Former Overwatch pro Silkthread recently recounted how he was fined $1000 dollars by Blizzard for a tweet concerning Pepe the Frog.

On a July 23rd Twitch stream, Silkthread, whose name is Ted Wang, shared the original email he received when the incident took place in 2018.

The email details that during season one of the league, Silkthread tweeted, Does anyone else love Pepe the frog?

Related: Overwatch League Analyst MonteCristo Insinuates Riot Games New Fist Bump Logo is Sexist

It provoked a response shortly after. The social media manager for the Los Angeles Valiant, Wangs Overwatch team, demanded he delete the tweet immediately.

Wang did delete the tweet, but not before the eyes of the Overwatch League caught it. He was fined $1,000 dollars for the post.

The email he received from the Overwatch League began, This behavior is unacceptable. Your comments violate the spirit of diversity and inclusiveness that makes Overwatch great.

It continued, Comments like yours will not be tolerated by anyone associated with the Overwatch League. Your conduct also violates the letter and spirit of the Overwatch Leagues Official Rules and your Overwatch League Player Professional Services Agreement.

The email then informed him he was being fined $1000, Accordingly, the League Office has determined to impose a $1,000 fine for posting support for a racist meme.

Related: Overwatch League Players Fined $1000 Each for Inappropriate Chat During a League Match

Your Team will be directed to withhold the amount of your fine from your salary until fully paid. This discipline is without prejudice to any other discipline or remedies that the Team may have as your employer, the email stated.

He was able to appeal the fine, citing that he was unaware of the cartoon frog being interpreted as a hate symbol.

According to Wang, he even paid a $60 Uber to go to Burbank just to dispute the fine.

He explained, If you guys want to know what happened, I ended up paying like a $60 Uber to get to Burbank and I disputed the fine. And the dispute worked and I didnt get fined. And thats the story guys.

After telling viewers the interesting anecdote, Silkthread would have a moment of hindsight.

Related: Blizzard Removes McCrees Noose Spray in Latest Overwatch Update

Thinking back, it probably would have been smarter to take the fine, he said. It would be pretty f***ing cool to be legacized as the person that got fined for tweeting about Pepe the Frog. That would be pretty epic.

Its unclear if this rule is still in effect. Back in March 2018, an Overwatch League spokesperson told Dot Esports, The Overwatch League discourages the use of symbols and imagery which are associated with or used by hate groups, including Pepe the Frog.

They added, At Blizzard Arena, its our policy that fans comply with this policy. We likewise ask the same of Overwatch League teams and players on their social-media accounts.

At the time a number of players deleted their Pepe the Frog memes that they had posted to Twitter.

Jay sinatraa Won indicated he deleted a Pepe the Frog birthday meme.

Esports reporter Rod Breslau reported New York Excelsior DPS Kim Pine Do-hyeon deleted a photo of his phone case that featured Pepe the Frog.

Related: Report: Blizzard Forbids Okay Symbol in Overwatch League Arena Claims Its a White Power Symbol

Its unclear if the Pepe the Frog ban is still in effect. Dallas Fuel player Dylan akm Bignet did post a Pepe the Frog birthday meme back in December.

Related: TheScore Esports Daniel Rosen Applauds Blizzards Reported Decision to Ban Okay Sign in Overwatch League Arena

While its unclear what Blizzard and the Overwatch Leagues current policy on Pepe the Frog is, they did begin enforcing a ban on using the okay symbol last year.

What do you make of the Overwatch League trying to fine Silkthread for a Pepe the Frog meme?

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Former Overwatch Pro Silkthread Reveals Blizzard Tried To Fine Him $1000 For Pepe The Frog Tweet - Bounding Into Comics

The Muppets specifically, the comedy-variety troupe featuring Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Gonzo the Great, et. al. are in their sixth decade of existence, but they have never been more perfectly deployed than in their first project together, the Seventies syndicated hit The Muppet Show. A faux variety series, each episode was a mix of two kinds of segments. The first were vaudeville-style sketches from the show-within-a-show, where the Muppets sang, danced, told corny jokes, and appeared in shows-within-the-show-within-the-show like Pigs in Space and Veterinarians Hospital. The second took place backstage at the dilapidated Muppet Theater, where Kermit was forever struggling to manage the egos and anxieties of his co-stars, who in turn were often busy sucking up to that weeks very special guest (everyone from Ethel Merman to Elton John stopped by during the series five-year run).

Though traditional variety shows were already on the way out when The Muppet Show premiered in 1976, the format was a perfect showcase for these characters. The sketches displayed their versatility some ridiculous spoofs, others utterly sincere performances. The backstage action, meanwhile, established the core Muppets as distinct, endearing personalities who, fur or forked tongues aside, wouldnt seem that out of place on a workplace sitcom with an otherwise human cast.

Most of the strongest Muppet-affiliated projects over the years borrow liberally from some or all of the original shows DNA. The Muppet Movie and Muppets Take Manhattan are varied origin stories for the troupe(*), while the 2011 film had the gang reuniting at the old theater to put on a show one more time. The Great Muppet Caper, The Muppet Christmas Carol, and Muppets Most Wanted, meanwhile, inserted the characters into familiar genres or stories to demonstrate that Kermit could pass for Bob Cratchit or a fugitive from justice as easily as he could the harried manager of a comedy team.

(*) My friend Adam Bonin, an election lawyer who moonlights as a pop-culture commentator, had the best unifying field theory for all the Muppet films (and it applies to The Muppet Show, too): Only The Muppet Movie is real, and everything else is something the characters made under the standard rich and famous contract that Lew Lord signs them to at the end of that first film.

But keeping all of the franchises stylistic and tonal elements in balance is hard. In 2005, The Muppets Wizard of Oz tried to replicate the Muppet Christmas Carol magic, but came across as snarky toward both the Muppets and the source material. ABCs deservedly short-lived 2015 mockumentary series The Muppets was pretty much all backstage interaction, but with the characters all weirdly bitter and adult. The post-Jim Henson version of Kermit, played by Steve Whitmire, could occasionally seem too Pollyanna-ish(*), but this new iteration swung way too far in the other direction.

(*) One of my favorite Muppet Show subplots had Fozzie demanding a raise. Kermit stalls and stalls and stalls, and finally placates Fozzie by agreeing to pay him 10 times his (nonexistent) salary with Fozzie only realizing after the fact that ten times nothing is still nothing. Whitmires Kermit was never that cagey.

The Muppets have barely appeared since the ABC show was canceled, but they finally resurface this week with Muppets Now, a new Disney+ series that promises a back-to-basics approach: just comedy sketches featuring the Muppets, nothing else. Should work, right?

Well, yes and no.

Where The Muppet Show was spoofing Ed Sullivan, or Sonny and Cher, the largely improvised Muppets Now is riffing on YouTube and, to an extent, reality TV. Most of the segments recur from one episode to the next: a lifestyle-influencer show with Miss Piggy, Uncle Deadly(*), Taye Diggs, and Linda Cardellini (the actors appearing as themselves); an unpredictable game show hosted by Pepe the King Prawn;a MythBusters-style science show (the first one even has an Adam Savage cameo) hosted by Dr. Bunsen Honeydew and Beaker; a cooking competition pitting Swedish Chef against his real-life peers; and a celebrity interview show called Mup Close & Personal.

(*) The flamboyant, Vincent Price-esque Uncle Deadly was an extremely minor character on The Muppet Show, but has grown in stature ever since the 2011 movie. Today, hes the most prominent of several implicitly queer characters who make Muppets Nowa more LGBTQ-friendly series than it may have been in the past. (The first episode also has a male Muppet crushing on guest star RuPaul.)

The segments can be hit-or-miss. The sheer destructive power on display as Bunsen and Beaker, say, drop objects from a scissor lift to test the laws of gravity, is infectious. And Pepes game show, where hes constantly changing the format to the chagrin of sidekick Scooter, comes closest to recapturing the chaotic spirit of The Muppet Show. But doing every sketch as improv comedy is a mixed bag. The Muppet performers themselves including new Kermit actor Matt Vogel, whose voice will take some adjusting to (regardless of his take on Kermits personality, Whitmire still sounded a lot like Henson) are all good at riffing without breaking character. The guests, less so. The second episode has a very funny cook-off between Swedish Chef and the actor Danny Trejo (who also owns a taqueria), but star chefs like Roy Choi seem less comfortable bantering with the segments host (and one of the shows new creations), a turkey named Beverly Plume (played by Julianne Buescher). Aubrey Plaza gets some big laughs as she suffers through Miss Piggys Mup Close interviewing style, while Taye Diggs is mostly used as a prop in his segments with Piggy.

Overall, though, the sketches are pretty good. The larger problem is that there are usually just two Muppets in any sketch, and almost always in the same combination. In addition, Muppets Now barely has any backstage component to speak of. In between the sketches, we see a harried Scooter frantically trying to upload each segment onto a Disney server, while other Muppets harangue him by video chat. And thats it. Where the interaction among the Muppets both in large groups and in unexpected pairings has always been the heart of the idea, Muppets Now offers it very rarely.

It would be easy to assume that creative challenges presented by the pandemic are the reason the Muppets seem so isolated from one another, but thats not the case. The sketches were all filmed last year, which is also when the producers conceived the idea to link the shows recurring bits via Scooters desktop. The actual video-chat segments themselves were filmed in the performers homes during the quarantine, but everything else about the series was made at a time when it would have been safe and easy to put lots of Muppets in the same room. Still, that happens basically only once, during Kermits frequently interrupted Mup Close chat with RuPaul.

Since Disney+ launched last fall, many (including my own children) have wondered why the service doesnt include The Muppet Show. Whether theres a business reason or not, Muppets Now definitely looks better if theres no easy access to the original, superior antics of this group. While its a substantial improvement on the characters last TV series, it ultimately misses the point of playing the music and lighting the lights.

Muppets Now premieres July 31st on Disney+. Ive seen four of the six episodes.

