Surrounded by police, the man is amazed at being arrested, exclaiming: "Gentlemen, this is democracy manifest!"

"Democracy Manifest" (also known as "Succulent Chinese Meal", among other names) is an October 1991 Australian news segment video by reporter Chris Reason. The Guardian, in 2019, called it "perhaps the pre-eminent Australian meme of the past 10 years".[1] YouTube has several postings of the video with more than a million views each.[2]

It features a man who is being arrested[upper-alpha 1] at a Fortitude Valley Chinese restaurant. As the police arrest him, he exclaims various remarks such as "This is Democracy Manifest!", "Get your hand off my penis!", "What is the charge? Eating a meal? A succulent Chinese meal?", and after an aborted attempt by a police officer to headlock him, "I see that you know your judo well."

The video was made on 11 October 1991,[3] but it was not uploaded to the Internet until 2009. A mystery developed about who the man was, with theories centering on Hungarian chess player Paul Charles Dozsa, known for his dine-and-dash exploits. In 2020, an Australian man, later identified as Jack Karlson, appeared in a music video by Australian punk rock band The Chats and revealed himself as the man in the now-viral 1991 video, and has since been regarded as the man by the media.[4] Karlson, who had been a serial prison escapee, was arrested for alleged credit card fraud by the Queensland Police Service, after being wrongly identified as one of Australia's most-wanted criminals. He maintains his innocence.[5]

Synopsis

The video shows an unnamed man being escorted by police out of a Chinese restaurant into a waiting police car. He is clearly agitated by this situation, and when told he is being placed under arrest he exclaims, "I am under what?" As police try to wrestle him into the car, the man says, "Gentlemen, this is democracy manifest." As the scuffle continues, he shouts, "Get your hand off my penis!" and then asks, "What is the charge? Eating a meal? A succulent Chinese meal?" As the police struggle to contain the man, he states, "Ah, yes. I see that you know your judo well." He is then forced into the car, feet-first, while asking someone inside the vehicle, "And you, sir, are you waiting to receive my limp penis?", and bidding bystanders "ta ta and farewell".

History

The video was taped by then-freshman reporter Chris Reason at Seven News.[6] Reason's reporting said that the man was arrested in a case of mistaken identity ("the police thought they'd caught Queensland's most wanted"). Other later sources said he was a dine and dasher, or an international criminal, while officer Dean Biron who attended the scene recalled he was wanted on 19 counts of fraud and receiving stolen goods worth $70,000.[3] The man involved gave his name as Cecil George Edwards, one of several aliases that included Johann Kelmut Karlson and Cecil Gerry Edwards.[7][6] The clip remained obscure until a raw video version was uploaded to the internet in January 2009 when it became an immediate viral video.[1]

The raw footage was missing Reason's voice-over explaining who the man was, or what the incident was about, and internet speculation attempted to resolve the mystery. Theories about the man's identity centered on Paul Charles Dozsa, a Hungarian chess player and notorious dine and dasher,[8][9][10][11] but there were also serious doubts about this theory. Observers asked why the arrest was filmed from so many angles, why it was filmed at all and why the allegedly-Hungarian man did not sound Hungarian. Friends, family and acquaintances of Dozsa also stated that the man in the video was not Dozsa.[12][13][14][15][16] Other theories included that the man was politician John Bartlett, the video was a skit from an unidentified television show, or that the man was a real dine and dasher named Gregory John Ziegler.[17]

The mystery of the man's identity continued until 2020, when Australian punk band The Chats published a music video titled "Dine 'N Dash" that re-created the viral video with an older man acting the part of the arrestee.[18][19] The actor then identified himself in an interview with Sydney Morning Herald as "Cecil George Edwards", the man in the viral video; he was now going by the name of "Jack K". Asked why he made such a show during the arrest, he said he wanted to appear crazy so he might be placed into an asylum where it would be easier to escape. It was also revealed he had an artistic career making paintings, including some of the arrest.[6] That same year, a man only identified as "Mr Democracy Manifest" was interviewed in a video regarding the incident for Sportsbet.[20] In 2021, Seven News covered the story of the arrest, interviewing both Chris Reason and the man arrested in original video, who only gave his name as Jack. When asked for his surname, he jokingly replied "it depends which one you want".[7] The man has subsequently been identified by journalists as Jack Karlson.[21][22]

The Radio National program Earshot broadcast an hour-long biographical documentary on the incident in January 2022.[22] In June 2022, academic Dean Biron, who was one of the arresting officers accused in the "Get your hands off my penis" part of the video, wrote an article about the incident. Biron gave his version of events, such as why the police were making the arrest, stating that, contrary to other reports made, it was not considered a major case. Biron said that after the arrest, the man - who had used the Edwards alias - was held in police custody and then released on bail overnight, and disappeared until his "15 minutes of fame" in 2020, "somehow scrubbed clean of that pesky past".[3]

In 2023, true crime author Mark Dapin published a biography of Karlson titled Carnage: A Succulent Chinese Meal, Mr. Rent-a-Kill and the Australian Manson Murders. He interviewed Karlson and followed leads to other crimes and criminals.[21][23][24]

Influences

Since being uploaded to YouTube in 2009, the video has become a viral hit in Australian culture.[6] When Australian activist Julian Assange was arrested at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London in 2019, comparisons were made between both respective arrests and "it didn't take long for Aussies to all make the same joke".[25]

