With reporters rapt but ultimately dismissive of the event, we all moved onto the next viral oddity — mostly. Others are still proposing “storms,” like that of the video-game company convention BlizzCon on Nov. 1 in Anaheim, Calif., to make a serious political statement in a perplexingly lighthearted way.
On the Storm BlizzCon Facebook page, the memes are proliferating. Many feature Winnie the Pooh, banned by Chinese censors after the character has been used to mock the country’s president Xi Jinping.
The memes are funny, like those about rescuing aliens from Area 51, but a lot less fanciful, as they’re talking about an actual oppressive regime, not the possibility of E.T.s in the desert. So far, the event’s poster is calling for a “peaceful protest” of BlizzCon, encouraging attendees to “dress up as Pooh Bear and show the people of China this character again.”
It’s difficult to tell if the post is fully a joke or an off-color way to take a stand. If a peaceful protest stems from it, will it “cheapen a serious matter,” as Mr. Lazar felt Storm Area 51 did for government secrecy?
LDG Station, the Facebook account that posted this event, is also a YouTube channel that has been active for about two years. Its information page reads, “We’re going to entertain you … by any means necessary.”
Its most viewed video (watched almost 39,000 times) was posted on Sept. 20, featuring live footage from Storm Area 51 in Rachel, which people saw from all over the world.
Storming Area 51 brought the channel its highest traffic ever, so why not create similar content to keep people watching?
Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/30/style/storm-area-51-alienstock-blizzcon.html?emc=rss&partner=rss
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