See the article here:

Muppets Now: Together Again, With a Touch of Amnesia - Rolling Stone

As the world was forced into lockdown at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Alex Lee Moyers documentary TFW No GF was released online. The film focuses on an internet subculture of predominately young, white men who already experienced much of life from the comfort of their own homes, pandemic notwithstanding.

Its title, a reference to the 4chan-originated phrase that feel when no girlfriend, reveals the essence of its subjects grievances described in the South by Southwest (SXSW) film festival program as first a lack of romantic companionship, then evolving to a greater state of existence defined by isolation, rejection and alienation. As one of the films subjects remarks early on: Everyone my age kinda just grows up on the internet 4chan was the only place that seemed real I realized there were other people going through the same shit.

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What does this level of alienation tell us about society today? And how seriously should we take the content found on this online patchwork of messaging boards and forums, each with its own language and visual culture that may at first seem humorous or ironic, but often disguises misogyny, racism and violence? These are difficult and urgent questions, particularly given the emergent incel phenomenon incel being a portmanteau of involuntary celibate which appears to be gaining in strength online.

The idea of virtual expressions of alienation and rage translating to actual violence remains a real and present danger, as we were reminded of this May when a teenager became the first Canadian to be charged with incel-inspired terrorism. The documentary, however, avoids confronting the violence that this subculture often glorifies, and the director has since stated that the film was never supposed to be about incels but that it had become impossible to discuss it without the term coming up.

As it turns out, the men we meet in TFW No GF appear to be largely harmless except perhaps to themselves and despite the documentarys lack of narrative voice, it takes a patently empathetic stance. Set against the backdrop of industrial landscapes and empty deserts, this is a United States in decline. Here, role models and opportunities lie thin on the ground, and the closest thing to community exists in virtual realms. Each self-described NEET slang for not in education, employment or training has his own tale of alienation: of alcoholic parents, dead friends or a disenfranchisement with the school system.

For those who study internet subcultures, the memes of Pepe the Frog and Wojak explored in the film will be familiar. Pepe is used as a reaction image, typically in the guises of feels good man, and smug/angry/sad Pepe and, although not created to have racist connotations, is frequently used in bigoted contexts by the alt-right. Wojak, AKA feels guy, is typically depicted as a bald man with a depressed expression.

One of the documentarys subjects, Kantbot, explains that you cant have one without the other thats the duality of man. For these men, Pepe represents the troll self, a public persona that embodies their smug and cocky traits. Wojak denotes a more private and vulnerable self, typified by inadequacy, unfulfillment and sadness. At its core, it is this dichotomy that the documentary seeks to explore, whilst at the same time demanding our sympathies.

On the surface, the men in TFW No GF are united by their failure in finding female partners, a theme which permeates the manosphere that includes Men Going Their Own Way (MGTOW) and incels. This latter identity has garnered particular attention in recent years due to the spate of incel violence witnessed in North America, most infamously Eliot Rodgers Isla Vista attacks in California in 2014 that left six people dead. According to Moonshot CVE, incels believe that genetic factors influence their physical appearance and/or social abilities to the extent that they are unattractive to women, with some subscribing to the philosophy of the blackpill namely, that women are shallow and naturally select partners based upon looks, stifling the chances of unattractive men to find a partner and procreate.

Incels are a diverse and nebulous community, their worldview characterized by a virulent brand of nihilism seen through the prism of a three-tiered social hierarchy dictated by looks. Here, incels find themselves at the bottom of the pile, after normies, Chads and Stacys. Whilst instances of real-world violence perpetrated by incels remain in relatively low in numbers, its potential to mutate into an offline phenomenon is rightly a cause for concern, with Bruce Hoffman et al., making a convincing argument for increased law enforcement scrutiny, noting that the most violent manifestations of this ideology pose a new terrorism threat.

A counterterrorism approach alone, however, is unlikely to address the reasons why so many young men (and women: see femcels) are drawn to these virtual worlds. If self-reported narratives on forums such as Incels.net and Incels.co are anything to go by, low self-esteem, bullying and mental health issues are rife. An acknowledgment of the pain, rejection and illness that someone may be suffering from is surely required, however unpalatable that is when faced with the abhorrent imagery and rhetoric that may espouse. Underlying all of this is the need for response based in public health.

However, the documentarys empathic approach has been criticized, with The Guardian accusing it of misinformation, particularly in its portrayal of 4chan and the like as harmless, and Rolling Stone criticizing the films acceptance of events without challenging the communities support of violence, misogyny and racism. In this sense, the film is reminiscent of the 2016 documentary The Red Pill, which followed Cassie Jays journey into the world of mens rights activists, similarly focusing on one side of an ever-complicated debate. Thus, showing compassion should ultimately not be a way of avoiding the difficult conversations and, in the case of inceldom, a failure to do so could be seen as irresponsible.

As a researcher of internet subcultures, documentaries like TFW no GF are valuable in so much as we are granted a rare perspective of these men in their own words. Despite the films selectivity and subjectivity representing a small sample of the infinite experiences and beliefs held by those in this expansive community it provides us with a vignette of the online spaces that allow for certain hateful ideas to flourish and be sustained.

For some, the strange and often hostile world of online messaging boards provides a much-needed connection when other doors are closed. For others, they contribute to a more misogynistic, racist and at times violent way of perceiving the world. As COVID-19 continues to rage on, forcing more of us to shift our lives online, the ability to understand and combat deeply entrenched loneliness as well as its potential to intersect with extreme and even violent corners of the internet will be essential.

*[The Centre for Analysis of the Radical Rightis a partner institution ofFair Observer.]

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Fair Observers editorial policy.

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Young Men, Alienation and Violence in the Digital Age - Fair Observer

From Muppets to murderers, sharks to catfish, a new Star Trek to a new-to-America comedy game show, there are a number of things headed to a TV near you in the next couple of weeks.

Here are 10 things worth checking out:

Helter Skelter: An American Myth (premieres Sunday, July 26, at 11 p.m.on Epix) Its been almost three years since Charles Manson died at the age of 83 and 51 years since his followers murdered nine people but the fascination with the man and his crimes continues. This six-episode docu-series tells the story of Mansons life and the murders, and features interviews with former members of the so-called Manson family.

Epix promises that it will will upend what people think they know about Manson and the murders, and cast an entirely new light on this crime of the century. Thats not altogether true. If youve read any of the books or seen any of the umpteen TV productions (both documentaries and dramas) about Manson, this will all be familiar.

If you dont know a lot about the man, his followers and their crimes and plenty of Americans werent born when actress Sharon Tate and eight others were killed Helter Skelter: An American Myth is more than enough to fill you in.

The title isnt great, however. Yes, Manson has been mythologized over the years. But his crimes were real they werent a myth.

Wynonna Earp (returns Sunday, 11 p.m., Syfy) This weird Western/horror/supernatural series and cult favorite in which the great-great-granddaughter of Wyatt Earp fights reincarnated bad guys returns for its fourth season sort of. The series was in production when the coronavirus pandemic broke out, forcing an end to filming. And that came after a long delay as the result of financial trouble at the production company. (The last new episode aired 22 months ago.)

Apparently, half of 12 planned episodes were completed; the rest will air maybe next year sometime?

Maxxx (starts streaming Wednesday on Hulu) This import from the U.K. stars O. T. Fagbenle (The Handmaids Tale) as a former member of a boy band trying to launch a solo career a number of years after falling into obscurity.

Maxxx is a thoroughly terrible person a foul-mouthed narcissist with no redeeming qualities and the laughs come at his expense. Along with a lot of cringing. It is, in a way, reminiscent of Absolutely Fabulous.

Christopher Meloni who will return to his SVU role as Elliott Stabler in the spinoff Law & Order: Organized Crime plays Maxxxs manager.

In My Skin (starts streaming Thursday, July 30, on Hulu) It took a while, but this acclaimed 2018 British drama has finally made it to America. Its a coming-of-age story centering on a Welsh teenager, 16-year-old Bethan (Gabrielle Creevy), whos trying to navigate life and keep her troubled home life her mother is bipolar hidden from her classmates.

Its not exactly a happy story, but it will definitely tug at your heart.

In My Skin won the 2019 BAFTA (the British Oscar/Emmy) as best drama, and Creevy won as best actress.

Muppets Now (starts streaming Friday, July 31, on Disney+) This new six-episode series is, believe or not, unscripted. Well, dont believe that. Its clearly scripted, albeit with, perhaps, some improvisation from time to time.

It casts the Muppets in several genres, some of which recur from episode to episode. The first installment features Lifesty with Miss Piggy. (Get it?) Theres a profile of Kermit the Frog in Muppet Masters. (Turns out hes a photobomber.) The Swedish Chef stars in a you guessed it! cooking show titled Okey Dokey Kookin. (And wait till you see him face off with Danny Trejo in Episode 2.) And in Mup Close and Personal, Kermit interviews RuPaul. (That goes off the rails when Gonzo, Miss Piggy and others join in.)

Episode 2 introduces viewers to Pepes Unbelievable Game Show headlined by Pepe the King Prawn. (Its insane.) And Dr. Bunsen Honeydew and Beaker host Muppet Labs Field Test. (Also insane.)

Reviews of Muppets Now are embargoed until July 27, but I dont think Disney will mind if I tell you that I was amused and I occasionally laughed out loud.

Taskmaster (debuts Sunday, Aug. 2, at 8 p.m. on The CW/Ch. 30) This totally bizarre, utterly hilarious British series is new to America, but its been airing in the U.K. since 2015. And its sort of hard to describe.

A group of British comedians perform a series of strange tasks assigned by Greg Davies (the Taskmaster) and administered by his assistant, Alex Horne. The first episode involves powerful smells, a search for a baby monitor, homemade ventriloquist dummies, sneaking up on Horne, and peeling a banana with your feet. And its way funnier than that sounds.

Davies assigns points for various tasks, and theres a winner in each episode but that doesnt really matter. Its all about the comedy.

