Youth and Slenderman Pop Culture Cult

Slenderman is a piece of popular culture that has impacted the world and its mass following. The rise of Slenderman is an apparent trend that was essentially a mass cult following of this fictitious character. Slenderman is a piece of our popular culture that has had massive amount of media attention that has impacted society in life altering ways that extends much farther than a legend. 

Slenderman and Child

Slenderman is a fictitious character that emerged from the internet and has had massive media since. In 2009, the web forum “Something Awful” held a contest challenging user to edit everyday photographs to appear paranormal (CBS, 2019). Slenderman was created online by Eric Knudson in 2009 as a mysterious specter photo-edited into everyday images of children at play (Richmond, 2018). He has grown into a popular boogeyman and has appeared in video games and online stories. Knudson, the creator of this viral sensation, stated that Slenderman is “something whose motivations can barely be comprehended, and [which caused] unease and terror in a general population” (CBS, 2019). To which is what this dark and mysterious figure has done online by this creator. Slenderman is typically depicted as a slim, spidery figure in a black suit with a featureless white face that preys on children (Richmond, 2018). This figure has impacted social media and popular culture as this virtual character sensationalized and traumatized many of its followers.

Slenderman

This fictional character grew to be one of the most sensationalized character that social media has seen. The Slenderman cult gained millions of followers as well as massive amounts of views to view who and what this online character is. He quickly became a crowd- sourced villain, a supernaturally creepy child snatcher who inspired stories, amateur videos, and video games (Shakford, 2017). The old myths of Slenderman were his victims were often portrayed as being plagued by a “Slender sickness” being paranoia, nosebleeds, and nightmare, then being taken to the woods to be murdered (Chan, 2017). It is a new take on an ancient, cross-cultural tradition of boogeymen, fictional characters used to scare kids into behaving which has taken many spins and impacted many societies (Chan, 2017). Like “sack men” depicted in India, Latin America and across Eastern Europe, he kidnaps and murders children (Chan, 2017). This boogeyman depiction in North America has grown into a fictitious legend that triggered an unsettling horror in a small town that was inspired by this legend.

Slenderman Face

The Slenderman case was just an urban legend turned to sheer horror in a small town of Milwaukee. In late May, in the Milwaukee suburb of Waukesha, Wisconsin, two 12-year-old girls allegedly lured a friend into the woods and stabbed her 19 times (The Girls Who Tried to Kill for Slender Man, 2014). The victim, also 12, managed to crawl to a road, where she lay on the sidewalk with stab wounds in her arms, legs and torso, blood soaking her black fleece jacket, until a bicyclist found her and called 911 (The Girls Who Tried to Kill for Slender Man, 2014). Their motivation? They said they wanted to prove themselves worthy of Slenderman, an evil character who lives only on the Internet (The Girls Who Tried to Kill for Slender Man, 2014). They believed he would hurt their families unless they sacrificed a friend; so they began plotting their attack over the course of several months on their close friend (Chan, 2017). It is not so surprising because when girls do kill, their crimes often devolve into sensationalized pop culture narratives, replete with simplistic explanations and groundless moralizing (The Girls Who Tried to Kill for Slender Man, 2014). “This should be a wake-up call for all parents,” Waukesha Police Chief Russell Jack said in a much-quoted statement. “The Internet has changed the way we live it is full of information and wonderful sites that teach and entertain but can also be full of dark and wicked things” (The Girls Who Tried to Kill for Slender Man, 2014). The Slenderman viral sensation maybe only started out to be a photo contest but has gotten out of hand to which became a cult to these girls and their main motivation to kill.

Slenderman Stabbing

All three girls were 12 years old at the time of the attack. Geyser, now 15, pleaded guilty to attempted first-degree intentional homicide in a deal with prosecutors, who have asked she get at least 40 years in a mental hospital when she’s sentenced in February (Richmond, 2018). Weier, now 16, was sentenced to 25 years in a mental institution last month after pleading guilty to attempted second-degree intentional homicide (Richmond, 2018). This was a disturbing case and realization of how much social media and the age of the internet can impact youth whom are very oppressionable at a young age. Brodsky tries to rise above and weave in issues of mental health and child incarceration, saying that “It was obvious this was a zeitgeist example of how we are adapting” to digital life, she says, while adding that Geyser and Weier “were clearly in a very distressed and disturbing state” (Chan, 2017). This attack and hard realization that this online character had major influence on these girls and their following to this figure had caused severe life altering factors to a young girl.

Funny Slenderman

In conclusion, Slenderman was a fictitious online character that was simply created for an online photo contest but turned into a cultural example of the danger social media can have. That in our society today we must be extremely cautious and aware of the content young children are watching because of the possible dangerous outcomes that could occur. What happened to Payton Leutner was a tragic story of friendship turned to betrayal and on of the most extreme examples of what social media can influence. In today’s day and age, we live in a world of virtual connections that have vast amounts of communication and resources and with that comes the cautious reminders of what is out there on social media that can cause harm to our youth. 

References

CBS. (2019). The Slenderman legend: Everything you need to know. Retreived from https://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/the-slenderman-legend-everything-you-need-to-know/3/

Chan, M. (2017). A bogeyman who drove kids to attempt murder. TIME Magazine, 189(4), 50. Retrieved from https://login.ezproxy.cnc.bc.ca/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=120960252&site=ehost-live&scope=site

[Funny Slenderman] Retrieved from https://gfycat.com/gifs/search/slender+man

Richmond, T. (2018). “Slender Man” movie is “Popularizing a Tragedy,” father of girl convicted in stabbing says. Time.Com, 1. Retrieved from https://login.ezproxy.cnc.bc.ca/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=127218981&site=ehost-live&scope=site

Shackford, S. (2017). Beware the slenderman. Reason, 49(2), 69. Retrieved from https://login.ezproxy.cnc.bc.ca/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=122541201&site=ehost-live&scope=site

[Slenderman] Retrieved from https://giphy.com/gifs/creepy-scary-slenderman-2IQ0XMdMHIrRK

[Slenderman and Child] Retrieved from https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?l=turkish&id=1476133064

[Slenderman Face] Retrieved from https://www.grunge.com/31447/bizarre-things-slenderman-dont-make-sense/

[Slenderman Stabbing] Retrieved from https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/103653228907527332/?lp=true

The Girls Who Tried to Kill for Slender Man. (2014). Newsweek Global, 163(7), 24–39. Retrieved from https://login.ezproxy.cnc.bc.ca/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=97500097&site=ehost-live&scope=site