Memes are some of the
most easily recognizable
images of our generation.
They're funny, relatable,
and, most importantly,
they're versatile.
But sometimes this versatility
creates something darker.
This is Pepe the Frog,
one of the most popular
internet memes of all time.
It's now considered a symbol of hate,
according to the Anti-Defamation League.
But it wasn't always like this.
The cartoon frog that currently
sits beside the swastika
and the Iron Cross was born here,
a nonpolitical comic about four roommates
who enjoy being lazy
and playing video games.
So, how did we get here...from here?
The green frog first debuted in 2005
in the comic "Boy's Club" by Matt Furie.
It featured Pepe along
with his three roommates
all living together and hanging out.
The humor was generally gross or crude
but was completely nonpolitical in nature.
Then, in 2008, Pepe made his first steps
to internet stardom.
This panel was posted as a reaction image
on the internet forum 4chan.
And it became a trend almost instantly.
More and more users began
sharing Pepe on 4chan.
And some were even putting
their own spin on it.
Pepe became a versatile meme.
It was happy, sad, smug, and angry.
It represented a relatable
range of emotions.
And this relatability spread its influence
to other social-media networks
over the next several years.
In 2015, Tumblr reported that it was
the No. 1 most reblogged meme of the year.
But at this point, Pepe was
being shared a little too much,
and the inside joke was beginning
to lose its comedic value.
To keep the joke alive, people
began creating "rare Pepes,"
novel versions of the meme
that hadn't been made before.
This phenomenon generated a mock economy,
where the less frequently
the meme was posted,
the more valuable it was.
With new images constantly being produced,
Pepe grew stronger and
reached mainstream status.
And once Pepe became mainstream,
everyone was in on the joke.
Now, it was rumored that there
was an alt-right campaign
to reclaim the meme from the "normies"
by associating Pepe
with white nationalism.
But this was later revealed
to have been an elaborate
prank to mislead journalists.
In reality, Pepe was just so versatile
that it was inevitably
drawn as everything.
This sometimes included
racists and even Donald Trump.
On October 13, 2015, Donald
Trump retweeted this post.
It linked the video "You Can't
Stump the Trump (Volume 4)"
and tagged the notable
right-leaning publications
Breitbart and the Drudge Report.
And under the video
was this image of Pepe.
Before this, only fringe
users on social media
posted versions of the frog as
Klan members or SS personnel.
But this post was the catalyst that fueled
the far right's claim of Pepe.
More racist frogs appeared,
particularly on Twitter,
which spurred the movement #FrogTwitter.
Much like how the echo
is used by anti-Semitics
to signify Jewish names,
members of the alt-right
began adding the frog emoji
to their Twitter handles
in solidarity with white nationalism.
And the more curious people
got about the racist Pepes,
the stronger the connection grew.
When journalists asked
about the "green face"
they often saw "Trumpsters"
and alt-right people use,
they were met with white-nationalist
Pepes as a response.
So they began picking up on this trend,
and when they saw someone use Pepe,
whether in or out of racist context,
they would respond by
saying something like this.
Then, in 2016, Pepe's alt-right career
came to a boiling point.
Hillary Clinton delivered
a campaign speech
in which she referred to half
of Trump's supporters as:
Hillary Clinton: A basket of deplorables.
Narrator: This led to
the creation of a parody
of the "Expendables" movie
poster where the characters
were replaced with conservative figures,
known as "The Deplorables."
And in that lineup,
with Trump and notable
conservative leaders,
was none other than Pepe the Frog.
Roger Stone and Donald Trump Jr.,
who both appeared on the
poster, reposted the image,
stating that they were proud
to be one of the deplorables.
Shortly after this parody circulated,
Clinton's campaign website denounced Pepe
and called it "a symbol
associated with white supremacy."
And in September 2016,
the Anti-Defamation League
officially added Pepe the Frog
to its database of hate symbols.
Since this designation,
we've seen Pepe worn
by self-proclaimed white
nationalist Richard Spencer
and sold as merchandise by Alex Jones,
host of right-wing
conspiracy outlet InfoWars.
But Matt Furie, the creator of Pepe,
has publicly stated his
dislike for Pepe's evolution
and has made efforts to
take back his creation
from the alt-right.
In 2017, he released a one-page comic
where he officially killed
off the lazy green frog.
Furie has also been
involved in legal disputes
with both The Daily Stormer and InfoWars,
which effectively prevented
them from using Pepe
to promote their ideology any further.
But Furie's fight against the alt-right
hasn't stopped other
groups from using the meme.
This time, however, Pepe
has become a symbol of hope
halfway across the world.
In 2019, protesters took
to the streets of Hong Kong
to rally against police brutality
and Hong Kong's extradition bill.
They held signs, graffitied walls,
and messaged stickers with a peculiar,
yet familiar face: Pepe the Frog.
So, how did this lazy green amphibian
become the face of yet
another political movement?
Simply put, Hong Kongers thought
it was just a funny face,
and most didn't know
about its alt-right ties
in the United States.
In the eyes of Hong Kongers,
Pepe existed as a Hello Kitty character.
It looked strange and
was eye-catching enough
to grab attention.
But, most importantly,
it was versatile enough
to become anything they wanted it to be.
For these protesters,
Pepe symbolized the
youthful nature of rebellion
and had nothing to do
with the far-right movement in the West.
In a New York Times
interview by Daniel Victor,
a young Hong Konger noted that symbols
can mean different things in countries
with different cultures.
In the end, she encouraged
other Hong Kongers
to explain to Americans what
Pepe really means to them.
We live in a world where information
spreads almost instantly
and the meaning of images
changes just as fast.
It's about culture and context.
Pepe is the best modern example of this.
But it wasn't the first victim.
The swastika, for example,
is actually considered sacred
in certain Eurasian religions.
It's a significant image meant
to symbolize good fortune and well-being.
But Nazis rebranded this
symbol during World War II
and made it an icon of hate instead.
At least for Pepe, there is hope
that it won't be a hate symbol forever,
because Furie reminds us that
"in the end, Pepe is
whatever you say he is,
and I, the creator,
say that Pepe is love."