The CW bought the rights to Seasons 8 and 9, a total of 20 episodes. Once you tune in and get addicted, heres a bonus the first 52 episodes are available on YouTube.

Elizabeth Smart: Finding Justice (Sunday, Aug. 2, at 8 p.m. on Lifetime) In this hourlong special, Smart interviews Candra Torres who, as a teenage bride in the 1970s, was kidnapped and brainwashed by the man who murdered her husband. She was a victim of Stockholm syndrome when few people had even heard that term.

Smart who was also kidnapped as a teenager does a great job in the interview, relating to Torres in a way that not much of anybody else could.

The hourlong Finding Justice airs after the premiere of the TV movie A Murder to Remember (6 p.m., Lifetime), which is based on Ann Rules recounting of Torres story in her book Empty Promises.

Star Trek: Lower Decks (starts streaming Thursday, Aug. 6, on CBS All Access) The second animated Trek series is a lot different from the first. Not only is TV animation light years beyond what it was in 1974, but this is a comedy about junior officers on the U.S.S. Cerritos, one of the least important vessels in Starfleet.

Its coming to us from executive producer Mike McMahan, who was a writer/producer on Rick and Morty.

I can make one prediction with 100% confidence: A good-sized contingent of Trekkers are going to hate Lower Decks, because they dont have a sense of humor about the franchise.

Is it actually funny? I have no comment yet reviews are embargoed until Aug. 6, the day the show premieres.

Catfish: The TV Show (returns Wednesday, Aug. 5, at 9 p.m. on MTV) This addictive reality show features investigations into online relationships that may be what they seem but mostly are not, because one person is catfishing the other. In other words, pretending to be someone he/she is not.

Its amazing that, after 146 episodes, there are still so many catfish out there. And Season 9 will be different from all that have gone before, because hosts Nev Schulman and Kamie Crawford will be doing all their investigating and confronting of catfish virtually, what with the pandemic.

If it seems crazy that the catfish would agree to go online and be identified, remember that theyve been doing it in person since 2012.

Shark Week (Sunday, Aug. 9 through Sunday, Aug. 16, Discovery) This has been an annual event since 1988, featuring a mix of science, entertainment and lets be honest here dopey, dubious fun. The full schedule isnt out yet, but we do know that this years lineup will include Tyson vs. Jaws: Rumble on the Beach.

Yes, were being told that former boxing champion Mike Tyson will try to score a TKO over the massive shark when the two heavyweights square off underwater. And were assured that no sharks were harmed (or bitten) in the making of this episode.

Is Tyson really going to box a massive shark? I doubt it. There will be some kind of a twist. There always is.

Will it be fun? It just might be.

Read more:

Muppets, murderers and a new 'Star Trek' are among 10 things to watch on TV - Salt Lake Tribune

Artist Matt Furie created Pepe the Frog as an easygoing, bro-like character in his 2005 comic series, The Boys Club. In one comic, Pepe urinates with his pants down at his ankles. Sporting a relieved grin, Pepe says, Feels good man.

Pepes creator told The Daily Dot in April 2015 that the name Pepe (though pronounced differently) evokes pee-pee, in keeping with the literal bathroom humor the original character is known for.

According to Know Your Meme, users began creating their own Pepe images in 2008 in forums on the imageboard site 4chan. These Pepes, riffing on the frogs signature smile, spread online as a humorous reaction, much as people post GIFs to illustrate how they feel about something. One common variant shows a smirking Pepe, often called Smug Pepe, his thumb tucked knowingly under his chin. Additionally, the variants Sad Pepe and Angry Pepe are also common.

By 201415, Pepe had gone full mainstream, with singers Katy Perry and Nicki Minaj notably posting Pepe memes on Twitter. But as The Daily Beast reported in May 2016, some white supremacists were disappointed by Pepes widespread popularity. And so, as a dark and shocking joke, they fashioned Pepes with various anti-Semitic and other racist imagery in efforts to make Pepes widespread use less appealing to those outside their circle. One depicts a caricatured Jewish Pepe smiling at burning Twin Towers on September 11. Another swaps out Pepes Feels good man for Kill all Jews.

Starting around 2015, alt-right supporters of Donald Trump embraced the bigoted Pepe memes, spreading suited-up and blonde-coiffed versions of the frog after the likeness of their candidate. While apparently unaware of Pepes symbolism, Donald Trump retweeted a Trump Pepe in October 2015, as did Donald Trump Jr. following Hillary Clintons basket of deplorables comment in September 2016. Many alt-right social media users have even deployed the frog emoji in their online monikers to represent Pepe and their political affiliations. Pepe has also inspired a hand gesture, resembling the OK sign, that Mediaite claims a ten-year-old flashed on a tour of the White House in March 2017.

This unassuming cartoon frog became so established as a racist symbol that the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) labeled Pepe the Frog as a hate symbol in September 2016. Around this time, the Clinton campaign released their own explainer on Pepe, commenting that the cartoon frog is more sinister than you might realize. Another one of Pepes political iterations is as Pepe Le Pen, which depicts French far-right nationalist politician Marie Le Pen as the frog.

Read the original here:

Pepe the Frog - Dictionary.com

Denizens of the darker corners of the Internetturned an innocent frog comic into a hate symbol of the "deplorable" alt-right.

"Pepe the Frog" first appeared in 2005 in the comic "Boy's Life" by artist and illustrator Matt Furie. The comics depictPepe and his anthropomorphized animal friends behaving like stereotypical post-college bros: playing video games, eating pizza, smoking potand being harmlessly gross.

In 2008, fans of the comic began uploading Furie's work online. In one comic, Pepe responds to a question about his bathroom habits with, "Feels good, man."

That reaction image and catchphrase took on a life of its own on the Internet, meriting a Know Your Meme entry by 2009. Alternate iterations of Pepe, including sad, smugand angry Pepes, followed. Pepe memes are ubiquitous across 4chan, Reddit, Imgur, Tumblr, and other social media and image-sharing sites.

It all seemed in good fun, but in late September, Pepe's green visage was designateda hate symbol by the Anti-Defamation League.

The ADL's online hate symbol database is designed to help law enforcement, educators, and members of the general public identify potentially hateful images, explained Oren Segal, the director of the organization's Center on Extremism. He said that in recent years, hate symbols have proliferated online. Now, with things like Pepe the frog, anti-Semitic images are originating and circulating almost primarily on social media.

In some instances, Pepe wears a Hitler mustache, and his signature message is replaced with "Kill Jews Man." In others, Pepe poses in front of a burning World Trade Center, dressed like an Orthodox Jewish person with a yarmulke and payot. He's also been spotted wearing a Nazi soldier's uniform and in a KKK hood and robe.

In May, the Daily Beast spoke to a white supremacist who said there had been a concerted effort on the site 4chan to "reclaim Pepe" from normal people in late 2015. Pepe had gone mainstream: He's been tweeted by Katy Perry, who said she has a "Pepe file" on her computer, and has made multiple appearances on Nicki Minaj's Instagram. So the supremacist groupremixed him with Nazi propaganda for a laugh.

It originated on /rk9/, the 4chan message board associated with some of the least savory elements of the Internet. Last fall, people on that board purposefully framed two innocent individuals for the Umpqua Community College shooting. It's allegedly where Isla Vista shooter Elliot Rodger announced his shooting before it took place in a post with aPepe meme.

Nazi Pepe made its way to Twitter, where people who regularly tweeted messages supporting white nationalism and anti-immigrant views quickly absorbed it into their Internet repertoire. People who identify with those movementsadd the frog emoji to their Twitter name.

In August, Hillary Clinton gave her now-infamous speech denouncing some of Donald Trump's supporters, particularly the segment known as the alt-right, as a "basket of deplorables."

A couple weeks later, Trump's son Donald Trump Jr. posted a photo on Instagram that depicted him and other supporters as "The Deplorables" -- a play on the poster from the movie "The Expendables." In the lineup? Pepe.

Two weeks after that, the ADL made its official designation. Segal, the representative for the organization, said that while the ADL was researching harassment of journalists on Twitter -- particularly the use of the triple-parenthetical (((echo))) around names to designate Jewish people -- they began to notice Pepe's face coming up more frequently.

He said people on his staff were aware of Pepe's original, inoffensive incarnation, but it was clear that the frog had become associated with anti-Semitic opinions online.

"When we felt that [Pepe]was reaching that point of the hateful version becoming more widespread, that's a criteria for adding it to our hate symbols database," he explained.

Hopefully, he says, the Pepe meme will be able to move past this dark point in its history and go back to just being fun. If enough people share positive -- or at least non-hateful -- Pepe memes, to the point where few people encounter Nazi Pepe online, it wouldn't be a hate symbol anymore.

"The hate symbol database isn't the final stop for this meme," he said.

That came as a big relief to Furie, the artist who created Pepe. He has been understandably devastated by the turn his creation has taken.

"To have it evolve into what it is today, it's a nightmare," Furie said. "It's kind of my worst nightmare ... to be tangled in forever with a symbol of hate."

I would love to help the ADL and do my part by flooding the Internet with positive Pepe memes,he added.

He's not evena particularly political guy. Prior to the ADL's hate symbol announcement, he had never heard of the alt-right or the nascent white supremacist movement that's sprung up around Trump. Though he'd heard of Pepe being used as a meme as far back as 2008, he never made the memes himself. He says he plans to vote for Hillary Clinton.

"I'm a lifelong artist," said Furie, who lives in Los AngelesKoreatown neighborhood. "Hate and racism couldn't be further from something on my radar. I try to focus on positivity and nature and animals."

Furie stopped drawing Pepe about sixyears ago, though he did revive him recently for a very special drawing on his Tumblr. It depicts the frog wearing a "Make Pepe Great Again" hat, urinating on a green-faced Trump.

Reclaiming your own work from anti-Semites: Feels good, man.

