Artist Matt Furie, creator of the comic character Pepe the Frog, begins an uphill battle to take back his iconic cartoon image from those who used it for their own purposes.
When I first saw this movie I thought “finally, a movie answering some questions!” A question has long been on the lips of people everywhere wondering aloud: Where did this sudden wave of nationalism come from? Where did the hatred come from? How did a smiling frog become the emblem of this new political group called the Alt-Right? “Feels Good Man” charts the course of one Pepe the Frog from his cartoon origins to his rise in internet popularity and synonymity with internet culture culminating in the American alt-right populist coopting and subsequent addition to a ‘hate symbols’ list, and even launching forward into the present Hong Kong democracy protests. What seems like an utterly bizarre and insane historical tracing of a cartoon character really opens our eyes to internet culture, the rise of unemployed angry white men, and one creator’s efforts to take back the image that was stolen from him. Pepe the Frog’s journey provides deep insight but the film works extra hard to recapture the spirit of the original comics by providing psychedelic sequences to bridge chunks of narrative beats in an Adult Swim-esque documentary ripe for stoners, but also perfect for know-nothing Americans who don’t know who Pepe the Frog is.
Matt Furie is a happy-go-lucky comics creator who likes hanging out with his friends and raising his daughter. He’s got a handful of friends who just goof around and work hard to have fun. His original comic “Boys Club” intimated the twenty-somethings slacker lifestyle in acute comedic ways. Pepe the Frog and his three friends lounged around the house playing videogames, eating pizza, smoking weed, and just generally having roommate problems. Coincidentally, around the time internet message boards like 4Chan develop Matt, who published his work online for sheer pleasure, finds his Pepe the Frog frames used and abused by basement-living internet trolls. From there that subculture spirals past its ironic hate-speech and boils over into a bona fide hate movement incorporating school shooter worship and the newly minted alt-right subculture, taking Pepe with them. Soon Pepe becomes the flag bearer for sexist, racist remarks and his features take on their likeness. Furie, horrified at his creation’s legacy, fights to regain some of his character’s innocence all while struggling to stay out of the limelight.
This movie touches on a wide variety of topics through the singular lens of poor little Pepe the Frog. It amazingly features a smorgasbord of subjects including some of Furie’s friends and fellow comics creator as well as *checks notes* a Meme Think Tank study academy with international cryptologists and symbol decoders, Alex Jones, white supremacist Richard B. Spencer, a Bitcoin trader worth millions, an advisor on the Trump 2016 campaign, and a literal meme wizard. I can not stress enough how absolutely wild this movie is and how every moment of it I wonder how much stranger it can get and then it does. I knew the rise of Pepe as a hate symbol and already familiarized myself with its relation to internet culture (I’m not internet illiterate thank you) but the bizarre twists and turns this thing takes…. I did not expect an entire subplot on ‘Pepecash,’ a cryptocurrency based entirely on original memes featuring the eponymous character and how someone spent thirty-nine thousand dollars to buy one.
As much as it spirals out, this movie retains its emotional core by beginning and ending with Matt Furie. The innocent artist is forced to grow and acknowledge that his character has been taken from him and shaped into something awful. The final section sees him attempt to take back control of his character by employing a team of copyright lawyers (who tell us they have never been more excited to sue white supremacists in an unprecedented and pro bono copyright law case) and suing Alex Jones, Infowars, and all the other uses of his character he did not permit. Matt’s growth feels direct and impactful. The longer the movie goes on, the less bright clothing he wears, and the closer-cropped his hair becomes. He loses that innocence we valued in him at the beginning.
When the movie feels too dense and heavy it lets emotionality seep through in its artistic sequences. Pepe the Frog and his three friends get short cutscenes that bring them to life. Colors swirl and the characters move in slow motion. Sometimes they feature wild transformations. The animators bring to life Furie’s words sometimes or just simple descriptions, giving Pepe a life of his own. The film’s final frame rests on Pepe, in his funky animated world, swimming towards the horizon, for a new purpose. It’s exactly the kind of psychedelic out-there sequences constructed as either Adult Swim bumpers or test runs for underground comics.
“Feels Good Man” can be overwhelming at times with the deep lore of the internet but it never loses us. Whether carefully tracing the origins of 4Chan comment culture or delineating copyright infringement, we’re here for it all. This movie works like gangbusters for drawing us in on a simple note: Matt Furie made a comic book. It spirals out and out in an ever-increasing descent into chaos and hate before curling upwards on a grim note of hope. The story isn’t finished yet but the very fact that I haven’t seen Pepe the Frog splash across my newsfeed tied to another school shooter or another white supremacy march means Furie’s new journey has found some success. I loved this documentary. It’s possibly my favorite thing I’ve watched thus far at Fantasia Fest!
“Feels Good Man” recently had its Quebec Premiere at the 2020 Fantasia Festival
