Vetcetera Superficially deconstructing the “cat porn” that is lolcats
I know this doesn’t seem a very veterinary topic, but stay with me now…
You know the lolcats, right? They’re the silly, sad and sometimes frustrated cats (and other creatures) pictured with cartoonish captions to indicate their inner thoughts…as we mere humans might interpret them.
In case you don’t know, Icanhascheezburger.com is the flagship site for these pics. They’re funny, they’re cute…and they’re sometimes unbearably poignant.
After devouring a fun piece in Salon from last week’s stash of must-read articles, I decided I agreed with its author’s basic premise: “We have seen the lolcats, and they are us.”
Their poignancy is largely what concerns Jay Dixit in his article, which is titled, “I can has cheezburger ... and pathos?” But for all his analysis of the success of lolcats (yes, even lolcats can be analyzed, it seems), the reason is incredibly obvious to me: They’re animals, yes, but it’s in their humanization that we revel when we read their “thoughts.”
No, it’s not just that they’re cute. If the explanation for their popularity were so simple they’d not need words to convey the immensity of their attractiveness. Jay Dixit is right. They may be “cartoons,” but like most humor (or sentimentality, for that matter), it’s most effective when it holds a mirror up to our own humanity.
In the wake of Mr. Dixit’s arguments, I couldn’t help but feel a bit like peering through the looking glass of his analysis. I mean, what’s up with the humanization thing? Is it a new phenomenon or is it a simple twist on an old favorite, á-la-Far Side?
When little girls (like me three decades ago) used to carry around schoolbooks plastered in kitten and unicorn-studded contact paper, we didn’t add captions (I didn’t, anyway). We didn’t contemplate our favorite animal images’ inner thoughts any more than we wondered why it was they appealed to us. (OK, so some of us wondered…but not many.)
The same is probably true for little girls today, though the popularity of today’s graphics tend towards less naturalistic, more distorted animal images. Consequently, it occurs to me that the lolcats’ fame is driven by a distinctly adult phenomenon. In fact, my ten year-old son doesn’t get many of the lolcat images—nor would I want him to.
So why do otherwise-mature adults engage in this kind of kid’s stuff? Why are adults more willing to play humanize-the-kitten in 2008? Why do we seek out the newest, best lolcat image to send to our similarly lolcat-smitten friends? Why the pathos? And what does this have to do with veterinary medicine anyway…?
OK, I have no answer for any of it. I was hoping you did (and that you’d let me know in your comments below). But here’s my current favorite lolcat image for your entertainment (at least it’s veterinary-themed):
November 18th, 2008
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Add Comment28 Comments
Oooh, sorry...forgot the link to the Salon piece (darn my pesky post editor!) and to Icanhascheezburger.
Dr. Patty Khuly November 18th, 2008 09:16:45 AM
Man! (dusting off hands, stretching back) That rock was heavy! But now that I'm out from under it, I have to admit I've never heard of the "lolcats" before.
Marjorie November 18th, 2008 09:22:26 AM
I love LOLcats. I think they are just funny. I don't delve deeper then that.
But, here's is my cat Kiko, who is a camera hog in a huge way, in her own LOL:
http://mine.icanhascheezburger.com/view.aspx?ciid=513169
DrSteggy November 18th, 2008 09:28:09 AM
DrSteggy: That's brilliant! It's also a perfect example of the "adult content" I'm talking about. It's clean...but it's distinctly adult.
Dr. Patty Khuly November 18th, 2008 09:55:26 AM
I admit it. I'm an addict. One day I will submit my own LOLCAT.
Until then, I will have to settle for my friends pic of her dog posted on LOLCATS, showing him on the porch, that says:
"I can seez Russia from my houz"
(Between 'anthropomorphizing' animals and pretending they don't have feelings and intelligence worthy of respect, I will take anthropomorphization any day . . . )
Stefani November 18th, 2008 10:20:25 AM
I think that for most people, its a fun, simple, and relatively harmless giggle in a rather tough and painful world. LOLcats and dogs (I love http://ihasahotdog.com/) don't hurt anyone, are not images of tortured critters, they are just silliness which we all seem to crave. At least I do, I tend to check them when stressed at work.
Dawn November 18th, 2008 10:53:28 AM
Oh, Lord I love cats and cat-pictures. Sometimes my cats do the funniest "stretching" postures and I always say: "What--are you posing for the nekkid cat magazine?".....
Bo November 18th, 2008 11:07:25 AM
I am not a cat person, but I check ihasahotdog.com DAILY for my giggles. Best. Idea. Ever.
Shasta November 18th, 2008 11:15:10 AM
Since I already consider my pets part of my human family (though aside from a coat when it's really cold, I do not dress my dogs), I don't really think of lolcats humanzing them....and I adore the site. And loldogs,
I also think the adjointing sites engrish and fail are equally hysterical and definately not for those obsessed with political correctness.
