Red Scare Canon — Cultural References from the Subreddit

Kingda Ka (place) 1 — World's tallest and fastest roller coaster that was demolished, mourned as one of America's incredible achievements that...

Alfonso Cuarón (person) 1 — Mexican film director of Y tu mamá también discussed on the subreddit.

Leo XIV (concept) 1 — Papal name chosen by the Pope out of stated fear or apprehension regarding artificial intelligence.

Slash (person) 1 — Guns N' Roses guitarist whose iconic guitar riff on Sweet Child o' Mine is discussed as an example of pervasive pop cult...

Sweet Child o' Mine (album) 1 — Guns N' Roses song cited as an example of culturally pervasive art that remains embedded in popular consciousness.

Satoshi Tajiri (person) 1 — Creator of Pokémon cited as someone who brought massively influential pop culture into the world.

Daniel Clowes (person) 1 — Underground comics artist identified as a key figure representing cynical, elitist adult nerd culture from the 1990s.

Charles Burns (person) 1 — Underground comics artist cited as representing the Dark Soy archetype of bitter, misanthropic nerd culture from the 199...

Pruna Lucian (person) 1 — Contemporary oil painter whose work was discussed as a favorite in 2024

Looksism (concept) 1 — An ideology focused on obsessive analysis of physical appearance metrics like canthal tilt and facial proportions

EA Sports (place) 1 — Gaming company with a message board where the author was IP banned at age 11 for saying their game sucks.

Yao Pan Ma (person) 1 — Elderly Asian man collecting bottles in NYC who was beaten until unconscious in an unprovoked attack and left in a coma.

Simone Biles (person) 1 — Olympic gymnast whose withdrawal from competition sparked intense social media debate about mental health, trauma respon...

Robert Duvall (person) 1 — Veteran actor who praised contemporary young actors as better than ever before in an interview with Norm Macdonald.

Victor Serge (person) 1 — Author whose book was being read by someone recovering from methamphetamine addiction, described as difficult to parse d...

Mojave 3 (album) 1 — Third-ranked artist in a Spotify Wrapped list, grouped with dream pop and indie musicians.

Janissary (concept) 1 — Historical Ottoman military term that someone mistakenly thought 'jannie' was short for instead of 'janitor.'

Claudius (person) 1 — Roman Emperor praised for bringing competent administration and ethical legal procedure despite being mocked for having ...

Abbottabad (place) 1 — Pakistani town where the CIA organized a fake vaccination program to collect DNA as part of preparations for the Bin Lad...

Dana White (person) 1 — UFC president whose branded whiskey was consumed by the poster's straight male friends during fight nights.

pimeyes (place) 1 — A facial recognition search engine that can locate old deleted photos from the internet, including deleted Tumblr selfie...

pinkydoll (person) 1 — A TikTok live streamer who performs NPC-like behavior, repeating the same phrases and switching between face masks, inte...

Chicagoland (place) 1 — The Chicago metropolitan area referenced by someone who grew up there and moved back to the suburbs to realize how bad s...

Incel discourse (concept) 1 — Discussions about involuntary celibacy and genetic determinism predicted to become extremely normalized in the near futu...

The Real World (film) 1 — MTV show credited with creating reality television as we know it, possibly a cultural drawback.

Cribs (film) 1 — MTV reality show from the 2000s showcasing celebrity homes as part of the network's original programming.

Ridiculousness (film) 1 — MTV show representing one of the few remaining programs keeping the network relevant.

Third Crusade (concept) 1 — Specific crusade referenced through a character who got hooked on hashish during this campaign.

Patronscan (concept) 1 — ID scanning software company that allows bars to place public bans on patrons worldwide across all participating venues.

Moon landing (concept) 1 — Event that the poster is open to being fake, though they find the 9/11 inside job theory unconvincing

Belle Delphine (person) 1 — Internet personality mentioned as a type that awkward young men might be attracted to in high school

Codeine Crazy (album) 1 — Trap song praised as the best written in the genre for its honest depiction of addiction and hurt alongside braggadocio

Mohammed (person) 1 — Islamic prophet who Muslim apologetics videos allegedly make sound stupid in their defense of his divine knowledge

Marauder's Map (book) 1 — A magical map from Harry Potter that reveals people's locations in Hogwarts, questioned for why Fred and George didn't n...

Fred and George (person) 1 — Twin characters from Harry Potter series criticized for not noticing plot inconsistencies on the Marauder's Map

Peter Pettigrew (person) 1 — A Harry Potter character whose presence on the Marauder's Map is used as an example of overthinking plot holes in childr...

Skull With Burning Cigarette (film) 1 — A painting by Vincent Van Gogh depicting a skull smoking a cigarette

Edmund J. Sullivan (person) 1 — Artist who created Skeleton Amid Roses as part of memento mori tradition

Jose Guadalupe Posada (person) 1 — Mexican printmaker famous for Calaveras Oaxaquena and skull imagery

Jan van Kessel (person) 1 — Flemish Baroque painter known for Vanitas Still Life works depicting mortality

Arnold Böcklin (person) 1 — Swiss symbolist painter who created Self Portrait with Death Playing a Fiddle

Alton Kelly (person) 1 — Artist who co-created Skull and Roses poster art with Stanley Mouse

Stanley Mouse (person) 1 — Artist who co-created Skull and Roses poster art with Alton Kelly

Pulse nightclub (place) 1 — Site of a mass shooting in Florida that was the deadliest in US history for a period, now controversial for government c...

Poshmark (place) 1 — Online secondhand marketplace where designer fashion items can be found at reduced prices

Brian Mast (person) 1 — US politician proposing legislation to revoke passports of Americans who criticize Israel

Incubus (album) 1 — 90s band associated with burnout summer culture alongside skating and surfing

Lavon Affair (concept) 1 — A 1954 Israeli covert operation involving bombings in Egypt attributed to the Muslim Brotherhood but later exposed as an...

Wilbur Crane Eveland (person) 1 — A source who suggested that an underground Zionist organization carried out bombings in Iraq to accelerate Jewish emigra...

Tekashi 6ix9ine (person) 1 — 29-year-old rapper whose real name is Daniel Hernandez, imprisoned at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn for ...