The Side Characters

Episode 14: Who Left This Body in the Fridge

This episode we continue down the line of talking about wanting characters with agency. This time we cover the trope of fridging, in which a female character is brutalized in order to forward the plot or motivate a mail character. This term was coined after Green Lantern #54 in which green lanterns girlfriend was killed and stuffed into a fridge in order to create a plot point and motivation against a villain. This same idea continues in media today, with the murdering or kidnapping of female characters. 

 

What have we been consuming:

Leah- The Gardens Between

Jordan- The Old Guard by Image Comics and on Netflix

 

Below are some helpful links:

https://www.lby3.com/wir/

Jordan Recommends: Among Us, Dorohedoro and Saga

Leah Recommends: Cherry Magic....... Howl's Moving Castle and Terry Pratchet 

 

 

If you have any questions, comments or want to continue the conversation you can email us @: sidecharacterspod@gmail.com

You can check Jordan out on his other podcast World Shop @: https://worldshoppodcast.podbean.com/

Episode 13: Number 5 Woman Combo, Please

Genki Girl Wikihow as mentioned in the episode: https://www.wikihow-fun.com/Be-a-Genki-Girl

We continue down the line of exploring tropes in media, focusing on tropes that funnels women into a singular  idea, including the "Manic Pixie Dream Girl" and the "Genki Girl". The Manic Pixie Dream girl is an idea of a women who exist in order to enlighten a man's life. The Genki Girl is a female character with the singular personality trait of being enthusiastic. How have these tropes damaged female representation in media, and what do we really want out of our nerd media representations. 

 

What have we been consuming:

Leah- The Gardens Between

Jordan- The Old Guard by Image Comics and on Netflix

 

Below are some helpful links:

http://www.bdcwire.com/the-definitive-list-of-manic-pixie-dream-girls-in-film-and-television/

https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/manic-pixie-dream-girl/

https://www.lifehacker.com.au/2020/03/what-is-a-manic-pixie-dream-girl/

https://www.popmatters.com/166677-no-manic-pixie-dream-girl-for-video-games-2495788784.html

 

If you have any questions, comments or want to continue the conversation you can email us @: sidecharacterspod@gmail.com

You can check Jordan out on his other podcast World Shop @: https://worldshoppodcast.podbean.com/

Episode 12: Is it worth it?

This week we cover something a little more topical. The topic is the 2020 Mulan Live action remake and the nefarious underworking behind the scenes. Turns out the movie was less about representation and more about capitalism and pleasing China. Then the discussion turns to the question of should we support media that has representation, even if it that representation is through negative means? There may not be a solid answer for this question, but we discuss so we can receive more insight. 

 

Below are the articles mentioned, and the Rotten Apples site.

https://rabblerouse.substack.com/p/why-on-screen-representation-is-absolutely?fbclid=IwAR3JHqQOa7GCANcDPp9chnete93B3qHKf-Ui8drwtcu0uHZWrBirsgyJmK4

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/09/07/why-disneys-new-mulan-is-scandal/?utm_campaign=wp_main&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook&fbclid=IwAR2ZVH_gyVhsDjR6QTFpFHq2BaOGgwdFjjXsK25dUerdStCyNrYKyH9kxag

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2020/09/09/mulan-backlash-disney-xinjiang/?utm_campaign=wp_main&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook

https://therottenappl.es/

 

 

If you have any questions, comments or want to continue the conversation you can email us @: sidecharacterspod@gmail.com

You can check Jordan out on his other podcast World Shop @: https://worldshoppodcast.podbean.com/

Episode 11: Back In My Day!

We are back from a short break with a new episode! This week we decided to change things up and focus on happy things, diving deep into nerd nostalgia. We talk about beloved properties of the past and give a little bit of insight on who we are as nerds. 

Properties mentioned in this episode:

Reboot, Hey Arnold!, Cousin Skeeter, Doug, Dragonball Z, Smart Guy, Gundam, Rurouni Kenshin, Full Metal Alchemist, Meteor Man, Recess, Arthur, Fruits Basket, Bleach, Naruto, Kare Kano, Mars, Skip Beat, Cho Bits, Harry Potter, Blue Sword, Wizard of Oz, Terry Prachett Novels, Dragonriders, Lord of the Rings, Red Wall, Soul Calibur, Gauntlet, Pokemon, Static Shock, Atlantis, Wish Bone.

