Editor’s Note: This is my first actual article, if someone could help me out it’d be great. Thanks :) ---Hakkron
Overview
The 2014 Canadian Parliament Hill Shootings were a set of shootings that happened on the morning of October 22nd, 2014. Two people were killed, including the shooter shortly afterwards.
Online Reaction
Marlins Man is the nickname given to Miami Marlins fan Laurence Leavy[2] who rose to viral fame after being repeatedly spotted in the front-row seat behind the batter’s box wearing the Miami baseball team’s bright-orange jersey and visor at various Major League Baseball (MLB) matches and other major sporting events in the United States.
Laurence Leavy, a 58-year-old Miami-based lawyer, has been a Marlins season-ticket holder since the team’s foundation in 1993. In addition to being an avid fan of Florida’s collegiate and professional sports teams, Leavy has attended hundreds of major professional sporting events in America; by his own count, Leavy has gone to 27 NFL Super Bowls, over 200 NBA playoff matches and at least 85 MLB World Series games. Leavy’s obsession with the Marlins jersey was first highlighted by TV broadcast screen-capture blog 30FPS[6] in October 2012, when his standout presence behind the home plate was captured on camera during a MLB match between St. Louis Cardinals and San Francisco Giants (shown below).
On October 24th, 2012, the sports news blog SBNation[1] published an article titled “Who is the mystery Marlins fan at the World Series?”, which identified the Marlins fan as Miami-based lawyer Laurence Leavy and noted his appearances at other baseball games. On the following day, Leavy launched the @Marlins_Man[8] Twitter feed to highlight photographs of himself at various games.
Throughout October 2012, several news sites published articles about Leavy, including NBC Bay Area,[3] Miami Herald[4] and Deadspin.[5] However, Leavy remained relatively unexposed until October 21st, 2014, when he was spotted behind the home plate during Game One of the World Series between the Kansas City Royals and the San Francisco Giants (shown below). Shortly after the broadcast of the game, the hashtag #MarlinsMan was mentioned more than 2,500 times on Twitter.
The return of the “Marlins Man” at the 2014 World Series games was promptly picked up by various local news publications, including Kansas City Star[10] and Miami Herald[11], as well as U.S. national news sites like CBS Sports[12], ABC News[13], USA Today[14] and the Washington Post,[15] some of which likened Leavy to “Where’s Waldo” of the sports world. According to Leavy, the Royals owner had offered him a private suite in exchange for agreeing to move to another seat before the game, but he refused.[7]
[1]SB Nation – Who is the mystery Marlins fan at the World Series?
[2]Facebook – Laurence Leavy Marlins Man
[3]NBC Bay Area – Random Marlins Fan at Giants Game Unveiled
[4]Miami Herald – The curious case of the Marlins fan at the World Series
[5]Deadspin – That Damn Marlins Fan Was Behind the Plate
[6]30FPS – Seriously what is up with this guy in the Marlins jersey and sideways visor
[7]Kansas City – Royals offered freebies to move
[8]Twitter – @Marlins_Man
[9]Topsy – Tweets Per Day for Marlins Man & #MarlinsMan
[10]Kansas City Star – Royals offered freebies to move ‘Marlins Man’ from front-row during World Series game
THEMIAMIHERALD
[11]Miami Herald – ‘Marlins Man’ puts Miami front and center at World Series
[12]CBS Sports – ‘Marlins Man’ returns to the World Series
[13]ABC News – Meet Marlins Man, the ’Where’s Waldo?’ of the Sports World
[14]USA Today – Who is the guy in the Marlins jersey behind home plate at the World Series?
[15]Washington Post – Marlins fan is back for Game 2, even though he says the Royals owner ‘was extremely upset’
Christina Hoff Sommers is an American author and self-described equity feminist known for her criticisms contemporary Western or “third-wave” feminism. Sommers has been accused of being a conservative anti-feminist by critics and became a notable figure among GamerGate supporters in September 2014.
In 1994, Sommers released the book Who Stole Feminism? How Women Have Betrayed Women,[3] which argued that ideological “gender feminists” had over taken the women’s movements on college campuses. In 2000, Sommers released The War Against Boys: How Misguided Policies are Harming Our Young Men,[4] arguing that early education institutions had enacted policies causing boys to fall behind girls in school.
On December 23rd, 2009, the American Enterprise Institute YouTube channel uploaded a video in which Sommers addresses the question “Why aren’t there more female scientists?”, claiming it had to do with “preferences and aspirations” (shown below).
In July 2011, Sommers launched the @CHSommers[6] Twitter feed, gathering upwards of 24,000 followers over the next four years. On October 4th, 2013, Sommers participated in an “ask me anything” thread on the /r/IAmA[5] subreddit. In the comments section, Sommers responded to questions saying that she considers herself an equity feminist, that misandry was “rampant” in western society and that schools had become “toxic environments for little boys.”