@jessica_roy

jessica.roy@latimes.com

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Continued here:

How 'Pepe the Frog' went from harmless to hate symbol ...

A very interesting trailer has dropped for the film festival award-winning documentary Feels Good Man. The story follows artist Matt Furie, who created the underground comic book Boys Club in 2006, starring Pepe, a psychedelic frog, and his mischievous roommates. Then in recent years, the comic character was turned into an alt-right meme, and was adopted as a symbol of white supremacists, and Furie went on a crusade to see if he could undo what had been done.

Heres the full synopsis:

When Matt Furie first created Pepe the Frog, a character in his indie comicBoys Club, Matt was an easygoing San Francisco artist and Pepe was a chill frog dude. Through a series of unforeseen events and bizarre connections driven by the internet, Pepe came to be a symbol of hate for the far right. How that exactly happened is a wild journey into the heart of online life today and the memeification of our shared collective culture, where the meanings of images change moment to moment and cannot be controlled even by their creators.

Furie decides to fight to take back Pepe from the dark forces that have turned him from a silly comic-book character into their own symbol. But is it already too late? Debut director Arthur Jones takes us through a modern-day saga of the internet that must be seen to be believed or understood.Feels Good Manshows us how a character meant to provide joy and fun can slowly morph into something elsebut just maybe can change again.

The doc was helmed by Arthur Jones in his directorial debut, and he co-wrote the story with Giorgio Angelini and Aaron Wickenden. Check out the trailer below, and see Feels Good Man when it hits VOD on September 4th.

Excerpt from:

Trailer for Award-Winning Doc FEELS GOOD MAN Takes Viewers on an Artist's Journey to Reclaim His Creation 'Pepe the Frog' - GeekTyrant

It's not as innocent as it looks!

I'm one of those people who needs to understand something new and interesting in its entirety. Until I do, I become obsessed with mining as much information as I can about whatever it may be.

So, when Ifound myself (somewhat obsessively) watching the news coverage in 2017 of an art installation known as He Will Not Divide Us created by Shia LaBeouf, Nastja Sde Rnkk, and Luke Turner "as a show of resistance or insistence, opposition or optimism, guided by the spirit of each individual participant and the community" I found myself baffled as several protestors from the Right continuously and aggressively held pictures of a cartoon frog up to the camera lens.

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So, off to Google I went, where I then fell down a rabbit hole into the mystical realms of Wikipedia, Reddit, and the ever popular 4chan where I found myself waist-deep in the muddy trenches of hate surrounding "Pepe the Frog."

Let's start with the basics about Pepe.

The anthropomorphic frog was created in 2005 by Matt Furie for his comic blog on MySpace called Boy's Club. Pepe was shown urinating with his pants down while saying, "Feels good man," which became his catchphrase and propelled him to quickly achieve popular meme status.

By 2015, he even ranked number 6 "onDaily News and Analysis'list of the most important memes and was the most retweeted meme onTwitter."

Strangely, in 2016, the once innocent frog was co-opted by the alt-right with a goal, according to Hillary Clinton's official campaign website, of turning him intoa "symbol associated withwhite supremacy."

I know. A green frog. I was confused, too. But stay with me here.

It seems that during Donald Trump's presidential campaign, Trump himself re-tweeted a Pepe drawing featuring his own likeness. Donald Trump, Jr. and political consultant Roger Stone then tweeted a parody of the movie poster forThe Expendables, calling it, instead, The Deplorables,in reference to Hillary Clinton's slip of the tongue during campaigning.

Each movie character was replaced with people from Trump's very alt-right side, including uber-controversial figure Milo Yiannopoulos and alt-right Twitter users didn't waste time grabbing the frog to use as their symbol.

In September of 2016, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL)officially added Pepe to their hate symbol database.

According to their website:

"The Pepe the Frog character did not originally have racist or anti-Semitic connotations. Internet users appropriated the character and turned him into a meme, placing the frog in a variety of circumstances and saying many different things...The majority of uses of Pepe the Frog have been, and continue to be, non-bigoted...

In recent years, with the growth of the 'alt right'segment of the white supremacist movement, a segment that draws some of its support from some of the above-mentioned Internet sites, the number of 'alt right'Pepe memes has grown, a tendency exacerbated by the controversial and contentious 2016 presidential election...

However, because so many Pepe the Frog memes are not bigoted in nature, it is important to examine use of the meme only in context. The mere fact of posting a Pepe meme does not mean that someone is a racist or white supremacist. However, if the meme itself is racist or anti-Semitic in nature, or if it appears in a context containing bigoted or offensive language or symbols, then it may have been used for hateful purposes."

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Then, the ADLteamed up with creator Matt Furie tocreate and promote a campaign to take back Pepe #SavePepe.

Furieshared the following thoughts:We are in uncharted territory right now ... But I have to take some responsibility for him because hes like my kid or something ... Its the worst-case scenario for any artist to lose control of their work and eventually have it labeled like a swastika or a burning cross ... I had to step up and speak on the cartoon frogs behalf.

It's amazing how quickly the internet evolves, but this is the world in which we now live. So, if you happen to see the green frog, be aware that you may possibly be reading something from an alt-right supporter, and keep that in mind before you reply or re-tweet. (Looking at you, Kellyanne Conway!)

There's now a documentary about it.

Feels Good Man debuted this yearat the Sundance Film Festival. The documentary focuses on Furie and his journey with his character, Pepe.

Although many may be tired of the Pepe the Frog controversy by now, the film takes more of a look at Furie and the way the Internet used to be, and it's totally binge-worthy material. So, we'll be keeping an eye out for it to drop so we can plan a binge-watch.

RELATED:8 Jared Kushner Conspiracy Theories And Interesting Facts We Should All Know

Liza Walters is a writer who covers astrology, pop culture, and relationship topics.

Let's make this a regular thing!

Editor's Note: This article was originally posted on February 15, 2017 and was updated with the latest information.

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What Does The "Pepe The Frog" Meme Mean? | YourTango

The creator of Pepe the Frog the comic character that became an alt-right-troll meme attempts to reclaim his creation in the new trailer for Feels Good Man, a documentary about cartoonist Matt Furie and the unintentional evolution of his anthropomorphized amphibian.

In the trailer for the Sundance award-winning film, Furies beloved happy little frog is co-opted by white-supremacy groups, which the cartoonist helplessly witnesses. Im just a spectator to how things evolved on the internet, Furie says in the preview.

In November 2016, a nasty election cycle had exposed a seismic cultural rift, and the country suddenly felt like a much different place. For underground cartoonist Matt Furie, that sensation was even more surreal. Furies comic creation Pepe the Frog, conceived more than a decade earlier as a laid-back humanoid amphibian, had unwittingly become a grotesque political pawn, the documentarys synopsis states. Feels Good Man is a Frankenstein-meets-Alice in Wonderland journey of an artist battling to regain control of his creation while confronting a disturbing cast of characters who have their own peculiar attachments to Pepe.

The Arthur Jones-directed doc arrives on September 4th.

See more here:

Pepe the Frog Creator Tries to Reclaim Meme in Feels Good Man Doc Trailer - Rolling Stone

Pepe the Frog celebrated his fifteenth birthday this year, but chances are you first stumbled upon him during the 2016 US election in the pungent depths of a racist Twitter thread. That was the year when Matt Furies cartoon went from being a happy little frog to becoming the unexpected mascot of the alt-right movement.

The history behind Pepe is complicated bordering on indecipherable, much like anything that grew to prominence on 4chan, the controversial anonymous message board that has long harboured racists, sexists and political extremists. The cartoon first appeared as a meme on the forum in 2008 after being lifted from Furies 'Boys Club #1' comic strip, and it gained such popularity that even Katy Perry and Nicki Minaj shared Pepe images on social media. Eight years later it was official recognised as a hate symbol by the Anti-Defamation League. So what changed?

Feels Good Man, the Sundance award-winning documentary from Arthur Jones, follows Furie around as he attempts to repair his infamous cartoons reputation. But can Pepe be redeemed, or is he better left to fester with the white supremacists of the world? The fact that he has recently been co-opted by Hong Kong protestors would suggest that Furis frog still wields some power; that his prominent place in politics is, bafflingly, far from over.

Describing the film, director Jones says: The movie is really about him negotiating that uncomfortable reality for himself, [...] Matts personal journey really makes the movie really unique that I hope a lot of people find satisfying for a lot of reasons.

First and foremost, its a story about how powerless we become after we put something into the world. As Furie says: Im just a spectator to how things evolved on the internet.

Feels Good Man will be available streaming and on demand in the US on 4 September. A UK date is yet to be announced.

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'Feels Good Man' Will Try To Save Pepe The Frog, The Innocent Cartoon That Became A Hate Symbol - esquire.com

In preparation for the world premiere of the Muppets first-ever streaming show, Muppets Now, Kermit the Frog will conduct a video chat to break the news that Disney+ has ordered six half-hour muppisodes premiering July 31. With a full roster of rotating guest stars, world-class production facilities, and pure unscripted mayhem, Muppets Now breaks new ground for the gang in their Disney+ debut.

The Muppets are thrilled to be doing our first-ever unscripted show! Its going to be extremely spontaneous and very surprising; almost as surprising as the fact that weeveractually used a script in the past.

This is moi unfiltered, unexpurgated, and more unbelievably fabulous than ever. If you watch only one show on Disney+ ,you really should tune in more often. But whenever you watch, make it moi onMuppets Now.

For the first time ever, Im working without a joke book, folks. Its a new kind of totally improvised comedy I call bare bear! See what I did there? Ahh! Wocka! Wocka!

I knewMuppets Nowwas coming to Disney+ but I did NOT know they wantedMuppets Now NOW, as in right away, as in doesnt anybody give a warning around here!? Gotta go upload those episodes pronto! Wish me luck; Ill need it.

