Florida Man Explained
Florida Man is an Internet meme first popularized in 2013,[1] referring to an alleged prevalence of people performing irrational or maniacal actions in the U.S. state of Florida. Internet users typically submit links to news stories and articles about unusual or strange crimes and other events occurring in Florida, with stories' headlines often beginning with "Florida Man..." followed by the main event of the story.[2] Because of the way news headlines are typically written, they can be creatively interpreted as implying that the subjects of the articles are all a single individual known as "Florida Man".
The Miami New Times claimed that freedom of information laws in Florida make it easier for journalists to acquire information about arrests from the police than in other states and that this is responsible for a large number of news articles.[3] A CNN article on the meme also suggested that the breadth of reports of bizarre activities is due to a confluence of factors, including public records laws giving journalists fast and easy access to police reports, the relatively high population of the state, its highly variable weather, and gaps in mental health funding.[4]
Origin
The meme originated in February 2013 with the now abandoned[5] Twitter account @_FloridaMan, which quoted notably strange or bizarre news headlines containing the words "Florida man", such as "Florida man run over by van after dog pushes accelerator" or "Police arrest Florida man for drunken joy ride on motorized scooter at Walmart".[2] The account referred to "Florida Man" as the "World's Worst Superhero"[1] [2] [6] jokingly implying the headlines are not a variety of people but a single prolific suspect.
Spread
Before the creation of the meme, the state of Florida had already garnered a colorful reputation on the Internet, with the social aggregation site Fark hosting a "Florida" content tag in the years before the Twitter account @_FloridaMan appeared.[1]
After the creation of the account in January 2013, and its ensuing popularization on social media sites such as Reddit and Tumblr, initially through the subreddit "r/FloridaMan" and the Tumblr blog "StuckInABucket", the meme was featured in numerous news articles and stories throughout February 2013.[7] [8]
'Florida Man' was also referred to in the opening episode of Season 2 of the FX show Atlanta as a sinister entity, referred to by Darius as an "alt-right Johnny Appleseed" who commits a variety of strange crimes in Florida as part of a plot to prevent Black people from voting, portrayed by Kevin Waterman.[9]
On November 1, 2018, Desi Lydic of The Daily Show filed a report comedically investigating the phenomenon of "Florida Man".[10]
In 2018, IO Interactive released the stealth action video game Hitman 2. In the game's second level, set in Miami, Florida, the players can disguise themselves as "Florida Man", an owner of a local food stand. The player can use this disguise to poison and eliminate their target.[11] The character of Florida Man also makes an appearance in a level set in Berlin, Germany in Hitman 3, where the player can again take his disguise.[12]
A play titled "Florida Man" by Michael Presley Bobbitt premiered July 31, 2019, at New York's Theatre Row Studios.[13]
The "Black Judas" who turns in the title characters for reward money in Queen & Slim (2019) and played by Bertrand E. Boyd II, is credited as "Florida Man".
On October 31, 2019, Donald Trump, then president of the United States, was reported as changing his main residence from New York City to Palm Beach, Florida, the location of the Mar-a-Lago resort he owns and frequently visits.[14] [15] Sources joked about Trump becoming "Florida Man",[16] [17] including The Daily Show, which released an extension for Google Chrome and Firefox that changed all instances of Trump's name to "Florida Man".[18] On October 24, 2020, during his rally for presidential candidate Joe Biden in Florida, former President Barack Obama mocked Trump, saying, Florida Man' wouldn't even do this stuff", referring to Trump's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and his handling of domestic and foreign affairs.[19]
American classic rock band Blue Öyster Cult referred to the phenomenon in the song "Florida Man" on their 2020 album The Symbol Remains.[20]
The maintainer of the Twitter account @_FloridaMan stated in 2019 that he had "retired" from creating tweets at that account.[21]
Republican U.S. Representative from Florida, Matt Gaetz has embraced the moniker "Florida Man" for himself, including in his Twitter bio, and with his "Florida Man Freedom Tour" in 2021.[22] [23] [24] [25]
On November 16, 2022, the New York Post reported Trump's 2024 presidential campaign announcement on the front page as "Florida Man Makes Announcement",[26] proceeding to mock the former president on page 26 referring to Mar-a-Lago as containing his "classified-documents library".