Mac Miller (under his production alias Larry Fisherman) sampled the video in his 2015 instrumental mixtape Run-On Sentences, Volume Two.[26] In 2019, an orchestral soundtrack to the footage was performed at the Sydney Opera House.[27]

Australian horse racing trainer Chris Waller trains 'Democracy Manifest', a horse owned by Steve Allam,[28] most notable for winning the $150,000 Catanach Jewellers Handicap at Randwick Racecourse on April 15th 2023.[29]

References

Notes

  1. ↑ One journalist states the arrest has never proven to be real, but also provides no evidence it was not real.[2]

Citations

  1. 1 2 Naaman Zhou (30 December 2019). "From iSnack2.0 to Tony Abbott's onions: the best Australian memes of the decade". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
  2. 1 2 Butler, Josh (5 March 2020). "The 'Democracy Manifest' Meme Guy May Not Be Dead, According To The Chats". 10 Daily. Archived from the original on 22 March 2020. Retrieved 22 March 2020.
  3. 1 2 3 Biron, Dean (1 June 2022). "Succulent Chinese meme". The Monthly. Retrieved 2 June 2022.
  4. ↑ Extended Interview: Mr "Democracy Manifest" and his "succulent Chinese meal" | 7NEWS, retrieved 8 January 2024
  5. ↑ Bull, Lawrence (11 February 2022). "His 'Succulent Chinese Meal' rant became a classic meme but the arrested man has a complicated past". ABC Australia. Retrieved 9 November 2022.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Drevikovsky, Janek (8 March 2020). "'This is democracy manifest': Mystery star of viral video found at last". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 19 March 2020.
  7. 1 2 ""This is democracy manifest!" - 7NEWS meets the man behind the "succulent Chinese meal" meme". YouTube. 23 May 2021. Retrieved 7 July 2021.
  8. ↑ Leedham, Nicole (4 May 1995). "Thief served up his just deserts". The Canberra Times. p. 1. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
  9. ↑ Paul Chamberlin (3 November 1988). "Ex-Chef eats on the run again". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
  10. ↑ "Former Chef Fined For 54th Eating Offense". Associated Press. 2 November 1988. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
  11. ↑ Phillips, Daisy (11 June 2016). "VIDEOS The Backstory Behind 'Democracy Manifest' Guy Is As Funny As His Video". Sick Chirpse. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
  12. ↑ Perrie, Stewart (5 March 2020). "Aussie Band The Chats Team Up With The 'Democracy Manifest' Bloke For New Music Video". LAD Bible. Retrieved 20 March 2020.
  13. ↑ Tyler Jenke (16 June 2019). "A succulent Australian mystery: Just who is the bloke in this iconic video?". The Brag. Retrieved 19 March 2020.
  14. ↑ Blair, Tim (7 September 2013). "This Week On The Web". Daily Telegraph. News Limited – via Gale.
  15. ↑ Percival, Tom (12 June 2016). "Story Behind The 'Democracy Manifest' Guy Is Even Funnier Than His Video". UNILAD. Archived from the original on 23 June 2022. Retrieved 22 March 2020.
  16. ↑ Pan, Alexander (6 March 2020). "The Story Behind The 'Succulent Chinese Meal' Guy Is Weirder Than That Cop's Judo". GOAT goat.com.au. Retrieved 20 March 2020.
  17. ↑ Wenger, Charles (8 November 2019). "The Succulent Enigma of Paul Dozsa". Level Up Chess. Retrieved 20 March 2020.
  18. ↑ Smiedt, David (9 March 2020). "Why It's Important To Keep Eating At Asian Restaurants". GQ Magazine. Newslifemedia Pty Ltd. Retrieved 19 March 2020.
  19. ↑ Newstead, Al (6 March 2020). "The Chats want you to enjoy a meal, a succulent sonic meal". ABC Australia. Retrieved 19 March 2020.
  20. ↑ "Meet Mr Democracy Manifest". Sportsbet. 5 March 2020. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
  21. 1 2 Dapin, Mark (28 July 2023). "The brutal truth behind Australia's most famous arrest of 'Succulent Chinese Meal guy' Jack Karlson". The Australian. Archived from the original on 28 July 2023.
  22. 1 2 ""A Succulent Chinese Meal"". ABC Australia. 31 January 2022. Retrieved 8 February 2022.
  23. ↑ Taylor, Belle (28 July 2023). "The wild true story of the prison escapee who just wanted a succulent Chinese meal". PerthNow. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
  24. ↑ Dapin, Mark (2023). Carnage: A Succulent Chinese Meal, Mr. Rent-a-Kill and the Australian Manson Murders. Simon & Schuster Australia. ISBN 978-1761108099.
  25. ↑ Stewart Perrie (12 April 2019). "Aussies All Made The Same Joke After Julian Assange Was Booted From Ecuadorian Embassy". Lad Bible. Retrieved 28 February 2020.
  26. ↑ Mac Miller (30 December 2015). "Run On Sentences, Volume Two". 2:48. Retrieved 9 April 2021 – via SoundCloud.
  27. ↑ Tan, Michael (2 December 2019). "Democracy Manifest with Symphony Orchestra". Retrieved 23 March 2020 – via YouTube.
  28. ↑ Roots, Chris (27 April 2023). "Succulent Chinese deal: Democracy Manifest owner wants to meet viral star". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 17 May 2023.
  29. ↑ "Democracy Manifest Racehorse Profile, Stats, Form Guide, News & Results | Racenet". racenet.com.au. Retrieved 17 May 2023.
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