How Memes Are Changing the Way We See Classic Media

Rise of Memes in Classic Media

I have recently noticed the increase in Dexter memes, a show that I had watched a couple of year ago before it became a meme and thought about the countless other movies and TV shows that have now become more popular for their memes than the actual media they are.

I remember when I first watched American Psycho pre-COVID, it was a very impactful watch and certainly played a role in how I perceive movies now. But when I re-watched it in 2025, all I could see were the countless memes that it had produced, and I felt none of the initial impact that I had gained from it.

Memes as Double-Edged Swords

Has meme culture gone one step too far and begun to tarnish classics instead of appreciating them? Memes were never meant to give or take publicity from their respective sources, but nevertheless, they do have a significant impact on the source they are drawn from.

Breaking Bad, another prominent example of a victim of meme culture. While these memes do draw a larger audience to such incredible works of art, they also tarnish it for a large audience to a certain extent.

Change in Media Consumption?

Going to a further extent, certain people are even just content watching the memes as a representation of the show. The show House can be taken as an example. Multiple clips from the show are frequently circulated as memes taken out of context and people are more than happy to just digest these clips rather than actually watch the entire show.

This ties in with the decreasing attention span as we all know. On one hand, it is clear that the publicity for certain shows skyrocket because of memes but on the other hand, are they a positive or negative influence?

Memes will continue to grow in number and more and more movies and TV shows will inevitably be dragged in, only leaving the audience to decide how it will impact the way they watch the source material.

#Memes, #ClassicMedia, #MemeCulture, #MediaAnalysis, #PopCulture