This seasons celebrity guests include entertainers, comedians, chefs, and more. Fans wont want to miss all-new improvised comedy segments from their favorite Muppets including Miss Piggy, Beaker, Camilla, Dr. Bunsen Honeydew, Fozzie Bear, Gonzo the Great, Kermit the Frog, Pepe the King Prawn, The Swedish Chef, Scooter, Uncle Deadly, among others.

Disney+ is the streaming home for the Muppets collection where Muppets Now will join an assortment of fan-favorite Muppet movies, series, and shorts.

Produced by The Muppets Studio and Soapbox Films, Muppets Now premieres Friday, July 31, streaming only on Disney+. New episodes will be released every Friday.

The rest is here:

Disney Plus "Muppets Now" Zoom Video Call With Kermit the Frog And Friends - We Are Movie Geeks

YOU may not remember what you searched Google for back in 2010 but a new animated map could jog your memory.

V1 Analytics has put together an eye opening YouTube video that shows what each US state has been searching for over the past decade.

7

The last decade started off with over 20 of the 50 US states searching for Selena Gomez.

By the end of January though the singer was competing with searches for 'McDonald's nutrition'.

Searches for Kim Kardashian became popular in Louisiana but this paled in comparison to the amount of searches for Katy Perry by the end of the year.

On 24 of September 2010, over half the US states were searching for Katy Perry, five were searching for "HCG diet" and Louisiana was still looking for Kim K.

7

By January 2011, most US states were either searching for Adele or the Womble dance.

Almost all US states had Adele as their top search at the start of February, the singer released her album 21 at the start of 2011.

She was soon overtaken with searchers for Lady Gaga's 'Born this Way'.

By March and April searches for Rebecca Black exploded after a video she featured in went viral.

Osama Bin Laden's death in May 2011 also took over searches.

Games of Thrones, Kate Upton and Steve Jobs were also top.

Adele remained a very popular search throughout the year.

The start of January 2012 saw almost all the US states searching for "Kindle Fire", while four others searched for "Pinterest".

This was soon overtaken by searches for "Abortion", a search that remained popular throughout the year.

Abortion was being discussed a lot in the US at the time because 2012 saw numerous restrictions on access to abortion services for some states.

The film Fifty Shades Darker was a top search by June.

Nike and Tory Burch were also popular.

7

The start of 2013 saw Gangnam Style takeover.

"Slender Man" and "Thrift Shop" were also popular searches.

By the end of the year "Vine" was a top search along with "Royals".

7

January 2014 saw animated film Frozen completely take over Google Search.

By November searches for the Samsung s5 were very popular, with a few people searching for Meghan Trainor and Sam Smith.

7

This year started off with a boom in searches for singer Meghan Trainor.

By April searches for video game Mortal Kombat X took over.

Hotly anticipated film Jurassic World also became a top search for most states.

Then came searches for Donald Trump and "Pepe the Frog", which still remains a popular meme.

Zika Virus, Ted Cruz and Beyonce were all top searches at the start of 2016.

Then "Damn Daniel" became a trend.

Harambe the gorilla and the Google Pixel also caused mass searches.

This was the year of the song Despacito.

It also saw mass searches for Harvey Weinstein and Kevin Spacey.

7

This year started with mass searches for Fortnite and Logan Paul.

Fortnite was still popular by the end of the year as well as viral song Baby Shark.

7

Searches for R Kelly, Ariana Grande's song 7 Rings and Billie Eilish were all top at the start of 2019.

Game of Throne also took over due to the finale.

By the end of the year Mandalorian and Baby Yoda had taken over.

It probably comes as no surprise that "Coronavirus" has been a top search in almost all states this year.

Netflix series Tiger King has also proved popular, along with Elon Musk, The Weeknd and people simply searching the phrase "Pandemic".

You can see the full video below.

How to view what Google knows about you

You can take the following steps...

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In other news, a major Gmail redesign is aiming to make your working life a lot easier.

Google, Reddit, LinkedIn and TikTok have been caughtspying on your iPhone.

And, scammersare using Google Alertsto send out links to malware.

What's your most common Google search? Let us know in the comments...

We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online Tech & Science team? Email us at tech@the-sun.co.uk

The rest is here:

Most Googled things by US states over past 10 years including Kim Kardashian, Baby Shark and Fortnite - The Sun

What do you do when something you've created, a drawing or a song, has become a symbol and a beacon for the worst people?

Do you disown yourself from it, do you try to regain control, or do you try to realign that creation to its original intent? That's exactly the same dilemma that Matt Furie faced when the comic-book character he created, Pepe The Frog, became a symbol for neo-Nazis and white nationalists.

The upcoming documentary 'Feels Good Man' tells the inexplicable tale of how Pepe The Frog, originally posted on MySpace of all places, became co-opted as a meme by neo-Nazis, white nationalists, and the alt-right - making it all the way to Donald Trump.

In the documentary, Furie details how his creation - which was originally about a slacker frog who likes to pee with his pants down around his ankles and says that it "feels good man" - became used in some horrific imagery, from what he originally intended.

On top of that, the documentary also touches on how extremist politics have been shaped by dark corners of the internet, whether something as ephemeral as a meme can be redeemed (or even it should be), and coming to terms with the fact that something you've created is ultimately being used against you and those you love.

'Feels Good Man' premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and will be available from September 4th.

Here's the trailer.

The rest is here:

There's a documentary on the way about Pepe the Frog - entertainment.ie

Welcome back to The Rundown, our daily breakdown on comic news stories we missed from the previous day. Have a link to share? Email our team at rundown@multiversitycomics.com.

In case you missed it yesterday, AHOY Comics announced a sequel to 2019s Second Coming titled Second Coming: Only Begotten Son, NBCUniversal is launching the new comics publishing venture UCP Graphic, IDW announced Scarenthood, Genius Brands announced plans for a new Stan Lee Universe, and Tom King and Jorge Fornes are staring deep into some ink blots with the Black Label maxiseries Rorschach.

We also spoke with writer Sara Kenny and producer Dr. Bella Starling on their contributions to the new sci-fi Webtoon PLANET DIVOC-91, as well as with Engineward creators George Mann and Joe Eisma.

Cover by Jakub Rebelka

The previously announced BOOM! Studios graphic novel Origins is being converted into a limited series. The Beat has the exclusive news that the sci-fi book from creators Arash Amel, Joseph Oxford and Lee Toland Krieger will move from its October date. Written by Clay McLeod Chapman, with art by Jakub Rebelka, colors by Patricio Delpeche, and letters by Jim Campbell, Origins finds the genius David Adams, whose inventions caused the destruction of the human race, resurrected into a future one thousand years after the extinction of humanity. The books format conversion follows a similar move last month by the BOOM! Studios book Wynd from James Tynion IV, Michael Dialynas, and Aditya Bidikar. Origins #1 is now set for release in November.

Image Comics and writer Donny Cates have teased a cryptic new Anti-Event for the ages. Via GamesRadar, both Cates and the publisher revealed a teaser for the upcoming series Crossover, which will serve as a reunion between Cates and his God Country collaborators, artist Geoff Shaw and letterer John J. Hill. The trio will be joined on the book by colorist Dee Cunniffe. Superheroes arent myths. theyre viruses and theyre spreading Cates teased on Twitter. Crossover #1, whatever it might be, will hit shelves in November.

Marvels Free Comic Book Day offering X-Men #1 revealed a new series from writer Tom Taylor, artist Iban Coello, colorist Brian Reber, and letterer Joe Sabino. Via ComicBook.com, the announcement for the new series Dark Ages featured the tagline Where were you when the lights went out? A saga of the Marvel Universe. The FCBD issue offered a first look at the series, showing Iron Man, Pepper Potts, and Captain America, as a wave of green energy floats over New York City, disabling all electrical elements in the vicinity including Iron Mans suit. Further details on the series have yet to be revealed, but the book is set for release in Fall 2020.

Collider has the trailer for the upcoming documentary Feels Good Man. The film, which received positive reviews and a Special Jury Award during its premiere earlier this year at the Sundance Film Festival, follows underground cartoonist Matt Furie, who battled to regain control of his creation Pepe the Frog after it was coopted to become an unlikely symbol of white supremacists. The trailer traces the larger arc of the film, following Pepes journey as one of the Internets earliest memes to one of its most notorious racist images, and Furies attempts to fight back and change the narrative. Feels Good Man premieres on August 14 on Apple TV+.

The Massachusetts Independent Comics Expo has announced that artist Nate Powell (March) will serve as Special Guest Judge for the MICE Mini-Grant Awards this year. MICE will award 30 small grants of $100 each to the creators of previously unpublished print mini-comics, and Powell will select one winner from among the grantees to receive the $500 grand prize. Applications for the Mini-Grant Awards are open through August 1, and you can find more information at the MICE website.

The cast of Edgar Wrights Scott Pilgrim vs. the World reunited for a 10th anniversary table read this summer, and Entertainment Weekly is set to premiere the video of the event next week on Monday, July 20 at EW.com. The table read, which included stars Michael Cera, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Chris Evans, Aubrey Plaza, Ellen Wong, Kieran Culkin, Mark Webber, Johnny Simmons, Alison Pill, Satya Bhabha, Mae Whitman, Brandon Routh, and Jason Schwartzman, is a benefit for the charity Water for People and a part of Entertainment Weeklys Fandom Week.

The upcoming video game Marvels Avengers has set the dates for its beta release. Via ComicBook.com, the beta will feature three phases beginning in August. On August 7, players who pre-ordered the title for PS4 will receive access to the beta, followed by Xbox One and PC on August 14, and the open beta release on August 21. The full release of Marvels Avengers is scheduled for September 4.

Via TV Wise, Jetpack Distribution has acquired the global distribution rights for the sci-fi animated series NEW-GEN, adapted from the Marvel comic of the same name. The series is set to star Stranger Thingss Finn Wolfhard, and his real life brother Nick Wolfhard, as twins who pull double duty as ordinary teenagers and nanotech enhanced superheroes in a futuristic utopia. Anya Chalotra also stars in the series, which is currently in pre-production.

