Red Scare Canon — Cultural References from the Subreddit

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (film) 2 — Referenced in the context of electroconvulsive therapy, depicting it as a brutal treatment method for mental illness.

Chester Bennington (person) 2 — Late musician discussed as an example of someone who had fame, family, and money but couldn't escape childhood trauma an...

Planet Fitness (place) 2 — Gym chain mentioned as a place where running on the treadmill provided a mental health benefit similar to psychiatric me...

World War Z (film) 2 — Hollywood film cited as an example of Israeli government co-funding and influence to portray Israel positively.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (film) 2 — A film referenced in discussion of how online blocking allows people to erase others from their lives without confrontin...

Alamo Drafthouse (place) 2 — A chain movie theater showing David Lynch retrospective screenings plagued by performative audience laughter.

Music Box Theater (place) 2 — An indie theater in Chicago particularly notorious for audiences engaging in performative laughter during screenings.

Real Madrid (place) 2 — Spanish football club where Michael Owen played and struggled with routine changes, only leaving his hotel for training ...

Afterpay (concept) 2 — Buy now pay later service that has proliferated online retail, seen as predatory practice extracting consumer spending f...

Jen Psaki (person) 2 — Former White House Press Secretary that subreddit users allegedly find attractive, used as example of low male standards...

NorCal (place) 2 — Northern California region where boring software developer friend travels between with his nurse girlfriend.

Dodgers (place) 2 — Los Angeles baseball team with massive payroll that signed top free agent for $60 million annually, prompting prediction...

Thomas Crooks (person) 2 — Figure used as reference point for describing socially awkward male high school students in hypothetical gender-swap sce...

107 Days (book) 2 — Kamala Harris's memoir discussing her predictions about Trump's second term and private sector capitulation.

UT Austin (place) 2 — University where a quiz question allegedly asked which group is most likely to violate others' rights, with "wealthy whi...

Dave & Busters (place) 2 — Entertainment venue chain where a user experienced mass panic from a false active shooter alarm.

Robert Downey Jr. (person) 2 — Actor whose MCU films are singled out as exceptions to the generally poor quality of Marvel movies.

North Portland (place) 2 — Portland, Oregon neighborhood where a dramatic voting scene is described with BIPOC voters during the 2024 election.

Cyprus (place) 2 — Island nation in the Eastern Mediterranean mentioned as destination affected by Israel's GPS spoofing.

FaceTime (concept) 2 — Video calling service used by some people to maintain constant background contact for hours without meaningful interacti...

Skyler White (person) 2 — Character from Breaking Bad described as the definitively most hated character in the show's history, contrasted with Ca...

You've Got Mail (film) 2 — Romantic comedy film starring Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks, referenced as a movie made about the novelty of email.

Across the Universe (album) 2 — Beatles song that an autistic poster repeatedly played to the point of frustrating their girlfriend during a hyperfixati...

r/playboicarti (place) 2 — Reddit subreddit whose users are criticized for defending rap music on the Red Scare subreddit

Amyl and the Sniffers (album) 2 — Post-punk band criticized as part of a talk-singing microgenre that converts tweets into songs

Slacker (film) 2 — Film referenced as embodying the idea that creative types could move to cities and live cheaply while pursuing art.

Regina George (person) 2 — Fictional character from Mean Girls used to describe a cruel, bullying personality type exhibited by an extremely attrac...

Carrie & Lowell (album) 2 — A Sufjan Stevens album mentioned as music to listen to while grieving the loss of the author's mother.

Aesop (person) 2 — Ancient Greek fabulist whose story 'The Thief and His Mother' was told to the author by his late mother as a moral lesso...

Iberian Peninsula (place) 2 — European region referenced in comparison to American power outages, where blackouts allegedly involved more community so...

Morgan Freeman (person) 2 — Acclaimed actor now doing prescription drug commercials, described as "degrading himself" and representing celebrity fin...

Krebs Cycle (concept) 2 — Biochemical process used as example of objective scientific fact, contrasted with metaphysical questions being presented...

Davos (place) 2 — Swiss town hosting the World Economic Forum where Gavin Newsom called European leaders pathetic.

Phantom of the Opera (film) 2 — Musical/story referenced in discussion about the character being portrayed as the antagonist.

Crimes of the Future (film) 2 — A Cronenberg film about surgery becoming the new sex and themes of bodily modification and environmental decay.

Laika (person) 2 — Stop-motion animation studio run by Travis Knight, son of Nike billionaire Phil Knight, that produces artistic films lik...

Miles Davis (person) 2 — Jazz musician considered by some as the greatest American musical artist, known for his extensive and genre-defining car...

White Plains (place) 2 — Suburban town in upstate New York described as having ugly cracked sidewalks that randomly ended, contrasted with walkab...

Bethesda (place) 2 — Video game company criticized for performative pride messaging in Western markets while staying silent in Russia and Mid...

Peloton (concept) 2 — An exercise bike brand whose users commit to hundreds of classes to get instructors to say funny names.

Platoon (film) 2 — Iconic Vietnam War film referenced as example of protest art that the War on Terror era failed to produce.

Sergio Leone (person) 2 — Director of westerns mentioned alongside Clint Eastwood as making films that improve the poster's mental health.

Quiet Quitting (concept) 2 — A workplace trend of doing the minimum required at one's job, parodied as 'quiet shitting' by spending work time on the ...

MensLib (concept) 2 — Progressive men's movement criticized for being run by geriatric Millennials whose attitudes are outdated for Zoomers

Bella Ramsey (person) 2 — Actor playing Ellie in The Last of Us HBO series, subject of meme edits and criticism in fan subreddit

Publix (place) 2 — Grocery store chain where a deli worker resembling Florence Pugh inspires reflections on romantic partner choices.

James Carville (person) 2 — A Democratic strategist who argued that the Party wrongly embraced radical slogans like 'abolish the police' and terms l...

Erowid (place) 2 — A website documenting psychoactive substances mentioned as part of the millennial coming-of-age experience.

Francisco Franco (person) 2 — Spanish fascist dictator admired alongside Mussolini by someone advocating for natural hierarchy and anti-democratic pol...

Central London (place) 2 — Area of London populated primarily by stylish Australian, New Zealand and European expats rather than British locals.