BBC Storyville - Pepe the Frog Feels Good Man (2020)

Pepe the Frog started life in 2005 as a cute cartoon character in Boy's Club, an American indie comic on Myspace. Today, he is known as an international hate symbol after being hijacked by the alt-right. Pepe the Frog Feels Good Man follows Pepe's creator, artist Matt Furie, as he fights to bring back his lovable comic-book character from the dark forces who stole him.

As the internet exploded, memes of the benign and chill frog-dude started sweeping the internet with lightning speed. Once his image found its way into controversial online community 4chan – the anonymous, anything-goes forum rife with misogyny and racism - there was no turning back. Pepe re-emerged from the darkest corner of the internet decorated with swastikas and spewing racist slurs. He was even caught up in Donald Trump's presidential campaign.

Exactly how that happened is a wild journey into the heart of online life today and an exploration of how a character meant to bring joy and fun slowly morphed into something else. Maybe, just maybe, he can change again.

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