Feels Good Man (2020) User Reviews

The best internet documentary yet

[nigeljbrown-48556 · 8/10 · 18 September 2020]

This documentary has two focuses; the story of Pepe being adopted and appropriated by the internet, and the story of a cartoonist losing his creation. It is in the telling of the former story where the film excels. It follows Pepe from when it first becomes popular on bodybuilding forums to becoming the most popular meme on 4chan to eventually becoming a symbol of the alt-right in the 2016 U.S. election. The movie frames this entire story in the emotions of the people posting the meme. It is not so much about the meme itself as it is about what it means to them, and Pepe meant a lot.

The presentation of the documentary is creative and well paced, mixing animation, interviews, television footage, and screen grabs to keep from ever becoming monotonous. The result is an exiting presentation that emphasizes the empathy for the people being talked about. When the movie gets to the point where Pepe is becoming the symbol of a political movement and Trump is posting himself as Pepe, it is exhilarating. I remember this happening in real life and despising these people, yet despite myself I was getting caught up in the excitement of it all.

There is a sobering transition of tone when, after this section, the camera is back on Matt Furie, his life made so difficult by what was done with his creation. He was naive and maybe wilfully ignorant of what was happening, but he did what we wish more artists would do today, letting people be creative with their characters rather than sending cease and desists. By the time he tries to recover Pepe it is too late and he finally kills the character as 4chan rejoices that Pepe is officially theirs. It is terribly sad.

I thought about downgrading my rating to a 9 because the ending is optimistic in a way that i didn't quite buy, but I've decided to forgive it. The story of this movie is an unprecedented catastrophe that no one could have predicted. Maybe its foolish to assume I can predict where the story is going.

Surprisingly good- 93 minutes goes by really quickly

[Jeremy_Urquhart · 8/10 · 8 September 2020]

This is a really good documentary, only let down slightly by a part near the end regarding the 'rare Pepe's'- they didn't explain it very well and I was super confused. It also wasn't very relevant to everything else, which makes me wonder whether it was added to get the overall film over 90 minutes.

That being said, everything else was really strong. The presentation is unique, I liked the use of animation, and the music was surprisingly good too. It tells a fascinating story about a meme that got out of the control of its creator, and while I was familiar with Pepe to some extent, I definitely didn't know the whole story, which made this really engaging.

For me, it started to get really interesting when they began to cover the meme's relation to the 2016 US Election- that was genuinely fascinating.

If you're interested in meme culture, politics, or just want a good documentary, I can highly recommend this one.

Captivating Story With A Darker Conclusion Than The Filmmakers Let On

[zackerman24 · 7/10 · 10 September 2020]

Feels Good Man, the directorial debut of Arthur Jones, centers around the cultural transformation and appropriation of an innocent cartoon character: Pepe the Frog. The film follows Pepe's creator, Matt Furie, as he tries to comes to terms with all that is happening to his creation and eventually fights back to regain control of what was once his; meanwhile, we are also treated to a full unravelling of how Pepe was meme'd into internet infamy among fringe, alt-right groups, discovering just how powerful a tool the Internet can be and how hard it can be to turn back what's been done. The film's pacing is very good, the story is captivating, and the people brought in to break it all down are very interesting; however, while being well worth the watch, I think it falls short in its overall takeaway and message.

The film does a great job of bringing in a diversity of interviewees to help detail both the personal story of Matt & Pepe, as well as the digital journey that transformed Pepe into a profound hate symbol. Insight into Matt's life is drawn primarily from discussion with his wife and housemates, as well as from getting to see him interact with his daughter. It all draws a very quaint portrait of a guy who seems nice and, to be honest, pretty average, which makes Pepe's journey all the more startling while also helping to explain Matt's initial reluctance to act and rather just lay back. For deconstructing the underbelly of the web, we're introduced to a 4chan lifer (or a NEET - this guy's reality may in fact have been the scariest part of the film), my first-ever sighting of a memetist, an occultist scholar / magic librarian (can we talk about how this guy used the force to pull a book off of a shelf???), and the director of the Network Contagion Research Institute at Princeton - all these just to name a few. While the story itself is captivating at parts, what really pushes the movie towards success is the people you meet; the most interesting part of the film may in fact be when Matt meets up with a 20ish person group in San Fran composed of people who have devoted themselves to deconstructing and understanding these sort of internet phenomena; the sheer fact that these groups exist was quite eye-opening, and the juxtaposition of their deep concern and worry for what has happened to Pepe versus Matt's laidback nature was both hilarious and a little tragic. All these people understand something that Matt is seemingly still fully unaware of: he has completely lost control of his beloved character, and frankly, there is almost no turning back. This is not to say that every interviewee lends value - the two female cartoonists / writers seemed to contribute very little and felt more like a "We've already recorded the interviews so let's just use them" situation.