On April 10th, 2014, the first in Sommer’s “Facual Feminist” series was uploaded to YouTube, which analyzed the statistics behind the purported “gender wage gap” (shown below). Over the next six months, 18 additional episodes in the web series were released on the American Enterprise Institute YouTube channel.
On September 16th, 2014, the American Enterprise Institute YouTube channel uploaded a video in their “Factual Feminist” series titled “Are video games sexist?”, in which host Sommers refutes arguments by feminist media critic Anita Sarkeesian (shown below). In the first three weeks, the video gained over 440,000 views and 7,700 comments. As the video began circulating online, GamerGaters began referring to Sommers as “Based Mom.”
On September 1st, 1994, the Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting[7] progressive media watch group published a critique of Sommer’s Who Stole Feminism titled “The ‘Stolen Feminism’ Hoax,” claiming she was guilty of making “unsubstantiated charges.” On July 2nd, 2000, The Washington Post[8] published a review of The War Against Boys, which accused the book of being “inexcusably misleading” and “a conservative polemic.” On September 17th, 2014, Kotaku[2] published an article about Sommers titled “Conservative Critic Argues That Game Culture is For Guys,” which chronicled Sommers’ career history and questioned assertions made in her “Are Video Games Sexist?” video. That day, Sommers posted a tweet announcing that she was a “former sixties flower child/socialist” and was currently a “registered Democrat-- with libertarian leanings” (shown below).[1]
Also on September 17th, The Medium[9] published a “factcheck” article on many criticisms made against Sommers. On September 19th, YouTuber Jonathan Mann uploaded an “auto-tune” rebuttal to Sommers’ “Are Video Games Sexist?” video, in which he sings a song criticizing Sommers’ arguments (shown below, left).
[2]Kotaku – Critic Argues Game Culture is for Guys
[3]Wikipedia – Who Stole Feminism
[4]Amazon – The War Against Boys
[5]Reddit – I Am Christina Hoff Sommers
[7]Fair – The Stolen Feminism Hoax
[8]The Washington Post – The War Against Boys
[9]Medium – The Factual Feminist
Ghostbusters is an American horror comedy film about a group of men who battle ghosts and other supernatural creatures in New York City.
Ghostbusters was released on June 8th, 1984. The film stars Bill Murray as Dr. Peter Venkman, Dr. Raymond Stantz as Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis as Dr. Egon Spengler and Ernie Hudson as Winston Zeddmore, the titular ghost busters. The film also stars Sigourney Weaver as Dana Barrett and Annie Potts as Janine Melnitz. Ghostbusters II was released on June 16th, 1989.
There is no Dana, only Zuul is a memorable quote from Ghostbusters. In online conversations, its snowclone form “There is no X, only Zuul” can be used to refer to someone or something that appears to have been possessed by a demon or an unpopular belief. The phrase was first uttered in Ghostbusters by Dana Barrett (played by Sigourney Weaver) who hires the team to remove a ghost from her New York City apartment. Later in the investigation, Ghostbuster Peter Venkman (played by Bill Murray) finds Barrett possessed by the spirit of the demonic demigod Zuul, at which point Barrett says the line:
Peter Venkman: Dana? It’s Peter.
Dana Barrett: There is no Dana, there is only Zuul.
Peter Venkman: Ol’ Zuula you nut, now c’mon. C’mon. I want to talk to Dana. Dana. Just relax, c’mon. Dana. Dana. Can I talk to Dana?
Dana Barrett: [deep demonic voice]There is no Dana, only Zuul.
Peter Venkman: What a lovely singing voice you must have.
The earliest known use of the phrase appeared on the programming language message board PerlMonks[3] in December 2000, when the forum user amelinda referenced the quote to express his or her distaste for the commercialization of Christmas.
The Pumpkin Dance is a YouTube video of a man dressed in all black wearing a Jack O’Lantern mask dancing to the theme song from the 1984 film Ghostbusters. The clip, which originally aired on the KXVO news channel in Omaha, Nebraska during a Halloween broadcast in 2006, went on to spawn several mash-up videos, remixes and photoshopped GIFs. The “Pumpkin Dance” segment first aired on Omaha, Nebraska’s local news station KXVO[1] during a 10 PM news broadcast on Halloween, October 31st, 2006. Without explanation, a man in a black unitard and a pumpkin mask was shown dancing to the Ghostbusters theme song[2] in front of a graveyard backdrop. On November 2nd, the clip was uploaded to KXVO’s official YouTube channel, where it has received more than 1.2 million views as of October 2012.