As far at some it it being adult content....the animals themselves are sometimes adult content....I have a lovely orange and white male that a couple of weeks before he got neutered, "discovered" himself, and was constantly licking and showing it off....he reminded me of a small toddler who is now a young man that also lives here....
YEah for lolcats. They can make me laugh no matter how bad my day is.
LorriM November 18th, 2008 12:58:11 PM
I am completely addicted to LOLCats. I haven't examined why ... they just provide a wonderful break from serious stuff.
Gina Spadafori November 18th, 2008 01:55:56 PM
I surrendered a long time ago, and gave up wondering why shortly thereafter. I tried to wonder. It's easier to just drink the kool aid. Or. Uh. Sniff the catnip.
melissaknits November 18th, 2008 02:39:35 PM
Looks like it's a tradeoff between the ability to comment with pictures and auto linking URLs for now. I figure this picture is appropriate. ;p
James Riley November 18th, 2008 04:04:56 PM
I gave up wondering too... it's just funny. To me it's funny because cats so often have this look of human-disgust for their humans, and then it's some sweet caption (see above example). So, it's just funny to read the captions the humans come up with. Even though I'd say I qualify as a 'crazy dog lady', I just don't think the dog ones are as funny. Dogs are sooooo into people, and so obvious, and cats are soooo seemingly indifferent to us and our shenanigans. I think that's why the lolcats are so funny. IMHO.
CreatureofHabit November 18th, 2008 05:21:53 PM
Thank God somebody explained this to me. I've seen these pictures before, but was never quite sure what a 'lolcat' was. Why they use the funky spelling escapes me too. . .except I guess it makes it funnier somehow.
They’re animals, yes, but it’s in their humanization that we revel when we read their “thoughts.”
I agree with your amateur psych, and adding a bit of my own I also think the thoughts we project onto our pets (or lolcats as the case may be) also can be a reflection of ourselves. For example if a friend sent me the ”I has a sad“ lolcat you posted above I would suspect they were sad (or maybe they suspected I was sad I suppose).
So, Doc, what's bothering you? We're listening. . . ;-)
Larry November 19th, 2008 12:10:39 AM
For me it's just entertainment...a break from a stressful job, life, drive, etc. My mother never worked but my dad left for work at 7:45 and was home by 4:45 every day Monday thru Friday. I have to work, my husband has to work and we leave our house every day at 5:35 and I have yet to make it home before 7 pm. Life has gotten more stressful, and LOLCats is a great escape from that stress.
Donna November 19th, 2008 02:08:20 AM
I'd rather have my veterinarian and staff laughing at these rather than their less-than-perfect clients!
Barb November 19th, 2008 06:55:39 AM
I discovered LOLCATS three months ago, during my 9th month of pregnancy. I had massive insomnia and would stay up for HOURS giggling over this website. Here's some of my LOLCATS!
Charity November 19th, 2008 12:31:11 PM
Like Donna - I use it as a break from daily stress. I don't have time to create or vote on pictures - OK - I did submit 1, but I just don't handle rejection well, LOL. http://mine.icanhascheezburger.com/view.aspx?ciid=713474
2CatMom November 19th, 2008 12:34:38 PM
How did you get your pictures to copy?
2CatMom November 19th, 2008 12:35:41 PM
2CatMom: Use the tree icon to enter your URL of choice. It should work now.
Dr. Patty Khuly November 19th, 2008 12:37:32 PM
Now, of course, you'll have to tell me where I'll find this tree icon.
2CatMom November 19th, 2008 01:39:58 PM
2CatMom: Oops--sorry. On my browser, at least, Dolittler gives me a formatting palette at the top of the comment box. There's a green tree icon there. Click on it and it should give you a space to input the URL of the pic. Let me know if you don't see it--as you can see, we're still working on Dolittler 2.0.
Dr. Patty Khuly November 19th, 2008 04:00:58 PM
I can no sees dis . Vry srry. Go to have cheezburger now. 'K?
2CatMom November 19th, 2008 04:30:33 PM
Larry: The spelling's funky because cats are notoriously bad spellers.
Marilyn November 21st, 2008 03:34:15 PM
Dr K - what browser are you using?? O'm using IE which could be the problem.
2CatMom November 22nd, 2008 10:35:38 AM
It's a total mental health break - and I love to see how creative and funny some of them are. They've added a format to mimic those dumb motivational posters, too - here's one of my kitten (P) and our old lab.
PsMom November 22nd, 2008 01:28:59 PM
2CatMom: Why Firefox, of course, isn't everybody...?
Dr. Patty Khuly November 24th, 2008 11:13:55 AM
i gotta have my cheezburger fix at least 3 times a day. sometimes i check it 6 or 7 times or even more. i actually sat down over the period of a couple of weekends and went thru every one of the entries.
i haz a problem. i is a lolaholic. peez heps me.
momsbusy November 26th, 2008 11:39:30 PM
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