The film should also be given enormous credit for its efforts in trying to trace the origins and gradual transformation of Pepe. I think we all know how difficult it can be to find any "starting points" or sources of actual truth online, but the crew seem to have done very well in their research; likely helped, and perhaps influenced, by their interviews with members of these Internet hordes. Another short note is that the animation throughout is very solid and felt like a strong tool to complement the film's narrative. It wasn't overdone and tied nicely to the scenes where it was used.

With regards to the film's overall goals and purpose, Matt Furie's story is interesting and he is a generally likeable guy, but the real meat of this film is its examination of internet culture and how it can basically turn anything on its head and morph it for its own use or gain, without almost any repercussion. The way in which we see an innocent frog cartoon slowly become a symbol of hate and bigotry is enthralling, but also terrifying as we realize that it all happened through the efforts of people sitting right at home and operating under the anonymity given to them by the Internet and its platforms (e.g. 4chan). Once they took hold, there was really no going back. Sure, Matt's been able to win lawsuits with public figures that have appropriated the character, such as Alex Jones, but almost nothing can be done to the thousands (or millions) of people still using it for their hateful purposes online. While the film tries to end on a positive note by displaying how Pepe went from an alt-right symbol in the US to a symbol of freedom in the Hong Kong protests, it feels like a lackluster solution and rose-colored view, frustratingly trying to give the viewer a hopeful message while denying the harsher truth and reality that it itself has painted. While it's great to see that Pepe can still be a symbol of hope and positivity, the true conclusion is much more ambiguous, demonstrating how we can project almost any emotion onto a character or piece of media, meme-ing it into "this" or "that". Everything comes with a dark side or at least the potential of evil - while we can hope that good is the stronger force, it doesn't really make it any easier to put a stop to the bad.

welcome to my biased opinion

[djurrepower · 8/10 · 15 September 2020]

As someone who experienced almost all the events presented, this was just a huge trip down memory lane. so i was just constanly pointing and saying "aah i remember that". so i enjoyed a lot of those moments. though im kinda let down on the fact that the story focuses on one side of the story. the whole alt right thing isnt the place where pepe currently resides. so in summary, i really liked it because it is a story close to home, but there were some things that i dissagreed on from a narrative standpoint.

8/10: really enjoyed it, but has some flaws

A great documentary on pepe the frog

[nilein · 10/10 · 8 December 2020]

I think this movie clearly shows that people project their own dark side onto any kind of media/art and ultimately turned a nice frog into a dark villain.

One of the quotes that resonated with me the most was: "I just wanna be young again"

That is clearly pouring out of his art and it resonates with me. I think we all just could be a little nicer to each other.. That's all <3

An artist who didn't understand his creation

[OdinsRagnarok · 6/10 · 16 January 2021]

It's a well made documentary with nicely animated segments. Largely following the perspective of the creator and what happened to pepe. All through an extremely narrow and biased view.

Around the 45min mark, it becomes just crystal clear how he doesn't understand his creation. How he, together with ADL, Hillary Clinton, Maddow and rest of left wing media helped enable this to become a "far right hate speech symbol". It never was that, until these people decided to make pepe into that. It seems completely out of touch with trolling and getting a rise out of people, and going against the mainstream and political correctness. The more these people wish to silence and censor people, the more crazy pepe memes they would get in response. They themselves are the enablers.

The 4chan guy they mainly choose to focus on was such a stereotype fitting 100% the narrative they attempted to persuade. While they did talk to a girl who also roamed 4chan, she was left too much out of the documentary so they could push their view on the audience.

As they show Hong Kong demonstrators towards the end who embrace Pepe, the creator and movie makers seems to not understand that them embracing pepe comes from similar reasons as why it was embraced in the US by Trump supporters. In both cases it's used as anti-leftists, anti-censorship, anti-establishment memes. If they happen to side with the Chinese government, I'm sure they would have labeled their use of it as "hate speech" also.

