The Humor of A Struggle

By: Pranavsai Gandikota

Multimedia Content Analysis #6

Link to the Meme:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DBBldQFoowb/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet

About the Meme:

The above meme is a clip of the popular game Elden Ring, posted by @cell_the_gamer, a content creator with 8k followers, mostly posting gaming-related content on Instagram. Elden Ring is a RPG of the action-adventure genre, quite well-known for its difficulty in beating it, with fights that may take multiple tries to beat.

The clip shows a player trying to defeat the boss with a hammer, but rather he gets destroyed by the boss and later cries on the lap of someone comforting him.

Multimodality: The meme is in the form of a video with audio and a caption that says, "I will not recover from this 😭 #eldenring," which emphasizes the message he is trying to convey about his struggle in the game.

Identity and Power Dynamics: The comedy here lies in the fact that the player was wiped out in one blow and was hit two more times while knocked out, with another character comforting the player afterward, going against the typical tough gamer stereotype. It shows how such frustration and distress is common among gamers.

As the audience is mostly those who have either played or heard of the game before, this meme might not resonate with non-gamers or people who don’t know what Elden Ring is, leaving them out of the conversation due to them not understanding the severity of the situation of the game.

Contextual Variation: The globally released game connected many people across the internet due to its challenging nature regardless of the people's culture. However, the response to the game depends on who’s playing it and their past gaming experience.

The content creator likely made the video to relate to players who face similar difficulties and frustrations in defeating bosses in the game.