Episode 605 - Myth of Freedom
Oct 17, 2022
“Freedom” is the catch cry in so much historical fiction but it's usually an anachronistic piece of nationalist fantasy. You fought for your lord, for pay, your honour, your small region, etc, not for “Scotland” (i.e. Bravehert). Even today it's generally propaganda: e.g. The Invasion of Iraq being called “Operation Iraqi Freedom” and Russia's invasion of Ukraine being all about “freeing” the Russian speaking areas from “oppression”. We alter historical stories to fit with contemporary ideas about ourselves and to give us some form of foundation for our prejudices, motivations and identity. Good examples are the Arthurian legends, Gladiator, Braveheart, The Patriot, Robin Hood, The stories about Christopher Columbus, The 300, and The Woman King.
Topics and Show Notes
Controversy from the African community about the movie “Woman King” (we have not seen it) is a good recent example. It's about an all female fighting force in Africa in 1823 that fought European slavers, based on historical events. But the real historical tribe were actually slavers themselves. They didn't fight white slavers and “freedom” was never their goal. This very stark disconnect is interesting.
In other respects this film seems to be a much needed positive take on African identity, feminism, and the important and significant role of black women in history, if slightly “alternative” history in some respects, like Inglorious Basterds.
I can't comment more because I've not seen the film and do not know enough about the subject. I will link to people who do. Suffice to say that with historical tales we often reformat them in our own image in order to support our identity (see religion), Woman King is a good recent example, but it's not bad or unusual because of that.
This week Gunwallace has given us the theme to Forest Reckoning - Creepy atmospheric sounds fading in and out of the grey mists surrounding you. Are they the ghosts of lost children or are they the calls of tiny playful forest spirits as they dodge and tease and attempt to lure you deeper into the mysterious depths of the dark shadowy woods?
Links:
The Woman King: the Truth About Slavery Matters, Tafi Mhaka, Al Jazeera - https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2022/10/7/the-woman-king-the-truth-about-slavery-matters
Woman King is Worth Watching: But Be Aware That its Take on History is Problematic, Dominique Somda, The Conversation - https://theconversation.com/woman-king-is-worth-watching-but-be-aware-that-its-take-on-history-is-problematic-191865
The Woman King: True History Agojie Dahomey Slave Trade, Yoonji Han, The Insider - https://www.insider.com/the-woman-king-true-history-agojie-dahomey-slave-trade-2022-9
Topics and shownotes
Featured comic:
Bobby Carter: Creephunter - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2022/oct/11/featured-comic-bobby-carter-creephunter/
Featured music:
Forest Reckoning - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Forest_Reckoning/ - by Dpat57, rated T.
Special thanks to:
Gunwallace - http://www.virtuallycomics.com
Ozoneocean - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/ozoneocean
Tantz Aerine - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Tantz_Aerine/
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Episode 604 - Stylised reality
Oct 10, 2022
When creating fiction we always have to stylise experience in many and various ways in order to communicate with the viewer in a way that's meaningful to them because it's usually impossible to simply show them the exact reality of something and expect that same meaning to carry through.
Episode 603 - Players, Cads, and "fun" boys
Oct 3, 2022
We are talking about the trope of the Cad, AKA the Player. F***boys are their little scrappydoo kid-brothers, we call them “fun” boys for obvious reasons… It's a fun trope which is often exaggerated for comedic effect but actually comes from a very real thing! There are a lot of famous pop-culture versions though like Barney Stinson, Pepe Le Pew, James Bond, and The Continental.
Episode 601 - /rant
Sep 19, 2022
If something affects or disturbs you so much that you want to respond to it through a story that you write, that can be a pretty powerful form of inspiration! But it depends on how you handle it. For example, Stephan King's acclaimed novel Misery was inspired by nasty interactions he had with fans after he published a fantasy novel. This story was very well received and even turned into a popular movie. And then there are other ways to handle it…
Episode 599 - Badaptations
Sep 5, 2022
Source material is something that we can love and respect, but it's just as often disregarded, degenerated, and denigrated, especially these days where it seems like everything you see is an adaptation or even an adaptation OF an adaptation or worse. I think it's important to go back to the sources so you can see what was truly great about the original to begin with. It can help you see what was lost in the adaptations and to discover new and important meanings and ideas that you never would have guessed at.
Episode 598 - 2D or not 2D!
Aug 29, 2022
What makes a character two dimensional? What makes them three dimensional? Does it matter that they only have two dimensions to them? This was an idea that GeekyGami posed and so we thought we'd explore it in the cast. My own theory is that a character that is purely archetypal, tropeish, or cliche, with everything about them flowing from that archetype, and they never go beyond their archetypal traits- that makes them 2D.
Episode 597 - Revelations!
Aug 21, 2022
Today we're talking about a technique in storytelling that we're calling the “revelation”. Inspired by Banes doing an article on the weird trope in movies of having a character discover newspaper stories about the villain that suddenly reveal the true stakes of the story and kick things into high gear. There are other types of revelation in stories though and they're used in different ways.
Episode 593 - Risky Business
Jul 25, 2022
The risks of online creative success We live in a wonderful time where you're able to turn your creative passion into a job that can support you just by using freely available online services like YouTube, Spotify, Instagram, Patreon, Ebay, Paypal, Etsy, Webtoons etc. You can start with nothing more than your computer or phone and end up with a thriving business based on your passion project. It's not easy, achieving enough success where you can quit your day job still tends to take a lot of work, but once you get there it can be amazing. However, that's not the end of the story unfortunately.
