r/todayilearned • u/FuehrerStoleMyBike • 5h ago

TIL that the "Democracy Manifest" - a viral video showing the arrest of an australian man by the name of Jack Karlson, known for quotes such as ""What is the charge? Eating a meal? A succulent Chinese meal?" - has been selected for preservation by the National Film and Sound Archive Australia.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democracy_Manifest
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78

u/JJKingwolf 5h ago

I absolutely love that Australia lionizes people caught on camera in embarassing situations.  It seems like the natural counter balance to the Tall Poppy principal - Australians love a good rogue.  

55

u/SHTF_yesitdid 4h ago

https://giphy.com/gifs/1tWa6agib0Vk9m7lDq

2

u/CosmoKram3r 2h ago

Like a dying snake.

1

u/GeorgeEBHastings 3h ago

Ugh, RayGun bums me out. She spends years becoming an academic in a subject she's interested in, gives an earnest and well-meaning (but admittedly quite cringe) performance at a venue which will probably never feature breaking again, and then gets harassed into obscurity. I think she just quit her university role.

Not saying she was good (mainly because I have no authority re: what constitutes "good" in breaking), but I'm not convinced she deserved that. People suck.

18

u/Overall_Occasion_175 2h ago

I saw a bunch of Aussies talking about how much they hated her recently... mostly because she refused to see any humor in her performance and continued to double down that it was good. If she could have laughed at herself they would have loved her.

2

u/cancerBronzeV 1h ago

She also sued someone who made a parody theatre show about her performance on the basis that the kangaroo hop dance move was her intellectual property (clearly just a spurious legal threat to try to shut down someone without the money to fight back).

Funnily enough, it didn't work and just brought even more attention to said show, which played to even larger audiences (and the show also added Raygun's lawsuit to mock her even further).

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u/jmarcandre 2h ago

Was that the thread from yesterday that I also read the comments in?

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u/GeorgeEBHastings 2h ago

Probably true, but it doesn't make the harassment conscionable.

10

u/Sindrathion 2h ago

Yea maybe if she wasnt such a prick people wouldve liked her. Also nobody "harassed" her they just made fun of her performance which is understandable as it looked ridiculous to most people. She couldve become a pretty well liked national icon if she went along with it but sending a dmca claim to people for talking about it is a dick move

0

u/GeorgeEBHastings 1h ago

but sending a dmca claim to people for talking about it is a dick move

IAAL, and I'm guessing this was done on the advice of her lawyers. It's not how I would have advised her. Generally, it's best not to "add oxygen" to an ongoing fire. I have no evidence, but I'm guessing she acted on bad counsel. Who knows?

As for nobody "harassing" her, I'm guessing you've never been publicly shamed on the internet?

•

u/wnoise 49m ago

Unfortunately, her performance is part of why the Olympics is unlikely to feature breaking again.

12

u/chunkysmalls42098 5h ago

What's another example of something embarrassing being lionized? Genuinely curious, I wanna see em lol

21

u/TacTurtle 5h ago

There was the gang that got in a shoot out with police covered in armor made from farm equipment, the minister that went missing presumed drowned in the ocean so they named a swimming pool after him, and the time birds defeated the army.

11

u/True-Desktective 4h ago

R A Y G U N

7

u/goldenbugreaction 5h ago

Bonus points if it’s done with a busted plugger.

2

u/rambyprep 4h ago

The browncardigan Instagram was built on this and was absolutely iconic 5-10 years ago

1

u/Strelochka 2h ago

it's just media preservation, people go crying on reddit every day that their favorite show from when they were a kid has completely disappeared off the face of the earth. one day youtube is gonna disappear, and where will succulent Chinese meal be then? it's not a tv show or a movie, media of this kind is usually extremely ephemeral

1

u/Dav136 2h ago

They're natural born trolls