And Now, the War of Images

The passionate debate on the acquittal of George Zimmerman continues in the form of an online battle of the “memes.”

A crime rooted in racism for some, legitimate self-defense for others: The debate over the causes of the death of Trayvon Martin, a young black 17-year-old killed by George Zimmerman, a volunteer neighborhood watchman, in February 2012 in Florida, is at the center of several parallel trials.

Obviously, the legal trial came to an end on Saturday with the acquittal of Zimmerman. But there is still the trial in the streets which has been raging ever since, to the point that, on Sunday, President Obama was forced to call for calm among supporters from the Trayvon Martin camp. This [call] came from the same man who had himself previously stated that if he had a son, he would “look like” the victim.

But if there is one place where the president will not before long be able to prevent accusations from both sides from being made and unmade, it’s the Internet. “Pro-” or “anti-” whichever character, the memes, totally nihilist little montages which are very often darkly funny, are springing up on the Internet, summing up interpretations of the case in few words.

To recap, Zimmerman, a 28-year-old Latino-American, after being attacked and pushed to the ground, shot his victim, who was heading back from the grocery store. Earlier on, as he was driving, he had followed Martin as he found him suspicious and “probably on drugs.” The victim was incessantly presented as a thug by Zimmerman’s defense and pictured as an angel by the media. Those shocked by the death of the teenager, for their part, depict his “murderer” as a simple-minded Rambo wannabe, full of prejudice.

Perhaps the most intelligent comment was one which came from the above images, ridiculing the way both sides have demonized their adversary “because the facts were too boring”?