Seeing videos of protestors wearing funny costumes and dancing wildly is all fun and meaningless, right? Except it’s not. Sure, frogs dancing around and challenging the National Guard is a silly way to insert humor into a protest, but it is also what’s protecting us.
In the past, we have seen media sources use videos and pictures out of context to frame protestors as violent and anti-American. It was present in Oregon protests and continued with President Donald Trump’s comments on the state of Portland during an Antifa Roundtable on Oct. 8, when he said, “Antifa thugs have repeatedly attacked our officers and laid siege to federal property in an attempt to violently stop the execution of federal law.”
Of course, protesting is a right we are all given, protected by the First Amendment. However, this will not stop the media from sticking Trump’s quote under a picture of regular protestors yelling. The protestors did nothing wrong, but viewers will not know this. How about if that same quote was put under a picture of an inflatable frog holding a “Frogs Together Strong” sign? You would laugh because it is ridiculous to think anyone in a giant costume could really be scary or threatening. This is how the frogs are changing the narrative.
It also serves to confuse authority. Violence against protestors has been a potent issue for a long time, but especially in recent years. Authority knows a violent act against any protestor is wrong, but one against an innocent inflatable unicorn is an indefensible action. It looks bad on camera and damages any sort of justification for violence.
This is not necessarily a new fad or trend; wearing costumes to protests has been around for decades. Examples include women dressed as “Handmaids” to protest threats against women’s rights and members of the Black Panther Party wearing leather suits and berets to convey militancy during the Civil Rights protests. What we are seeing now is an exaggerated, yet simple evolution of the past, and it is being used to defend our First Amendment rights.
Humor is a shield, and it might just be one of the most effective ones. It humanizes us; it makes us laugh, makes us feel for and see others. As we know from historical examples, one of the easiest and best ways to make people turn on each other is to dehumanize certain groups, making one group see the other as less than human. If someone is willing to laugh at a banana costume, they might even be willing to read its sign.
Social media also plays a role in the impact these costumes have. Protestor costumes are not just a combative tool against authority; they are walking ads. People on TikTok, Instagram and X spread funny videos like wildfire. In this day and age, videos of inflatable costumes holding humorous signs up to the National Guard are going to be shared more than pictures from regular protests. Not that those pictures do not spread, but to put it simply, funny content gets people clicking the send or repost button.
I have seen comments floating around about the possibilities of these costumes diluting the message protestors are trying to get across, and while I understand that point, humor draws attention, inspires others and keeps morale high. The idea of making protests desirable, fun and engaging inflates the cause and draws in more people to rally for change.
Unicorns, frogs and dinosaurs are not weakening the protests or “memeing” the cause; they symbolize resilience and open doors for new forms of protest. If anything, this has highlighted the idea that the best way to fight ridiculous power is with ridiculous costumes.
