The previous posts have focussed on cartoons, videos and
animations, but I thought that I would focus this post on memes. To my surprise, there weren’t as many memes
on the subject of Australian politics or the upcoming election, however I did
manage to locate a handful.
The topics of the memes covered the politicians themselves,
the upcoming election, as well as some current topical themes such as the
opposition’s plan for the NBN.
This image of Tony Abbott saying he welcomes Republicans,
just not by boat is a reference to US Republican voters threatening to move to
Australia (or Canada) after President Obama won his second term. One such republican even tweeted “I’m moving
to Australia because their president is a Christian and actually supports what he
says”, her obvious ignorance on who Julia Gillard is caused a sudden twitter
backlash that she deleted her twitter account shortly after her tweet. The meme merges Tony’s political leaning
similarity with the Republicans in the US with his anti-asylum seeker stance.
This meme highlights Tony’s stance on asylum seekers and
marriage equality for the gay community (despite his sister being gay
herself). It is a funny play on words in
this particular meme that the combination of the two things that he is against
creates an even bigger fear for Tony.
This meme of Tony claiming to be the better feminist is
directed at his misogynistic profile and the fact that Julia is unwed. Tony was quick to roll out his wife into the
public domain soon after Julia’s misogynist speech aimed squarely against Tony.
The main difference I have seen in the memes focussing in
the politicians themselves is that those directed at Tony Abbott appear to be
aimed at his policies or his conservatism, whereas those directed at Julia
Gillard seem to be purely on her appearance.
The one above points out that both Julia and Margaret Thatcher were both
the first female Prime Ministers in their countries and they both have red hair. That is as far as the similarities go
politically as they were on opposite ends of the political spectrum. The rust bucket comment is a reference to
Julia’s red hair.
Another meme aimed at Julia’s looks, a rather unfortunate
timed photograph of the obligatory baby kissing during electioneering caught
the baby with a look that could be described as uncomfortable. The ranga reference clearly directed again at
the Prime Minister’s appearance.
The memes directed at the election are few and far between
which is surprising given the long notice given for the election. The one above showing Tony in his ever
present red budgie smugglers and being compared to Daniel Craig in an attempt
to woo the women’s vote based purely on his physique.
This election meme compares photos of Julia and Tony to ‘look-a-likes’
Gollum from Lord of the Rings for Tony and Pennywise the Dancing Clown from
Stephen King’s movie ‘It’. It is amazing
that the comparison photos appear to have the same facial expressions giving
credence to the identity they are portraying.
It also highlights that the options for the next election
are slim pickings, you can either choose a slimy scheming goblin or a crazed
manic clown. Perhaps it was the Greens
that made this meme?
The photo in the above meme lends itself nicely to memes,
one could think of any suitable one-liner and insert it in the above photo. The particular one-liner in this meme is
directed at the recent release of the opposition’s design for the NBN, which
most people agree is pretty dire.
And just to demonstrate how dire the opposition’s NBN plan
is, this meme cleverly shows Malcolm Turnbull listening to a tin can and string
phone that most kids have used before highlighting how inadequate the
opposition plan actually is.
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