![]() ![]() The idea of class-based condescension definitely factors in, but it’s the “liberal” bit that’s really key. ‘When I look at its yellow face □, I see the detestable, carefree smirks of Nigel Farage and Boris Johnson as they merrily dance through the current chaos.’ Photograph: Amer Ghazzal/Rex/Shutterstock In the words of Rage Against the Machine, the message being conveyed is clear: “Fuck you, I won’t do what you tell me.” That is, socially liberal, middle-class do-gooders piously informing people that they should care about these various issues. ![]() It takes a certain level of callous disregard to respond to human suffering in such a manner, but the real target of derision is most often People Like Me. However, I’ve come to realise that the specific nature of the horror frequently isn’t the primary reason for the glee. Trump’s threats to create a register of Muslims living in the US, to deport millions of primarily Latino US residents and to defund Planned Parenthood. Particularly horrendous benefit sanction case studies. Reports of a rise in hate crime in the immediate aftermath of the Brexit vote. Deaths of refugees who were desperately attempting to cross the Mediterranean in a rickety, overfilled boat entirely unfit for such a journey. In many cases, the topic that appears to have amused them is the sort of thing you’d hope any empathetic, reasonable person would find unconscionably horrific. Most often, the sender is gloating about something or other. It almost certainly has less to do with the actual nature of that graphic than the scenarios in which I most commonly encounter it. When I found out that the design had been used to create balaclavas, my immediate thought was: “At least we know what They’ll be wearing when They come.” Even in cases where the emoji user’s meaning seems entirely innocent, it still provokes a visceral reaction in me that I’d struggle to overstate. Still, there’s something about this particular character – with its broad, cackling grin and the perfomatively prominent tears of mirth – that just feels inherently mocking and cruel. ![]() This is less likely to be the case if you receive a similar message from a lover or spouse. If your mum texts you the aubergine, for instance, it might mean that she wants you to pick up the ingredients for a moussaka. Emoji is a complex and ambiguous language. ![]()
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