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SciTech

Celdran's protest stunt spawns Internet memes


The debate on the Reproductive Health (RH) Bill rages on in cyberspace in the wake of performance artist Carlos Celdran's recent protest stunt. Celdran's actions have also spawned a variety of internet memes, which are now making their way across the real world as well as in cyberspace. Carlos Celdran, celebrity tour guide and staunch RH Bill advocate, drew widespread attention last September 30 when he staged a protest inside the Manila Cathedral, disrupting the ongoing ecumenical mass that afternoon. Celdran's subsequent arrest drew widespread media attention and spawned the creation of various Facebook Fanpages in support of his actions. The pages showed their support in various ways, ranging from the obvious ("Free Carlos Celdran") to the tongue-in-cheek ("Keep Carlos Celdran In Jail") and even to the absurd ("Just Keep Your Rosaries out of my Ovaries -Señor Carlos Celdran"). These and other pages, such as "Rational Hero" and even Celdran's own personal page, have drawn comments from both sides of the fence all across cyberspace. Interestingly enough, the imagery from Celdran's colorful protest -dressed as he was in a black suit and bowler hat, holding up a sign that said "DAMASO"- has stirred up local pop culture in the real world as well as online. People have been sharing all sorts of materials online, including bumper sticker and t-shirt designs, caricatures, vector art, and motivational poster macros.

Original artwork by Vincent Go
Original artwork by Facebook user Ryan Flores
Original bumper sticker design by Facebook user Danny Legaspi
Original t-shirt design by Facebook user Nicca Lucila Alina
One enterprising young girl even Tweeted Celdran with a photo of shirts she had handmade in support of his cause: @carlosceldran we made shirts at the office today, to support... on Twitpic The "Free Carlos Celdran" Facebook Fanpage, serving as the main front of the growing pop culture movement, continues to attract visitors even after Celdran himself had been set free. As of 7:00pm on October 2, the Fanpage has almost 24,000 fans and counting. - GMANews.TV