Advocate Barry Roux: The meme star
The Oscar Pistorius murder trial has led to a flood of viral memes, mostly featuring Barry Roux.
CAPE TOWN - The Oscar Pistorius trial has garnered international interest, generating vast hits on countless websites across the world and taking social media by storm.
Two weeks into the case and the interest shows no signs of waning. Where there's web-based interest, the memes are sure to follow, with hundreds of Pistorius-related memes being generated and shared across platforms.
The most memed player in the Pistorius drama to date has been defence advocate Barry Roux, with his bulldog style and particular way of speaking.
Roux's most repeated phrases have found their way not only onto shareable memes, but also into Twitter and Facebook streams. "I put it to you" has become a commonplace term on social media in a matter of days. It's a phenomenon Stephen Grootes explores in The Considered View.
A particular favourite for meme fodder is the testimony that has been led concerning the bathroom door through which Pistorius shot his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. This week has seen extensive testimony regarding the marks on the door and how they might have come to be there.
Memes aren't the only place that the trial is being spoofed - an Instagram account called LegoPistorius is also gaining traction. The creators use Lego figures to recreate courtroom scenes.
Then there's the parody Barry Roux Twitter account ( @BarryRouxLaw), which already has thousands of followers.
There are also apps and threads springing up in response to the drama in the courtroom.
Others have sought to capitalise on the viral nature of the trial and came up short. A Cape Town bakery published pictures of its colourful cookies, depicting the athlete with slogans like "he did it" and "Oscar goes to jail".
After intense criticism on social media, the business apologised, saying their meme had been a huge error in judgment.
