We don’t often think of memes in the same terms as the rest of the digital economy, but parallels are drawn between the evolution of how we spend our time and money online and how each new era of memorable social comedy has grown and changed in size, scope, and origins. Stepping back to survey the evolution of online humor, from “facts” about the recently departed actor Chuck Norris to images of macros, Trollface, Wojax, Slop, and beyond – the breakneck pace of it all is no less than watching a fish crawl out of the primitive sea before your eyes and an Animorph turn into a Neanderthal.
As the Internet has divided itself into more and more distinct silos of interest and allegiance, online memes have become increasingly mysterious to those outside each group, except for those few online individuals who are tied to their screens and cursed to understand them all. Helpful resources like KnowYourMeme.com would eventually appear, academically classifying and chronicling each new meme that emerged.
But just as offline Western hegemony is crumbling in real time, so too may our meme hegemony be crumbling. A brave new world of Chinese memes is emerging that even our most prominent meme scholars are struggling to keep up with and legacy news outlets are left scratching their heads. Earlier this year, the Harry Potter character Draco Malfoy became the unofficial mascot of Lunar New Year celebrations after netizens discovered that the Mandarin transliteration of Malfoy sounds like both “horse” and “luck.” Soon, Malfoy actor Tom Felton’s face was plastered all over Chinese malls, homes and social media.
Today, as the death rattle of the petrodollar sounds the next chapter of the century of American humiliation, a new prosperity-focused Chinese meme has emerged for an end-zone dance on our misfortune. While younger generations of Westerners online may be eager to “be Chinese,” some groups of China’s Gen-Z are looking to the life of a particular American: Kris Jenner.
The matriarch of the Kardashian clan has become an icon overnight on the social media platform Rednote (aka Xiaohongshu). There, users have started changing their profile pictures to photos keeping up with the Kardashians star. This frenzy has also taken the form of public appeals and prayers to Jenner in hopes of her fortune, fame, or even just a job offer. As TikTok user marcelowang0527 notes, career-focused Jenner fans have even gone so far as to customize their PfP image into outfits that exemplify their particular job—doctor, engineer, teacher, etc.
A business insider Reports on the trend found that one RedNote user praised Jenner as “The Empress Dowager” and another encouraged everyone to “maintain a 9-figure bank balance!”
Given the recent revelation that bots were mostly behind Chappelle Rhone’s recent embarrassment, and the general decline of our trust in reality thanks to AI, it’s fair to assume that this Jenner fever is a manufactured marketing gimmick. a new season of kuwtk Still filming, after all. But access to the show has been limited in China since 2011, and some of the country’s highest-grossing influencers removed themselves from the platform in 2024. There is no point in playing a complicated promo. It looks like this viral moment — the #krisjenner hashtag has now been viewed more than 53 million times — may be a genuine case of another culture systematically finding its way to wholesome, good-natured shitposting.
KnowYourMeme may still be reluctant to log this Kris Jenner meme and others in what is possibly now the most powerful country in the world, but that doesn’t mean the rest of us shouldn’t pay attention. Whether you’re keeping an eye out for blatantly selfish reasons or you’re able to connect to the universality of humor and humanity they convey, Chinese memes have undeniably broken the control. Let’s just hope we’re lucky enough to catch a few more before things get worse here.
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