[1]IMDB– Ghostbusters
[2]IMDB– Ghostbusters II
[3]PerlMonks – Re: This best sums up my view on xmas lights
“Actually it’s about ethics in videogame journalism” is a phrase often photoshoped onto screenshots taken from horror movies or videogames as a humorous response to the Gamergate movement. Proponents of the movement frequently used the phrase in related discussion. The images are created to mock the over-use of the phrase.
The earliest example of the phrase being paired with a still from a horror movie comes from a tweet sent out on October 15th, 2014, by Twitter user Alejandrobot[1], who captioned a still of the horror film It. Within two weeks the tweet recieved over 3,000 favorites and over 2,000 retweets.
On October 24th, 2014, the single topic Tumblr blog itsaboutethicsingamesjournalism[2] launched. Also on October 2014, the Tumblr blog actuallyethics[4] launched. The same day the meme was covered by BoingBoing.[3] The meme has also spread on Twitter through the hashtag #germergoat. The hashtag was introduced by Twitter user zpxlng[5] on October 24th. In less than 24 hours it was tweeted out more than 700 times.
[1]Twitter – Alejandrobot
[2]Tumblr- itsaboutethicsingamesjournalism
[3]BoingBoing Actually, it’s about ethics in game journalism.
[4]Tumblr- actuallyethics
[6]Topsy- #germergoat
“Afraid to Ask” Andy is an advice animal image macro series featuring a still image of Andy Dwyer (played by Chris Pratt), one of the main characters from the American TV sitcom Parks and Recreation, captioned with various confessions of one’s ignorance in current events or common knowledge followed by the phrase "…and at this point I’m afraid to ask.”
The caption stems from a memorable quote uttered by Andy Dwyer, who is portrayed as an oblivious but lovable city worker in the fictional town of Pawnee, in Season 6 Episode 16 “A New Slogan”[5] originally aired on March 13th, 2014.
On October 23rd, 2014, Redditor john_solo76 created a post titled “Afraid to Ask Andy – Reddit is hard to follow sometimes”, featuring a photo of Dwyer with the caption “I don’t know what GamerGate is / And at this point I’m too afraid to ask” (shown below). In the first 24 hours, the post gained over 3,800 upvotes and 2,000 comments on the /r/AdviceAnimals[2] subreddit.
On the same day, Redditor silkysmooth190 submitted an Afraid to Ask Andy image macro expressing ignorance about net neutrality to /r/AdviceAnimals[4] (shown below, left). On October 24th, 2014, Redditor I_Am_Batman_For_Real posted an Afraid to Ask Andy image macro joking about the online fandoms for actor Nicolas Cage to /r/AdviceAnimals.[3] In less than 24 hours, the posts received more than 3,300 votes (87% upvoted).
The same day, the tech news blog Mashable[1] published an article highlighting several notable examples from the series.
Not available.
[1]Mashable – Afraid to Ask Andy Meme Perfectly Captures Your Insecurities
[2]Reddit – Afraid to Ask Andy
[3]Reddit – Afraid to Ask Andy – Ive been on Reddit awhile and still I still dont know
[4]Reddit – Afraid to ask Andy
[5]SpringfieldSpringfield – Parks and Recreation Episode Scripts – New Slogan
“Local Man Ruins Everything” is an image macro meme taken from the television show The Simpsons. The meme involves photoshopping someone’s image into the newspaper article under the headline “Local Man Ruins Everything.”
The meme originated from an episode of The Simpsons titled “Jaws Wired Shut,” which first aired on January 27th, 2002. The episode features a framed newspaper article with a picture of Homer Simpson under the headline “Local Man Ruins Everything.” The image first appeared online when Redditor oopsifell posted it to the r/Simpsons[1] subreddit on February 4th, 2013.
The image was added to the r/Simpsons Reddit on February 7th, 2014, by Redditor cayal3.
Florida Man is a Twitter feed that curates news headline descriptions of bizarre domestic incidents involving a male subject residing in the state of Florida. The tweets are meant to be humorously read as if they were perpetrated by a single individual dubbed “the world’s worst superhero.”
[1]Reddit – Local Man Ruins Everything
[2]Reddit – Local Man Ruins Everything
#Ebowla, a portmanteau of the words “bowl” and “Ebola”, is a tongue-in-cheek hashtag that began circulating on Twitter after news media outlets reported that New York-based doctor Craig Spencer had gone bowling in Brooklyn after contracting the Ebola virus in West Africa.
