The Appeal of Gigachad
#1
Internet memes and their popularity ebb and flow like the tides, while a select few make a lasting impression on internet culture. Gigachad - who serves as an avatar for anons, rather than mirroring an actual representation of Ernest Khalimov - is a recent and very notable one. He's made a lasting impression on the broader internet culture for better or worse, while also having an appeal to fringe, generally more meme-averse groups. He's an aesthetically pleasing format, while at the same time being humorous in nature.

Part of the appeal is his versatility, in being a somewhat exaggerated self-insert for the meme maker, as well as being an outlet for silly and comedic statements and dialogues. There are various categories of what way he is employed in, as he's had a shifting arc of how he's commonly used. For instance, Soyjak is his common foil when it comes to the dialogue format, playing off of each other, or in a slight subversion of the original format, two or more Gigachads interacting. 

I suspect a more latent part of his appeal towards dissident spheres is his physiognomy, having a self-assured, unshakeable, born leader archetype, which is incorporated into his fictional actions. 

I'm interested in seeing other perspectives and observations on his longevity online and towards certain spheres, as well as the past, current and future direction of the meme.
#2
Gigachad embodies chaos and destruction. He is only an ideal as far as you serve that. That is why the normal's use of Gigachad is mostly unfunny: they like comfort.
#3
(07-05-2022, 12:53 AM)chungus Wrote: No one is Gigachad or Soyjak—They're not self inserts, more like characters from a theatrical performance that you can emulate.

It's true that nobody is Gigachad or Soyjak. At the same time, some users do and have made very flanderized versions of their own beliefs as well as those of others through these characters, playing them up for comedic effect, more or less imagining themselves as an actor playing said character(s). Hence, there may subjectively be an aspect of self-insertion, for lack of a more concise term - not the "he's literally me" type. This is, of course, if one chooses to go that way with the format. That being said, self-inserting for the mere sake of it would be missing the point of Gigachad and Soyjak.

It's a versatile meme in that regard. One would think that would make it easier to be funny with, but it instead has a higher barrier of entry, requiring more creativity and a certain mindset to actually work well. It's not uncommon to see either Gigachad used as a very hamfisted and soy form of advocacy by the non-keyed to own the chuds, or be derided entirely because the poster does not "touch grass" - he offends the sensibilities of the internet commissars.
#4
Soyjack and Gigachad are just the modern Goofus and Gallant. I think this duo probably has been present in the noosphere for millennia.
#5
Yeah, it's yet another "good guy vs bad guy" trope, albeit good and bad here meaning less moral meanings, but contexts of character. Positive and negative could be a better term. It's also an incredibly versatile format, and anyone with "spirit" can utilize it.
#6
It's ironic because Gigachad's initial popularity represented a break from the "me (right) vs you (wrong)" thing that turned the Virgin and Chad template into garbage, like a lizard dropping its tail to escape from predators. While V&C started as a defense against relatable and normal insecurities by contrasting them to "well, what are you supposed to do?" (gay and cringe in retrospect), you'd occasionally get aspirational absurdity like "The Virgin Vote vs the Chad Insurrection". I think this is where the current of "unreasonable or impractical but correct in spirit" coalesces into Gigachad, and the Winthropian dialogues elevated it to an artform all its own. It could survive and even thrive after being attached at the hip to Soyjak if it existed only in the Winthrop style, but contrasting characters in a meme inevitably lead retards to create "me (right) vs you (wrong)" which inevitably degenerates into "[meme word] = cool, good" which leaks out into normalfag and leftist circles.
#7
For me the appeal of Gigachad has always been his self-certainty. Whether Gigachad is being used for the lowly purpose of parroting the speech-writer's own views, or if he's being represented as an unhinged madman, the constant I usually see is in good Gigachad posts is that he's following his own will + desires without regard for how they look to people on the outside. Maybe Gigachad is going to hunt for homeless people to kill because he finds it funny, or maybe he's a member of the World Economic Forum attempting to starve out Africa to save the world from global warming, he's mostly just inspired by his own thrill of life. Contrast this with soyjak who is always timidly upholding what society finds to be normal, or chudjak who is motivated by hatred and anger against the people around him. Both figures are more reactive and conscious of society, whether they're being schoolmarms upholding society's mores or violently reacting against them out of malice. 

In the Gigachad posts I tend to like most, he's practically oblivious to other people think of him, or the common norms of his day. He's a man acting outside of time and moral context. In a world that's hyperfocused on what other people think and 'what's normal,' his lack of care and genuine internal freedom is refreshing.

And now I've fallen into the trap of trying to define and work out "What Gigachad Is." I await my just execution.
#8
Gigachad is an instrument for radicalization. As other posters have pointed out, its sense of boyish free-wheeling and Independent Will coalesced into "aspirational absurdity" in the likes of memes that praise rape, murder and political revolution. Through Gigachad, it is possible to be freed of the feminine intolerance to aggression, to sterile pro-social preoccupations with violence and willfulness, to admire the grand desires and possibilities that reside inside sincere appetites and the primacy of the individual over the common good, in grand and small terms. In that sense that it is an instrument, something that serves the user for engaging in his own Will without shame or the social vigilance mocked in Soyjak's antics. It is through Gigachad that anyone can come to advocate, even in a mischievously ironic fashion, to the clitoral amputation of their loli harem, and to at least view it as an obvious polemical affectation that, nonetheless...

