Feels Good Man
— “Feels Good Man” was shown at the 2020 True/False Film Fest and, for T/F festival films, I’m giving a general reaction to the viewing experience, followed by the film’s description as it appeared on the festival website.
Before I saw this film, I knew nothing about Pepe the frog or 4chan the message board. Had the film only been about Pepe, the star of the “Boy’s Club” comic uploaded to 4chan, with the catch phrase “feels good man,” I would have lost interest pretty quickly. But Pepe became an intellectual property issue when he took on a life of his own in the cyber world, “meme-fied” by his followers until his creator lost all control. In cyber space, he became less likeable, adorned with swastikas, associated with 9/11 and Donald Trump, and all sorts of vile and hateful things, eventually earning him a place in the ADL’s list of Hate Symbols. It’s a glimpse into the dark side of internet popularity, and the potential ”cost of ceding control of one’s work to the public at large.” The film seemed a little long, but it was worth seeing.
Description from the T/F website: “In 2005, artist Matt Furie posted a cartoon strip to Myspace starring four stoner friends—Andy, Brett, Landwolf, and Pepe. Inspired by impish humor and boyhood mischief, Furie’s story about a little frog who likes to pee-pee with his pants down became wildly popular on new social media platforms such as 4chan, Reddit, and Twitter. As users adapted Matt’s image to fit their own playful or polemical ends, the meme began to mutate and Pepe the Frog was co-opted by an army of anonymous trolls. A rollicking horror flick about the zombie afterlife of images online and off, this film is a must-see for Walter Benjamin acolytes and anyone who lives on the internet – or wants to understand those that do.”
Before I saw this film, I knew nothing about Pepe the frog or 4chan the message board. Had the film only been about Pepe, the star of the “Boy’s Club” comic uploaded to 4chan, with the catch phrase “feels good man,” I would have lost interest pretty quickly. But Pepe became an intellectual property issue when he took on a life of his own in the cyber world, “meme-fied” by his followers until his creator lost all control. In cyber space, he became less likeable, adorned with swastikas, associated with 9/11 and Donald Trump, and all sorts of vile and hateful things, eventually earning him a place in the ADL’s list of Hate Symbols. It’s a glimpse into the dark side of internet popularity, and the potential ”cost of ceding control of one’s work to the public at large.” The film seemed a little long, but it was worth seeing.
Description from the T/F website: “In 2005, artist Matt Furie posted a cartoon strip to Myspace starring four stoner friends—Andy, Brett, Landwolf, and Pepe. Inspired by impish humor and boyhood mischief, Furie’s story about a little frog who likes to pee-pee with his pants down became wildly popular on new social media platforms such as 4chan, Reddit, and Twitter. As users adapted Matt’s image to fit their own playful or polemical ends, the meme began to mutate and Pepe the Frog was co-opted by an army of anonymous trolls. A rollicking horror flick about the zombie afterlife of images online and off, this film is a must-see for Walter Benjamin acolytes and anyone who lives on the internet – or wants to understand those that do.”
[2020. 95 min. Directed by Arthur Jones.]
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/feels-good-man-review-1273693
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