Feels Good Man Review

I remember being on the internet a lot throughout high school and college, and watching the advent of the alt right emerge from the depths of 4Chan and its ilk was one of the most surreal and frightening experiences of those years. Nowadays, the alt-right is easily defined as a banner under which a multitude of ideologies operate, each taking the ideals of American conservatism to hateful and violent extremes in their own insidious ways. At the time, though, it was difficult to determine to what extent this emerging movement was serious about its hateful messages and to what extent it was all just some poor-taste joke. It wasn’t until their efforts helped to propel Donald Trump into the Presidential Office during the 2016 election year that their true nature became known. The signs were always there, however layered they were in memes and irony, and one image in particular has become perhaps inextricably linked to the rise of this group; a small, simply drawn green frog named Pepe with a relaxed, knowing smile.

The documentary Feels Good Man is a chronicle of the uniquely bizarre story of Pepe the Frog, from his humble origins on MySpace webcomic Boy’s Club in the late 2000’s to his classification as a hate symbol by the Anti-Defamation League in 2016 to his creator, Matt Furie, and his efforts to reclaim his wayward icon. For a story as strange and utterly unique to this specific era as this one, it would have been a mistake to make Feels Good Man an ordinary, conventional sort of documentary. While its structure is fairly basic to the medium, it contains all sorts of strange, surreal moments. It has beautifully animated sections bringing Furie’s creations to life in wonderful ways, adapting strips from his comic as well as brand new material to fit the subjects and tone of the film. The director, Arthur Jones, interviews a wide range of subjects, from Matt, his family and his associates to some of the original front-runners of the 4Chan alt-right wave to Intellectual Property lawyers to an occult scholar.

There’s so much weirdness packed into these 90 minutes that it’d be nearly impossible to recount them all within the small confines of these reviews. The aforementioned occultist describes Pepe as a symbol through which the negative spiritual energy of 4Chan is harnessed. We get bedroom tours of self-proclaimed NEETs living in their mothers’ basements. We see Pepe’s journey from a funny cartoon character to a meme on body building forums to a rallying cry for hate groups framed as a sort of strange spiritual crisis. In one particularly memorable sequence, Matt Furie takes none other than Alex Jones of InfoWars infamy to court for selling a poster featuring Pepe, and the two are interviewed by officials for hours.

There are a lot of themes and messages in Feels Good Man. It’s an exploration of the value and security of Intellectual Property in the internet age, and a sobering case study of authorial intent. It’s a surreal, frightening and yet charming and good humored spiritual journey of a cartoon green frog turned meme turned twisted mascot. Most of all, to me, it’s a reminder that as much as we may wish to ignore the places and subcultures that make up the dark underbelly of society, they are powerful in their own ways, and if left unchecked they can bring about serious consequences for everyone.

As someone who watched this story unfold in real time, Feels Good Man is a fascinating watch. It helped to fill in some blanks, contextualize the events and fit together a lot of stray thoughts I had on the whole affair. To anyone else in my situation, or anyone searching for that missing piece that might explain the surreality of the last few years, or just to anyone looking for a unique story about the internet and art, this is a must-watch.