JulyDiaz 2797 Posted September 8, 2014 Why don’t heroes have parents? Think about it: from Harry Potter to Luke Skywalker, orphans make up a dominant percentage of the heroic population. There’s something about dead parents that can make any character into an instant underdog. Even Superman, literal god-being, turns into someone we can root for when you remove his mom and dad (and also obliterate his homeworld via supernova), and the same is true of billionaire crazy-person Bruce Wayne. Why does this trend exist, and just what does it say about us? On today’s Cracked podcast, editors Jack O’Brien, Michael Swaim and Jason Pargin (David Wong) sit down to hash out just why this is. Whether it’s Guardians of the Galaxy’s Peter Quill, or Captain Kirk in the new Star Trek reboot, you can’t be a hero if you’ve got a living mom and dad. Even in the Donald Duck universe, everyone’s an uncle or a cousin. There’s a reason for this- and if you click this button here, you’ll learn what it is. Share this post Link to post
sharklasers 1 Posted September 8, 2014 Regarding European Americans (otherwise known as "Americans") being cut off from their European heritage, the guys overlooked how it is Americans more than anyone else who constantly run around stressing their particular European heritage (Doug Stanhope had a bit about Americans always saying "I'm an Irish American", putting that on their Facebook page etc). European Europeans never do that, and neither do African Americans (as Patrice O'Neal said, "I'm not going over there, fighting some silly war wearing sweater pants and slippers"). It's almost as if Black Americans overtook White Americans when the civil rights movement took off. They acknowledged the fact that they can't go back and neither can they fully assimilate. That's what the X in Malcolm X's name stood for. Share this post Link to post
JonathanB.Reid 34 Posted September 8, 2014 On the subject of Disney surnames, that's a great observation about all of the different duck-related surnames they came up with for the characters in the duckverse in order for them not to be related. However, based on that logic, that means that Mickey and Minnie Mouse would be related, as well as Donald and Daisy Duck (Daffy Duck would be their disowned cousin whom nobody talks about). In both pairings, the two are apparently not married (so it's not shared name via marriage), and they are frequently depicted as dating. So, hmmm... Another connection to "Game of Thrones", I suppose. Share this post Link to post