Read the original:

The Rundown: July 16, 2020 - Multiversity Comics

The frog is considered a gay icon (Picture: Getty)

There are a number of unlikely gay icons in this world, from The Babadook to Peppa Pig, and it seems that frogs have made the list.

If youre a regular user of TikTok, you may have noticed that alongside videos of dancing and lip-syncing there is an abundance of frog videos.

Where dogs and cats reign supreme on other social media platforms, TikTok is full of sweet little amphibians. Sometimes its frogs sitting weirdly, sometimes its frog care videos for pet owners, sometimes its a girl raising hundreds of thousands of tadpoles in her back garden.

Not all of these videos are made by or featuring lesbians, but the two commonly cross over, with lesbian TikTok and frog TikTok inextricably linked.

Lets look at why.

Lesbian frog TikTok is a communion of two TikTok niches lesbians and frogs.

There are a number of subcultures to be found on the social media site, from alt TikTok to beans TikTok to the oft-maligned straight TikTok.

Because the platform alters your For You page depending on what you tend to like and interact with, groups formed based on what different people saw and found funny or engaging.

In this case, its being a woman who loves women and cute frogs.

Videos feature illustrations and crafts with frogs on them, funny frogs wearing funny outfits, and basically every manner of frog creativity.

The genre frog lesbian has fully sprouted, with the hashtag lesbianslovefrogs now boasting over 710,000 views, and a search for frog lesbian showing thousands of results.

There are a number of reasons why lesbians may gravitate to frogs (and not just because theyre cute and hilarious).

The frogs are gay meme came to prominence around two years ago when shock-jock Alex Jones claimed on the show InfoWars that water was being poisoned and was making the frigginfrogsgay.

His channel then uploaded a video titled Proof! Gay Frogs Are Real, cementing frogs status as gay icons forevermore.

Frogs have also been top meme-fodder for many years. Dat Boi, Kermit sipping tea, graphic design is my passion, froggy chair, and its Wednesday my dudes all had their moment in the sun (as well as Pepe, but the less we say about him the better).

In that sense, its understandable that TikTok (the social media site best suited to more surreal and younger comedy) would become the home of frog content.

Nearly half of those who use TikTok are under 24, and under 24s are the age group most likely to be queer. Ergo, frog lovers and LGBT+ people were bound to merge and become part of the TikTok canon at some point.

But why lesbians specifically?

Although frogs are gay (incontrovertible fact, please dont argue), the links between frogs and lesbians particularly might derive from an aesthetic movement titled cottagecore.

TikTok defines this as flower prints, knitting, plants and mushrooms. Basically nice, comforting, nature-based images and sounds to soothe us and be aesthetically pleasing.

i-D magazine spoke to one queer woman about why she identified with cottagecore so much, and she said: Lesbians tend to be oversexualised by the media. Cottagecore sees love as a connection between two souls.

Another stated, It especially makes me feel like the things I loved in childhood, like having farm animals and picking blackberries in the fields and getting lost in the woods, are cis- and hetero-coded. So for me, cottagecore is an ideal where I can be visibly queer in rural spaces.

In a world where we need to own a house to have a dog or cultivate our own gardens, frogs are one of the easiest ways to get closer to nature.

And if that desire (frog)spawns a new subculture where WLW and animals are celebrated and we get to see cute frogs on our feeds then that works for us.

Do you have a story youd like to share?

Get in touch at MetroLifestyleTeam@metro.co.uk.

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What is frog TikTok, and why does it so often cross over with lesbian TikTok? - Metro.co.uk

Anti-government protesters say they are organising a massive day of action in the United States, with many purporting to be part of a secretive movement called the Boogaloo, or Boogaloo Bois.

Activists have told Daily Star Online they're not a far-right movement, as they're critics claim, but openly say they want to overthrow the US government.

Some even call for a "Second US Civil War," as they say they're linking up with Black Lives Matter activists and anti-coronavirus lockdown groups to form a broader coalition.

The origins of the Boogaloo movement are difficult to pin down, counter-terrorism analyst Javed Ali told Daily Star Online.

Speaking from the US, he said the origins of the movement date back to the early 2010s, but have some of their ideological roots in earlier anti-government or overtly far-right groups from the 1990s.

Recognised by their distinctive Hawaiian shirts and iconography full of memes, such as Pepe the Frog, a number of gun-toting "Boogaloo Bois" have been spotted at recent BLM demonstrations appearing to show their support for the movement.

Although some of the movement's members' far-right views might be seen as being at odds with those of Black Lives Matter, Ali says it makes sense when you consider their shared anti-government stance.

"The coronavirus crisis and Black Lives Matter protests are both inspiring debates in the US about government overreach," Ali said.

"This anti-government philosophy is first and foremost what the movement is about."

The name Boogaloo comes from the 1980s breakdancing film Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo, Ali explained.

Over the past decade, forums such as 4Chan and 8Chan would share memes and jokes about a "Civil War 2", rhyming with Boogaloo.

Filled with inside jokes and references, the posts would often make it difficult to see where the line was between trolling and real intentions.

Big Luau, code for a revolution or civil war, was also used by some members of the forums.

But as Ali explained, the movement's lack of a core set of beliefs makes it extremely difficult to be certain of what they want.

Although momentum for the movement online picked up in the middle of the last decade, Ali says it has accelerated since the election of US President Donald Trump.

Supporters are a mix of Second Amendment gun rights activists, anti-government protesters, libertarians and some far-right white supremacists.

Their origins can be found in some of the touchstone anti-government events of the 80s and 90s, including the Ruby Ridge siege, the deadly Oklahoma City bombing and the siege at Waco, Texas, with memes referencing all of these widely shared online.

Speaking to Daily Star Online, supporters of the movement shared their own beliefs and reasons for support.

One, who asked to remain anonymous, called the Boogaloo "a revolution taking place in Americans' hearts".

They denied the group was far-right, saying they are "pro-capitalism," adding: "We do not discriminate. We welcome people of all colours, races, sexual orientation and creeds."

The supporter went on: "We are not trying to exploit the BLM movement, but rather we support their right to free speech."

They also slammed the lockdowns taken by state governments in response to the Covid-19 health crisis, saying: "It's up to the individual to be responsible for their health."

Another supporter, calling themselves Virginia Knight, told Daily Star Online: "The Boogaloo movement doesn't have any set main goal but we have many goals throughout our movement including recognising the injustice that many cops cause civilians while also respecting many.

"We also believe that a revolution will take place sooner or later as we had one with Great Britain in 1775 and the government will be replaced with a cleaner fresher model."

They added: "We also hope to raise awareness to the fact that there are many of us likeminded people who are armed to the teeth and believe in freedom."

On the link to Black Lives Matter protests, they went on: "Many people scream racism when they see an armed white man because the thing the government fears most is unity among the armed white man and the armed black man.

"We strive to bring about that unity."

A third supporter, who spoke to the Daily Star under the condition of anonymity, described himself as "the son of a single Hispanic mother born in the United States from Hispanic immigrants and Native Northern Americans".

He called this year's July 4th a major milestone in his country's history, and said ordinary people were becoming aware of the widespread oppression carried out by a "brainwashed militarised police force".

The supporter went on: "The 4th of July is our supposed holiday of freedom and I know more Americans than ever are questioning said freedoms."

He also said growing public anger had grown since the death of Jeffrey Epstein and many powerful people's alleged connections to the convicted paedophile.

"People have wanted to say that we're far-right when in actuality we lie in the centre of the political spectrum," he said.

"Recently far-right groups have been angry with us because we've chosen not to side with them and have been offering BLM protesters protections from these groups.

"Black Lives Matter have been fighting for a lot of the same things as us before us and it's important that we protect people exercising their rights."

But Javed Ali maintains most of the movement's members' beliefs "tend to align with the far-right".

He says if this year's July 4 protests by the Boogaloo Bois remain peaceful, there is unlikely to be a further crackdown beyond the arrests of Boogaloo followers already made the past few months in Denver, Las, Vegas, and northern California.

Despite that, law enforcement is now focusing more attention on this movement and the potential threat it poses.

Last month, a US Air Force sergeant Steven Carillo with alleged links to the Boogaloo movement was arrested following the murder of a federal security officer.

David Patrick Underwood was shot in an ambush outside the courthouse in Oakland, California during Black Lives Matter protests in the city.

The FBI claims Carillo used his own blood to write various phrases on the bonnet of a stolen car, including "boog" and "stop the duopoly", referring to America's two-party system.

Earlier in June, three men with ties to the Boogaloo movement and the US military were arrested in Las Vegas and charged with "conspiracy to cause destruction" over allegations they aimed to used Molotov cocktails on police officers during protests in the city following the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

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Inside 'Boogaloo' movement 'armed to the teeth' and calling for overthrow of US - Daily Star

The restaurateur used to manage the hip-hop group A Tribe Called Quest before opening her own restaurant in New York, then moving to Maui in 2013.

By Martha Cheng

Published: 2020.07.01 01:14 PM

This is part of a series on perspectives from Black food-business owners in Hawaii.

HONOLULU Magazine: How did you get into the restaurant business?

Qiana Di Bari: As a college student at NYU, I worked part time at Moomba, a celebrity hotspot in the West Village. I happened to be in the right place at the right time: I was just a little kid who was a hostess, and I started managing the place after a few months and met a lot of really famous and interesting people. That led me into the music business, where I was invited by Q-Tip from A Tribe Called Quest to come and work as his assistant. I ended up being Q-Tips manager and I managed the band. And I was with him for 20 years before Michele (Qianas husband) and I met at his restaurantit was love at first sight. We had an immediate connectionbut we never spoke to each other directly for five years because he moved away to open a restaurant and I had a boyfriend at the time.

Michele and I opened our restaurant, Va Beh, which means its all good in Italian, in Brooklyn, about six months after we had our little girl. We opened that together because we both knew that I was going to make my way out of the music business to really focus on family. It was a cute little restaurant20-seater, some of the same philosophy and aesthetics that we have here at Sale Pepe.