On October 23rd, 2014, The New York Times[1] reported that doctor Craig Spencer, who recently returned from treating Ebola patients in Guinea, Africa, had been placed in isolation at Bellevue Hospital Center after testing positive for the virus. The article also revealed that Spencer had traveled on the subway and visited a bowling alley in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Following the news, Twitter users began joking about the doctor’s bowling alley visit with the hashtag #Ebowla.[3]
That evening actor Jason Biggs joked that the doctor went bowling intentionally for the puns on Twitter,[3] receiving upwards of 870 favorites and 520 retweets in the next 24 hours. According to the Twitter analytics site Topsy,[4] there were over 2,100 tweets containing the keyword “ebowla” in the first 24 hours.
On October 23rd, The New York Times[5] Well blog reported that it would be difficult for Ebola to spread on a bowling ball or any other hard, dry surfaces. On October 24th, Time Magazine[6] published an op-ed by writer Charlotte Alter titled “The #Ebowla Jokes Need to Stop,” which criticized the Twitter jokes and those who scrutinized Dr. Spencer and his character. In the coming days, additional news sites reported on the hashtag, including Epoch Times,[7] The Daily Dot[8] and E! Online.[9]
[1]The New York Times – Doctor in New York City is Sick with Ebola
[3]Twitter – @JasonBiggs
[5]The New York Times – Can You Get Ebola From a Bowling Ball?
[6]Time – The #Ebowla Jokes Need to Stop
[7]The Epoch Times – Ebola Bowling Jokes on Twitter
[8]The Daily Dot – Sorry Twitter #Ebowla isnt as funny as you think it is
[9]E! Online – Ebola Diagnosed in New York
Joshua Feuerstein is an American evangelist, internet and social media personality, who frequently uploads Facebook videos documenting his thoughts on a variety of subjects related to Christianity. He is best known online for his outspoken criticism of atheism and the scientific theory of evolution.
Feuerstein’s official Facebook page[1] was created on April 7th, 2014 and has almost 900,000 likes as of October 2014. His first video, uploaded April 8th, was a motivational sermon aimed at people with self-esteem issues.[2]
On May 24th, he uploaded a video titled “Dear Mr. Atheist” in which he claimed to “destroy evolution in 3 minutes”.[3] It quickly went viral, amassing more than 19,000 likes and 200,000 shares as of October 2014. On June 3rd, the video was uploaded to Youtube by 438stroker. It has been poorly received there, with over 4,000 dislikes.
Feuerstein has faced intense online criticism from atheists and proponents of evolution. The antitheist blog WWJTD published a blog post on June 9th in which the author provided a line-by-line refutation of the arguments made by Feuerstein in his “Dear Mr. Atheist” video.[4]
The most prolific of Feuerstein’s detractors has been The Amazing Atheist, who has uploaded several videos lambasting the perceived lack of logic and understanding of science present in Feuerstein’s arguments. The first of these videos, titled “Christian ‘Disproves’ Evolution?”, was uploaded on June 2nd.[5]
Feuerstein is a former pastor and currently works as a featured speaker at national and international events. He has also been the host and guest of many television and radio shows.[6]
[1]Facebook – Joshua Feuerstein
[2]Facebook – $100 CHALLENGE!!!
[3]Facebook – Dear Mr. Atheist
[5]Youtube – Christian “Disproves” Evolution?
Laughing Tom Cruise is a reaction image and exploitable meme involving collage pictures featuring various surimposed faces of Tom Cruise maniacally laughing. First used as a reaction face to express hilarity, the meme expanded itself by covering other public figures, anime characters and eventually having its own memegenerator macro.
Following the leaked video of an interview with Tom Cruise about Scientology during Project Chanology, thus as early as 2008, remixed containing only the segment in which the actor can be seen laughing began to appear on Youtube (shown below):
Because of Cruise’s public image, videos and photographs of him laughing hysterically became associated with him. On peculiar photo, taken during a Yahoo conference in March 2006[1], would stand out:
The photograph was then modified to include two other faces laughing (shown below). This version would then be used as an Advice Animal macro on memegenerator, starting on december 15th 2012[2], displaying over 165 pages of variations to date.
A wikia page[5] on the macro phenomenon shows that it gained momentum among Spanish netizens under the name Laughing Tom. It also inspired two different tumblr sites dedicated to the phenomenon, one about Tom Cruise specifically[3] and the other about anime variations on the meme[4].
[1]Flickr – The famous Cruise laugh
[2]Meme Generator – Tom Cruise Laugh
[3]Tumblr – Tom Cruise laughing
[4]Tumblr – Anime Themed Tom Cruise laughing memes
[5]Wikia – Laughing Tom
Lelf (a portmanteau of the words Lel and Elf) is a name given to a laughing elf character, whose face is often used as an exploitable for edits.
The original image (pictured below) comes from the Pathfinder tabletop role-playing game’s Ultimate Campaign book, released in May 2013[1]. One of the illustrations depicts an elf, laughing at the attempts of a halfling trying to charm the elf’s companion.