In March 2023 Netflix announced a streaming television limited series titled Florida Man from showrunner (and Florida native) Donald Todd, starring Edgar Ramírez as a disgraced ex-policeman who is forced to return to his native Florida in search of a mobster's missing girlfriend.[27]
A Florida Man Games event took place in 2024 in St. Augustine, Florida.[28]
"Florida Man Birthday Challenge"
Becoming popular in 2019 and periodically resurfacing on social media sites like Reddit is a variation of the meme,[29] dubbed the "Florida Man Birthday Challenge," in which people search the date of their birthday followed by "Florida Man" on a search engine with the goal to find bizarre news reports involving a "Florida Man" on that date.[30] [29]
Reception
The meme has widely been seen as a confirmation of the association between the state of Florida and bizarre or humorous activity, and has been compared to the Darwin Awards.[31] The meme was criticized by Columbia Journalism Review, which called it "one of journalism's darkest and most lucrative cottage industries," where "stories tend to stand as exemplars of the mythical hyper-weirdness of the Sunshine State, but more often simply document the travails of the drug-addicted, mentally ill, and homeless."[32]
See also
- List of Internet phenomena
Further reading
External links
- Florida Man on Reddit
- Web site: Florida Man . News Aggregator . dead . May 7, 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150507074508/http://www.floridum.com/.
Notes and References
- News: Lacapria . Kim . Florida Man Is Twitter's 'Worst Superhero' . December 5, 2014 . Social News Daily . February 21, 2013 . November 5, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20201105200247/https://socialnewsdaily.com/9473/florida-man-is-twitters-suckiest-superhero/ . live .
- News: Siegel. Robert. 'Florida Man' On Twitter Collects Real Headlines About World's Worst Superhero. December 4, 2014. National Public Radio. February 14, 2013. May 4, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220504075706/https://www.npr.org/2013/02/14/172034470/florida-man-on-twitter-collects-real-headlines-about-worlds-worst-superhero. live.
- Web site: How Florida's Proud Open Government Laws Lead to the Shame of "Florida Man" News Stories. Kyle Munzenrieder. Miami New Times. May 12, 2015. February 9, 2016. June 13, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220613043205/http://www.miaminewtimes.com/news/how-floridas-proud-open-government-laws-lead-to-the-shame-of-florida-man-news-stories-7608595. live.
- Web site: Googling 'Florida man' is the latest internet fad. Let's explore why so many crazy stories come out of the state. CNN. Michelle. Lou. Alanne. Orjoux. March 22, 2019. March 23, 2019. May 9, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220509195054/https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/22/us/florida-man-google-challenge-trnd/index.html. live.
- News: Is it okay to laugh at Florida Man? . 2023-08-07 . Washington Post . en . July 15, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190715170347/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/magazine/wp/2019/07/15/feature/is-it-okay-to-laugh-at-florida-man-2/ . live .
- News: Alvarez. Lizette. 2015-05-11. @_FloridaMan Beguiles With the Hapless and Harebrained. en-US. The New York Times. 2021-11-26. 0362-4331. November 26, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211126071513/https://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/11/us/both-hapless-and-harebrained-florida-man-enlivens-internet.html. live.
- News: Zimmerman . Neetzan . 'Florida Man' Personifies Everything That's Messed Up About Florida . December 5, 2014 . Gawker . Gawker Media . February 11, 2013 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20141207051208/http://gawker.com/5983374/florida-man-personifies-everything-thats-messed-up-about-florida . December 7, 2014.
- News: Davis . Lauren . Florida Man is the nation's worst superhero . December 5, 2014 . io9 . Gawker Media . February 10, 2013 . December 7, 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20141207102959/http://io9.com/5983115/florida-man-is-the-nations-worst-superhero . live .
- FX Networks . Atlanta Season 2 Ep. 1: Florida Man Scene FX . March 2, 2018 . . September 14, 2018.
- Who is "Florida Man"? Desi Lydic Investigates . Comedy Central . The Daily Show . . November 2, 2018 . February 10, 2019.
- Web site: 'The Munchies - Hitman 2 Wiki Guide . IGN . November 28, 2018 . June 12, 2022 . June 13, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220613012832/https://www.ign.com/wikis/hitman-2/The_Munchies . live .
- Web site: Meluso . Maria . How to Knock Out Florida Man in Hitman 3 (Coconut Surprise Challenge) . Screen Rant . February 7, 2021 . Valnet . 13 June 2022 . June 13, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220613013857/https://screenrant.com/knock-out-florida-man-hitman-3-coconut-surprise-challenge/ . live .