HM: Whats your ethnicity?

QDB: I amImI feel like Im American. Ill just stop there.

My family has been here since pre-American times. Im part of the Lenape tribe of Native Americans. And they were part of a group that sold the first bead to the Dutch at Manahatta. We have been here in America for hundreds of years. We know the Dutch woman that married the Native American man on the Jersey shore from 1620. So we go back a long way. Im also obviously African American and we are generations and generations of hapa people. Theres some British, theres some Dutch. Were a mix of everything but I think thats what Black is in America. Were all kind of melted and molded and assimilated in different ways. So I would say that Im Black, but I know that my heritage is a mix of almost every race.

For me, Black means mixed. Im actually more comfortable with Black than African American because I dont feel like as a culture, we are connected to Africawe created our own culture here being as mixed up as we are. Even coming right off the slave ships from Africa, we were mixed, purposelydifferent tribes mixed with other tribes and Black people from different countries and regions mixed with others. It just continued when we got to Americawe mix with our neighbors and our masters and the natives around us. And so for me, Black is a unique term for a really unique experience.

SEE ALSO: Sale Pepe Brings a Taste of Italy to Hawaii

HM: Have you experienced racism in the food business?

QDB: Ive dealt with it in every aspect of my life and every facet of my life. In the food business in particularIll tell you two short stories. More than one time people have come in and Im normally at the door at Sale Pepe and on the floor, Michele is in the back of the house. And theyll say to me, Wheres the boss? Wheres the real Italian? You dont really know Italian. What do you mean youre the owner, wheres your husband? That kind of thing. And, you know, in America, you can be any race and open any sort of restaurant and represent any cuisine as long as you know it. Sometimes Im a little bit marginalized because of my race and the kind of cuisine that were serving.

And then another more overt thing happened two years ago: Someone posted Pepe the Frog (a cartoon appropriated as a racist hate symbol) drinking a salted margarita on our Facebook page and said something derogatory on it. I had to have that flagged and blocked. That was pretty overt and creepy.

But its never locals. I will tell you that very clearly. Its always people from other places.

Another time, I was crossing the street on Front Street in front of Bubba Gump with my 6-year-old at the time, and someone in a rental car drove by and made monkey sounds. And even my little 6-year-old instinctively knew that wasnt right. I had to have a talk with her about how some people are just that way, that some people just dont like other people because of the way they look.

But I never felt that from any local ever. If Im honest with you, I feel like its kind of like a reverse situation: I remember when we first started opening the restaurant and dealing with construction workers and vendors, a lot of the locals were giving me eye contact and not wanting to engage with Michele. So hes like, OK, you deal with these guys because they seem to want to talk to you more. If anything, I feel more embraced here than I have anywhere else in the world. Maybe Brazil, I felt as normal and as free to be myself. Thats the only other place I could think of where I felt as comfortable.

HM: I remember when we first talked a few years ago, you mentioned that when you came to Maui it just felt like home. Is that why?

QDB: Yeah, I feel like I can be myself, relax, let my guard down and just let my words and actions speak for themselves. I dont feel people giving me a double take or second look. I dont feel people giving me doubtful or strange energy at all. I have never felt more like myself than I do here. And youre not really aware of how much you carry emotionally and physically on your body in terms of just being on guard from things like racism, or, you know, crimes, all the things you have to worry about over there. You dont carry those with you here.

HM: So then how does it feel being here and not having to deal with it while watching whats happening around the U.S.?

QDB: I dont get to talk about this enough. I talk to Q-Tip every day almost, and my best friendwe talk so much about how isolated I feel here in a way because I cant really share my impressions or experiences with anyone in a resonant way about whats happening on the Mainland in terms of Black Lives Matter. And some of the changes that we see happening. Its very exciting for us. But when I step out into the restaurant on Maui or speak to my friends here its a more muted conversation. Its not as relevant here, obviously. Its like walking around with a million dollars in your pocket and you cant tell anybody.

Its really hard to stay as charged or indignant or angry or as active as I see my friends being.

Im a little disconnected. Im not judging myself either way, Im saying that in a neutral way. It feels like Im a little more objective. And I dont get triggered very easily by what I see on the news. Im upset. Im angry, but Im more thinking about how can we take all of this Black Lives Matter energy and channel it into voting registration or real political change or real systematic change. Im not thinking about where Im going to march next or who am I going to confront in a face to face conversation.

HM: So when you lived elsewhere, you had more of those immediate reactions?

QDB: Well, this is, you know, obviously not the first time this has happened, right. So, yeah, being with Q-Tip and with A Tribe Called Quest and in hip-hop, which is a very powerful movement in and of itself, anytime something like this happened in the past, we would hit the streets immediately. I mean, immediately, we would hit the streets. That would be the first thing. I dont know how many rallies Ive done. Weve gone out with politicians and done rallies and been a part of Rock the Vote. So much music was made and so much of our message was about countering this kind of stuff. So Its interesting to be in this position now because its very different. I feel like my approach is just moreI dont want to say cerebral or intellectualbut those might really be the right words. Because my body is not in it as much as it used to be. There was one good rally here in Lahaina. My friend, Courtney Scott,pulled it together a few weeks ago, and that was amazing. It was electric. It was just incredible. But thats the only thing Ive donephysicallysince all of this started.

Another aspect of it is where Im putting a lot of my energies into educating my child, talking to her through what she sees on the news as a 9-year-old.

As a mother, Im 40-something, its not the same as being a 20-something or 30. I see myself in those kids that are out protesting every day for 30 days in a row. That used to be me, but its not me anymore.

SEE ALSO: New Maui-made Fresh Pasta by Buono is Now Available at Oahu Whole Foods

HM: Do you think then since its such a different vibe here that having these conversations is relevant? That they have a purpose here?

QDB: I only can say yes. Because at the rally that I went to, I saw everyone. I saw locals, I saw transplants, I saw young, I saw rich, I saw poor people, I saw business owners and I saw bus drivers. And everyone was just as outraged as the next. There was one unified feeling therewere all feeling the same thing. Were all wanting the same. We have the same desire. There is a desire here for systematic change. And I think it is relevant. We have a voice in the national conversation. Hawaii is relevant. There are Black people here, there are people of color here. They may not be experiencing the police brutality on the levels that they do on the Mainland, but these stories are part of our history.

Whether we came from somewhere else or lived here all your life, you know someone who this has happened to. And so for it to be called out, and for these changes to be demanded, is a very powerful thing to be happening here.

HM: How useful do you think the lists of Black businesses are?

QDB: I love these lists because I feel seen for the first time as a Black business owner. A really good friend of mine wrote to me recently and said, Now I really have to apologize to you because I never saw you as Black. My daughter sat me down and made me understand why thats not a good thing. Im negating part of who you are by not seeing you as Black. Her generation had been taught we dont see color and all of that nonsense. So being on Black-owned business lists makes me feel seen and empowered and proud in a way that Ive never felt before. Thats amazing. Its really important because you either feel like a unicorn on this island because there are so few of us or you feel invisible because there are so few of us. So its really nice to be seen and celebrated in that way.

HM: Is there anything else you think that we should be talking about?

QDB: I think we dont hear enough about the historical context of this whole Black Lives Matter movement. How what we saw happening to George Floyd was an expression of something that has been happening since slavery, since reconstruction, during the civil rights movements, in our prisons. It happened in the 80s and 90s with the war on drugs. George Floyds last words were a literal expression of our collective pain and frustrations over all of these years. This is not something that just popped up out of the blueGeorge Floyd was really the straw that broke the camels back.

I also want to say that the Black Lives movement is not an anti-cop movement or an anti-white movement. Its not really about attacking policemen or anybody else. Its about us saying that we matter. We just want the same thing that everyone else has and the promises that we have been sold since the founding of this country.

HM: Given this history, do you feel optimistic about this moment or that its the same as in the past?

QDB: I feel optimistic because I feel like theres been a merging of the progressive movement with the Black Lives Matter movement. And then when mainstream Americans witnessed all the police brutality during the protests, it put a spotlight on the problem in a way that no one was able to really understand or that didnt resonate as much before. I think this is a different moment. Things are not going back to normal. The length of these protests tells us a lot. And also the fact that our Senate today tried to pass a [police reform] bill addressing all of these thingsit didnt go through because I dont think it was aggressive enough for the Democrats in the Senate, but the House is preparing to present a bill in the next few daysI think this is a different moment. People are responding and reacting and changes are being made really quickly.

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

Sale Pepe, 878 Front St., Lahaina, (808) 667-7667, salepepemaui.com

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Qiana Di Bari, Owner of Sale Pepe in Lahaina, On Racism in the Food Business and Why She Feels At Home On Maui - HONOLULU Magazine

LONG BEACH ISLAND It was a week of firsts. It was the first time several movies were shown to the public, and it was the first time that the Lighthouse International Film Festival was a drive-in. In fact, the local event was the first and only international film festival that was a drive-in.

Due to COVID-19 restrictions on public gatherings, the organizers of the festival were left brainstorming ways to still get fiction, documentary, and other films to the public while protecting theater-goers and staff. Fortunately, one of the outdoor activities that was approved by the governor was drive-ins.

Pop-up drive-in venues were set up in Beach Haven, Loveladies, and Stafford. Cars lined up to watch films on the big screens for five days.

The Festival opened on Tuesday, June 16 with the war drama The Outpost and ended with the comedy The Last Shift. There were 31 unreleased films in between. Some of them were world premieres or films that showed at Sundance or SXSW.

The festival showed films as they were meant to be seen on the big screen while keeping the health and safety of its attendees its top priority, Spokesperson Christine Rooney had said about the festival. Like all responsible New Jersey businesses and non-profits LIFF has come to realize that business as usual is no longer an option, at this unique point in time, and that the Festival cannot be presented in its usual format this year.

