Feels Good, Man

In 1967, French literary theorist Roland Barthes wrote an essay, “The Death of the Author,” arguing that the intention of the original writer of a work should not be the only interpretation though which it is viewed. Not surprisingly, people have missed his point, and internet culture became gank culture, stealing works and claiming they never really belonged to the creator.

Nowhere has that been more apparent than in the case of Pepe the Frog, the evil symbol of the alt-right and worthless trolls across the electronic septic tank. That’s not how he started. Matt Furie, an unassuming indie comic artist, created the happily baffled amphibian, then built a comic called Boy’s Club around him. This was in 2005, early in the days of message boards and Myspace being ubiquitous forces in culture, and Pepe became an early example of an internet meme. As psychologist and meme expert Susan Blackmore explains over a wonderful animated sequence (one of many), memes are the way we transmit and copy information, just as genes transmit genetic information from one life-form to another.

What began as a character in an introspective little comic about post-college malaise has become weaponized. In that process, two characters have been forgotten: Furie, and the Pepe that he created.

Beyond putting the focus back on the artist and his art, what makes Jones’ documentary important is that it actually takes on internet culture in a serious fashion. Underneath the marker-pen-bright animation and illustrations, he grasps and explains how there’s not just “good” and “bad” internet, like you can just shut down the dark web and suddenly everything will be fine. The alt-right didn’t just get up one morning and post an “I’m stealing your meme” GIF: This was a pervasive situation, with Pepe transmitting himself virally from online comics culture to bodybuilding forums to online makeup experts to NEET culture and then into extremist groups.

The how and the way are vital, and Jones breaks down the process like a virologist would study a physical infection. The number of journalists in nonspecialist outlets who really understand how internet culture truly works can be counted on the fingers of one foot, which means publications have no clue how to handle fringe groups like QAnon until they get Republican National Convention airtime. Jones truly understands the process of viral culture, of memification, of how an innocent piece of art can be subverted as political propaganda, and how there are few current tools to deal with their abuse.

The tragedy is that Jones’ study is an autopsy. Pepe can’t be redeemed: The meaning Furie gave him has been rendered illegible by the bigoted subtext imprinted upon him by trolls, bots, and fascists. Since Furie, according to his friends, is Pepe and vice versa, it’s no surprise that they’ve both lost control of the situation. The blind optimism with which Furie believes that incels and radicals will finally get bored of Pepe and just sort of hand him back will break your heart.

Feels Good, Man will be available for timed streams at 9pm and midnight on Friday, Aug. 28 and Saturday, Aug. 29, all followed by Q&As. Ticketed links available at austin.violetcrown.com.

For an interview with director Arthur Jones, read “How Pepe Was Martyred by the Right,” March 13.