It all started out so well. Samuel L. Jackson began a contest on Reddit that would end with him saying a 300-word monologue that the users voted to the top. This was all done to draw attention to “one of [his] favorite non-profits, Alzheimer’s Association[.]” Cool, right? Wrong. 4chan caught wind of it, and the remainder of the contest became a quick descent into madness.
That’s not to say 4chan shouldn’t have been allowed to vote, or even that the moderator should have deleted as much as they did, but gaming the system is still gaming the system. I’m not sure what people expected when Reddit’s basically one giant Internet poll, but this should have definitely been one of the predicted outcomes.
The two major contenders ended up as a motivational alarm clock reading and Navy Seal copypasta, with major 4chan support behind the copypasta. If you’re not familiar with the meme, here’s a pretty good explanation. I wouldn’t exactly describe the ensuing conflagration as Internet warfare, but it’s not far from the mark. In short, the bickering was, and remains, disappointing.
The resulting thread was such a mess that Jackson picked one to read that he “felt was the most badass” in the end. He’s going to read a second, but it’s unknown which will be chosen. Given that he didn’t pick the actual winner the first time, there’s no telling which entry will get the Jackson treatment next.
Here’s the first winning monologue:
(via Reddit)
- We were initially pretty excited for the whole thing
- Internet trolls Mountain Dew
- Gawker has a sordid history with Reddit
