Red Scare Canon — Cultural References from the Subreddit

Guillermo del Toro (person) 5 — Film director whose Frankenstein adaptation is criticized for dumbing down the novel's themes and turning it into a stor...

Saigon (place) 5 — City in Vietnam (now Ho Chi Minh City) where a tourist encounter with a helpful Indian man at a food market is recounted...

Anhedonia (concept) 5 — Psychological condition characterized by inability to experience pleasure, discussed as coming in waves and making activ...

28 Years Later (film) 5 — A mainstream film praised for being narratively rich with layered storytelling, pacing, and shot composition that tells ...

Montenegro (place) 5 — 18th century location where an impostor successfully claimed to be the Russian emperor and ruled for six years

Edward Bernays (person) 5 — Referenced as an 'evil Bernays-like mind' in relation to the 2016 GOP debates being described as deeply tapped into Amer...

Beethoven (person) 5 — Composer compared by Tolstoy to Lincoln as representing the same supreme achievement in their respective fields

r/femaledatingstrategy (place) 5 — Subreddit predicted to influence the next iteration of woke culture with confrontational rhetoric about male value.

Hanya Yanagihara (person) 5 — Author of A Little Life who has power in the publishing industry, criticized for writing a 'god-awful book' that was non...

Ultraviolence (album) 5 — Lana Del Rey album described as a legitimate masterpiece that a listener has been playing exclusively for two weeks.

The Northman (film) 5 — A 2022 film that a poster describes as their favorite film of the year despite being unable to sit through it due to emo...

MoMA (place) 5 — Museum of Modern Art, whose Costume Institute is the only department expected to be self-funded, leading to the creation...

Julian Assange (person) 5 — WikiLeaks founder who is viewed by some as evil despite being a whistleblower, with claims his freedom proves he was nev...

Tour de France (album) 5 — An annual cycling race that attracts non-cycling fans for its ambient viewing quality, featuring softly spoken commentar...

Seasonal Affective Disorder (concept) 5 — Winter depression condition that severely impacts the poster despite following recommended treatments like Vitamin D, su...

Queen Elizabeth II (person) 5 — British monarch whose death and reign are being commemorated on British television and creating national unity.

Dorian Electra (person) 5 — Musician described as a sheltered Montessori school dork who turned high school video projects into a career, creating q...

Jersey Shore (film) 5 — Reality TV show praised as potentially the most important American cultural artifact of the 21st century for its portray...

R. Crumb (person) 5 — Artist who illustrated the 10th anniversary edition of The Monkey Wrench Gang, noted for allegedly overestimating the am...

FTX (concept) 5 — Cryptocurrency exchange whose founders and key employees received $3.2 billion in payments and loans before its collapse...

Samuel Beckett (person) 5 — An Irish writer recognized as central to Ireland's national brand and association with quality literature.

In The Aeroplane Over The Sea (album) 5 — Neutral Milk Hotel album (abbreviated as ITAOTS) referenced in discussion of /mu/ board's decline, where users are no lo...

Big Thief (album) 5 — Band led by Adrianne Lenker that receives criticism on the subreddit despite being praised for earnest and poetic songwr...

Christina Hendricks (person) 5 — Actress with large natural breasts and pretty face whose attractiveness is debated by gay poster who finds her strange

Asexuality (concept) 5 — Sexual identity discussed as being categorized by self-awareness of one's sexual identity in the eyes of others rather t...

Bodies Bodies Bodies (film) 5 — A film featuring terminally online characters who throw around therapy culture vocabulary, ambiguously either satirizing...

Mike Judge (person) 5 — Filmmaker and creator of Idiocracy, referenced in discussion of annoying Reddit political comparisons.

Jamaica (place) 5 — Caribbean island nation discussed as potential target of a conspiracy theory about a man-made hurricane designed to faci...

Cindy Crawford (person) 5 — A supermodel cited as an example of having a distinctive facial feature (presumably her mole) that made her memorable.

Sexual Personae (book) 5 — Book by Camille Paglia that explores art and sexuality through heavy use of gendered metaphors, critiqued for asserting ...

Imposter Syndrome (concept) 5 — A psychological phenomenon discussed in context of actual lack of knowledge and expertise, with the observation that it'...

Karl Lagerfeld (person) 5 — Fashion designer whose signature appears on poorly made fast fashion items criticized for being over-designed.

Gwen Stefani (person) 5 — Musician from No Doubt era, remembered for hits like 'Don't Speak' and 'I'm Just a Girl' and characterized as '90s girl ...

Submission (book) 5 — A novel by Michel Houellebecq about a French professor during the political rise of the Muslim Brotherhood in France, de...

Troye Sivan (person) 5 — Pop artist whose performance on the Sweat Tour is described as better than his co-star's, with good dancing and BTS-styl...

Great Recession (concept) 5 — Economic crisis referenced as a period when well-being measures should have declined but did not according to the Gallup...

Entourage (film) 5 — HBO television series discussed for its romanticization of toxic workplace behavior, specifically a scene where Ari fire...

George Eliot (person) 5 — Victorian author whose novel Middlemarch provides the epigraph quoted in A Hidden Life about unhistoric acts and hidden ...

Carrie Fisher (person) 5 — Actress whose 1983 appearance in Return of the Jedi is cited as an example of obsessive male fixation on specific film m...

Leonardo da Vinci (person) 5 — Renaissance artist whose Vitruvian Man is cited as representing ideal human proportions, specifically Mediterranean phen...

Chris Farley (person) 5 — A comedian and actor known for his physical comedy and charming performances as a jolly fat lead actor in Hollywood.

69 Love Songs (album) 5 — Triple album by The Magnetic Fields known for its length and varied styles, with discussions about cutting it down to 23...

How to with John Wilson (film) 5 — A New York-focused television show praised for capturing the early COVID-19 pandemic experience in spring 2020, with the...

Sky Ferreira (person) 5 — Musician whose song '24 Hours' is mentioned as being listened to during a late-night dancing session.

The Replacements (album) 5 — American alternative rock band referenced in connection with their 1985 song 'Waitress in the Sky', inspired by Paul Wes...

Neopets (concept) 5 — An early 2000s website where users could customize profiles with HTML, representing the nostalgic, untamed internet of c...

George H.W. Bush (person) 5 — Former U.S. President and WWII combat veteran, mentioned as a possible exception to post-Reagan presidents being desk wo...

The Trial (film) 5 — Kafka novel analyzed by Jameson as depicting the coexistence of modern corporate work life with archaic imperial legal b...

Nicolas Cage (person) 5 — Actor who stars in Pig as a hermit with a truffle pig, delivering the line 'I don't fuck my pig' and walking around cove...

Arca (person) 5 — Electronic musician who performed at Berghain's PAN15 party alongside Skrillex and other artists.