Red Scare Canon — Cultural References from the Subreddit

Blow-Up (film) 3 — A 1960s/70s classic film featuring enveloping sound design, particularly noted for a calming-yet-ominous park scene that...

AGI (Artificial General Intelligence) (concept) 3 — A future technology discussed in the context of job market disruption and fears about how the billionaire class will tre...

Sean Connery (person) 3 — Actor criticized as a James Bond who is too unflappable and perfect to be capable of rage

Audrey Plaza (person) 3 — An actress in the new season of White Lotus whose character is described as having 'vaccinated' in her Twitter bio

E.T. (film) 3 — A Steven Spielberg film described as charming and featuring normal humans in an extraordinary situation, representing a ...

Big Sur (book) 3 — A Jack Kerouac novel discussed as part of his important literary output alongside On the Road and Dharma Bums.

Ethan Hawke (person) 3 — Actor mentioned as one of the incredible narrators of Jack Kerouac audiobooks who brings out the author's style.

Talk Talk (album) 3 — Band that transformed from '80s one-hit wonder pop to experimental music favored by avant-garde music geeks

Emma Cline (person) 3 — Author of Daddy, a collection of short stories with fully-developed problematic characters

Max Ernst (person) 3 — Surrealist artist who created 'The Fireside Angel' in 1937, also known as 'The Angel of Hearth and Home' and later retit...

The Interpretation of Dreams (book) 3 — Freud's foundational psychoanalytic text praised for its framework on authority and family despite questions about its f...

Benny Safdie (person) 3 — Director whose film flopped despite a stellar cast, contrasted with his brother Josh's success.

Whitney Houston (person) 3 — A musician whose 1980s music videos featured extremely gay dancing, part of the era's distinctive aesthetic.

Trapped in the Closet (film) 3 — R. Kelly's musical soap opera suggested as worthy of theatrical screenings comparable to cult classics like The Room or ...

Desertshore (album) 3 — Album by Nico that was being listened to during a midnight campus walk.

Risperdal (concept) 3 — An antipsychotic medication prescribed to a patient who was misdiagnosed with schizophrenia, resulting in significant si...

Buffy (film) 3 — TV show (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) described as a guilty pleasure featuring Whedon's quippy dialogue style

Big Black (person) 3 — Noise rock band discussed in conversation about non-mainstream music

Francesco Hayez (person) 3 — Artist whose painting "The Kiss" is featured in a collection of romantic art alongside works by Dicksee, Toulouse-Lautre...

Bertrand Russell (person) 3 — Philosopher quoted on the subject of narcissism as an excess of self-admiration and desire to be admired that destroys g...

Pavement (person) 3 — Band mentioned as an obvious comparison to Silver Jews, assumed to already be known by those seeking similar artists.

Ignatius J. Reilly (person) 3 — Fictional character whose commentary style is compared to posts on the Red Scare subreddit, described as the sub's patro...

PJ Harvey (person) 3 — Musician that a poster listened to all day and couldn't stop thinking about

Leaving Las Vegas (film) 3 — Film referenced by a liquor store employee hoping to recreate its plot in a gender-reversed scenario with a regular cust...

Christopher Hitchens (person) 3 — Atheist author whose work, along with Dawkins, influenced the poster's early atheist phase before they came to wish they...

Franz Ferdinand (person) 3 — Archduke whose assassination sparked World War I, referenced as an example of historical catalytic events that are not r...

12 Rules for Life (book) 3 — A book by Jordan Peterson that received a five-star rating from an economics professor, surprising the post author who t...

Sleigh Bells (album) 3 — Music duo described as underrated Red Scare artist whose music feels like the soundtrack to a 2000s teen comedy about a ...

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (book) 3 — Hunter S. Thompson book defended as a genuinely politically relevant parody of drug-abuse-as-personality mindset, unfair...

Ross Douthat (person) 3 — A public figure mentioned in context of envisioning child benefits as part of a pro-life political agenda.

All the Pretty Horses (book) 3 — Cormac McCarthy novel described as a romantic departure from his typical violence-focused work, primarily concerned with...

Lindsay Ellis (person) 3 — YouTuber who quit the platform due to constant scrutiny and toxicity, described as someone who tried to do right but was...

Arthur Rimbaud (person) 3 — French poet referenced in a DeLillo quote as an artist who made the leap from individual soul to universal soul.

Rinse FM (place) 3 — London radio station that transitioned from pirate radio to legal community station in the early 2010s, criticized by un...

The Righteous Gemstones (film) 3 — TV show about a megachurch family praised for creating well-rounded characters with depth despite audience complaints ab...

Demons (book) 3 — Novel by Dostoevsky praised for relevance to contemporary left-wing politics.

The Wicker Man (film) 3 — Film referenced in a satirical post about building an actual wicker man for self-immolation as a form of honorable suici...

Dahmer (film) 3 — A Netflix series about Jeffrey Dahmer criticized as an unnecessary retelling of a recent story without artistic merit.

New Sincerity (concept) 3 — Literary movement associated with David Foster Wallace, discussed as potentially stemming from autism and misinterpretin...

Herbie Hancock (person) 3 — Jazz pianist and composer featured on the track Cantaloupe Island with other jazz masters.

Richard Serra (person) 3 — One of the most significant artists of his generation (1938-2024) who produced large-scale, site-specific sculptures and...

Andrew Bird (person) 3 — An indie musician speculated as potentially being the next Andrew to face scandal, with the poster noting that many big ...

Pali Canon (book) 3 — Buddhist scripture containing extremely practical and unambiguous instructions from the Buddha on avoiding attachment an...

Blackstar (album) 3 — David Bowie's final album released shortly before his death

Brooklyn 99 (film) 3 — Network sitcom that appears on "Irredeemable Media" lists despite being described as mid and insubstantial

King Von (person) 3 — Figure associated with gang culture whose subreddit is frequented by sheltered white teens obsessed with violence.

Nadia Lee Cohen (person) 3 — Successful artsy photographer invoked as an aspirational but unrealistic comparison for an aspiring photographer

Blue's Clues (film) 3 — 1990s/2000s children's television show praised for its original format and compared unfavorably to its modern reboot

John Berger (person) 3 — An author frequently cited by Anna for his observation about the gendered dynamics of looking and being looked at.

This Side of Paradise (book) 3 — Novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald that gains pathos when understood as the author's aspirational vision of privileged youth r...