| Feels Good Man | |
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| Directed by | Arthur Jones |
| Produced by |
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| Distributed by | Giant Pictures |
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Running time | 92 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Feels Good Man is a 2020 Americandocumentary film about theInternet memePepe the Frog. Marking the directorial debut of Arthur Jones, the film stars artistMatt Furie, the creator of Pepe. The film follows Furie as he struggles to reclaim control of Pepe from members of thealt-right who have co-opted the image for their own purposes. The film premiered at the2020 Sundance Film Festival and won a U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award for Emerging Filmmaker. It was also nominated in the U.S. Documentary Competition at Sundance.[1] Sometime in the 2020s, ranging from 2023 to 2024, the film was added toFAST servicePluto TV in Canada.
Pepe the Frog, a character created by Matt Furie and first featured in a comic onMySpace calledBoy's Club, is one of four twentysomething postcollegiate slacker friends who live together.[2][3] In one installment, Pepe is caught by one of his housemates with his pants around his ankles, urinating.[2] Asked why, he replies, "Feels good man".[2] The image becomes a viral Internet meme and is co-opted by the alt-right.[2][4]
Furie attempts to take Pepe back from the alt-right who have turned him from a cartoon character into a symbol for hate.[2] The film deals with the question of whether Pepe can be redeemed.[5][6][7] Thecoda of the film alludes to Pepe's appropriation by pro-democracy demonstrators during the2019–2020 Hong Kong protests.[8]
Feels Good Man is the directorial debut of Arthur Jones.[4][8] Jones described the film as:[4]
The movie is really about him negotiating that uncomfortable reality for himself, [...] Matt's personal journey really makes the movie really unique that I hope a lot of people find satisfying for a lot of reasons.
Jones, who was also film editor, finished the edit two days prior to the premiere at the Sundance Film Festival.[4] He described the editing process as a "slow-rolling panic attack", but said he was looking forward to showing the film at the festival.[4]
As of early February 2020 the film was seeking distribution.[9] It also appeared as part ofPBS'sIndependent Lens.[10] In October 2020, it was broadcast onBBC Four as part of itsStoryville series.[11]
On thereview aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 95%, based on 81 reviews, with an average rating of 7.7/10. The website's consensus reads, "A cautionary tale on internet culture,Feels Good Man is a compelling look at an artist's journey to salvage his creation."[12] OnMetacritic, the film has aweighted average score of 79 out of 100, based on 18 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[13]
Nick Allen ofRogerEbert.com wrote: "Jones' movie is a beacon of internet literacy about a whole new language—that memes are flexible, omnipotent, and pieces of a phenomenon more powerful than their creators".[5]Vox Media'sPolygon called it "the most important political film of 2020".[9] Nathan Matisse ofArs Technica said the film "reminds viewers time and time again of a basic communication and rhetorical studies principle: no matter the intent of someone who puts a message into the world, once it's out there, that idea/work/message/whatever no longer entirely belongs to the messenger. Some part of meaning always lies in reception."[14]
Feels Good Man won a U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award for Emerging Filmmaker at theSundance Film Festival and wonan Emmy Award in 2021 for Outstanding Research: Documentary.[15][16] It was also nominated in the festival's U.S. Documentary Competition.[17][18]
| Award | Year | Category | Result | Ref(s). |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cleveland International Film Festival | 2020 | Ad Hoc Docs Competition | Nominated | [19] |
| Sundance Film Festival | U.S. Documentary Competition | Nominated | [17] | |
| U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award for Emerging Filmmaker | Won | [15] | ||
| Lighthouse International Film Festival | Best Feature-Length Documentary | Won | [15][20] | |
| B3 BEN Award of theB3 Biennial of the Moving Image | Best Documentary | Won | [15][21] |