Red Scare Canon — Cultural References from the Subreddit

Phrenology (concept) 4 — Discredited pseudoscience involving the measurement of skulls, referenced as part of the 'phrenological hokum' promoted ...

Dark Brandon (concept) 4 — Internet meme depicting Joe Biden as powerful and aggressive, discussed as having become cringe but representing accepta...

GWOT (concept) 4 — Global War on Terror, referenced as the context for Call of Duty games and gritty reboots as cultural responses to 9/11

Madison Square Garden (place) 4 — Sports arena built over Penn Station, representing the replacement of grand architecture with commercial mediocrity.

Paramore (person) 4 — Musical act referenced as an example of celebrities being pressured to make political statements on social issues.

Amadeus (film) 4 — Film depicting the experience of lacking natural talent through the character of Salieri's jealousy of Mozart, with expl...

Bangkok (place) 4 — Thai city promoted on YouTube as an affordable expat destination where one can live in a cyberpunk city for $1500 a mont...

Radical Feminism (concept) 4 — A feminist movement discussed as potentially having a resurgence following the Roe v. Wade decision, compared to the 197...

Apple Watch (concept) 4 — A smartwatch used to track fitness metrics including calories burned during activities, mentioned in the context of inap...

Uganda (place) 4 — Country mentioned in context of a gold mine discovery that sparked discussion about gold mining ethics

Groundhog Day (film) 4 — A film about being stuck in a time loop, used as metaphor for culture war discourse repeating endlessly.

Larry Ellison (person) 4 — Billionaire with nearly 400 billion dollars criticized for not building impressive infrastructure like past wealthy indu...

Obamacare (concept) 4 — Healthcare legislation that included a $750 mandate penalty for not having health insurance, which Trump eliminated with...

Atomic Habits (book) 4 — Self-help book criticized as part of superficial TikTok life optimization trend catering to neurotic tech bros

Omicron (concept) 4 — COVID-19 variant discussed in December 2021 as having decoupled cases from hospitalizations and deaths, signaling a pote...

IMDB (concept) 4 — Movie database and rating platform used as a reliable metric for film quality, with scores below 6.2 considered indicato...

Britpop (concept) 4 — British pop music genre questioned by a poster as to whether it counts as a special interest in relation to autism diagn...

The Met (place) 4 — The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, workplace where subreddit users encountered each other near the Mary Shelley...

Work from Home (concept) 4 — Remote work arrangement discussed as enabling extreme underperformance, with one person claiming to do only one or two h...

Jeb Bush (person) 4 — Former presidential candidate from Bush family whose 2016 campaign collapsed under Donald Trump's attacks, described as ...

Jean Paul Gaultier (person) 4 — French fashion designer referenced as an example of expensive fashion purchases that become less appealing with age

Civil Rights Movement (concept) 4 — Referenced as an example of successful social change that required boring planning and organization rather than spontane...

Marine Le Pen (person) 4 — French far-right politician referenced as a model for rebranding far-right politics as respectable and moderate.

Honor Levy (person) 4 — A person mentioned as the ex-girlfriend of Dasha Nekrasova's boyfriend, who is a zoomer convert from Judaism to sedevaca...

2001: A Space Odyssey (film) 4 — Science fiction film mentioned as formative childhood media that the poster still loves despite losing interest in new s...

Bianca Censori (person) 4 — Kanye West's wife who was described as friendly and sociable when encountered shopping for vintage couture in Los Angele...

Eritrea (place) 4 — A nation that an Ethiopian Uber driver claimed is made up and shouldn't exist if Ethiopia needs its land

Doctor Who (film) 4 — British science fiction television show that was a cultural juggernaut for 50 years among autistic boys but briefly attr...

Enlightenment (concept) 4 — Historical and philosophical period critiqued as having failed its promise to elevate humanity, leaving permanent anhedo...

Tchaikovsky (person) 4 — Classical composer who employed a battery of cannons and a full brass band for the finale of the 1812 Overture, cited as...

Love on the Spectrum (film) 4 — A Netflix show framed as helping autistic people date that is critiqued for subtly exploiting and making fun of low-func...

Q Anon (concept) 4 — Conspiracy theory movement that someone's father became obsessed with, violating his own advice never to talk about reli...

GTA (film) 4 — Grand Theft Auto video game series, mentioned in a post questioning why the subreddit was suddenly filled with posts abo...

Billy Corgan (person) 4 — Smashing Pumpkins frontman used as counterexample to Kurt Cobain, discussed as having diminished his legacy through long...

Skype (concept) 4 — Communication platform mentioned nostalgically as a place where the poster made middle school friends they still visit i...

Valhalla (concept) 4 — Norse mythological concept referenced ironically as 'femcel Valhalla' to describe an afterlife for women who quit postin...

Inglourious Basterds (film) 4 — Quentin Tarantino film defended by the poster against lukewarm reception on the subreddit, contrasting with their friend...

Transformers (film) 4 — Film franchise cited as example of endless franchised pro-military propaganda from the War on Terror era.

Asteroid City (film) 4 — Wes Anderson film praised as 'very good' though acknowledged to not quite come together completely.

Scarface (film) 4 — Brian De Palma film starring Al Pacino as Tony Montana that was analyzed in detail by a subreddit user who finally watch...

Columbus Day (concept) 4 — A federal holiday in the United States commemorating Christopher Columbus's arrival in the Americas, criticized by some ...

Imagine (album) 4 — Song by John Lennon that the poster irrationally hates for its perceived hypocrisy given Lennon's wealth and personal fa...

Wonka (film) 4 — A prequel film about Willy Wonka starring Timothée Chalamet, criticized for being unnecessary and poorly cast

r9k (place) 4 — 4chan board and related subreddit referenced as a community where users discuss NEET lifestyle and unemployment issues.

Nauru (place) 4 — Pacific island nation described as the world's most miserable country due to extreme obesity rates, diabetes, environmen...

Get Out (film) 4 — Jordan Peele horror film questioned for whether its critical acclaim is genuine or driven by liberal guilt

Frida Kahlo (person) 4 — Mexican painter discussed in terms of how she and Diego Rivera would be perceived as annoying if they were contemporary ...

Quora (place) 4 — Question-and-answer website criticized for bizarre users with implausible credentials, bot-like responses, and unfriendl...

John Carpenter (person) 4 — Filmmaker cited as having made Halloween for only $1.2 million in contrast to streaming budget inflation

Barstool (place) 4 — Internet media company producing content, discovered by a Boomer father through Instagram who enjoys it apolitically.