The story of young 'live-and-let-live' cartoonist Matt Furie who created a character, Pepe the Frog, in 2005. Pepe was meant to embody a zen, carefree lifestyle but was unfortunately co-opted by racist hate-mongers on the internet to become a hate meme and then again by right wing extremist/opportunists that tried to capitalize on Pepe's new image for their own financial gain.
Even if you don't recognize the 'Pepe' name you will recognize his image from countless internet meme's. The documentary does an excellent job detailing Pepe's creation and gradual transition from carefree, to slacker dropout, to a symbol of hate as seen through the story of his creator and his efforts to reclaim Pepe's identity. The interviews are engaging and the animated segments supplement the story well. It's also a decent commentary on the millenial generation's struggles for their own identity during the internet age.
You can't help but to sympathize with Matt especially when you see him in in such pain and denial about how much it personally affected him. The truth is...there was little that could be done once the millions of anonymous, conscienceless masses got ahold of Pepe and for what it's worth Matt, I think you did the best you could when the opportunity to take control presented itself. I look forward to your next wonderful creation and dare I say...It's all good man.
Even if you don't recognize the 'Pepe' name you will recognize his image from countless internet meme's. The documentary does an excellent job detailing Pepe's creation and gradual transition from carefree, to slacker dropout, to a symbol of hate as seen through the story of his creator and his efforts to reclaim Pepe's identity. The interviews are engaging and the animated segments supplement the story well. It's also a decent commentary on the millenial generation's struggles for their own identity during the internet age.
You can't help but to sympathize with Matt especially when you see him in in such pain and denial about how much it personally affected him. The truth is...there was little that could be done once the millions of anonymous, conscienceless masses got ahold of Pepe and for what it's worth Matt, I think you did the best you could when the opportunity to take control presented itself. I look forward to your next wonderful creation and dare I say...It's all good man.