Episode 644 - Psychocast
Jul 17, 2023
We're talking about the pop-culture myth of psychopaths and sociopaths and other stuff like serial killers. Yes those conditions do exist, well sort of (not exactly with those names), but the pop-culture versions we know from the media are mostly myths. The real things aren't as exciting or flashy as the versions we know and love/hate from movies, comic, books, TV shows and podcasts.
Topics and Show Notes
In fact even though people with antisocial conditions we know as psychopathy and sociopathy are over-represented in prisons they still only make up a small part of population there and there are many many more who live free among us and never even think of killing people or committing crimes. Ironically when they DO commit offenses they are not smart about it or devious the way the pop-culture versions are ALWAYS shown because that's not part of the condition. If a deviously, evilly, cleverly planned murder is committed then it's very unlikely to be a psychopath.
We all tend to have the idea that a psychopath is some cold, calculating, very intelligent, evil person. a predatory wolf who observes and preys upon the passive sheep that are the res of humanity… This is pure fantasy and invention. The reality is that psychopaths tend to be less intelligent than most people because the condition they have directly stunts their social interaction and learning ability. They also don't plan out evil schemes because the condition is characterised by a lack of control, impulsivity and an inability to delay gratification. These people are not the evil mastermind super-villains popculture makes them look like, instead they are mentally ill, damaged, and not fully formed. The only thing pop-culture sometimes gets right is the lack of empathy.
Anyway, Tantz is the expert, hear her talk about it on the cast!
What are your fave or least fave things about psychopaths? One of my least favourite shows in Psycho-pass. It's a cyberpunk anime about a police force that uses psychopaths to hunt down criminals because of their “unique” abilities, as well as an all-seeing administrator who controls everything and who has to be a psychopath. They're of course assisted by AI. This is a moronic anime that gets everything wrong about the future and is a total disservice to the entire cyberpunk genre. While Ghost in the Shell is quiet genius, this is simply a fart.
This week Gunwallace has given us the theme to Comfur-Chan - A bouncing, warm piano lead, rock road-trip. Burning down a hot highway, streaking past the scenery at a fair clip. This tune knows where it wants to go and it wants to get there fast!
Topics and shownotes
Links
DSM entry on “psychopaths” - https://www.psi.uba.ar/academica/carrerasdegrado/psicologia/sitios_catedras/practicas_profesionales/820_clinica_tr_personalidad_psicosis/material/dsm.pdf
Featured comic:
Oni x Fox - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2023/jul/11/featured-comic-oni-x-fox/
Featured music:
Comfur-Chan - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Comfur_Chan/ - by Ksteak, rated E.
Special thanks to:
Gunwallace - http://www.virtuallycomics.com
Ozoneocean - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/ozoneocean
Kawaiidaigakusei - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/kawaiidaigakusei
Tantz Aerine - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Tantz_Aerine/
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Next week AI cast
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.
Episode 632 - Star Wars
Apr 24, 2023
We finally gave in to temptation and just started chatting about Star Wars. For our Patreon video we were talking about the idea of pivotal pop-cultural landmarks that changed the cultural landscape in various ways. Star Wars definitely qualifies… but instead of finding other examples we just decided to indulge in a Star Wars only cast. We didn't do more than scratch the surface unfortunately though. It's a cool cultural phenomena and it's something we always refer back to when we talk about story structure. SO please bear with us as we indulge!
Episode 630 - Entitled
Apr 10, 2023
The Quackcast this week is about entitled bossy Karens. In fact it was originally going to BE “the Karencast” but the whole “Karen” thing is a bit sexist and pejorative. So why a Quackcast on overly entitled people then? Well aside from we stealing it from Tantz's newspost on Friday, those kinds of people make great minor villain characters. They can be comic relief baddies but they can also be deceptively dangerous when they really DO have connections to back up their arrogance!
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 614 - Super groups!
Dec 19, 2022
Inspired by Banes we did a Quackcast on SUPER TEAMS! You know those groups like the Justice League, the Avengers, the Suicide Squad, or even Monkey, Pigsy, and Sandy from The Journey to the West (Monkey Magic is my fave version). These are super powerful characters on their own but together they're even more awesome because their strengths and weakness complement each other in interesting ways. DD had its very own super team in the form of the Heroes Alliance, where a lot of DD creators got together to work on a shared universe. And back in the 2000s DD had a “Civil War” even with Keen Space (AKA Comic Genesis), where a huge number of our creators and theirs participated in something like a DC Vs Marvel crossover battle.
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.
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.