 

If you have any questions, comments or want to continue the conversation you can email us @: sidecharacterspod@gmail.com

You can check Jordan out on his other podcast World Shop @: https://worldshoppodcast.podbean.com/

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Episode 10: Hysterical People

"You mad?" Did this question trigger your anger as much as it did ours? Have you ever had your feelings invalidated, called crazy , or even your entire argument crushed based solely on your race or gender? Then you might be a hysterical person just like us. This week we deconstruct more stereotypes, focusing on the "Angry black man" "Sassy Black woman" and "Hysterical woman" stereo type. 

 

If you have any questions, comments or want to continue the conversation you can email us @: sidecharacterspod@gmail.com

You can check Jordan out on his other podcast World Shop @: https://worldshoppodcast.podbean.com/

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Episode 9: Night of the Living Horror Trope

Sometimes the Scariest thing in a horror movie isn't the demon possessed psychopath or the evil sludge monster. Sometimes the true horror comes from the tropes that define the genre and have a negative impact on diverse representation. That's where the Side Characters step in to discuss negative tropes in Horror. On this episode we will take a deep look at the tropes: The black guy dies first, hellish mental hospitals and sexy horror killers. Will our Side Characters survive the night of the living horror trope? Find out here!

 

If you have any questions, comments or want to continue the conversation you can email us @: sidecharacterspod@gmail.com

You can check Jordan out on his other podcast World Shop @: https://worldshoppodcast.podbean.com/

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Recommendations from this episode:

Get Out

Us

Ready or Not

Alien

Hush

The Babadook 

Last of us/ Last of Us Part 2

Where your eyes Linger

Episode 8: Scarlett, Jim, We need to have a talk

From Mickey Rooney's Mr. Yunioshi in Breakfast at Tiffany's to Marty McFly inventing Rock'n'roll to Scarlett Johansson's suddenly white Major Kusanagi, media has been painting the town white for far too long. While some things get better, there are still a bunch of white folks saving everyone who isn't them and sometimes pretending to be people who don't belong to them. Let's talk about repainting some fences in something other than a white wash and discuss cultural appropriation.

 

If you have any questions, comments or want to continue the conversation you can email us @: sidecharacterspod@gmail.com

You can check Jordan out on his other podcast World Shop @: https://worldshoppodcast.podbean.com/

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Here are a few links to check out:

https://www.theverge.com/2020/2/19/21142702/video-game-voice-actors-diversity-uncharted-wargroove-gears-of-war

Recommendations and Mentioned Properties:

The Personal History of David Copperfield

Overwatch

Parasite

All you need is kill manga

Ghost in the shell

Descender 

Unraveled 

Episode 7: What's Love Got To Do With It

*Disclaimer/Trigger Warning* Around minute 57 through about 1 hour minute 13 the gang talks about sexual violence. We take this topic very seriously but do think it is necessary to talk about during a talk about consent. 

On this episode Jordan and Leah are joined by guest Glynn to talk about the portrayal of romance and consent in nerd culture. This is a topic we all care about but know that nerd culture does not always handle romance and consent in the best way. 

If you have any questions, comments or want to continue the conversation you can email us @: sidecharacterspod@gmail.com

You can check Jordan out on his other podcast World Shop @: https://worldshoppodcast.podbean.com/

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Episode 6: Is Gaming Toxic or Fun? w/ Ryan and Karleen

Hey guys sorry for the late release this was 100% my fault - Jordan

On this episode we are joined by special guest Ryan and Karleen from InstantThreePlay to talk about gaming and the different perspectives that exist in gaming. It's a fun romp with some amazing guest, enjoy!

You can check out Ryan and Karleen at Twitch.tv/instantthreeplay

If you have any questions, comments or want to continue the conversation you can email us @: sidecharacterspod@gmail.com

You can check Jordan out on his other podcast World Shop @: https://worldshoppodcast.podbean.com/

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Here are a few links to check out:

https://cs.wellesley.edu/~hcilab/publication/gender-games.pdf

Episode 5: What Are You Gazing At!?

This week we talk about female armor and costuming in video games and other media. We cover the over sexualization of female characters and define what is meant by the "male gaze"

 

If you have any questions, comments or want to continue the conversation you can email us @: sidecharacterspod@gmail.com

You can check Jordan out on his other podcast World Shop @: https://worldshoppodcast.podbean.com/

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Here are a few links to check out:

https://www.filminquiry.com/film-theory-basics-laura-mulvey-male-gaze-theory/

https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-does-the-male-gaze-mean-and-what-about-a-female-gaze-52486