Red Scare Canon — Cultural References from the Subreddit

Parker Posey (person) 4 — Actress in The White Lotus who plays a character married to a douchebag finance professional portrayed by Jason Isaacs.

Jordan Belfort (person) 4 — Finance criminal whose life was portrayed in The Wolf of Wall Street, noted for establishing a career based on being a f...

Try Guys (person) 4 — YouTube content creators discussed in context of a cheating scandal and public outrage, criticized for delivering an ove...

Thomas Kinkade (person) 4 — Artist whose work is invoked as an example of kitsch that gets blended with Marvel to create bad fantasy writing

We Need to Talk About Kevin (film) 4 — Film exploring a deeply troubled mother-son relationship complicated by unplanned pregnancy and maternal resentment, cul...

Steve Buscemi (person) 4 — Actor discussed in the context of his role as Tony B in The Sopranos, with a focus on unexpected physical attraction to ...

Reuters (place) 4 — News agency mentioned as one of many sources required to keep up with current affairs, contributing to information overl...

r/collapse (place) 4 — Reddit community for people fantasizing about societal collapse, criticized for dwelling on infrastructure failures

Marcus Aurelius (person) 4 — Roman emperor and Stoic philosopher whose writings about living as if already dead are referenced by a suicidal person s...

Naperville (place) 4 — Affluent Chicago suburb used ironically to represent American centrism and privilege when dismissing struggles in other ...

iPhone (concept) 4 — Transformative consumer technology device that fundamentally changed how people interact with the internet and each othe...

Colleen Hoover (person) 4 — A popular author whose books dominate Barnes and Noble displays, emblematic of the store's shift toward TikTok-driven co...

Concerta (concept) 4 — ADHD medication referenced in context of people defending their amphetamine use in response to a New York Times article ...

Aliens (film) 4 — James Cameron film praised for its extensive use of practical effects including sets, power loader mech-suit, and xenomo...

Ryuichi Sakamoto (person) 4 — Japanese musician and composer whose work the poster avoids discussing with women due to the ick factor of Japanese cult...

Shia Labeouf (person) 4 — Actor and performance artist who created the He Will Not Divide Us project that became a site of online/offline politica...

Henry Rollins (person) 4 — Musician and spoken word artist whose quotes were read to the poster by a crisis hotline worker, which the poster apprec...

The Perks of Being a Wallflower (book) 4 — A film criticized for pretending to be deep while portraying characters who are not actual losers and for featuring ster...

Shonda Rhimes (person) 4 — Television producer and writer mentioned alongside Lena Dunham as someone who doesn't receive the same level of criticis...

Buffy Sainte-Marie (person) 4 — An artist from the 1960s who built her career on claimed Cree heritage but was exposed for making it up and being white.

Jordan Peele (person) 4 — Film director identified as the poster child for modern filmmaking that contains too many self-conscious decisions and a...

Abercrombie & Fitch (concept) 4 — A retail company that Dasha recommended going long on in 2019, which subsequently doubled in value from $17.44 to $34.79...

Noname (person) 4 — A rapper who threatened to cancel her album over backlash about featuring Jay Electronica, then released it with his ver...

Jay Electronica (person) 4 — Rapper referenced in context of dating someone wealthier, alluding to his relationship with a Rothschild heiress.

Erewhon (place) 4 — An upscale grocery chain whose expansion into Bushwick symbolizes gentrification and rising costs in formerly affordable...

Brutalism (concept) 4 — Architectural style defended as neutral, creative and thoughtful, with critics accused of projecting their own negativit...

Baby Boomers (concept) 4 — Generation criticized as the most selfish generation alive for pushing to end property taxes while enjoying seniors disc...

Lil Wayne (person) 4 — A rapper mentioned as part of the millennial college soundtrack during a period of cultural transition.

Kathleen Hanna (person) 4 — Frontwoman of punk band Bikini Kill who lectured audiences about mask-wearing and discussed disowning her father and sis...

Dungeons & Dragons (concept) 4 — Tabletop role-playing game about epic adventures in fantasy settings that the poster contrasts with nerdy players who ra...

Orthorexia (concept) 4 — Eating disorder characterized by obsession with healthy eating, ironically invoked by food positivity advocates to dismi...

Shakira (person) 4 — Colombian singer whose "Hips Don't Lie" music video is recalled as causing childhood sexual awakening.

Jacobin (place) 4 — Socialist publication criticized for churning out predictable socialist takes on current events with congenital pangloss...

Robert Crumb (person) 4 — American underground cartoonist and artist known for his distinctive visual style, discussed in context of his first wif...

Key West (place) 4 — A Florida location where a woman moved to make leather animal masks before losing her savings to COVID

Financial Times (place) 4 — Publication that ran an article on vibes-based political thinking and group loyalty over genuine ideological commitment

50 Cent (person) 4 — Rapper whose music is now considered as old as Earth, Wind and Fire and Led Zeppelin were to a previous generation

Bauhaus (person) 4 — Goth band that most self-identified goth girls have allegedly never heard of, according to a critique of cultural approp...

The Canterbury Tales (book) 4 — Chaucer's medieval work whose conventional spring opening lines are inverted by T.S. Eliot in The Waste Land.

Klarna (concept) 4 — Buy-now-pay-later tech company criticized for predatory lending practices targeting poor people with high interest rates...

Passport Bros (concept) 4 — Term for men who date women from non-Western countries, discussed as evolving from criticism of exploitative relationshi...

Slouching Towards Bethlehem (book) 4 — A book commonly found on bookshelves alongside other popular literary titles, used to represent a stereotypical collecti...

The Secret History (book) 4 — Novel by Donna Tartt described as a meta-Greek tragedy exploring themes of sin, beauty, and death.

The Fall (album) 4 — Novel by Albert Camus featuring a narcissistic protagonist whose traits exemplify extreme individuation and modern neuro...

Christine Chubbuck (person) 4 — A television personality who committed suicide on live TV in the early 1970s in what is likely the first televised suici...

George Michael (person) 4 — British pop singer whose song 'Careless Whisper' inspired a woman to cancel plans and remain loyal to her boyfriend.

Amish (concept) 4 — Religious community discussed for having significantly lower cancer rates, asthma prevalence, and suicide rates compared...

Edinburgh (place) 4 — Scottish city where the alternate-history Hitler is raised in a speculative fiction scenario

Barstool Sports (concept) 4 — Media company described as contrarian alternative media for sports fans, compared to Red Scare

Mencius Moldbug (person) 4 — Political blogger and theorist critiqued for essentially advocating that rich people should rule, with references to his...