The first traces of spread can be dated back to February 25th, 2014[2], to a thread on 4chan’s /tg/ (tabletop games) board. Though the elf was known for quite some time, the name “Lelf” wasn’t given until September 29th, 2014[3]. Over time, many edits have surfaced, where the elf’s face is photoshopped on top on other images.
[1]Pathfinder Wiki – Ultimate Campaign
[2]foolz – First appearance
The Koolaid Point is a theory coined by programming instructor and game developer Kathy Sierra to describe a point in which brands become hated because of the fame they are gathering instead of valid criticism of their work. The term became used to cover people as well, especially women and the harassment they receive.
On October 7th 2014, Kathy Sierra, known for her work and her publications on the Javascript program and Sun mycrosystems, wrote a lenghty post on her website Serious Pony[1], titled Trouble at the Koolaid Point, in which she described what she endured during the last ten years of facing harassment online, most notably concerning the 2007 case in which well-known hacker weev doxxed her[2] and send her threats. In the post, she referred to an article she wrote in August 2005 called Physics of Passion: The Koolaid Point[5] in which she coined the term Koolaid Point, inspired by the drinking the koolaid figure of speech, to describe a point in which a brand is hated because of the popularity it gains.
She then went on to explain that the phrase can also apply to people in general.
On October 8th 2014, news website Wired republished the post unedited as an article entitled Why the Trolls Will Always Win[3]. The story was picked by The Guardian[4] on October’s 9th, in an article by Jess Zimmerman linking the concept to Gamergate. The post was also shared to other websites such as metafilter[6] or the Reddit gamerghazi subchannel[7].
[1]Serious Pony – Trouble at the Koolaid Point
[2]Wikipedia – Kathy Sierra’s Harassment
[3]Wired – Why the Trolls Will Always Win
[4]The Guardian – The truth about trolls and the men they worship
[5]Head Rush – Physics of Passion: The Koolaid Point
[6]Metafilter – Trouble at the Koolaid Point
[7]Reddit – Gamerghazi
Now that’s what i call X is an online catchphrase and exploitable fad parodying the album covers of the online hit music seller store NOWmusicstore.com[1].
This fad derived from the album covers of the music relases. Including UK and Ireland music artists. Then online users decided to remix these covers.
The origin is uncertain. But it can be assumpted that the 4chan users created the earliest deratives related to the internet slang term edgy
[2]Archieve.moe – Search Results
Matthew McConaughey’s Lincoln Commercials are advertisements for Lincoln MKC automobiles in which actor Matthew McConaughey delivers a series of monologues while driving the compact crossover vehicle. The commercials inspired a series of parodies mocking the McConaughey’s bizarre lines and soft-spoken delivery.
On September 4th, 2014, the Lincoln Motor Co YouTube channel uploaded several commercials featuring McConaughey behind the wheel of the MKC compact crossover (shown below).
On the same day, Redditor KyleSJohnson submitted the “Bull” commercial to the /r/TrueDetective[1] subreddit, remarking that McConaughey seemed to be playing a character similar to his portrayal of Rust Cohle from the television drama series True Detective. On September 22nd, The Ellen Show aired a parody of the “Bull” commercial in which host Ellen DeGeneres appears in McConaughey’s back seat (shown below, left). On October 15th, South Park featured a parody of the Lincoln commercial in Season 18 Episode 4 titled “Handicar” (shown below, right).
On October 25th, 2014, Saturday Night Live aired several parody versions of the commercials in which actor Jim Carrey mimics McConaughey (shown below). The following day, a YouTube upload of the parodies was submitted to the /r/television[2] and /r/videos[3] subreddits, where it gained over 3,900 votes (89% upvoted) and 4,500 votes (94% upvoted) in the first 24 hours respectively.
“Oppression Olympics” refers to arguments in which inequalities faced by a group are dismissed for being considered less important than those faced by another group. While it was originally used inside feminist circles to address race-related grievances within the feminist movement, the term has been used online to mock those who seek approval or praise for being more disadvantaged than others.
In 1993, the phrase “oppression olympics” was coined by feminist author and activist Elizabeth “Betita” Martínez to challenge the idea of the “hierarchy of oppressions” when addressing inequalities faced by minorities.[13]
On April 29th, 2008, Urban Dictionary[2] user Allison Amy submitted an entry for “Oppression Olympics.” On May 6th, the race and pop culture website Racialicious[3] published an article titled “Re-Examining the Phrase ‘Oppression Olympics’”, which discussed usage of the term among minority groups. On January 28th, 2010, an entry for “Oppression Olympics” was submitted the the Geek Feminism Wiki.[4] On January 7th, 2013, Redditor 2129096947 submitted an oppression olympics infographic to the /r/TumblrInAction[12] subreddit (shown below).