There is a huge shortage of cultural and entertainment events due to the COVID-19 outbreak, and festival organizers hoped to fill that void.

While COVID-19 put our daily lives on hold, it also shut down the window to the alternative universe of imagination, creation, and art that is cinema. Lighthouse International Film Festival is here to reopen this window on the big screen, as part of LBIs rejuvenation, said LIFF executive director Amir Bogen.

As with schools, sometimes the best way to reach people was online. The virtual component of the event had scores of short films, episodic projects, surf films and other features. It was also the way that the winners of the festival were announced.

Films were awarded in several categories. The award for Best Narrative Feature went to The Subject, by Lanie Zipoy. It is about a documentarian who caught the murder of an African American teen on tape, and now someone is videotaping his every move.

The award for Best Feature-Length Documentary went to Feels Good Man by Arthur Jones. This chronicles how indie comic character Pepe the Frog became the icon of hate groups, and the artists attempt to regain control of the character.

The Best Short Narrative Film was White Eye by Tomer Shushan, about a man who finds his stolen bicycle and his struggles with himself.

The Best Short Documentary was Ashes To Ashes by Taylor Rees & co-director Renan Ozturk, which follows the story of Winfred Rembert, the only living survivor of a lynching. It also won an award for Social Impact.

The Best Episodic Project was Lost In Traplanta, by Mathieu Rochet.

The Jennifer Snyder Bryceland award is a $3,500 prize to a feature-length documentary that displays artistic excellence, incorporates (social) environmental themes (local, regional or global), and inspires optimism in audiences. It was awarded to Why Is We Americans? by Udi Aloni & co-director Ayana Stafford-Morris, about the Baraka family and their relationship with Newark.

The Best High School Student Film was Empty by Vic Pater, an animated journey using metaphors to have the audience understand mental illness.

Excerpt from:

Drive-In Film Fest Has Debut - Micromedia Publications

Boogaloo groups may also have seized on the Hawaiian shirt for reasons other than signaling their association and intentions. Mr. Nakagawa said that doing so may be an attempt to bait the less informed into assuming the group means no real harm. That they are, really, in effect, a goofy bunch of boys despite their military-grade weaponry.

This interpretation is shared by Patrick Blanchfield, an associate faculty member at the Brooklyn Institute for Social Research, who regularly writes about the far right. He views the use of the Hawaiian shirt as yet another attempt by far-right groups to create an undefinable space with in-your-face absurdity.

Its by design, Mr. Blanchfield said. That confusion is what theyre trying to exploit, which means its important to keep an eye on the big picture, or whats right in front of you. If you see an image of a man wearing tactical gear with a gun and a Hawaiian shirt, the most salient thing there is that the guy has a gun and tactical gear.

ULTIMATELY, A SYMBOL like the Hawaiian shirt shifts focus from the obvious armed men asserting dominance in public spaces to expert-led discussions of the boogaloos movements coded symbols and language games, which are absurd to the point of meaninglessness, Mr. Blanchfield thinks. He, and other experts on white nationalist extremism in the United States, have stressed that such in-jokes are a longstanding practice of extremist movements born out of online message boards like 4chan and Reddit and, more recently, in the case of the boogaloo, Facebook.

Joshua Citarella, a researcher of extremist behaviors on the internet, has followed the boogaloo movement, sometimes referred to as Hawaiian shirt nationalism by those in far-right corners of the internet, from its earliest manifestation as a meme on social media. Its earliest expressions, Mr. Citarella said, were mostly about civil libertarianism and drew on internet aesthetics like Vaporwave.

The boogaloo kit post on social media is another recent example of the meme bridging the gap with real life. In late 2018, Mr. Citarella began to notice that users had begun sharing images of their own skins, or outfits, laid out on the ground. They were usually a combination of tactical gear, assault weapons, bottles of liquor and street wear like Supreme hoodies, all tied together in some way by the floral print of the Hawaiian shirt.

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Boogaloo Extremists, Banned From Facebook, and the Hawaiian Shirt - The New York Times

The online subcultures driving "incels" grew more concerning after Canada pursued terrorism charges for incel-related violence. We must analyze them.

Florence Keen is a Research Fellow at the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation, specializing in far-right extremism and violence

As the world was forced into lockdown at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Alex Lee Moyers documentary TFW No GF was released online, its focus on an internet subculture of predominately young, white men who already experienced much of life from the comfort of their own homes pandemic notwithstanding.

Its title, a reference to the 4chan-originated phrase that feel when no girlfriend, reveals the essence of its subjects grievances described by the SXSW Film Festival as first a lack of romantic companionship, then evolving to a greater state of existence defined by isolation, rejection and alienation. As one of the films subjects remarks early on: Everyone my age kinda just grows up on the internet4chan was the only place that seemed realI realized there were other people going through the same shit

What does this level of alienation tell us about society today? And how seriously should we take the content found on this online patchwork of messaging boards and forums, each with its own language and visual culture that may at first seem humorous or ironic, but often disguises misogyny, racism, and violence? These are difficult and urgent questions, particularly given the emergent incel phenomenon (incel being a portmanteau of involuntary celibate) which appears to be gaining in strength online.

The idea of virtual expressions of alienation and rage translating to actual violence remains a real and present danger, as we were reminded of this in May when a teenager became the first Canadian to be charged with incel-inspired terrorism. The documentary, however, avoids confronting the violence that this subculture often glorifies, and the director has since stated that it was never supposed to be about incels, but that it had become impossible to discuss the film without the term coming up.

Moments like these require unrelenting truthtelling. We take pride in being reader-funded. If you like our work, support our journalism.

As it turns out, the men we meet in TFW No GF appear to be largely harmless except perhaps to themselves, and despite the documentarys lack of narrative voice, it takes a patently empathetic stance. Set against the backdrop of industrial landscapes and empty deserts, this is a United States in decline; where role models and opportunities lie thin on the ground, and the closest thing to community exists in virtual realms. Each self-described NEET (slang for Not in Education, Employment or Training) has his own tale of alienation: of alcoholic parents, dead friends, or disenfranchisement with the school system.

For those who study internet subcultures, the memes explored of Pepe the Frog and Wojak will be familiar. Pepe is used as a reaction image, typically in the guises of feels good man, and smug/angry/sad Pepe, and although not created to have racist connotations, is frequently used in bigoted contexts by the alt-right. Wojak, AKA feels guy is typically depicted as a bald man with a depressed expression.

One of the documentarys subjects Kantbot explains that you cant have one without the other thats the duality of man. For these men, Pepe represents the troll self, a public persona that embodies their smug and cocky traits. Wojak denotes a more private and vulnerable self, typified by inadequacy, unfulfillment, and sadness. At its core, it is this dichotomy that the documentary seeks to explore, whilst at the same time demanding our sympathies.

On the surface, the men in TFW No GF are united by their failure in finding female partners, a theme that permeates the manosphere, which includes Men Going Their Own Way, (MGTOW) and incels. This latter identity has garnered particular attention in recent years due to the spate of incel attacks witnessed in North America, most infamously Elliot Rodgers Isla Vista attacks in California in 2014 which left six people dead. According to Moonshot CVE, incels believe that genetic factors influence their physical appearance and/or social abilities to the extent that they are unattractive to women, with some subscribing to the philosophy of the blackpill, namely, that women are shallow, and naturally select partners based upon looks stifling the changes of unattractive men to find a partner and procreate.

Incels are a diverse and nebulous community, their worldview characterized by a virulent brand of nihilism which is viewed through the prism of a three-tiered social hierarchy dictated by looks. Here, incels find themselves at the bottom of the pile, after normies, Chads and Stacys. Whilst instances of real-world violence perpetrated by incels remain in relatively low in numbers, its potential to mutate into an offline phenomenon is rightly a cause for concern, with Bruce Hoffman et al. (2020) making a convincing argument for increased law enforcement scrutiny, noting that the most violent manifestations of this ideology pose a new terrorism threat. Especially as we know misogyny is a gateway drug for white supremacy.

A counterterrorism approach alone, however, is unlikely to address the reasons why so many young men (and women see: femcels) are drawn to these virtual worlds. If self-reported narratives on forums such as Incels.net and Incels.co are anything to go by, low self-esteem, bullying, and mental health issues are rife. An acknowledgment of the pain, rejection, and illness that someone may be suffering from is surely required, however unpalatable that is when faced with the abhorrent imagery and rhetoric that may espouse. Underlying all of this, is the need for response based in public health, as well.

The documentarys empathic approach has however been criticized, with The Guardian accusing it of misinformation, particularly in its portrayal of 4chan and the like as harmless, and Rolling Stone criticizing the films acceptance of events without challenging the communitys support of violence, misogyny, and racism. In this sense, the film is reminiscent of the 2016 documentary The Red Pill, which followed Cassie Jays journey into the world of Mens Rights Activists similarly focusing on one side of an ever-complicated debate. Thus, showing compassion should ultimately not be a way of avoiding difficult conversations, and in the case of inceldom, a failure to do so could be seen as irresponsible.

As a researcher of internet subcultures, documentaries like TFW no GF are valuable, in so much as we are granted a rare perspective of these men in their own words. Despite the films selectivity and subjectivity representing a small sample of the infinite experiences and beliefs held by those in this expansive community it provides us with a vignette of the online spaces that allow for certain hateful ideas to flourish and be sustained.

For some, the strange and often hostile world of online messaging boards provides a much-needed connection when other doors are closed. For others, they contribute to a more misogynistic, racist and at times violent way of perceiving the world. As COVID-19 continues to rage on, forcing more of us to shift our lives online, societies ability to understand and combat deeply entrenched loneliness, as well as its potential to intersect with extreme and even violent corners of the internet will be essential.

This article is brought to you by the Centre for Analysis of the Radical Right(CARR). Through their research, CARR intends to lead discussions on the development of radical right extremism around the world.

Excerpt from:

Incels: Alienated Men And Violence In The Digital Age - Rantt Media