Kanye goes to Venezuela
I use tumblr, to keep tapped into the pulse of the world's meme-o-sphere. I follow a lot of people in New York and Los Angeles. Somehow I follow lot's of Venezuelans. This is how I discovered the unrest in the online community over crackdowns on media by Hugo Chavez. It wasn't that funny so I forwarded that info on to Current's news man, Andrew Fitzgerald, who wrote a blog post about it.
Luckily this latest picture from the Venezuelan meme factory is funny.
This picture depicts the president of Venezuela being told to shut up by everyone's favorite interrupter-of-the-moment, Kanye West. This picture would evoke a laugh from any anti-Chavista. (I imagine Bill O'Reilly would love this picture, hates Hugo Chavez, and loves telling people to shut up.) But to the nuanced Latin meme-ster, this picture is a mashup of ideas.
It references an event from November 2007. At the Ibero-American summit, Hugo Chavez interrupted José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, the Spanish prime minister. Then Juan Carlos, King of Spain, leaned forward, turned towards Chávez, and said "¿Por qué no te callas?"
This outburst was well received in sectors of Ibero-America, especially by those who feel that Chavismo is too radical. This video quickly became viral, and prompted several notable versions. (My favorite one is the Reggaeton style.) The phrase "¿Por qué no te callas?" was emblazoned on t-shirts, and even became a popular ringtone.
The above picture connects this meme to the meme-of-the-week. In a sort of cosmic revenge, the new interrupter, is interrupting the old interrupter.
This anti-Chavez imagery speaks to something the socio-political position that these Venezuelan tumblrs hold. In a nation like Venezuela there is vast disparity between the rich and the poor. Chavez's objective to redistribute wealth is something that affluent people are not excited about. (Along with general distaste for Chavez's pushes for lifelong autocracy.)
Luckily this latest picture from the Venezuelan meme factory is funny.
This picture depicts the president of Venezuela being told to shut up by everyone's favorite interrupter-of-the-moment, Kanye West. This picture would evoke a laugh from any anti-Chavista. (I imagine Bill O'Reilly would love this picture, hates Hugo Chavez, and loves telling people to shut up.) But to the nuanced Latin meme-ster, this picture is a mashup of ideas.
It references an event from November 2007. At the Ibero-American summit, Hugo Chavez interrupted José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, the Spanish prime minister. Then Juan Carlos, King of Spain, leaned forward, turned towards Chávez, and said "¿Por qué no te callas?"
[current 87274861]
This outburst was well received in sectors of Ibero-America, especially by those who feel that Chavismo is too radical. This video quickly became viral, and prompted several notable versions. (My favorite one is the Reggaeton style.) The phrase "¿Por qué no te callas?" was emblazoned on t-shirts, and even became a popular ringtone.
The above picture connects this meme to the meme-of-the-week. In a sort of cosmic revenge, the new interrupter, is interrupting the old interrupter.
This anti-Chavez imagery speaks to something the socio-political position that these Venezuelan tumblrs hold. In a nation like Venezuela there is vast disparity between the rich and the poor. Chavez's objective to redistribute wealth is something that affluent people are not excited about. (Along with general distaste for Chavez's pushes for lifelong autocracy.)
I think we (the meme-o-sphere) see so much opposition to Hugo Chavez, because many of his supporters often don't have access to the internet. You probably don't have time for funny internet videos, when you live in the slums of Caracas.
I think though that whatever your political proclivity you can agree that this video of Chavez dissing Fox News, is great Television.
