Feels Good Man (2020)

Director: Arthur Jones
Runtime: 92 minutes

Synopsis: Artist Matt Furie, creator of the comic character Pepe the Frog, begins an uphill battle to take back his iconic cartoon image from those who used it for their own purposes.

Verdict: The internet can be a wonderful place. It can be an infinite source of information and entertainment, a platform where billions of people around the world can connect, meet, or share their ideas. It's an essential tool to have in this day and age, one whose importance is exponentially growing with time. But, unfortunately, there's a dark side that comes with it, and that's the main focus of Arthur Jones' documentary "Feels Good Man".

Matt Furie had no idea that his innocent creation would change the world as we know it. When he drew the character of Pepe the Frog, he was using the animation format to bring back to life memories of his. MySpace, at the time, allowed him to share his work with the world.

One day, out of nowhere, he found out that his little amphibian became an overnight sensation, becoming one of the very first registered memes. He wasn't sure how to react to that information, so he just allowed it to happen. I mean sure, his drawing was being used by thousands of people around the world without his permission, but hey, it was harmless and all in good faith, right? Well, not for much. Pepe's image was tainted when it suddenly became an icon of antisemitism, white supremacy, or xenophobia, as well as a dominant player in the 2016 US elections. He became a mascot for the alt-right and spawned several beyond offensive posts on 4chan, to the point where the ADL officially added him to its hate symbols database. A rightfully-so devastated but optimistic Matt attempted to kill what his character had become with the #SavePepe campaign but soon realized how harsh the internet can be in cases like this one.

"Feels Good Man" chronicles the crazy journey of Pepe and his creator. It was an illuminating watch but also a surprisingly sad one, backed by some great animation to visualize the comics referenced. I couldn't help but feel bad for Matt and his entourage, who certainly did not deserve to go through the mediatic war initiated by Pepe, who was created purely for fun and innocent reasons. Giving this very intriguing and fascinating documentary a shot and understanding the history of the infamous meme is a small but necessary step to restore justice, and I recommend doing that not only for that reason but also because it's legitimately one of the better-crafted ones that tackle the internet's dark side.

FINAL GRADE: 7/10