Red Scare Canon — Cultural References from the Subreddit

Li Bai (person) 2 — 8th Century Chinese poet who wrote 'Drinking Alone by Moonlight' and allegedly died trying to drunkenly snatch the moon'...

Yangtze River (place) 2 — Chinese river basin mentioned in context of historical conflicts over central plains domination

Egon Schiele (person) 2 — Artist cited as example of talent that might remain undiscovered among impoverished people without access to mentorship ...

Paul Gauguin (person) 2 — Artist who painted 'Three Tahitians' (1899), included in a collection of favorite yellow paintings.

Emerald Fennell (person) 2 — Director whose casting choices for a Wuthering Heights adaptation have sparked controversy among literary fans.

Westchester (place) 2 — Suburban area referenced as the kind of place someone might flee to after negative NYC experiences like large roaches.

POC (concept) 2 — Acronym for 'People of Color,' criticized as being no different than saying 'Colored folk' and as a term used primarily ...

Jay Gatsby (person) 2 — Fictional character from The Great Gatsby, referenced as an aspirational figure for someone trying to get their life tog...

Stavvy's World (album) 2 — Comedy podcast hosted by Stavros Halkias featuring callers with relationship and life problems.

Blue Banisters (album) 2 — Lana Del Rey album considered one of her most mature works, released during her heavier period.

Moody Blues (album) 2 — A classic rock band whose deep cuts from 1978 are cited as examples of obscure music that would justify a first-time rea...

Max Baril (person) 2 — Host of the podcast 'Classic Movie Musts' who was exposed for plagiarizing multiple film criticism articles from various...

Phillip Lopate (person) 2 — A writer whose article about Killing of a Chinese Bookie was stolen by podcast host Max Baril and published on Criterion...

The Philadelphia Story (film) 2 — A classic film that was the subject of a Farran Smith Nehme article plagiarized by podcast host Max Baril.

Nikola Jokic (person) 2 — NBA player only known to casual older viewers as 'that big guy' despite being a major star.

Birthright (concept) 2 — A program offering free educational trips to Israel for young Jewish adults, referenced here in the context of hookup cu...

Oz (film) 2 — An HBO prison drama compared to Sex and the City for men, with a wheelchair-bound narrator providing commentary.

Mike Schur (person) 2 — Television producer and writer criticized for his 'limousine liberal white savior complex' in shows like The Good Place ...

Top Gun Maverick (film) 2 — Sequel film mentioned as a rare example of a successful reboot/sequel that respected its source material, contrasted wit...

Jiang Qing (person) 2 — Figure from the Cultural Revolution described as 'the ultimate art hoe/BPD gf' in the context of political movements.

Chris-Chan (person) 2 — Internet personality mentioned as representative of modern obsessive fans who memorize children's cartoons and are descr...

Theranos (concept) 2 — Blood testing company founded by Elizabeth Holmes that gave bad test results affecting hundreds of thousands or millions...

Sprezzatura (concept) 2 — Italian concept of having one's life together while not seeming to give a fuck, described as a key element of masculinit...

ebaumsworld (concept) 2 — Early 2000s humor website referenced as part of the 'wild west' internet era that will be associated with racism by youn...

Punk'd (film) 2 — MTV reality show from the 2000s representing original reality programming concepts during the network's decline.

Pimp My Ride (film) 2 — MTV reality show from the 2000s representing the network's original reality programming during its decline.

David Fincher (person) 2 — Filmmaker mentioned as needing protection in a satirical conspiracy theory about Trump killing artistic Davids

S&P 500 (concept) 2 — Stock market index referenced in a satirical post about an impending market crash based on personal revenge logic

Grease (film) 2 — High-grossing work from late 1970s that evoked nostalgia for the 1950s during conservative cultural shift

Lisa Kudrow (person) 2 — Actress from Friends who commented on the show's creators lacking authority to write stories about people of color

Herman Cain Award (concept) 2 — A Reddit phenomenon of celebrating unvaccinated people's COVID deaths, emblematic of vengeance-fueled seething mentality...

Lincoln Center (place) 2 — New York cultural venue mentioned in a post about romantic encounters.

Michael Imperioli (person) 2 — Actor from The Sopranos who stated on Talking Sopranos podcast that he doesn't consider himself white and writes 'Italia...

Tablet Magazine (place) 2 — Publication that published an article titled 'We're All Bored of Culture' about the blandness and predictability of cont...

William Deresiewicz (person) 2 — Author of The Death of the Artist who writes about the commodification and devaluation of art in contemporary culture.

To Catch a Predator (film) 2 — Reality TV show cited as an example of earlier, more removed true crime media compared to modern bodycam footage documen...

Jack in the Box (place) 2 — Fast food chain mentioned alongside McDonald's and Taco Bell as places where drive-through usage is more understandable.

Semen retention (concept) 2 — Practice formerly discussed seriously on the subreddit before 2020 as a way to sharpen the body and elevate the spirit

Cyrus the Great (person) 2 — Ancient Persian ruler whose tomb was being used by shepherds before European archaeologists arrived, symbolizing Iranian...

Queen's Gambit (film) 2 — Popular Netflix show cited as a normie cultural anchor that the poster wishes friends would express disdain for

Dookie (album) 2 — Green Day album that a socially awkward coworker listened to front-to-back and provided meticulous song interpretations ...

Balthazar (place) 2 — Restaurant in NYC mentioned as a place to take publishing industry dates.

Savitri Devi (person) 2 — Author described as the original white woman finding yoga with connections to esoteric neo-Nazism.

Euronymous (person) 2 — Black metal musician whose murder by Varg Vikernes is still discussed by Vikernes in his TikTok videos.

Bene Gesserit (concept) 2 — Powerful sisterhood from Dune, compared to Grimes as an 'art hoe' in speculation about her breeding program with Elon Mu...

BYD (place) 2 — Chinese electric car manufacturer producing affordable vehicles unavailable in US market that could compete with America...

The Warriors (film) 2 — A film referenced in the context of a hypothetical race war with coordinated outfits.

Yuri Gagarin (person) 2 — Soviet cosmonaut celebrated as first human in space, son of working-class bricklayer and milkmaid

Washington Square Park (place) 2 — A New York City park where a chess hustler operates and plans to return in nice weather to play games.

Herschel Walker (person) 2 — Political candidate and former athlete whose senate campaign was embroiled in scandal involving alleged abortion payment...