But all of this being said, it's not a bad documentary, as long as the biased view doesn't annoy you too much. Still a nice capsule of most of the pepe events and how the character grew beyond the grasp of it's creator.

Great movie: it missed one thing

[curzon_dax · 10/10 · 25 October 2020]

I had been on 4chan for many years and I believe this movie while it was amazing it was a bit more pessimistic about 4chan than what's really going on there. A lot of us posting there while we do meme and troll we actually do it a lot of times against the neonazis so there are actually a lot of cases of pepe usage that clearly antifascist on 4chan itself even if of course it doe collect a lot of stormfronters.

Fascinating but Ultimately 2D Exposition of Pepe the Frog

[thenaves · 7/10 · 8 September 2020]

The first 45 minutes is actually quite informative in following the 4chan adoption and evolution of the meme - the mindset of those who first adopted Pepe and the emotional bond that was made. The next 45 however is essentially the reason Trump won: the lesson the left never learned; a minimization of the bigger conversation to a hyper-focus on the alt-right. In other words, the film does a good job of documenting the battle that took place with the alt-rights use of Pepe. However it's to the exclusion of the bigger campaign of those who do not agree with the alt-right but used Pepe to express hope and belief in a Trump victory over the rise of authoritarian and global Leftism. <-- the conversation that never takes place.

Much like reading a politifact "fact" check, the documentary quickly moves from history of the origins of Pepe into a breakdown and explanation of liberal narrative. As such, it leaves the 2016 experience of an entire swath of conservative and moderate voices misrepresented and lumped into a single basket of hate and aggression.

Let be me clear... This seems to be the way that the creator experienced everything and thus as a "Furie" documentary it tells his story quite well and accurately. However, as a "Pepe" documentary it fails to tell the whole story in anything other than a two dimensional, singularly aspected fashion - white supremacists used Pepe to promote their politics. This is of course true but only a small piece of a much bigger phenomena. Netflix will eat this up however and I imagine it will be viewed by millions and seen as the whole story before it's run is over.

In summary, this was a good documentary experience and I feel better informed after watching it. I would recommend it to just about anyone with the qualifier of its political leaning. But honestly, If you're politically liberal then you already believe the narrative portrayed in the second half of the documentary. If you're politically conservative (or have been since 2016) you are already aware of the narrative bias.

A Documentary That Goes Beyond The Meme Into The Culture!

[alexcavaco · 8/10 · 3 February 2021]

Feels Good Man is not just a Documentary of the Internet character and meme Pepe (the Frog). It's also about Internet culture, expressionism, and the power of symbols. It depicts the attachment people can have to certain images, seeing them as ways of expressing themselves and their feelings. These can be both showcases of good and hope, as well as rage and sadness. This diversity is explained very well in the movie with a mix of real-time and animation, that shows the facades of the character being used for many means.

The documentary also shows the struggle to understand and come to terms with your creation slipping through your fingers into an infinite sea of people. Then diluting so much that you cannot get it back. The popularization of your character but not of your art, the uses and depictions that were never intended, many the Creator doesn't want to be attached to it, and by way of creation, all dragging him into the spotlight.

The cinematography is spot on, with a really good dose of animation, as well as popular images. The arc is well accomplished and there are a good amount of perspectives thrown into the mix. Ultimately, it seems like a fair and knowledgeable depiction of the meme's progress through time and of meme culture in general.

Feels ADL Man

[numenorsniper-66396 · 6/10 · 18 November 2021]

I went into this film hoping for the vibe of the title, but it just felt really uncomfortable and honestly cringey, like the filmmakers and possibly Matt Furie himself felt they had to try to appease the Anti-Defamation League, who are a bunch of genuinely evil kunts, as the one scene with the ADL guy further shows.

There was a line by one of Matt's friends in the film that he suggested they sue the ADL for putting Pepe on the hate list, which is exactly what they should have done. Pepe is an awesome character and internet icon that has entered the public domain, and any attempt to wrangle control back of how the meme is used is an exercise in hubris and futility. Matt and his friends should have just legally destroyed the ADL for even daring to label Pepe a hate symbol.