On July 21st, 2014, YouTuber Shoe0nHead uploaded a video titled “Oppression_olympics.mp4,” in which she mocked third-wave feminist grievances expressed on Tumblr for being unwarranted in Western countries (shown below). Within three months, the video gained over 200,000 views and 5,100 comments.
On August 23rd, 2014, Kotaku[8] published an article in the “Talk Amongst Yourselves” section of the video game blog titled “Gaming Media and the Oppression Olympics,” which criticized contemporary feminists, so-called “social justice warriors” and video game news sites. On September 25th, Gawker[11] published an article titled “The Privilege Tournament,” which invited readers to cast their votes for who would be considered the most privileged group. On September 26th, the philosophy blog Critical Theory[10] published post mocking the Gawker article for being an example of the oppression olympics.
[1]culturalstudies.ucsc.edu – Coalition Building Among People of Color / 12/7/1998
[2]Urban Dictionary : Oppression Olympics
[3]Racialicious – Re-Examining the Phrase “Oppression Olympics”
[4]wikia – Oppression Olympics
[5]egrollman.com – Racism vs. Homophobia: Why No One Wins the Oppression Olympics
[6]thesociologicalcinema.com – Oppression Olympics: A Losing Game for All
[7]everydayfeminism – Oppression Olympics: The Games We Shouldn’t Be Playing
[8]Kotaku – Gaming Media and the Oppression Olympics
[9]Reddit – MARCHMADNESS: OPPRESSIONOLYMPICSBRACKET– INTERNATIONALSURVEY-TAKINGEVENT
[10]critical-theroy.com – Gawker is Literally Hosting the Oppression Olympics
[11]Gawker – The Privilege Tournament
[12]Reddit – Oppression Olympic Infographic
[13]Google – oppression olympics
“A Potato Flew Around My Room” is a misheard lyric from Frank Ocean’s 2012 R&B song “Thinkin’ Bout You” that became a popular subject of online mockeries on Vine after it was first said by Viner pg bree in a video clip he uploaded in October 2014.
On October 14th, 2014, Viner pg bree uploaded a video of himself singing a lyric from the song “Thinkin Bout You,” in which he mistakenly sings the word “tornado” as “potato” (shown below). In the first two weeks, the video gained nearly 10 million views, more than 169,000 likes and 147,000 revines.
“A potato flew around before you came excuse the…”
On October 18th, Viner lil syd from the trap[2] uploaded a video of a potato tied to a spinning ceiling fan and accompanied by the audio track from pg bree’s original video, which garnered upwards of 150,000 likes and 144,000 revines in nine days (shown below, left). On October 23rd, Viner KingJone$[3] uploaded a video clip of Frank Ocean singing “Thinkin Bout You” with pg bree’s cover rendition dubbed over the original track (shown below, right).
On October 24th, the AlotVines YouTube channel uploaded a compilation of “Potato Flew Around My Room” remix videos (shown below, left). The following day, the channel uploaded a second compilation (shown below, right).
On October 26th, Tumblr user condom[1] submitted a post containing the phrase “A potato flew around my room before you came,” which accumulated more than 230 notes in the first 24 hours.
As of late October 2014, there are more than 1,400 videos associated with the phrase “a potato flew around” on Vine.[4]
[2]Vine – lil syd fro the trap
[3]Vine – KingJones$
“All About That Bass” is a 2014 pop song co-written and performed by British recording artist Meghan Trainor. Upon its debut in June, the song was met with critical acclaims for its catchy beats and advocacy of body positivity, though not without criticism from some feminist bloggers asserting that the lyrics sends mixed messages about women’s self-image and gender relations.
On July 11th, 2014, Meghan Trainor’s official Vevo YouTube channel[1] uploaded the music video for “All About That Bass.” The video features Trainer singing about being happy with her fuller figure, surrounded by dancers who are not as thin as dancers in music videos tend to be. As of October 2014, the video has gained over 190,000,000 views.
On August 6th, Feministing[6] published an article titled “Why Meghan Trainor’s body acceptance anthem “All About That Bass” is disappointing.” The post criticized the song for attaching body positivity to the male gaze and for putting down thin woman, the post explains:
“Secondly, good lord, people, it’s like it’s scientifically impossible to write a song about how great it is to have curves that doesn’t insult people who don’t. Being thin doesn’t make you a bitch. Being thin doesn’t mean you’re dumb. Being thin doesn’t make you “slutty.” Being thin means you’re just that: thin, and adhering a little more closely to the impossible-to-fully-meet expectations of what our bodies should look like.”
