In a major survey about conspiracy theories conducted last year by Public Policy Polling, 4 percent of respondents said they “believe ‘lizard people’ control our societies by gaining political power.” One Binghamton student decided to give these lizards a voice.
Looking for a comedic outlet over the summer, Jeremy Kaplowitz, a senior majoring in economics, created a Facebook page and corresponding Twitter account named “Lizard People of New York,” a parody of the popular “Humans of New York” page. On the page, Kaplowitz posts pictures taken from “Humans of New York” and other similar pages, accompanied by observant, hysterical captions.
The page now has over 15,000 likes, and counting, and has inspired copycat pages like “Lizard People of Fargo,” as well as ones based in Ann Arbor, Gosford, Perth and Champaign-Urbana.
Upon meeting with Kaplowitz, my first and most pressing question was: What in the world are lizard people? Jeremy smiled politely and explained that lizard people — or reptilians (also called reptoids, reptiloids or draconians, according to Wikipedia) — are fundamental to a well-known theory that reptiles rule the world.
Kaplowitz quickly assured me that he doesn’t believe in the theory himself. He did encourage me, however, to learn more about it.
As it turns out, the lizard Illuminati conspiracy theory is actually a thing. David Icke, founder of the theory and former BBC sports presenter, believes he has uncovered evidence that secret shape-shifting lizards disguised as politicians, officials, celebrities and other influential people have turned humanity into a slave race. According to Icke, we are all mindless, robotic slaves trapped in a system of fear.
Kaplowitz says he has always found the reptilian conspiracy intriguing, which is why he used it as the foundation for the “Lizard People of New York” parody.
In his posts, Kaplowitz gives dialogue to the lizard people. For instance, a recent post features a young redheaded girl held in her father’s arms. The father is sporting khaki shorts, Sperry’s and wire-rimmed glasses. The caption reads: “As a challenge, sometimes I like to morph into just the whitest possible person that I can think of.”
Some of the captions also illuminate the existential or day-to-day struggles that lizard people might face. Accompanying a photo of a downcast woman, the text reads, “The only thing I can’t morph into is happy.”
On his page, Kaplowitz insists that Brandon Stanton, who runs “Humans of New York,” steals pictures from him in order to make lizard people appear as humans, as opposed to the other way around.
In an email to Kaplowitz, Stanton ran with the joke and responded in the character of a lizard person writing, “I stole your idea because I am the Lizard King, and I knew that if I started a site called Humans of New York, your site would never be seen as anything other than a parody.”
Kaplowitz wrote that the response was “an attempt to stifle our lizard emotions and to silence our lizard voices” and “clearly an attempt to delegitimize our cause.” He also says he took that email as Stanton’s implicit blessing to use his photos.
Kaplowitz’s ideas for the posts are partially drawn from some of the material in his stand up routines (he’s the vice president of the Binghamton Stand-Up Comedy Club). Recently, many of the captions have become more and more absurd, a tactic to ensure that the page doesn’t become “too one-note.” Jeremy explains that the page “has to evolve,” yet continue to “cater to my own comedic senses.” While it’s fun to have an audience, Jeremy promised the page will always remain his personal comedic outlet.