“maluo” becomes popular: symbolic consumption and emotional community in the cyber age
2024-09-05
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the phrase "maluo's life is also life" has made "maluo" the most popular symbol on the internet. in the dialects of guangdong and guangxi, "maluo" (originally "maliu" in the dialect) refers to monkeys. the guangxi native who made a joke when he saw netizens urging guangxi sugar oranges to go on the market probably didn't expect that this would cause a new internet craze. the monkey with "heavy eyelids, dull eyes, and expressionless face" has become the most recognized image among contemporary young people.
unlike the previous "capibala" and "shushu" which were only popular in small circles, "maluo" has shown strong ability to break through the circle and has a wide range of dissemination characteristics. from workers to students, everyone can call themselves "maluo". it seems that any group can see themselves in "maluo". the "maluo" emoticon package has become another barrier-free social language.
before "maluo", the most well-known monkey was probably sun wukong. the monkey king, who hates evil, has outstanding fighting power, is resourceful and brave, and can subdue demons and monsters, has satisfied the imagination of generations of people about heroes, and has even become an idol in the hearts of many people. but unlike sun wukong, who has a complete character setting and story, "maluo" is just a simple symbol without cause and effect. many users of the "maluo" emoticon package can't even tell how many different monkeys there are; here, even the image and personality of the monkey itself are no longer important, as long as the text in the picture can convey the corresponding emotions. from this point of view, the popularity of "maluo" is the inevitable result of the development of symbolic consumption and youth subculture, that is, the public cares more about the emotions that symbols can convey than the symbols themselves.
the symbolic simulacrum of the self
the generally agreed view in fan research is that fans will "project themselves" on idols, that is, fans regard idols as their ideal selves in the "mirror" and project their own emotions on them, thereby achieving "self-satisfaction" or even "self-identification" in the virtual space of the internet. here, idols have been separated from specific individuals and have become a kind of symbol itself. the idol's personality and "business" are often to strengthen their symbolic characteristics, and the "collapse of idols" often means the "collapse" of the symbol that the idol represents.
fans expect symbols to be stable and long-term, so many people choose to project two-dimensional characters or even complete virtual idols as objects of projection. because compared to real idols, the personality and appearance of "paper people" and virtual idols are often easier to keep consistent. on the other hand, whether it is a real idol or a virtual idol, what fans like and pursue is only the symbolic existence across the electronic screen. if we judge only from the perspective of the quasi-social relationship between idols and fans, there is no essential difference between real idols and virtual idols, that is, real idols are not more real or more intimate than virtual idols. therefore, based on the symbolic stability of virtual idols, many people are more willing to project themselves into non-real idols.
more often, many people choose to complete self-projection through idols, perhaps just using the corresponding symbolic consumption to express themselves. specifically, it is to abstract and summarize certain characteristics of daily life while symbolically constructing the corresponding objects. after the symbolized object is associated with the abstracted life, the symbol user can complete self-projection and expression. here, the idol or the object of projection becomes a symbolic simulacrum of the "self". the desire for self-construction and expression is the important motivation for an individual to project onto a certain object.
scholars who study fan culture generally believe that fans are most likely to worship idols who match their ideal self-image. just like those "career fans" who are becoming more and more active on social platforms, they seem to be urging their idols to make progress in their careers, but they may actually be urging their imaginary selves, but when they use idols to express these wishes, it seems easier to express them verbally.
deconstruction and narrative abandonment
the development of social media has made it easier for us to express ourselves, while also further expanding the range of symbols available for consumption. however, when symbols are used in daily interactions, the comprehensibility and acceptability of the symbols themselves become extremely important, and memes and emoticons, due to their intuitive and graphic design, have naturally become an important means of expression for many young people in social situations. this may explain to some extent why emoticons are used more frequently than symbols of stars and idols, especially when such emoticons have obvious self-deprecating and sarcastic features, they are more easily accepted and liked.
obviously, the ability of images represented by "maluo" to spread quickly and widely is closely related to its symbolic characteristics, and young people are only completing their identity recognition and some kind of spiritual sustenance through symbolic consumption.