On August 18th, Jezebel[7] published a post titled “Meghan Trainor’s ‘All About That Bass’ Hit No. 1 and We Feel Dirty,” which again talks about the songs lyrics being too dependant on what men think of womens’ bodies:
“Trainor’s lyrics remind me of that dumb Twitter thread surrounding #feministsareugly last week, which resulted in bunches of women making duck faces to prove to men, who already don’t agree with their views, that they are sexy. Ladies, wake up, who cares what those neanderthals think?”
On August 20th, The Atlantic[8] published a post titled “Meghan Trainor is ‘All About That Bass,’ Others Are All About That Controversy.”
On September 5th, Post Modern Jukebox[3] uploaded a cover of “All About That Bass.” As of October 2014, the video has gained over 4.6 million views.
On September 27th, YouTuber TiffanyAlvord[4] uploaded a cover of “All About That Bass” titled the “Beauty Version” which alters the lyrics so it doesn’t specify that the singer is a heavier woman. As of October 2014, the video has gained over 1 million views.
On October 5th, YouTuber MattSteffanina[2] uploaded a video of himself and a young student performing a hip hip dance to “All About That Bass.” Within a month the video gained over 9 million views.
>
[1]YouTube – MeghanTrainorVEVO
[2]YouTube – MattSteffanina
[3]YouTube – ScottBradleeLovesYa
[4]YouTube – TiffanyAlvord
[5]Buzzfeed – Did Meghan Trainor Plagiarize A K-Pop Artist To Make Her Hit Song “All About That Bass”?
[6]Feministing – Why Meghan Trainor’s body acceptance anthem “All About That Bass” is disappointing
[7]Jezebel – Meghan Trainor’s ‘All About That Bass’ Hit No. 1 and We Feel Dirty
[8]The Atlantic – Meghan Trainor is ‘All About That Bass,’ Others Are All About That Controversy
#FullMcIntosh is a Twitter hashtag primarily used by the pro-GamerGate camp to mock various arguments put forth by pop culture critic Jonathan McIntosh and other social justice bloggers in the gaming world that they perceive as being illogical and absurd.
The term #FullMcIntosh was coined on October 16th, 2014, after Jonathan McIntosh retweeted an article posted by Badass Digest author Devin Faraci.[2] That same day, Twitter user @Sargon_Of_Akkad took a screencap of the tweets and criticized both McIntosh and Faraci, while coining the hashtag #FullMcIntosh in the process,[3] possibly in reference to the expression “You Just Went Full Retard”. The message was favorited 92 times and was retweeted 85 times.
This is why you never go #FullMcIntosh, compadres. #GamerGate#NotYourShieldpic.twitter.com/YJ4vbYQImO
— Sargon of Akkad (@Sargon_of_Akkad) October 16, 2014
Jonathan McIntosh, the subject of the hashtag, is a producer and writer of the divisive “Tropes VS Women” video series hosted by Anita Sarkeesian. His presence on Twitter[1] exploded during the events of the GamerGate controversy, which he became involved in.
On October 23rd, Twitter user @BasedWeasel posted a line chart illustrating the range of the so-called McIntosh Scale, which garnered over 190 retweets and more than 200 favorites in less than a week.
In the following days, the usage of the hashtag increased exponentially when McIntosh compared the colors on Vivian James’s t-shirt to Piccolo Dick, implicitly equating the color scheme to rape.[4] In response, many detractors began mocking his statement by indiscriminately labeling characters that are drawn in green-and-purple color scheme as rapists.
In addition to #FullMcIntosh, similar hashtag #BeyondMcIntosh is used for particularly extreme statements.[5] The hashtag spread to Tumblr shortly afterward, where one post that explained the significance of the term gained 12 notes.[6] The hashtag eventually caught Jonathan McIntosh’s attention on October 27, 2014, at which point he objected to the criticism.
Amusingly they’ve made several hashtags for me designed to paint non-controversial points like this as ridiculous. pic.twitter.com/cDKjoZFDBP
— Jonathan McIntosh (@radicalbytes) October 27, 2014
[1]Twitter – @RadicalBytes
[2]Twitter – Why #GamerGate Already Lost
[3]Twitter – #FullMcIntosh
[4]Twitter – #StopGamerGate2014 because the purple/green color scheme of #GamerGate and their mascot Vivian James is a reference to a 4chan rape joke
[5]Twitter – #BeyondMcIntosh
[6]Tumblr – The Spectacular Spider-Girl Explains #FullMcIntosh
[7]Topsy – Tweets Per Day for #FullMcIntosh
[8]Reddit – Full McIntosh Scale
Blackface Costume Controversies refer to a series of online backlashes prompted by Halloween costumes that entail painting one’s own face in black or brown as to emulate the darker skin tone of black people. Despite the widespread cultural stigma surrounding the practice in North America, many celebrities and other individuals have come under criticism for sporting the blackface as part of their costumes.
