In order to talk about the Pepe, we must first talk about the Meme. But what is a Meme?
MEME
An element of a culture or system of behavior that may be considered to be passed from one individual to another by nongenetic means, especially imitation.
A meme is essentially the collective creation and evolution of shared information.
The internet meme is the most widely shared piece of visual information in the history of mankind.
Never before was a civilization able to influence the planet from edge to edge with the click of a button. And what do we share most? We share the Meme.
It is no wonder, then, that the Meme has become the most interesting art form ever to come into existence. It is the most popular form of art of all times.
And Pepe is its mascot.
Of all the animals on the planet, why was the frog our choice of character? It seems strange, doesn’t it? Well, it is.
My first realization is that, anatomically speaking, the frog has a very similar makeup to the human.
Such similarity creates for a diverse meme structure, as we can easily blur the lines between a pepe and a human being. They just fit.
The Frog is an interesting form of life. It is both a land and a water animal. It is always moist — a word generally accepted to be “cringeworthy.” And it eats flies. To the human being — it’s a gross animal. Yet here we are, using the most widespread art form in history to blur the lines between frogs and people.
Frogs are featured in the scriptures of every great religion. Like humans, they embody both goodness as well as evil. Love and hate. Light and dark.
And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.’
As Brahmans, sitting round the brimful vessel, talk at the Soma-rite of Atiratra, So, Frogs, ye gather round the pool to honour this day of all the year, the first of Rain-time.
To understand why the Pepe is the chosen creature of the people of the digital age, we must reflect on the motivations of one of the most brilliant minds of the 20th century and true fathers of the Beat Generation — William S. Burroughs.
INTERVIEWER: Why is the wordless state so desirable?
BURROUGHS: I think it’s the evolutionary trend. I think that words are an around-the-world, ox-cart way of doing things, awkward instruments, and they will be laid aside eventually, probably sooner than we think.
Burroughs’ main focus of study was language and words, yet he desired what he called “the wordless state.” Why? The wordless state is a state of mental calmness, of no-thought, of Samadhi.
His entire goal was to use language to reach the end of language. To push the limits of words so far that he could go no further, and then push those boundaries.
“The old writer couldn’t write anymore because he had reached the end of words, the end of what can be done with words. And then?”
— William S. Burroughs
He wanted his readers to cringe to the point of insanity or total inquiry.
His books change his readers’ vision of the world like some kind of hypnosis that makes her question everything.
“Who is having these thoughts? Where did they come from?”
And what inevitably follows is — “fucking Burroughs.”
“Did I ever tell you about the man
who taught his asshole to talk?His whole abdomen would move up and down, you dig, farting out the words.”
— William S. Burroughs
Can you see the similarity?
The meme world has taken up the Beat cause without realizing it.
We have pushed the limits of the acceptable, and pushed those further. We have explored the strange realm of the limits of imagination. How far can we take it? How far is too far? Who says there is a limit?
We must explore the limits of mind in order to fully realize its potential. And the market has chosen the Pepe as that medium.
The Pepe is freedom of expression.
It is an exploration mechanism for the evolution of humankind.
It is the chosen mascot of the internet.
And it’s not going anywhere.