cultural critic raymond williams believes that culture is a daily, holistic way of life. generally speaking, we are accustomed to calling the cultural form created by young people, which both resists and cooperates with the culture of their parents and mainstream culture, youth subculture. symbolic consumption represented by "maluo", capibara, and shushu is also part of contemporary youth subculture. although this type of symbol also has the characteristics of self-imitation and self-expression, as an emoticon without any specific settings or connotations, compared with the characteristics of idols, two-dimensional images and other symbols, they also have more "nonsense" characteristics such as ridicule and deconstruction.
today, the discussion of "nonsense" is more based on the text structure mode and expression techniques shown in stephen chow's films. the academic community generally believes that the basic aesthetic feature of "nonsense" is to reveal certain social and historical truths in the bizarre, weird and absurd, just like what stephen chow often does in his movies, breaking up and reorganizing the character relationships and story structures that the audience is familiar with, using collage and parody to produce ironic and teasing expression effects, thereby destroying order and deconstructing orthodoxy. in other words, in "nonsense" texts, deconstruction is the most important feature.
deconstruction is a prominent feature of postmodern art in conveying themes. as british scholar terry eagleton said, postmodernism, as a cultural style, often reflects certain aspects of the changes of this era with "an art without depth, center, basis, self-reflection, play, simulation, eclecticism, and pluralism". although the symbolic consumption favored by young people today cannot be called postmodern art, it still has obvious postmodern commodity attributes. here, the whole, history, and even text, narrative, and structure no longer exist, leaving only a "carnival" of emotional catharsis.
emotional community under "mouth replacement"
in the past two years, "emotional value" has become a consumption attribute that young people are striving to pursue. this is not only reflected in the popularity of products represented by plush toys, but also in the popularity of "mouth substitutes" who can speak for young people. for example, yu hua, in the past many people knew and loved him more based on his literary works, but now many young people like him because of the "sloppy puppy" emoticon package, stories with mo yan and shi tiesheng, and many "anti-involution" quotations. from beginning to end, yu hua has not changed. what has changed is the public's perspective on him and what they expect to get from him. at least in the current internet context, yu hua's loveliness lies more in his empathy for young people's emotions.
behind the emphasis on "emotional value" is actually a need for self-emotions to be understood, accepted, and soothed. young people look forward to soothing their emotions with the help of external commodities, and also look forward to expressing their emotions through mass media. from emoticons to interviews with people, speeches, to lines in film and television dramas, any combination of images and texts may become a symbol of expression, helping them to express obscure or even vague emotions in a concrete content. more importantly, choosing "mouth replacement" in the media instead of expressing one's feelings directly helps to weaken emotions and makes it easier for young people to reach a certain emotional community on the internet. in other words, they can share the same emotions in similar "symbols". perhaps this can also explain why good friends are more likely to share the same type of emoticons. they can be dancing cow cats, loopy and senbei poodles, or ms. luo wenjie or "maluo". emotional sharing is the key to the popularity of these symbols.
looking back at the subcultures that have been popular on the internet in recent years, it is easy to find that many seemingly specific contents often point to a vague signifier and internal demand - the demand of ordinary individuals to be seen and understood, which is related to the anxiety in the risk society. beck pointed out that common anxiety replaces common needs in the risk society. from this point of view, when the emotions of the masses show obvious commonality, media symbols with universal emotional expression will be more easily accepted and spread.
if we return our perspective to literary works, we will find that this shift is reflected in the public's attention to narratives of minor characters, marginalized groups, and love for imperfect protagonists. here, rather than caring about the story and content, the public is more concerned about the clear and definite emotions these characters refer to. it is these emotions and value orientations that resonate and empathize with the public.
it is difficult for us to judge how long "maluo" will be popular. perhaps there will be new symbols soon that will make young people feel that they see themselves, because more people care not about "maluo" itself, but just need a symbol with emotional massage function. as long as this need is met, any symbol may become the next "maluo".
author:
text: pazilia (phd candidate at school of journalism and communication, tsinghua university) photo: from the internet editor: zhou minxian responsible editor: shao ling
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