In just a few days Holly Fisher has gained 23,000 Twitter followers, been featured in nearly every “news” source and has became, at once, an overnight darling and an overnight joke. But how did she do it?
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If you’ve spent time watching sharks or turtles (in real life or on TV) you’re familiar with the remora. Remora are those little suckerfish that hitch a ride on their host and are therefore able to conserve energy and live in relative safety. While it was once thought that these remora were simply “takers,” research has shown that most species actually help out by eating the dead skin tissue and the parasites that attach to their hosts. Many species of remora also survive by eating the fecal matter of their host.
Here’s what they look like in action:
Holly Fisher, (featured photo, left) posted that photo of herself on Twitter as a way to troll “liberals.” Prior to that she had posted this picture of herself…
…but based on responses she wanted to kick it up another notch. It didn’t take long before said liberals—many of whom are equally entrenched in their team’s ways—fired back, pairing her picture with an eerily similar photo of the international terrorist known as White Widow (real name Sherafiyah Lewthwaite). Gun, Bible. Gun, Quran. Fundamentalism at its terrifyingly finest.
Being the remora is often the goal of trolling. The troll, in this case, Holly, feeds on the fecal matter put out by their host (political or religious dogma), hitches a ride on their hosts massive platform, and tries to reap as much benefit from the ride as possible. History has proven that it’s human nature to be hellbent on adhering to and identifying with teams. It’s an old survival mechanism, but even in the year 2014, when many of us no longer have to worry about such survival and can instead use rational thought, attaching ourselves to those hosts with power (regardless of how absurd they are and regardless of how inauthentic it makes us) still can provide us with massive benefits. We see this daily in politics, in the church, in business and even in our own small day-to-day lives. Nothing draws a crowd like a crowd; nothing feeds a crowd like power.
I’m often asked, as an Exec Editor here at GMP, if I believe 100% in every article we publish. No, I don’t. That said, I almost always believe that such articles are worthy parts to have in our global conversation. It’s my belief that being part of a team shouldn’t necessarily mean you need to align 100% with every morsel of the team. If you do naturally, great. But I suspect there are many that attach themselves to their teams 100% so they can benefit from the ride. Best of luck to you, Holly, on whatever book deals and additional power you may find on your ride. Don’t forget to detach yourself every now and then; you may find authenticity at the taxi stand in Solitude.
Related Read: Better Living Through Everybodyism
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–Photo of Remora: weibunn/Flickr
Here’s a question for Bible readers.
The Old Testament says that a father can sell his daughter to another man, either as a slave or as a wife. So, if Holly’s dad sold her to another man, does she get to keep her weapons, or do they become the property of the man she was sold to?
You fail to understand the difference between Mosaic law and the New Covenant. I’ve noticed you make this same mistake on a regular basis. If you’re going to criticize Christians for what’s in the Bible this is kind of a 101 level of understanding. For the left to equivocate an American citizen who reads the Bible and owns guns with avowed terrorists is the same as people on the right equivocating YOU and your beliefs with the murderous excesses of Mao and Stalin. If it’s good for the goose it’s good for the gander (even the goose is a white… Read more »
And accordingly this is why I didn’t comment … as you said, it’s yet another “outrage fest.”
I’ll let you in on a secret: It ain’t any prettier when your side does it. And they do it all the time.
Anybody got cites for Fisher getting ready to kill people?
There you go injecting reality into another outrage fest.
Ha! Perfectly worded. There was a time when GMP didn’t do stuff like this . Oh well.
No comparison. The woman on the right is far more organized, dedicated, and skilled. The one on the left just slapped a bunch of things together in five minutes on her front porch before hitting the mall later. She’s seems totally lazy compared to the one on the right. The one on the right has clearly given her photo some thought. I appreciate the fact that even though green is not really a good color for her skin tones, she has given some thought to accessorizing along that color theme: green Koran, green flag, green webbing, green fatigues. She is… Read more »
The difference? Well, DUH.
One is a violent-minded zealot, pretending to be a traditionalist, following an extreme version of a Middle Eastern monotheistic Abrahamic religion that began as a small communal following with a charismatic leader, and the other is…..um…..wait a minute……oh.
I see your point.
Ha. Just figured out the difference. The one on the left probably eats pork. The one on the right probably doesn’t. Eat that, liberals! 🙂
Don’t be ridiculous. That’s not the only difference. The book in English is read left to right, the book in Arabic is read right to left.
Did you know that there are Christian Arabs? Their Bibles are in Arabic, and their word for the Christian God is “Allah.” Because in Arabic, Allah means, guess what…God.
One comment and two questions. As a former Boy Scout raised in a highly conservative military household, I can’t help but be extremely offended at the fact that she has hung the American flag improperly. When hung vertically, the blue field with stars should be in the upper left, not the upper right. If one is going to be an obnoxious conservative nutcase, then at least do it properly. I consider her use of the flag to be a desecration of a symbol that I hold dear. (And in Scouts we learned some pretty basic firearms safety, which did NOT… Read more »
The irony is that Fisher overtly looked to provoke a response with her photos and her wording, then tries to portray herself as a victim because she *got* a response.
It’s the politics of the intellectually feeble.
Holly Fisher, like so many other trolls, operates on a very childish level. Instead of a remorah, I see her as an angry little girl shaking her fist at imaginary bullies while clinging to daddy’s pants leg. I doubt very seriously she has any real idea of what a “Liberal” is.
She would be funny and/or pathetic if wasn’t for the assault rifle that she is brandishing.
I’m less worried about the assault rifle than the fact that people like this can (and usually do) vote; these are the people making agenda & policy, these are the people coming up with ‘solutions’ (to their imaginary ‘problems’ and fallacies), these are the leaders and elder statesmen & women of tomorrow. The nation and the world have serious problems- sobering, multi-faceted problems that require serious and insightful deliberation & solution. And THIS is what we get: A flag, a gun, a bible, and a petulant adult-child. It’s disheartening and a bit unnerving. Well, in a democracy, everyone gets a vote- that’s… Read more »
The same criticisms can be made about many of those clever dudes (and dudesttes) in the Guy Fawkes masks who “occupied” Wall Street.
It’s always easier to criticize the behavior or people whose opinions we don’t agree with, isn’t it? And of course, framing those criticisms in psycho-babble makes them carry so much more weight, doesn’t it?
Don’t worry, I’ve made fun of them, too. When it comes to stupidity, I take the Don Rickles approach and generate insults for everyone.