Episode 643 - Cultcast
Jul 10, 2023
With the release of the new Indiana Jones film comes some questions… We haven't seen it yet but we hear a lot of people don't like it and it's already being called a flop. But is that because it's actually bad, because people want it to be bad, or because it doesn't match people's expectations? What's the real story? It's hard to know at this point.
Topics and Show Notes
That got me thinking about cult classics, which are usually things that don't find an audience right away and instead pick them up over time. And then there are things that only YOU like but everyone else seems to hate for whatever reason. And lastly things that everyone loves but you dislike.
Some of the films we chatted about were Solo, Tank girl, Kinky Boots, The Rocky Horror picture show, Sucker Punch, TRON 1 and TRON and more. Tank Girl was my pick. When it came out it wasn't a big success mainly because audiences didn't know what to makes of it, it wasn't well marketed, it twisted its source material too much so that the relationship with it was thin, and it wasn't mainstream enough to work well as a major release. But along the way it found its own audience on video and DVD because even though it wasn't a good representative of the comic it was based on, it was something special and unique in its own right. Tank Girl is a beautiful representative of mid 90s alt culture and the Riot Grrrl movement. And in the end it was responsible for bringing many new readers to the comic it was based on.
Another film I picked was Sucker Punch. This film was pretty much universally disliked when it came out and is still broadly disliked. I think the main reason was that people were lead to believe it would be a comic book action fantasy film instead of a heavy and heavy-handed physiological allegory about severe mental issues, depression, sexual abuse, trauma, and self sacrifice contrasted with cartoonishly sexy outfits and insane fantasy sequences. Though I really loved it and it's still one of my favourite movies. Over time I believe it has started to find its own particular audience.
What are your fave cult classics? What do you think should be a cult classic. and what do you think does not deserve to be a classic?
This week Gunwallace has given us a theme inspired by Blessed Days - Pale chartreuse blurs in the foreground. Bright light glimmers and sparkles through crystal clear water droplets. Yellow sun rises majestically.Energy infuses the day as the world vibrates ponderously into action once more. Gunwallace has given us an evocative, throbbing piece of highly reflective electronica.
Topics and shownotes
Next week's topic: Psychopaths.
Future cast: TRON and TRON 2
Links
Featured comic:
Nordmand - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2023/jul/03/featured-comic-nordmand/
Featured music:
Blessed Days - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Blessed_Days/ - by InkyMoondrop, rated M.
Special thanks to:
Gunwallace - http://www.virtuallycomics.com
Ozoneocean - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/ozoneocean
Tantz Aerine - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Tantz_Aerine/
Banes - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Banes/
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Episode 642 - Gatekeeping
Jul 3, 2023
Gatekeeping can be a pretty dickish practice… but not in every case. Generally we see it as a social pop culture trend where older established fans of something will try and put down new people and discourage them from joining a fandom. This can stifle a fan community and really kill discourse, not to mention shutting out new members and new perspectives which is actually what a fan community needs in order to flourish and grow.
Episode 641 - Bodycast
Jun 26, 2023
Injuries, especially to the head can be extremely bad but people are hit over the bonce and knocked out in popculture all the time. In violent sports like boxing or MMA it's often a goal, it's a common thing in games too, the “KO” is a staple. In TV shows, movies and comics it's seen as a kind way to deal with an enemy, people will even do it to their very best friends to protect them from going through with some scary activity, often knocking them out and tying them up and then taking their place or something. Knocking people out has become so memed that the fantasy version has replaced the real version and it's even influenced how we think about it.
Episode 640 - Aliens
Jun 19, 2023
We base our images of aliens in comics on aliens in TV shows and movies mostly, because those are the ones we all know. But movie aliens have been generally based on humans because it's less expensive, easier to come up with a costume and makeup for an actor, and it's also easier to make those aliens relatable. “Aliens” even THINK the same as we do, have the same motivations, wants, needs, prejudices, opinions… Almost 100% of the time aliens in media are US, just a weird version of us: distorted reflection.
Episode 625 - Designing Women
Mar 6, 2023
Character design is a fun process but not without its challenges. Do you design the character or their story first? I've followed both of those approaches, they have pluses and minuses. On one hand when you create the character first that can make it a real passion project, you make a cool character and then create a story for them to live in and be themselves. But that can also lead to Mary Sues, wish fulfillment and self inserts, which makes for a weak story. Creating characters to fit a story can sometimes lead to using a lot of stereotypes and ending up with fairly generic and bland characters, which can make for a dull story. So it's best to use a bit of balance and judgment.
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 564 - Happy 2022!
Jan 2, 2022
Happy New Year! It seems we've all decided to keep going on with the 20's so let's continue… Did you know the year 2022 marks 20 years that Drunk Duck has been around? YUP! The site is actually THAT old THIS year! No other comic host is as old and legit as us. They're all little babies. Even Facebook didn't exist when we stated, no iphones, no smartphones, tablets, no Youtube, Twitter, Tumblr, Pintrest, Instagram, Spotify, tiktok and so on. Jeeeeez man, we're freakin GRANDDADDIES of the internet. Even this podcast turns 12 years old this year.
Episode 505 - Character Trajectory!
Nov 15, 2020
Character trajectories are really interesting- in terms of character alignment, like a good guy that slowly turns into a bad guy through a whole bunch of bad decisions and incidents. A great example from popular media is Walter White from Breaking Bad. He starts out as an ordinary guy, but soon sets out on a path that takes him down the road to becoming a super-villian. Characters can start out bad and go good or even good, go bad and then redeem themselves…