Blackface, a form of theatrical makeup which involves a white person darkening their skin to appear black, was a popular part of American minstrel shows[12] in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The shows involved white performers in blackface mocking black individuals using racial stereotypes. It was later used in the early films of the 1920s.
On February 26th, 2012, Billy Crystal appeared in blackface portraying Sammy Davis Junior during the Academy Awards ceremony.
Crystal was criticized by many sites the following day. Feministing’s[14]“Memo to Billy Crystal” explained:
“Blackface is not okay. Ever.”
On March 1st, The Hollywood Reporter[15] reported Davis Junior’s daughter supported Crystal, saying:
““Billy previously played my father when he was alive, and my father gave Billy his full blessing.”
On October 15th, 2012, CNN[9] reported students at New York’s Waverly High School dressed in blackface to perform a skit reenacting :Chris Brown’s":http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/people/chris-brown violence against his then girlfriend Rihanna. They also published a photo taken from Facebook.
The incident was covered by several websites the following day including Jezebel[10], which featured support Waverly students and alumni were showing for the skit and The Huffington Post.[11]
On October 25th, 2013, actress Julianne Hough wore blackface as part of a Halloween costume[1] meant to portray Orange is the New Black character Crazy Eyes.
On October 26th, Hough tweeted out[3] an apology saying:
“I am a huge fan of the show Orange is the New black, actress Uzo Aduba, and the character she has created. It certainly was never my intention to be disrespectful or demeaning to anyone in any way. I realize my costume hurt and offended people and I truly apologize.”
On October 26th, 2014, ESPN commentator Keith Olbermann[6] tweeted[5] out a photo of a couple wearing blackface as part of their Halloween costume portraying Ray Rice and his wife.
The picture, as well as other blackface Ray Rice costumes tweeted to Olbermann, were covered by several websites including Gawker, Feministing[7] and USA Today.[8]
[1]New York Daily News – Julianne Hough dons blackface for ‘Orange Is the New Black’ Halloween costume
[2]People – Julianne Hough Apologizes for Blackface Costume at Party
[3]Twitlonger – Julianne Hough
[5]Gawker – Ray Rice Halloween Costumes Combine Blackface, Domestic Violence Jokes
[6]Twitter – KeithOlbermann
[7]Feministing – Ray Rice Halloween costumes are not funny
[8]USA Today – Dress up as Ray Rice for Halloween? Critics blast costumes
[9]CNN– High School Pep Rally’s Racist Display
[10]Jezebel – Idiot Students in Blackface Reenact Chris Brown Beating Rihanna at Worst Pep Rally Ever
[11]The Huffington Post – Idiot Students in Blackface Reenact Chris Brown Beating Rihanna at Worst Pep Rally Ever
[12]The Grio – Idiot Students in Blackface Reenact Chris Brown Beating Rihanna at Worst Pep Rally Ever
[13]Hollywood Reporter – Billy Crystal’s Oscar-Night Sammy Davis Jr. Impersonation Draws “Blackface” Criticisms
[14]Feministing – Memo to Billy Crystal
[15]Hollywood Reporter – Billy Crystal’s Oscar Blackface: Sammy Davis, Jr.‘s Daughter ’100 Percent Certain My Father Is Smiling’
If Paintings Could Text is a single topicTumblr blog which features text messages paired with famous works of art.
The single topic Tumblr blog ifpaintingscouldtext[1] was created on June 18th, 2014.
On August 26th, the blog’s Twitter account[4] was created, as of October 2014, the account has gained over 120,000 followers. On September 15, 2014, Buzzfeed[2] published a post on the blog titled “This Tumblr Shows You What It’d Be Like If Classic Paintings Could Text And It’s Awesome.” On September 18th, Whudat[6] named “If Paintings Could Text” the blog of the day. On September 26th, College Humor[3] covered the blog. On October 27th, Bustle[5] published a post titled "If Paintings Could Text Is the Inevitable Tumblr We’ve Been Waiting For.
[1]Tumblr – ifpaintingscouldtext
[2]Buzzfeed – This Tumblr Shows You What It’d Be Like If Classic Paintings Could Text And It’s Awesome
[3]College Humor – 12 Crude Texts That Pair Surprisingly Well With Classic Paintings
[4]Twitter – IfPaintings
[5]Bustle – “IF PAINTINGSCOULDTEXT” IS THEINEVITABLETUMBLR WE’VE BEENWAITINGFOR
[6]Whudat – Tumblr of the Day: “If Paintings Could Text” – Classic Artworks Paired With Funny Text Messages
