302. Directorpiece Theatre: Doctor Strange, The Spiderverse, & White Supremacy (Feat. Michael Swaim)
Added 2020-07-20 13:01:02 +0000 UTC
Michael Swaim stops by with a possible interpretation of Marvel’s Doctor Strange, a film with early publicity regarding the whitewashing of Asian roles in the film. As Michael points out that Stephen Strange and Sorcerer Supreme initials are SS, he uses a whip, he’s against the progress of time, and his main enemy is called “The Dark One.” Oh, dear. Oh, shucks. This is looking real bad, real fast.
Features:
Michael Swaim: https://twitter.com/SWAIM_CORP
Adam Ganser: https://twitter.com/therealganz
Abe Epperson: https://twitter.com/AbeTheMighty
Comments
All-time moment.
Small Beans
2020-09-07 13:01:26 +0000 UTCFor some reason I thought back to the part where Michael first points out his initials are SS and the abe and Adam burst out laughing. So came back for a listen
red sands
2020-09-07 12:27:16 +0000 UTCI like this one, this is the perfect theory staring everyone in the face but only one swaim could put it together! Go beans rah rah rah!
Dissonance OfCircles
2020-07-22 15:26:32 +0000 UTCfantastic thesis, one of the best episodes 👌
Mary
2020-07-21 16:14:02 +0000 UTCMichael, I needed to share somewhere that your Wikipedia page is extremely long. It has 157 footnotes. You might have a longer Wikipedia page than Lebron James.
Harris Nye
2020-07-21 03:23:33 +0000 UTCHear me out..I think you'd have a stronger let to stand on if you didn't think Fight Club was also irresponsibly crafted. In Doctor Strange, it's unforgivable because that's not what the film is about, yet they made these racist and misogynist choices anyway. With Fight Club, that's what the entire film is about. I do think it's easy for a young white man to misinterpret Fight Club, but it really is a well done satire in my opinion. Doctor Strange literally has no excuse for its choices, not even "to make money." Also, SPIDERVERSE IS THE BEST GODDAMN THING!! If and when we get a hundred more superhero movies, I want them all to have that level of care taken with their characters and themes. Thanks for the great ep. Michael, Abe and Adam. We love you.
Ry Wyche
2020-07-20 21:35:28 +0000 UTCWhat bothers me about the great unique prowess of the protagonist being just “assumed” is that it’s an affirmation of the viewer’s own solipsism, the feeling one gets when they are good at something by their own internal standards, and because those internal standards are all you really have access to there’s an inclination to see that as being as great as it can be done. These movies then take that feeling and give you the experience of it being true. (Unrelated to that statement, and just in response to your closing bit: I think what makes Kubrick’s best work special is that it draws a contrast between the more personal micro-journey of the protagonist and the mapping of a larger world, so you can watch them zoomed in or zoomed out and get a full story either way - which I don’t think Nolan’s ever managed. Barry Lyndon is able to do this while also being very playful.)
Arlo
2020-07-20 17:04:15 +0000 UTCHaven't finished listening to hear whether you mention this yet, but his title in the end is "Sorcerer Supreme" - for some added cringe.
Patrick Sullivan
2020-07-20 16:55:58 +0000 UTCThis was how I felt watching Far From Home but with techno-fascism
Arlo
2020-07-20 16:50:07 +0000 UTCThis is making my morning!
Emily Kugler
2020-07-20 13:21:36 +0000 UTC
