Dad, Pay Attention To This Post!

Or: Flash Mob Activism, Part Two

A while back, I wrote about worldwide protests outside the Scientology centers in various cities, with a turnout that far surpassed what most had predicted. The protesters went masked, many of them wearing Guy Fawkes masks from the movie V is for Vendetta, as a way of highlighting the Church of Scientology's practice of fair game, which encourages their members to silence "suppressive persons" (people who disagree with them) by any means necessary. The resulting image was iconic, nothing like the protests to which most people have grown accustomed. The signs were all handmade, not printed and passed out en masse. People came not only in masks, but in wild costumes, and there was a party atmosphere. Rather than be angry, Anonymous were having fun.

(There are many photographic essays of the Anonymous protests; I have seen photojournalists remark on their blogs that the protests were a joy to photograph. Here are a few of my favorites: the Laist; tanya-n; Orato.)

After the protest, Anonymous swore that they would return on March 15th, two days after L. Ron Hubbard's birthday, and, in another creepy video, bade the Church of Scientology in a synthesized voice to beware the ides of March. In my previous post, I noted that the ides of March would be the true test of Anonymous; Internet memes generally have a short lifespan, and a month might as well be a decade. Anonymous might lose interest in their cause and turn their attention to LOLcats, or Rickrolling, or other such persuits.

I'm pleased to report that the ides of March have come and gone, and my faith was well placed. In some places, the protests were as large as they had been in February, and in others they were larger. The theme of this protest was a mocking birthday party for L. Ron Hubbard. Some of Anonymous brought cake. Many wore party hats. They sang Happy Birthday. In Sydney, they marched to the beat of (and donated to) a tuba player's version of the Imperial Death March from Star Wars. Again, instead of anger, the same party atmosphere prevailed.

The Church of Scientology was not so friendly; they have done everything they can to stop the protests. In Clearwater, they applied for a restraining order against 26 people who they observed at the February 10th protest. (It's disturbing that they were able to learn who these people were from their photographs, and proves that the masks that Anonymous wear are not only for show.) The judge denied the restraining order, because the Church could not prove that the people who they had named, several of whom were employees of nearby businesses who had nothing to do with the protests, posed a threat to the Church. The Church sent a private investigator to harass one of Anonymous who had not worn a mask, and she had to call the police, and in one case, a man moved into the center of the crowd of protesters and flashed a gun.

The gun incident was the most fascinating thing that I uncovered in my search for news about the March 15th protests. In a standard protest, the reaction to such behavior could have gone one of three ways – either the protesters would have ignored the man, they would have gone to the police, or they would have gotten angry and attacked him. Anonymous did none of these things. Instead, they made a sign that read "this man has a gun". Then, one of their number held up the sign and started to follow the man around. The police noticed, he was questioned, he denied working with the Church of Scientology, and then he promptly returned to the Church building.

The party atmosphere, the costumes, the sometimes amusing handmade signs, and the reaction to harassment and threats reveal a new breed of protester. Here are a bunch of uppity kids who are certain that they're smarter than everyone else. Instead of attacking through anger, they attack through mockery. They are also creative in a way that the previous generation has not shown itself to be; it's not enough just to show up and yell. They show up in costume. They make, edit, and share videos of the event. They use strong iconic imagery in a way that I have never seen it used before.

As more people from the nameless generation that comes after mine come of age, there is going to be a paradigm shift in the way that activists behave, and I firmly believe that it's going to make as much impact on the political and social landscape as the advent of television.

Anonymous is the future. Expect them.