Red Scare Canon — Cultural References from the Subreddit

Marriott (place) 1 — A hotel chain where the author spent a night with a romantic partner

Cassowary (concept) 1 — A large bird species discussed as a living connection to dinosaurs that can disembowel humans

The True Story of a Part-Time Indian (book) 1 — A YA novel by Sherman Alexie commonly taught in high schools as part of culturally responsive curriculum focusing on Nat...

Apple Maps (place) 1 — Navigation application referenced as enabling Gen Z's inability to navigate without GPS assistance

Culturally Responsive Teaching (concept) 1 — Educational approach prioritizing texts by diverse authors and culturally relevant content, criticized for sacrificing l...

Path of Totality (concept) 1 — The area where a total solar eclipse is visible, described as providing a transcendent, life-changing experience.

Envy (concept) 1 — Emotion described as studiously ignored in modern discourse despite being amplified by social media and underlying conte...

God Emperor of Dune (book) 1 — A book by Frank Herbert that is among the poster's top five favorite books of all time, expressing concern about it bein...

Brian Herbert (person) 1 — Author criticized for producing many not very good Dune books that represent the slopification of the franchise.

Ken Sugimori (person) 1 — Artist who created watercolor artwork of the original 151 Pokémon, which is praised as amazing.

Novalis (person) 1 — German Romantic poet and philosopher cited as a transcendent German thinker who was a great admirer of Greco-Roman class...

Thomas Mann (person) 1 — German writer cited as a transcendent German thinker who was a great admirer of Greco-Roman classicism.

Baden-Württemberg (place) 1 — A German region referenced in a meme sticker that exposes German cultural narcissism and provincialism.

Greco-Roman classicism (concept) 1 — Classical cultural tradition admired by transcendent German thinkers as an escape from German cultural narcissism.

Dionysian pathos (concept) 1 — A concept referenced in critique of Germans' inability to meaningfully rebel despite engaging in hedonistic behavior.

Phenibut (concept) 1 — A drug that kills inhibition similar to alcohol, which the poster abused leading to reckless behavior including facepost...

Pharrell (person) 1 — Musician and producer whose songs are mentioned in the context of crowds celebrating the 2020 election results during CO...

Welcome to the N.H.K. (film) 1 — Japanese media property mentioned as an embarrassing teenage identification point for feeling represented in media.

Mike Rowe (person) 1 — Television host known for blue-collar work advocacy, referenced as a model for an industrial park warden in a satirical ...

Diane Sawyer (person) 1 — American television journalist referenced in a satirical post about imaginary guys.

David McGowan (person) 1 — Author of Weird Scenes Inside the Canyon, a book investigating alleged intelligence community connections in the Laurel ...

Sátántangó (film) 1 — Seven-and-a-half-hour Hungarian art film by Béla Tarr mentioned as the ultimate test of cinematic endurance, intended to...

Maya Deren (person) 1 — Experimental filmmaker whose complete works the poster claims to have seen by age six, used to critique younger generati...

Stan Vanderbeek (person) 1 — Experimental filmmaker cited as an even more obscure reference point than Stan Brakhage in critique of declining film li...

Andy Rourke (person) 1 — Bassist for The Smiths whose death prompted discussion of favorite songs by the band.

Flat Stanley (book) 1 — A children's book featuring a character who becomes flat and is sent to various places, with the concept used in element...

Twin Towers (place) 1 — The World Trade Center towers in New York City, referenced in a satirical scenario about preventing 9/11.

Kat Dennings (person) 1 — Actress whose marriage announcement prompted a humorous expression of despair from a fan.

Alex Garland (person) 1 — Director of the film Civil War, praised for avoiding direct political analogies and focusing on the audiovisual experien...

Nick Offerman (person) 1 — Actor who plays a role in Civil War and delivers a fantastic performance despite being described as a potential source o...

Roland Emmerich (person) 1 — Film director referenced as someone who would do hokey destruction of famous landmarks, contrasted with Alex Garland's m...

Lincoln Memorial (place) 1 — Washington, DC landmark featured briefly in Civil War when a bomb goes off at the location.

Stranger Danger (concept) 1 — 1980s cultural panic about child safety that allegedly transformed society from high-trust to low-trust, destroyed commu...

Archimedes (person) 1 — Ancient mathematician and engineer who was killed by Roman soldiers while refusing to abandon his drawings, invoked in c...

Matteo Zuppi (person) 1 — A progressive Catholic cardinal who brokered peace in Mozambique in 1992 and is considered a potential papal candidate

Louis Antonio Gokim Tagle (person) 1 — A progressive Filipino cardinal who is charismatic and considered a potential papal candidate

C-SPAN (place) 1 — Television network covering U.S. government proceedings, referenced in a joke about elderly politicians

Jafar Panahi (person) 1 — Filmmaker referenced as an example of art cinema directors to whom horror films should not be compared.

Taste of Cherry (film) 1 — Art film described as incredibly boring by Roger Ebert in a review that the poster agrees with.

Drinking Alone by Moonlight (book) 1 — 8th century Chinese poem by Li Bai about drinking wine alone in the company of the moon and his shadow.

Jean Honoré Fragonard (person) 1 — Artist who painted 'Young Girl Reading' (1769), included in a collection of favorite yellow paintings.

The Yellow House (book) 1 — 1888 painting by Vincent Van Gogh featured in a collection of favorite yellow paintings.

Ramon Casas (person) 1 — Artist who painted 'La Sargantain' (1907), included in a collection of favorite yellow paintings.

Artemisia Gentileschi (person) 1 — Artist who painted 'Judith and Her Maidservant' (1625), included in a collection of favorite yellow paintings.

Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis (person) 1 — Artist who painted 'Fairy-Tale. Journey of the Princess II' (1907), included in a collection of favorite yellow painting...

Telecommunication Act of 1996 (concept) 1 — US legislation cited as one of many factors that made life in America worse.

US Digital Millennium Copyright Act (concept) 1 — Copyright legislation listed as contributing to decline in quality of American life.

PG-13 rating (concept) 1 — Film rating system whose creation is cited as negatively impacting American culture.

Jelly Roll (person) 1 — Contemporary musician whose ubiquitous presence represents a shift in white male music from stomp-clap folk to opioid cr...

ChatGPT O3 (concept) 1 — Advanced AI model that achieved 96.7% accuracy on competitive mathematics benchmarks and 87.7% on PhD-level science ques...