Red Scare Canon — Cultural References from the Subreddit

American Psycho (film) 30 — Satirical film about toxic masculinity that allegedly right-wingers miss the point of, though the post argues the satire...

Martin Scorsese (person) 30 — Acclaimed film director whose Killers of the Flower Moon is discussed as one of his best-ever films despite featuring an...

Norm Macdonald (person) 30 — Comedian known for posing as the dumbest man in the room while being the smartest, with quick wit and humor that leaves ...

Caroline Calloway (person) 30 — Internet personality and writer whose trajectory is described as tragic, with her apartment in disarray, apparent alcoho...

Asperger's (concept) 29 — Former psychiatric diagnosis that was merged into the autism spectrum, discussed as a distinct condition that should be ...

Turkey (place) 29 — Home country of a college roommate whose conservative views and nationalist positions regarding historical genocide deni...

Silicon Valley (place) 29 — Tech hub in California used as an example of expensive California living that's actually comparable to expensive areas i...

New Jersey (place) 29 — A state where a sex worker traveled to meet a client and got lost, with the narrative concluding with advice to 'never t...

Substack (place) 29 — Newsletter platform discussed in the context of leftist and liberal political writing, with debate over whether educated...

Timothée Chalamet (person) 29 — Actor criticized as representing artsy thin men who embody traits (cigarette smoking, black coffee drinking, emotional) ...

DSA (concept) 29 — Democratic Socialists of America, criticized as college kids using socialism to subsidize bourgeois lifestyles rather th...

Yukio Mishima (person) 29 — Japanese ultranationalist, far-right author whose work is paradoxically beloved by many leftists despite his fascist pol...

The Office (film) 28 — Referenced for its famous CPR training scene set to 'Stayin' Alive' that became crucial knowledge during a real cardiac ...

IDF (concept) 28 — Israeli Defense Forces that lured American journalists to a Palestinian village under false pretenses and retreated when...

Scotland (place) 28 — A country that passed a new hate crime bill making it illegal to "stir up hatred" based on various protected characteris...

Kurt Cobain (person) 28 — Nirvana frontman who is imagined as someone who would have become insufferable if alive, potentially flip-flopping betwe...

Infinite Jest (book) 28 — David Foster Wallace novel that predicted modern technology including video filters, working from home, doom-scrolling e...

Yale (place) 28 — Ivy League university used as an example of elite college admissions anxiety driving extreme parental micromanagement of...

New Zealand (place) 28 — Country with less than 1% black population where American cultural imperialism has produced "wiggers" despite the absenc...

Atlanta (place) 28 — Television series by Donald Glover that a user argues went from being one of the best and most original series to declin...

Sylvia Plath (person) 27 — Poet and author associated with confessional poetry and themes of depression and self-destruction.

Oppenheimer (film) 27 — A Christopher Nolan film about J. Robert Oppenheimer that was part of the Barbenheimer double feature phenomenon in summ...

Breaking Bad (film) 27 — A television series about a high school chemistry teacher that is contrasted unfavorably with Better Call Saul for havin...

OpenAI (place) 27 — AI company led by Sam Altman, discussed as competing with Google and China through accumulation of organizational knowle...

Michael Jackson (person) 27 — Referenced in a post quoting lyrics about having friends with different skin tones who both looked like Michael Jackson,...

Vice (place) 27 — Media outlet that publishes sensationalist content but occasionally publishes articles about celebrity culture and intel...

Thailand (place) 27 — A country mentioned in reference to a post about a single childless man being repeatedly identified as an engineer by ca...

Greece (place) 27 — Country mentioned as one of the true 'islandchads' whose crown was stolen by Sweden's classification of rocky debris as ...

JFK (person) 27 — New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport, described as total dystopia by Dasha Nekrasova during early COVID-19 p...

1984 (book) 26 — George Orwell's dystopian novel referenced in discussion of Reddit's increasingly authoritarian nature and censorship.

Matt Christman (person) 26 — Chapo Trap House host discussed as possibly brain damaged after a serious health incident, with fans uncertain about his...

BPD (Borderline Personality Disorder) (concept) 26 — A mental health disorder discussed through personal experience with an abusive mother, serving as a cautionary tale abou...

ICE (concept) 26 — A 1970 Robert Kramer film about an underground revolutionary group fighting a fictionalized fascist regime in an alterna...

Andrea Dworkin (person) 26 — A feminist theorist whose analysis of pornography as depicting complete possession and transformation of women is invoke...

South Africa (place) 26 — Post-apartheid nation described as having an 'uncanny mix of Dutch-British culture' that makes the poster uncomfortable ...

George W. Bush (person) 26 — Former U.S. president discussed as having been erased from American memory despite his significance in the post-9/11 era...

Ron DeSantis (person) 26 — Florida governor and potential presidential candidate criticized for being 'fat in a weird way' with a voice that 'sound...

Stanley Kubrick (person) 26 — A famous film director whose name was unknown to a woman who claimed to be knowledgeable about cinema, revealing her lac...

Catholicism (concept) 26 — Religious tradition criticized for psychological baggage including guilt, black-and-white moral thinking, and fear of da...

White Lotus (film) 26 — HBO television series that a user found disappointing despite it being hyped by friends as a masterpiece, criticizing it...

Carl Jung (person) 26 — Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst known for concepts like archetypes, whose work a Reddit user compares to astrology ...

Tony Soprano (person) 26 — Fictional character from The Sopranos referenced in discussions about Italian American identity and toughness among perf...

HBO (place) 26 — A television network that gave Pod Save America airtime, used to illustrate mainstream media backing that doesn't transl...

The Wire (film) 26 — HBO crime drama series about Baltimore known as one of the greatest artistic endeavors of the 21st century, though criti...

Joan Didion (person) 26 — American essayist and writer whose 1961 essay "On Self-Respect" published in Vogue is recommended and shared in the subr...

Ohio (place) 25 — State where a 10-year-old rape victim was denied abortion due to restrictive abortion laws banning the procedure after f...

Reddit Atheism (concept) 25 — Online atheist movement and community that became culturally significant as a turning point in Western worldview, marked...

Leonardo DiCaprio (person) 25 — Actor who is subject of conspiracy theory that he is in a relationship with Lukas Haas and has arrangements with model a...

BBC (place) 25 — British Broadcasting Corporation noted for having an extensive archive of documentary footage from around the world, inc...

South Korea (place) 25 — Country described as the biggest example of late stage capitalism, characterized by extremely low birth rates, lonelines...