Can Pepe the Frog Ever Be Redeemed? – WIRED

Amongst all the talk of the 2020 election, its easy to forget everything that led up to Donald Trump winning the presidency in 2016. But if you keep your eyes shut and concentrate you might remember a few things: heated debates between Trump and Hillary Clinton, a chaotic Twitter landscape, and an otherwise cute frog that became the mascot of internet-savvy 4chan users who were trying to meme Trump into the presidency.

Back in 2016, Pepe the Frog was added to the Anti-Defamation Leagues database of hate symbols. But before that, he was just a part of a layabout group of friends in Matt Furies comic series Boys Club. He was never intended for anything but a good time. But when the internet got ahold of him, he became a face of the NEET 4chan masses and ultimately a symbol of the so-called alt-right.

The documentary Feels Good Man, which is currently available on PBS and several streaming services, traces that journey. It also chronicles how Furie, a mild-mannered San Francisco artist, attempted to reclaim Pepe and turn him back into a symbol of love. Its a formidable task, but perhaps not impossible. As filmmakers Arthur Jones and Giorgio Angelini show in their doc, Pepe actually became a symbol of resistance to authoritarian rule during the protests in Hong Kong just last year.

In this weeks episode of the Get WIRED podcast, senior editor Angela Watercutter talks to Jones and Angelini about the journey they went on with the creator of Pepeand what the little green frog means now.

How to Listen

You can listen to Get WIRED through the audio player on this page, and subscribe for free wherever you listen to podcasts.

More Great WIRED Stories

Read the original:

Can Pepe the Frog Ever Be Redeemed? - WIRED