Has "cute" gone too far?

[Netzach]

Exactly.

The ones I've seen seem to be saying, "I don't want to look like a total bitch, but I still want to say fuck you."

It really depends on context (omg I can't believe I'm saying this about Lolats)

There are two kinds. Those of us who deposit lolcats into threads or read lolcats only in forum threads, and those who go to icanhazcheezburger to look at lolcats when we are in need of lolcats.

I'm the latter kind of loser.

I also enjoy failblog - hugely.

 

[Netzach]

Ah, the dangers of cavorting among sadists.



I honestly didn't know what a "LOLcat" was until about two weeks ago.

Some of them seem to have the above stated purpose but others seem to be just pure saccharin.

Example:

http://icanhascheezburger.files.wordpress.com/2007/05/kitty_battery.jpg


Interestingly, I would enjoy the photo if it didn't have the words attached. It's the words that bother me.

Not a strong example of the genre. Too much human intervention, cat cuter without words.

 

[Netzach]

I'm unsure that this is a better example, but lo and behold - a topical LOLbat!
http://icanhascheezburger.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/funny-pictures-bat-snuggles.jpg

 

[JMohegan]

Great shot of a bat, but the pic's upside down.

 

[Netzach]

bleh, the lolcats aren't what they were in their popularity. I had trouble finding the things that , well the things I think make them awesome.

1. Not too posed.

A pic of someone who sets out to be on Icanhaz is obvious (see K's example) and automatically not funny.

2. Not too wordy

good Lolcats are koans, not like a living Garfield strip.

3. Punchline that refers to the photo in some way = win

Other than just red eye, this generally holds. If there's something in the photo itself that's unusual, changing its context is where the funny lies.

This is a classic that I think is "good" by the above criteria.

http://icanhascheezburger.files.wordpress.com/2007/01/funny-pictures-monorail-cat1.jpg?w=400&h=300

 

[Netzach]

Great shot of a bat, but the pic's upside down.

Yeah, I'm unsure why the flip.

 

[Cattypuss]

Yeah, I'm unsure why the flip.

anthropomorphism

 

[Netzach]

anthropomorphism

Yeah - it does mirror the weirdness of the snuggies ads when you put it in this direction too.

 

[Cattypuss]

what's a snuggie?

 

[Netzach]

what's a snuggie?

This atrocity. Which is funnier than the sum total of all lolcats ever. Because blankets are too hard to use apparently.

https://www.getsnuggie.com/flare/next

 

[Cattypuss]

ooh... sexy

 

[Netzach]

ooh... sexy

Indeed.

What I don't understand is how they fit into the Vanity Fair guy's cosmology of "cute" there's nothing cute about them - ridiculous perhaps.

 

[Keroin]

bleh, the lolcats aren't what they were in their popularity. I had trouble finding the things that , well the things I think make them awesome.

1. Not too posed.

A pic of someone who sets out to be on Icanhaz is obvious (see K's example) and automatically not funny.

2. Not too wordy

good Lolcats are koans, not like a living Garfield strip.

3. Punchline that refers to the photo in some way = win

Other than just red eye, this generally holds. If there's something in the photo itself that's unusual, changing its context is where the funny lies.

This is a classic that I think is "good" by the above criteria.

http://icanhascheezburger.files.wordpress.com/2007/01/funny-pictures-monorail-cat1.jpg?w=400&h=300

Yep. That one made me smile.

 

[intothewoods]

Indeed.

What I don't understand is how they fit into the Vanity Fair guy's cosmology of "cute" there's nothing cute about them - ridiculous perhaps.

Agreed, although I guess the aesthetic is more cute than say, bumpits. Ha ha ha.

And excellent explanation of lolcats. I think the whole uncool thing is a big part of what attracted people.

 

[JMohegan]

bleh, the lolcats aren't what they were in their popularity. I had trouble finding the things that , well the things I think make them awesome.

1. Not too posed.

A pic of someone who sets out to be on Icanhaz is obvious (see K's example) and automatically not funny.

2. Not too wordy

good Lolcats are koans, not like a living Garfield strip.

3. Punchline that refers to the photo in some way = win

Other than just red eye, this generally holds. If there's something in the photo itself that's unusual, changing its context is where the funny lies.

Oh, so they're sort of like the America's Funniest Home Videos of the Internet pic world?

 

[JMohegan]

Yep. That one made me smile.

I can't read indoor cats very well.

Is that one terrified, or just hanging out?

 

[Netzach]

Agreed, although I guess the aesthetic is more cute than say, bumpits. Ha ha ha.

And excellent explanation of lolcats. I think the whole uncool thing is a big part of what attracted people.

It's kind of the apogee of lame, isn't it? If Thomas Pynchon put it in the beginning of Vineland people would say "no, that's just silly."

 

[Netzach]

I can't read indoor cats very well.

Is that one terrified, or just hanging out?

Chilling.

They cover their feet with their body when it's a little chilly or just 'cause. He probably is watching something but not interested enough to get up.

 

[Keroin]

I can't read indoor cats very well.

Is that one terrified, or just hanging out?

Just hanging out.

One of my closest friends has a cat with eyes like that. The poor thing looks perpetually terrified. Cats actually enjoy high places. Even very narrow ones.

 

[Netzach]

Oh, so they're sort of like the America's Funniest Home Videos of the Internet pic world?

If "best audience captioning" was the objective, maybe.

 

[JMohegan]

Chilling.

They cover their feet with their body when it's a little chilly or just 'cause. He probably is watching something but not interested enough to get up.

It looks like the Cheshire Cat to me. I'm half expecting it to grin.

 

[Keroin]

Indeed.

What I don't understand is how they fit into the Vanity Fair guy's cosmology of "cute" there's nothing cute about them - ridiculous perhaps.

My guess is the name.

SNUGGIE.

 

[JMohegan]

Just hanging out.

One of my closest friends has a cat with eyes like that. The poor thing looks perpetually terrified. Cats actually enjoy high places. Even very narrow ones.

Yeah, I know from watching the outdoor ones that they're outstanding climbers, and balancers too.

Never seen one do that on glass, though. I thought it might feel vulnerable or unnerved with its claws rendered useless.

 

[Keroin]

OK, so here's something that would fit into the annoyingly cute category, for me.

These were the mascots of the Vancouver Olympics...
http://media.nowpublic.net/images//34/e/34e044daee74cfc3cfc9c46ab62e6a34.jpg

Ignoring, for a moment, that I was opposed to the games as a whole, these mascots make no sense to me. They look like something I would see in Japan. How do they represent Vancouver? Or Canada? I don't even know what animals the two on the left and right are supposed to represent.

ETA: I think the one on the right is a panda?

To me, they were designed with the sole purpose of being cute. Blech.

 

[satindesire]

I love lolcats. And I have started several lolcat threads on this site. Just because.