- Web site: 'Sunshine State has weirdness for everyone.' So he's taking 'Florida Man' Off-Broadway . Cohen . Howard . . June 12, 2019 . June 13, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190613150354/https://www.miamiherald.com/news/state/florida/article231467143.html . live .
- News: Trump, Lifelong New Yorker, Declares Himself a Resident of Florida . Haberman . Maggie . October 31, 2019 . . December 9, 2019 . 0362-4331 . February 5, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200205155934/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/31/us/politics/trump-new-york-florida-primary-residence.html . live .
- Web site: Trump changes primary residence to Florida . Axelrod . Tal . October 31, 2019 . . December 9, 2019 . December 9, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20191209201930/https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/468453-trump-changes-primary-residence-to-florida . live .
- Web site: Donald Trump Is Officially a Florida Man . Hannon . Elliot . November 1, 2019 . . December 9, 2019 . December 8, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20191208041836/https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2019/11/donald-trump-is-officially-florida-man.html . live .
- Web site: Trump, Now a Florida Man, Makes Home State Center of Campaign . . Allison, Bill . Parker, Mario . November 25, 2019 . December 9, 2019 . December 9, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20191209190409/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-11-25/trump-now-a-florida-man-makes-home-state-center-of-campaign . live .
- Web site: 'Florida man' browser extension pokes fun at Trump, Sunshine State . Darrah . Nicole . November 5, 2019 . . December 9, 2019 . December 12, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20191212182632/https://www.foxnews.com/us/florida-man-trump-state-browser-extension . live .
- News: Obama Mocks Trump at Miami Biden Rally: 'Florida Man Wouldn't Even Do This Stuff' . October 24, 2020 . . Benjamin . Fearnow . October 25, 2020 . October 29, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20201029195745/https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/obama-mocks-trump-at-miami-biden-rally-florida-man-wouldn-t-even-do-this-stuff/ar-BB1amxo1 . live .
- Web site: Blabbermouth . 2020-08-15 . BLUE ÖYSTER CULT Unveils Details Of First Album In Nearly Two Decades, 'The Symbol Remains' . 2024-04-10 . BLABBERMOUTH.NET . en.
- News: Logan. Hill. Is it okay to laugh at the Florida man meme?. The Washington Post. July 15, 2019. July 16, 2019. July 15, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190715170347/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/magazine/wp/2019/07/15/feature/is-it-okay-to-laugh-at-florida-man-2/. live.
- News: 'Florida Man' Matt Gaetz Spends Almost No Time in His Florida District. Paul. Blest. Vice News. August 12, 2021.
- News: Congressman Matt Gaetz kicks off his 'Freedom Tour' in Brevard. Emily. Walker. Florida Today. July 31, 2021.
- News: Who is Matt Gaetz? The congressman who led the ouster of Kevin McCarthy. Lauren. Gambino. The Guardian. October 3, 2023.
- News: Gaetz Teases 2024 Run With Trump: 'Florida Man Energy'. Katherine. Fung. Newsweek. October 31, 2022.
- Web site: Rupert Murdoch's New York Post Trolls 'Florida Man' Trump With Page 26 Burn . November 16, 2022 . . November 18, 2022 . November 18, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221118080451/https://www.huffpost.com/entry/new-york-post-donald-trump-front-page_n_6375de29e4b0283a8d182564 . live .
- Web site: Lee, Stephan. "'Florida Man' Will Go Beyond the Meme This April" Netflix press release; March 3, 2023 . . March 5, 2023 . March 5, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230305230339/https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/florida-man-release-date . live .
- News: Russ. Bynum. At the Florida Man Games, big crowds cheer competitors evading police and wrestling over beer. Associated Press. February 24, 2024. February 26, 2024.
- News: Carillo . Brenno . Florida man birthday challenge website provides long catalog of iconic headlines . 24 April 2024 . . 27 July 2023.
- News: Arnett . Kristen . "Florida Man," explained . 24 April 2024 . . 18 September 2023 . en.
- News: Holt . Kris . "Florida Man" is pretty much the worst person ever . December 5, 2014 . The Daily Dot . February 8, 2013 . December 9, 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20141209182232/http://www.dailydot.com/society/florida-man-twitter-headlines-terrible/ . live .
- News: Norman . Bob . Who Is Florida Man? . November 1, 2019 . Columbia Journalism Review . May 30, 2019 . December 8, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20191208075206/https://www.cjr.org/business_of_news/florida-man-news.php . live .