It's sad how the ADL has zero sense of humour, even self-appointing themselves to go after cartoon characters and their creators for simply having fun. What right do they have to hold someone's creation hostage like that? They are a private organisation with no legal authority whatsoever. If I were Matt Furie, I would go ahead and sue the ADL right now. You can still do it!

This is so much better than it has any right to be

[TheCorniestLemur · 9/10 · 13 February 2021]

I'd heard a lot of good things about this film after its premiere, with the added assurance that, yes, it is a documentary about Pepe the frog and yet it's still really good, so I was expecting something interesting.

And I still finished it thinking it was so much better than a film about Pepe the frog has any right to be. It's a film about symbolism, psychology, the internet, the death of the author, meme culture, all while maintaining a sense of grim disgust but still being funny, optimistic by the end, an interesting character study about a modern day tortured artist, AND never once feels the least bit cringey even though it's about meme culture, which is an extreme rarity in a world where most films centering around the internet are produced by out of touch 60 year old boomers.

Not a word of the script feels wasted, the choice to animate Pepe in various ways illustrating the voice over was genius, and every one of the people it looks at are all really interesting.

The few things I could maybe complain about are that the soundtrack wasn't all that great to me and the last 20 minutes or so feel a bit slower than the rest of the film, and not really in a good way. However, if you have even a passing presence or space of your own on the internet, this is an absolute must-see.

Even if it is a documentary about Pepe the bloody frog.

Masterpiece

[highcaution · 22 January 2021]

I love this movie and how it shows how a funny cartoon character can turn into a hate symbol and even the creator can't control it from happening.

Not Interesting Enough

[wumbi · 6/10 · 17 August 2021]

I was never a fan of Pepe the Frog. I didn't understand whats so special about him, its just a green frog character. First half of this movie is talking about the origin of Pepe and his rise to fame on the internet, the other half is talking about how Pepe became a hate symbol used by the white supremacist and the neo nazi. Sounds boring? It is. The animation was great I have to say but other than that its pretty boring and pointless, at least for me. If you like Pepe and are interested in those topics above yeah you should check it out.

Delicious, salty tears

[cnfranco · 1/10 · 29 April 2022]

More lefties crying over not being able to create anything funny or interesting. Nothing new. Also features Disney-style refusal to acknowledge any historic wrongdoings by the Chinese Communist Party when the country is brought up.

White supremacy ruins everything.

[prideufc83 · 10/10 · 15 February 2021]

This documentary is better than I thought I would be. Put it on at 3am to have something on to fall asleep to and I watched it all! Regret that but it was enjoyable and I learned about a meme I had no idea what it meant even though I have seen it often.

A great film

[BandSAboutMovies · 8/10 · 13 March 2021]

"My Pepe philosophy is simple: Feels good man. It is based on the meaning of the word Pepe: To go Pepe. I find complete joy in physically, emotionally and spiritually serving Pepe and his friends through comics. Each comic is sacred, and the compassion of my readers transcends any differences, the pain, and fear of feeling good." - Matt Furie

What do you do when the art you create is taken out of your hands and used in a way you never intended? That's the story of this 2020 documentary, in which Matt Furie's comic book character, Pepe the Frog, goes from MS Paint goofball silliness - it's a frog that likes to urinate on things - and somehow becomes a symbol of hatred.

As Pepe becomes a meme, he becomes more than what his creator intended him for. To some, he's an icon of the far right and white supremacists. Why would they start using a cartoon frog? Who can say? In 2016, the Anti-Defamation League listed Pepe in its hate symbol database and that's when Furie started suing people who used his creation against the spirit he was created in.

Pepe was also used by protesters in the 2019-20 Hong Kong protests, a stance that its creator can agree with.

I know that we've forgotten so much about the last five or six years, but it was a big deal when white supremacist Richard B. Spencer got punched in the face. Remember that? He was trying to explain his Pepe pin when that happened.

Director Arthur Jones and his editing team of Aaron Wickenden, Drew Blatman and Katrina Taylor have assembled a truly wonderful film here, a story that is at once cautionary and affirming while pretty upsetting and depressing as well. It's an emotional rollercoaster and pretty much the only happy ending - for now - is Trump's social decline, if only because he was blocked from so many platforms.

