Episode 631 - Entitlements
Apr 17, 2023
What rights are people actually entitled to? That question is a lot bigger than you think! The Quackcast today is sequel to last week's about entitled people, this one is about actual entitlements- what people SHOULD be entitled to. i.e. rights and such. It's a topic that Banes and Tantz really wanted to do and my purpose was to link it to writing and comics (not just theory and politics), which I think I did ok. This topic turned out to be very interesting.
Topics and Show Notes
Why are entitlements important? Well they inform the basic structure of any relationship between two people and any imbalance in the entitlements actually received VS those that are given is cause for conflict. At a societal level the community should all expect basic rights, if those break down or are removed this can have a shocking, drastic effect- as in Maus, A Handmaid's Tale, or Persepolis.
A red flag for bad writing is when the creator doesn't understand that people in a society have basic rights, as in something like the Deathwish, or Dirty Harry franchises- those are exciting rightwing revenge films but the worlds they depict feel totally “off” and not right somehow, as in a fantasy, because people's basic rights in those movies are suspended at will. The only way they make sense is if you see them as tales by an unreliable narrator; i.e. this is the world as the protagonist sees it, a serial killer perspective.
Different sorts of worlds have different kinds of entitlements based on their structure. Fahrenheit 451 or Logan's Run depict worlds bizarre to us because they're built very differently, one around the criminalisation of recorded knowledge and wisdom, and the other based on extreme ageism, but they are believable and make sense because people have rights and entitlements within those worlds.
Superhero worlds rarely address this aspect of story, what happens to people's entitlements when there are those who have the power of a god? What would happen to the insurance industry? To rescue workers? To the legal profession?
Banes took this topic right down to the ant's eye view:
What to do if you're being bullied at work, or school? What to do when someone's being rude. When someone embarrasses you, or tries to embarrass you, or belittles you? What to do in a disagreement? What are your entitlements in those situations? All that describes the seeds of conflict and suggest action needed to address that conflict
This week Gunwallace has given us a theme inspired by Guardians of Man - CHA-CHa-Cha-cha… serial killer, slasher music sounds.Echoing reverb on isolated percussion and creepy electronic, scene setting sounds all weave together to create this unsettling landscape of terror. THE KILLER IS BEHIND YOU!
Topics and shownotes
Links
Featured comic:
Gamma Blue Smoldering of Creel - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2023/apr/11/featured-comic-gamma-blue-smoldering-of-creel/
Featured music:
Guardians of Man - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Guardians_of_Man/ - by Gumshoecomix, rated M.
Special thanks to:
Gunwallace - http://www.virtuallycomics.com
Ozoneocean - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/ozoneocean
Banes - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/banes
Tantz Aerine - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Tantz_Aerine/
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Episode 626 - I didn't do nuthin'
Mar 13, 2023
Today we talk about an unusual type of villain, a secret type of bad guy and a particularly nasty one: the person who maliciously does nothing. This is a person who COULD intervene to resolve a dire situation or save someone, they could do it easily; they know how, they have the means, they're not scared or unsure, and it doesn't mean much risk to themselves, they just choose to sit back and watch the person die or the situation collapse… either because they know the result will benefit themselves or they're just curious to watch the person die or the everything turn to crap for the victim or whatever. Either way they COULD easily intervene but they choose not to.
Episode 622 - Whaddaya take me for?
Feb 12, 2023
This is when the writer leads you to think something big has happened in the story, like a character dying or falling in love or winning a big prize or something, only to have the character alive in the next part, or the prize or love never mentioned or addressed- this is “schmuck bait”. The writer gets you invested and excited for something but cops out, leaving the audience frustrated and cynical. This was common in older episodic things where the episodes are intended to be seen in any order, so the writers couldn't have continuing arcs and development across a season. It's also common in bad writing where the writer builds things up a lot for an events but then loses their nerve or just doesn't posses the skills to properly resolve things.
Episode 620 - losers are human too
Jan 30, 2023
My idea was to talk about social pariah characters, people who it's socially acceptable to laugh at, despise, or even hate. They can be the uncool people, the dorks, the dags, the idiots, the overweight, the ugly, the old, the out of touch, the over the hill… On the extreme end they could be monsters and criminals. Generally they're written pretty two dimensionally as a collection of cliches, but when the writing goes beyond that to lend them humanity is when it goes to the next level.
Episode 615 - Happy Christmas!
Dec 26, 2022
Happy Life Day! Hahaha! Merry Christmas for 2 days ago… This week we're talking about the “Christmas specials” that populate entertainment media this time of year. No particular reason for it, it's just because it's seasonal! It's not always Christmas focused there are the occasionally hanukkah things as well, and in the northern hemisphere this is the season for traditional winter festivals afterall.
Episode 613 - 1930
Dec 12, 2022
The 1930s were quite a uniquely influential time for a number of reasons. The 1930s were the very last days of the old world before the new one was born in the apocalypse of the 1940s. Old empires, kings, colonialism- forces that had shaped the planet for decades were about to be shattered for the good, thankfully. New technologies were on a rapid rise as things were spiraling closer and closer to global war, Air travel was becoming a reality even as the old ocean liners were still the main means of transportation connecting the continents, people were building cites around the realities of car travel. Cinema had changed drastically with the advent of the talkies. and so much more!
Episode 612 - Comfort food for the brain
Dec 5, 2022
There are times when you need to give your brain a bit of a break, that's when comfort shows come in handy! Movies and TV shows you can watch again and again- you can appreciate them every time and they don't get old. The tension never gets too much for you because you already know what's going to happen. You can just relax and enjoy the familiar story, revelling in the company of characters you know and visiting their world once more. They're great for creating to as well because you don't have to worry about missing anything important.
Episode 602 - It's my turn now bitches!
Sep 26, 2022
What happens when the victim becomes the victor? Most of the time it's like the classic line from The Who “Meet the New Boss, Same as the Old Boss”, typically revolutions (and elections), that promise change don't really deliver, the new people use it as a chance to get revenge on their enemies, take advantage of things the same as the last guys, and do everything they can to cling to power. The true exceptions are rare and special, i.e. Vaclav Havel and the Velvet revolution.
