Rainbow Stalin
| Rainbow Stalin |
|---|
| Original YTMND: |
| Rainbow Stalin |
| by Salta |
|
| July 16, 2006 |
| Worthy Spinoffs: |
| Used Music: |
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The Rainbow Stalin fad revolves around a misinterpreted lyric from the 2006 song "All this Love" by the Swedish electronic duo The Similou, interpreting the line "rainbow stylin" as "rainbow Stalin." The fad is thus similar to but not the same as Dew Army sites.
The first site in the fad dates back to July 2006 with the original site, Rainbow Stalin by Salta, but it did not gain momentum as a fad until 2009 with dinosaur10's site Reliving a YTMND memory, which gave Rainbow Stalin new life.
Rainbow Stalin sites typically revolve around the song and an image of Stalin that is usually edited to include colors and ravers, re-imagining the feared Soviet dictator as either a raver or a DJ. While the fad's first trickle of sites predominantly made use of Soviet propaganda art, newer sites have incorporated imagery and styles from other fads (e.g., Dew, CRAPTMND, Reading Rainbow, Get sued by PEZ™, the recent Mike Tyson fad. The "Rainbow" aesthetic itself is probably a derivation of the GAYTMND fad.) Several sites have also featured original remixes of The Similou's "All This Love". An extended loop of the song along with the actual lyrics can be seen in alphasuede's site Red Stalin ruins the rainbow - a sing along.
As with all YTMND fads, opinion is strongly divided on Rainbow Stalin's popularity. Some users despise the fad, claiming it to be unfunny and repetitive. Some users seem to have even taken issue with the fad on ideological grounds, apparently seeing a tacit support or tolerance of Stalin and Communism in the use of Soviet propaganda. Other users have embraced the fad, with some proclaiming it to be the best fad in years. The fad's "rainbow-izing" of Stalinist propaganda is a strong visual hook and a clever subversion of the propaganda's original intent, and the Similou's "All This Love" has insipired original remixes from users. The "Rainbow Stalin" character certainly seems to possess some staying power and has already found himself edited into some truly bizarre fad combos, like this one.
Below is a list of notable Rainbow Stalin sites made since dinosaur10's tribute site (not listed in the Worthy Spinoffs section):