The distinction to the "le good me x le bad you" format is that Gigachad cannot be truly, positively associated with (even if it is, only as a contrast to the fact that you really should not positively associate with him), it has a pronounced ironic distance to the vulgar approval found in the likes of the "nordic gamer yes meme" as it surpass self-deprecation through unbridled confidence and loyalty to itself, without concessions. Gigachad is pure Will for its own sake. Conventional approval would be pathetic. I think the Gigacoomer is the one that better represents this aspect, a repulsive figure that is commended for his purity and the fact that this itself is repulsive.

It is specially an instrument for right-wing radicalization. Democratic and bourgeois scandalization at the extreme right is very "soyjaky". It doesn't really serve as propaganda in that sense, as it is too contrarian and ambiguous, but it develops repressed leanings that only really exist for the right. It may be banal for a shitlib to conjecture about the day of the rope, but not to, let's say, a moderate conservative. By being amused by it and its fundamental characteristics, one is pushed one step closer to "unthinkable" political positions. Fundamentally, Gigachad is Imperial Japan, Gigachad is Nazi Germany...

It can be discussed how truly revolutionary this trend (of representing "unthinkable" desires and states of mind so elegantly) is, as it is known, its own appearance is a testament to how frowned upon the display of cruelty (the narrowing of what is the unacceptable use of power) truly is, how little power the individual possess in relation to their peers (in such a way that cruelty loses its meaning) and how contrived and policed human's display of desire is in the modern world. In 2022 the off-colored remark revealing destructive impulses is simply cliché, it's not allowed the carefree association and sympathy that it was in the past. In a related note, think about how straightforward the relation of audiences were to the likes of the anti-heroes Tony Soprano and Walter White, how strength and acting on destructive desires was very much admired without much concession in 1999 or 2008. For the modern viewer cannot help but see abuse, maligned cruelty, wretchedness, and as he is expected to repugn all of this and instead support castrating repression, he must come to a self-conscious, ironic appreciation of the expression of the Will through power. You can ask the common man of the 1980's about his opinion on domestic violence, rape, murder, race-mixing, senseless fighting, verbal abuse, drunk-driving, under-age sex, and suddenly he does look like Gigachad, right? In a way, this is the tragic element to the meme: we can only have it because what it represents is disappearing, and what once was natural now is so indigestible that it must be veiled by feigned irony and absurdity.
#9
Yes, Gigachad is what I could call a "memetic infection vector" - you can basically "inject" anyone with any idea using such a tool, and Gigachad is truly one of the most powerful ones because it is one of the few ones that can be used to inject ascendant/good/high-level/based/cool/beneficial ideas/memes while using the "lowest common denominator" - pure will and whimsy, something even the most soyed shitlib will on some buried level find amusing, and just barely, perhaps by one Planck-length, move him towards us.

Theoretically anyone can use it - leftists included - but because they self-censor and automoderate, it always comes off as mild and is far less effective - they do not allow themselves to use it properly because they soyed themselves into a hole of "being nice"
#10
Gigachad is Non-Euclidean, he is simultaneously a virgin and a serial rapist.
#11
To me it's simply a good looking guy with hot takes you can only find online because the real world is too sanitized and zogged, and the general masses are so uninformed. I'm of the belief that because of how far our looks have degenerated in the society because of zogslop, big pharma, toxins, etc. today, "Chads" have became mystical and almost non-existent. We are interested in what the most genetically gifted has to say because of their rarity and good physiognomy. Left and right both want him on their side. Both left and right engage heavily in lookism. Lots of talk about how someone on the other side looks, be it their height, their face, their voice, etc.

The super handsome men that do exist today aren't typically in the "know" about far right politics. Back then, we had men that were super attractive/eugenic, and very right wing. Now, Hollywood (NWO leftism) the fashion industry (NWO leftism) have the highest concentration of good looking men and they are only allowed to advocate for the NWO. Most of these men don't know any better. Forced to advocate for degeneration of the society for their career, to afford the riches of life. They want to continue living the good life. I think we yearn for attractive men speaking outside of the box, to sacrifice themselves to better the lives of the not so gifted people. So much talk about physiognomy when like I said, the industries with the highest concentration of good looking men and women are zogged. You have to turn back to history to find genetically gifted wealthy happy healthy people advocating for right wing ideas. People go crazy over people like Kanye naming them because so many are scared of compromising their wealth/good life. Whether it be money, good looks, beautiful women, people don't want to interrupt the process of their life.
#12
(10-30-2022, 11:05 AM)HIGHIQSTIMHEAD Wrote: To me it's simply a good looking guy with hot takes you can only find online because the real world is too sanitized and zogged, and the general masses are so uninformed. I'm of the belief that because of how far our looks have degenerated in the society because of zogslop, big pharma, toxins, etc. today, "Chads" have became mystical and almost non-existent. We are interested in what the most genetically gifted has to say because of their rarity and good physiognomy. Left and right both want him on their side. Both left and right engage heavily in lookism. Lots of talk about how someone on the other side looks, be it their height, their face, their voice, etc.

>We are sickly and ugly because of our environments
>Also the beautiful are genetically gifted
Your ability to self contradict within a single thought is impressive.
#13
(10-31-2022, 06:02 AM)anthony Wrote: >We are sickly and ugly because of our environments
>Also the beautiful are genetically gifted
Your ability to self contradict within a single thought is impressive.

His subtext, I think, is that you have to be genetically exceptional to thrive in spite of a poisonous environment.



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