From Cinema to Cyberspace: Meme Culture, Digital Virality, and the Politics of Representation in Malayalam Cinema
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.53032/tvcr/2025.v7n4.15Keywords:
Meme culture, Digital virality, OTT platforms, Authorship, Audience agencyAbstract
The rise of meme culture and digital virality has reshaped the engagement of audiences with cinema. The study focuses the trend particularly in the context of Malayalam film industry. With the proliferation of OTT platforms, social media, and short-form video content, cinematic dialogues, characters, and scenes are increasingly reinterpreted in meme culture. This phenomenon has altered not only the longevity of films but also the way narratives, characters, and performances are perceived in the public sphere. This paper explores the intersection of digital culture, memeification, and the shifting landscape of authorship, film criticism, and audience agency. Through the study of five iconic Malayalam cinema characters—Dasamoolam Damu (Chattambinadu, 2009), Shammi (Kumbalangi Nights, 2019), Anappara Achamma (Godfather, 1991), Manavalan (Pulival Kalyanam, 2003), and Ramanan (Punjabi House, 1998)—the paper examines how memes function as a mode of reinterpretation, ideological critique, and socio-political commentary. Drawing from theories of hyperreality, toxic masculinity, feminist film criticism, affective economics, and carnivalesque aesthetics, this study critically evaluates the evolving digital discourse surrounding Malayalam cinema.
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