Coolhunting:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9ZDSVvO2_0eVzZ0aFNjTmVqZXc/view?usp=sharing
Description and History:
Before diving into the meme, I would like to give a brief overview of David Tennant and “Doctor Who” for those that are unfamiliar with the show. Tennant is a British actor, famous for his role in the popular BBC television show “Doctor Who”. He starred as the tenth reincarnation of the Doctor from 2005 to 2010 with a special appearance in the 50th Anniversary Special in 2013. He has done a wide range of work outside of “Doctor Who” ranging from theater pieces like “Casanova” and “Hamlet” to crime dramas like “Broadchurch” and the Marvel Netflix original “Jessica Jones” (IMDB).
As a science fiction show that has been around since 1963 (with a break from 1989-2005), “Doctor Who” has a developed and often complicated to explain plot. BBC explains the show and the Doctor as “an alien Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey who travels through all of time and space in his TARDIS…He has a long list of friends and companions who have shared journeys with him. Instead of dying, the Doctor is able to ‘regenerate’ into a new body, taking on a new personality with each regeneration” (BBC). This is the most fitting definition of the show without going into to much detail.
Now on to the meme! On October 16th 2011, a tumblr user named Molly created a blog titled “David Tennant in Places He Shouldn’t Be” and uploaded several images featuring a cropped image of Tennant Photoshoped into other images (know your meme). The blog also provides a template of the Tennant image that encourages the audience to participate in creating more memes and welcomes all levels of photo editing skills. The image of Tennant, in role as the Doctor, was taken from “Doctor Who” season 3 episode 0 Christmas special titled “The Runaway Bride” (IMDB). The image itself is not particularly relevant to the specific episode but it is to the show in general.
The doctor is known for ending up in unusual situations and having to fight aliens with his wit for the sake of saving humanity, the world, another race of aliens, or occasionally the entire universe. This means that there are several fight scenes, and since the Doctor is so good-hearted, lots of running away or towards said fight scenes. The Doctor running is such a common thing that it is comical within the Doctor Who Fandom. A compilation exists called Time Run featuring “700 non-repeating, un-manipulated clips of David Tennant running as The Tenth Doctor; sourced from 58 separate episodes, clips, shorts, and animated features” (Time Run). This all plays into the meme because the Doctor running and ending up in places (and images) where he shouldn’t be resonates strongly with “Doctor Who" fans (or Whovians).
Appeal:
The appeal of this meme lies in how easy they are to create. The blog provides a template so even someone with no photo editing skills can create a David Tennant in Places He Shouldn’t Be meme by simply dragging the template into another image. The meme is also ongoing and as it has grown, more experienced photo editors have Photoshoped other poses of Tennant adding more variety to the meme (tumblr). Tennant can basically be added to any picture and in any pose making this meme very inclusive of a wide range of media. Tennant could be added to a picture of High School Musical or a picture with the President of the United States, Barack Obama, and it is still the same meme.
Another appeal of this meme is that participants feel party of the community. The “Doctor Who” fandom is very active on tumblr and as a social media platform, tumblr tends to be more community based. Sadly however, this meme did not travel far outside of the “Doctor Who” audience. Without the explanation given above, an average person would not be entertained by these memes. To someone who is unfamiliar with David Tennant and “Doctor Who,” they might see these memes and question who is David Tennant, why is this funny, and why do I care.
Social and Cultural Factors:
“Doctor Who” is a major part of British popular culture. The show started in 1963 and after a break of several years revived into a new series in 2005. However there are several social and cultural factors that prevented this meme from becoming mainstream viral. When the meme was created in 2011, “Doctor Who” had yet to rise in popularity in the United States. While “Doctor Who” had always been a culturally relevant cult classic in the UK, it wasn’t until late 2012/early 2013 that a large US audience developed. A social factor that prevented the spread of this meme is that it was limited to a single platform. By only being shared through tumblr, the potential audience was extremely less than it could have been had it been shared multi-platform.
I want to compare this meme to “Ghost Map” reading and the streetlight reading about standard objects. In the “Ghost Map” the virus stopped spreading after the pump was cut off. Without being able to travel to a new host the virus dies off. This meme couldn’t spread because it was limited to one platform just like the Cholera was limited to the Broad Street pump. Had the pump been left on, the virus would have continued to spread just as this meme would have grown had it also been shared on Facebook, Twitter, and other social media. In the David Tennant in Places He Shouldn’t Be meme, Tennant is a standard object just as the streetlight. He is the same in every image but by placing him in different settings gives new meaning to the image he is placed in as well as what he is doing in that image. Adding him to the High School Musical picture makes him look like he is jumping, added to the Barack Obama picture he is giving a high five, added to a pool of swimmers he is swimming.
Resources and Further Information:
Below are my sources for both this paper and my presentation:
Resources:
Images:
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