John and Athena Talk About Stuff, Episode One: Deadpool 2
Posted on June 5, 2018 Posted by John Scalzi 16 Comments
Athena and I thought it would be fun to try an occasional podcast with the two of us, in which we talk about entertainment we’ve both seen and possible other topics as well. So, in the spirit of trying new things, here is the first edition of John and Athena Talk About Stuff. In this episode, Athena and I talk about Deadpool 2, and what we thought of it, and touch on the topics of super hero origin stories, movie plotting, whether one should expect organic storytelling in a film where the fourth wall is broken all over the place, and “fridging,” a concept that I was well aware of but was new to Athena. Everything runs just over twenty minutes, i.e., long enough to get into it, but not so long you’ll get bored. Note: There will be spoilers for Deadpool 2, so if you haven’t seen it and care about spoilers, beware.
This is our first try at a podcast-y sort of thing, so be aware there will be “ums” and “ahs” and a little bit of talking over each other and also the phone rings about halfway through and then I have to do an edit where I deal with that. We’ll get it figured out. But in the meantime, I think it’s a pretty good conversation that illustrates what differences Athena and I have in critical perspective, and what things we’re similar on. Enjoy!
(Update: At the very end the phrase “take care” is repeated, like, a bunch. That’s a weird error from uploading, I think. I’ll try to fix. You can stop after the first “take care,” honest.
Update update: Should be fixed.)
Nicely done, both of you. Did you mean for there to be about 60 “take cares” at the end or is there some meta humor that escapes me?
No, that’s a weird artifact of the uploading. I’ll try to fix it.
I heard it as “tic tac” repeated.
I was wondering if it was some kind of meta thing leading up to a “post credit scene” so I listened all the way to the end. (You can imagine how I felt when it got to the end…)
Charming, thank you, both of you
Fun!
Athena, John: well done!
I know it’s a cliche to kill off a woman to motivate the man who loves her, but at least it’s got roots. Hasn’t that plot device been around at least since Orpheus?
Is there a possibility to download maybe a mp3 file instead of converting the youtube video to one and download that?
Would be convenient for us “listen to podcasts on our ride home on a bicycle” people.
Otherwise: great idea. Thanks.
Thank you, what a nice addition to your blog!
And, regarding “fridging”: I love seeing Morena Baccarin on the screen since Firefly, and killing her off as a means of motivation for Wade literally killed almost the entire film for me.
There I found John Wick really more honest. Objectifying a dog doesn’t rub me the wrong way as much as objectifying a girlfriend / wife / daughter does…
Is there an RSS feed for this? It doesn’t come up on my podcast player on a search. I can just poke in the URL for an RSS feed though.
I’m genuinely shocked that Athena had never heard of fridging before (maybe just the literal term for it?) but already knew where it was going from moment one anyway. It is a good point that what else would motivate a guy like Deadpool, though.
Nicely done. Given Athena’s comments about wanting movies to be linear, what are her takes on films like Memento, Pulp Fiction, and Kill Bill?
In terms of non-linear movies I think they have their place. What makes it annoying is the overuse. We see it in movies, tv shows, and books. It can be a neat tool, but it shouldn’t be used lightly.
I’m putting in my vote for you two doing this again! Great to hear your perspectives. I haven’t seen Deadpool 2 yet and haven’t committed to seeing it, so I don’t mind the spoilers, but I love Athena’s point that the movie spoils itself. I think the best flashback scenes are the ones that provide background without leading straight to the end. It’s okay to have the “one week ago…” moment if it’s dropping a subtle crumb that will lead you to the answer by the end of the movie but if it’s going to tell the story backward, it has to give me something else to keep me hooked.
I love it. “I am a writer!”
This is great! Please do more of these. It’d be great to hear your thoughts on more of the exciting movies coming out this summer. Also, I thought Cable coming back from the future to kill Russle before he can kill his family inthe future is pretty cliche.
Good article on fridging and Deadpool:
https://www.vox.com/summer-movies/2018/5/22/17376052/deadpool-2-writers-fridging-women-in-refrigerators