have to be one of those sacrifices. It is really easy to say how things should be but when actually faced with that type of situation, choosing what to do in that moment may contradict your previous beliefs. Not even a month ago there were two major altercations with gun violence in the Bay Area which affected thousands of innocent civilians, including me and my family. These events put a lot of things into perspective and truly showed me how America has essentially lost the plot. In a means to self-defense we are hurting those around us. Although clique there is a reason why violence cannot be fought with more violence. As a society we need to recognize the root of these problems rather than waiting for it to blow up in our faces.
ReplyDeleteThis meme also has been rampant on my TikTok and I do not really see and end to it. These "kirkified" images are plastered everywhere, even in places where it makes absolutely no sense. His mass opposition gave people a sense of entitlement to make fun of his brutal assassination. This mockery of Kirk can also be seen in music such as "We are Charlie Kirk" by Spalexma, which further bastardizes him. The non-sensitivity that people feel making these memes and posting them online is truly alarming. Imagine if people "kirkified" Martin Luther King Jr. after his assassination, it would have caused extreme opposition to the people who did it.
ReplyDeleteHi I'm not in your cohort, but I have things to say about this! I feel that Charlie Kirk's death has sparked extremist reactions from both sides of the political spectrum. Kirkification is one example of Charlie Kirk's name being disrespected after his death, but simultaneously, we also see people actively white-washing his legacy to make him seem like a saint. For instance, some individuals are now comparing Charlie Kirk's advocacy to that of THE Martin Luther King, Jr. during the civil rights movement. Both were faithful Christians, leaders of their communities, and victims of political violence. However, the magnitude of change that MLK Jr. achieved far surpasses Charlie Kirk, a man who relied on debates with inexperienced college students to spread his rhetoric. The two simply aren't in the same league.
ReplyDeleteI think that Kirkification is, in some twisted, Gen-Z way, meant to counter the portrayal of Charlie Kirk as a martyr. Or maybe it's just a thoughtless joke, and I'm taking it too seriously. Either way, this new trend is an interesting expansion of modern meme culture.