Pepe the Frog is a non-affiliated comic character and internet meme created by cartoonist Matt Furie. A green anthropomorphic frog with a human body, Pepe originated in Furie’s 2005 original webcomic Boy’s Club. He also appeared in a 2016 book “in a series of comical vignettes combining laconic psychedelia, childlike enchantment, drug-fueled hedonism and impish mischief,” notes Furie’s publisher, Fantagraphics.
Feels Good Man is a 2020 documentary directed by Arthur Jones and produced by Giorgio Angelini that follows Furie as he fights to reclaim his creation after it was usurped as a racist meme by the alt-right. The film addresses the question of whether Pepe can be redeemed—and that’s where I come in …
By way of cultural context, I was asked to discuss how symbols are interpreted by different actors for varied roles. I talked specifically about the ND (peace sign) and the Swastika (manji).
That segment was ultimately cut. “We were sad that your interview didn’t quite fit the final film,” Jones and Angelini recently wrote to me. “After our conversation, Matt’s story got even stranger and our narrative got more crowded. Feels Good Man became less of an academic film and more about Matt’s lawsuit against Alex Jones.”
The duo is currently compiling a five-year anniversary edition of the film and wanted to include the interview as a special feature. They kindly sent me the director’s cut with a note saying, “We are glad it finally will make its way into the world.” Sadly, the timing couldn’t be better.
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