I am not sure where to begin with this film. The story and explanation of how an obscure cartoon frog got twisted into a fascistic symbol is not an understandable one. The semantic and symbolic evolution of Pepe the Frog is rational course and at times it isn't even all that coherent. I.e. Kek being LOL in gaming (because Star Craft, S. Korea) gets an Egyptian frog-headed God into the Pepe memes. I'm not saying the film is not understandable. I am saying the phenomena under discussion is not rational-the film does its damnedest to present the story in an understandable way. The film succeeds as well as any film could. Sometimes it is just trolls all the way down.
The key the film's success is the animation sequences. Onto themselves they are delightful low-key vignettes of the aimless malaise that some people have in their early 20's. Furie's comic Boy's Club inspired these sequences and they capture the tone of that book. This is so key to the film because it anchors the meaning of the ur-Pepe (i.e. The Pepe that Furie first drew) for viewers that have only been exposed to the memes. By anchoring this meaning as clearly as the animation does it makes the disaffected youth -> 4chan -> trumpist trolls -> neo-nazis and other fascists chain make symbolic sense.
The ur-Pepe because of his design and his original narrative context captures the meandering pointlessness of being a mere consumer and other alienation that late capitalism creates. Furie's work-and the animation-is banal but droll, cheery but vacuous. In short, it captures the malaise that lower middle class millennials experience. This character was always going to draw people profoundly dissatisfied with the current neoliberal order. Unfortunately for Furie and the rest of us it was right-wing reactionaries who got there first.
This is the other thing the film does really well; Furie is a cartoonist and he is entirely apolitical-or was before this affair. His concerns are the absurdity of everyday life and capturing his mere lived experience. Boys Club is loosely inspired by events in Furie's life. The ur-Pepe is profoundly personal to Furie. The film makes it clear just how much of Furie's personality infused his work. The emotional core of the film is Furie yet to be completed grappling with his creation being co-opted. The most striking sections are Furie unsuccessful cultural and semi-successful legal efforts to reclaim Pepe from the alt-right. It is chilling cautionary tale that this sweet and unassuming cartoonist has to fight with literal Nazis over his cartoon frog.
The deepest irony of the film and it is a point that the filmmakers are smart enough to show not tell is the sheer bad faith of 4chan and its use Pepe. Furie waited *years*-about 10- to file any sort of lawsuit on copyright and he was nonplussed by the internet's first use of Pepe. (when ur-Pepe was being transmuted into 4chan-Pepe). Around this time other sites and people, especially women, started to use Pepe. 4chan lost its mind over this and that is when Pepe started to go really dark. You see 4chan was pissed off that "normies" were using "their" character. The sense of entitlement is tangible. And the bad faith is obvious.
But so this is the greatness of this film.
The key the film's success is the animation sequences. Onto themselves they are delightful low-key vignettes of the aimless malaise that some people have in their early 20's. Furie's comic Boy's Club inspired these sequences and they capture the tone of that book. This is so key to the film because it anchors the meaning of the ur-Pepe (i.e. The Pepe that Furie first drew) for viewers that have only been exposed to the memes. By anchoring this meaning as clearly as the animation does it makes the disaffected youth -> 4chan -> trumpist trolls -> neo-nazis and other fascists chain make symbolic sense.
The ur-Pepe because of his design and his original narrative context captures the meandering pointlessness of being a mere consumer and other alienation that late capitalism creates. Furie's work-and the animation-is banal but droll, cheery but vacuous. In short, it captures the malaise that lower middle class millennials experience. This character was always going to draw people profoundly dissatisfied with the current neoliberal order. Unfortunately for Furie and the rest of us it was right-wing reactionaries who got there first.
This is the other thing the film does really well; Furie is a cartoonist and he is entirely apolitical-or was before this affair. His concerns are the absurdity of everyday life and capturing his mere lived experience. Boys Club is loosely inspired by events in Furie's life. The ur-Pepe is profoundly personal to Furie. The film makes it clear just how much of Furie's personality infused his work. The emotional core of the film is Furie yet to be completed grappling with his creation being co-opted. The most striking sections are Furie unsuccessful cultural and semi-successful legal efforts to reclaim Pepe from the alt-right. It is chilling cautionary tale that this sweet and unassuming cartoonist has to fight with literal Nazis over his cartoon frog.
The deepest irony of the film and it is a point that the filmmakers are smart enough to show not tell is the sheer bad faith of 4chan and its use Pepe. Furie waited *years*-about 10- to file any sort of lawsuit on copyright and he was nonplussed by the internet's first use of Pepe. (when ur-Pepe was being transmuted into 4chan-Pepe). Around this time other sites and people, especially women, started to use Pepe. 4chan lost its mind over this and that is when Pepe started to go really dark. You see 4chan was pissed off that "normies" were using "their" character. The sense of entitlement is tangible. And the bad faith is obvious.
But so this is the greatness of this film.