This doc is definitely recommended, no matter where your politics may lie - you can read mine really easily throughout this - if only to show how art has power beyond its initial creation.

memehacking has been around for thousands of years, Furie actually gave more publicity and notice to those he opposes

[random-70778 · 10 February 2021]

Other than broadly showing the artist, Matt Furie, whose illustration became a meme, doesn't understand the internet and modern culture, and in fact doesn't understand what Richard Dawkins meant in coining the term "meme," I am not sure what the point of this film was. And if people from across the political spectrum, including despicable extreme right and despicable extreme left adopt visual art that has morphed into public domain through meme, what is the point of saying some can use it and others cannot? Modern "memehacking" is so widespread. In fact memehacking is the heir to visual satire that has been around since shortly after cave painting. The very first image of Jesus ever, he is depicted as part animal on a cross with a donkey's head (google: Alexamenos Graffito). The Uncle Sam "I want You" was altered as antiwar satire when that was the opposite of its creation purpose. The irony is that Chinese censors used the copyright issue to shut down memes during the Hong Kong protests.

Succinct in Sixteen

[unclesamsavage · 6/10 · 8 January 2021]

Unique in schizoid presentation of internet culture, Jones chronicles Pepe's extremist capture and creator Furie's fury.

Screenplay...................................... 6 / 10 Interviews........................................ 6 Visuals................................................ 7 Sound................................................... 5 Editing................................................ 5 Music....................................................... 6 Timeless Utility................................. 8 Total.................................................... 48 / 70 ~= 6.1 (which I rounded to 6) Verdict................................................. Informative / Enjoyable for the Appropriate Audience

Fighting with Trolls.

[CubsandCulture · 10/10 · 26 May 2022]

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.

Niche subject

[Leofwine_draca · 7/10 · 27 January 2022]

An interesting one, this; very niche, probably totally alien to some older viewers, but quite interesting with it. Says a lot about American culture and politics in the 21st century.

It does feel good, man (ARCHIVE REVIEW)

[TheVictoriousV · 9/10 · 8 March 2024]

Nothing raises a red flag for me quite like the idea of someone trying to make a film about Internet memes and online culture. It can so easily come off as out-of-touch, or like a weak attempt to be hip with something that frankly isn't worth being hip with in the first place.

But the story of Pepe the Frog, once a simple Matt Furie comic strip figure, is too insanely fascinating not to make for a compelling documentary, and this one goes above and beyond in its research, presentation, and understanding of the Millennial nerd world. Since he was already widespread on various forums and a bit bastardized (by anti-social 4chan incels whom we'll discuss later) before somehow being turned into a quasi-official symbol of the alt-right and Donald Trump, the first US president to rise to power thanks to meme magic, and then seriously classified as "hate" by the ADL (which is to say nothing how he was just recently utilized in the Hong Kong protests), this in-depth love letter is what poor old Pepe deserves.

There is a lot to enjoy about Feels Good Man beyond the Pepe origin story, particularly its use of animation to accentuate the emotions of its subjects, and also its exploration of 2010s meme culture in general -- where a series of memes might just decorate the walls of an honest-to-god art museum and the word "memelord" is a legitimate descriptor. The main attraction, however, is possibly Matt Furie, not only because we learn he's quite the character.

In a sense, Feels Good Man (named after Pepe's catchphrase in the source material) is also about how easy it is for an auteur to lose ownership of their creation in the digital age; how something as simple as a cartoon frog may be repeatedly reappropriated in unthinkable ways. Once something spreads on the Internet just so, it's basically no longer yours. You can't sue every Redditor.

At this point, Pepe is so well-known that most who regard his uneasy face will be able to identify him as that "racist frog" used by alt-righters, edgy NEETs, and Trump zealots on the Internet -- they might also recognize his famous "kek" noise, originally a World of Warcraft meme (it means "LOL" in Orc) but also, aptly enough, the name of an Egyptian frog god that also inspired "Kekistan", which is a whole other story. It may not even be fair to say that Mr. The Frog exists squarely as "a thing the web" anymore. Nevertheless, the best part of this film is how it doesn't just tell us the how, but also the why; what exactly made those millions of nobodies (many of them GamerGate "veterans" or whatever they'd like to be called) who only had Pepe gravitate towards Trump and far-right jacquerie? I'm starting to wonder, is it something with amphibians?

In Sweden, the TV character Skurt has been used for similar "memes" (read: propagandic Facebook image macros) by Swedish nationalists. Even the very idea of an anthropomorphic frog is becoming synonymous with far-right rebellion, it seems. Thank God for Dat Boi, still remembered as an innocent piece of anti-humor.

Of course, his association with the alt-right isn't the only thing we recognize Pepe for, especially if we venture beyond the West. The Hong Kong protestors (see above) justified their usage of him by saying that he looks funny and "is a symbol of youth participation in this movement", as his humorous appearance "captured the hearts" of enough teens and young adults.

This is all fascinating enough without the movie's focus on the predicament of Furie, which may make aspiring creators ponder the risks of releasing their art to the web; you never know when a character you invented might reappear in an anti-Semitic meme on your aunt's Facebook feed or in a petulant drawing of Donald Trump as a modern Adonis. Such is the power of the meme, and also art. What will "kek" mean next?

Yes, a film about the saga of Pepe the Frog is officially one of the most thought-provoking and well-made releases of 2020. This year is the gift that keeps on taking, isn't it?

Its a strange world out there

[Red-Barracuda · 7/10 · 9 November 2021]

Documentary about how the comic character Pepe the Frog became a widespread internet meme, that ultimately fell into use by the alt-right and far right. This is quite a fascinating look at how something innocent can quickly become a symbol of something very sinister. It all began to go wrong when the imageboard website 4chan latched onto Pepe and its legions of cellar dwelling users decided this cartoon character was perfect for their memes. Quite often during this doc, it felt like I'd walked into a world in which I knew absolutely nothing about, especially in the case of 4chan - I mean, what in hell is all that carry on about?! It's certainly a strange world out there and not always in a good way.

Feel's Good Man is a heartfelt, engaging education about a darker segment of internet culture.

[ChrisInMiami · 8/10 · 7 April 2021]

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.

Fascinating look into the story of Pepe the Frog

[Wistfull · 7/10 · 23 March 2022]

What a visual feast this film was! The animated parts were gorgeously done and supported the subject matter nicely.

I expected this to be a fairly straigthforward backstory of the artist behind the character, but instead the film was mostly about the birth and evolution of Pepe the Meme. It was so interesting to get serious, sincere interviews with imageboard users and their relationship with the boards in general and Pepe in particular. I feel like this is an opening into a world that most people know little to nothing about, and as such important. Often the people who spend their lives in the darker parts of the internet only ever get derision and ridicule in the public eye, so an analytic, neutral-to-sympathetic look like this is very welcome.

That said, the documentary felt lacking in some key parts. The explanation of how Pepe memes aided in the election of Trump was well done and crucially important, but it would have been great to get a broader and deeper insight on the relationship of NEETs and politics in general. A general run-through of the policy choices that have led to the current living conditions that result in increasing numbers of NEETs would have been amazing, as well as tying that to the consequences of electing Trump. As is, the viewer is easily left with the impression that these internet memesters have chosen their lifestyle, and that all of the hatefulness that festers on these imageboards has nothing to do with the structural changes of past decades.

Definitely recommended for anyone who wishes to better understand the alt-right, incels and all such sad boys on the internet. Even if this film won't explain those phenomenons that thouroughly, it gives good insight on some details.

Populist fare told through a predictably skewed lens

[terrextv · 2/10 · 2 May 2021]

The funniest part of all of this was watching that guy proclaim that 4chan was made up of 'beta males'. I just looked at the guy on the screen who'd said that and burst out laughing - he looked like the kinda guy who'd ask his wife's boyfriend what he wanted for his birthday.

Furie obviously is making a whole lot of money from his character. Don't let the morose face and "I'm a hapless comic artist" act fool you. Also, the documentary makers' bias - and cowardice - is on full display when you compare how they smear Trump supporters with a blanket brush but then tiptoe around the fascist Chinese Communist Party's actions in Hong Kong.

I wish we could return to a time when the ideological leanings and intellectual cowardice of documentary makers wasn't so blindingly obvious. Evidently, with the world's biggest corporations, Big Tech and government all batting for you, it is an easy (and profitable) story to tell. Eerily similar to the Nazi's rise to power with the state media's assistance.

Years from today, when these players are dead and gone, a different generation will look unbiasedly upon propaganda like this as we do the craziness of the Third Reich.

One star for being well put together, however picky with the facts. Another for the poor little kid who's growing up in a house full of stoners and will pay a heavy price in the long term. :(