Episode 239 - Cool World

[Cameron H. 23786]

17 minutes ago, jacofnotrades said:

I believe the reason why she had the picture of him is the same reason we had those posters up in our rooms as teenagers: he was essentially her hero or like how some kids would have posters of Mustangs on their walls, it serves as a reminder of what she wants to achieve.

Another question is how did she get the picture or is it just an imagining of what she thinks it all looks like? It is mentioned about noids "slipping" into Cool World, but can doodles "slip" into our world? She had a knowledge of the real world so I guess yes or maybe she learned from the noids who crossed-over?

I don't think Doodles can slip into our world, otherwise I think we would have made more attempts to do so. I think her knowledge of the real world came from the Noids that passed through and from the movies she somehow got her hands on. I have no idea how she was able to watch "real" movies however. Much less, enough movies to establish a favorite actress in Marilyn Monroe.

What doesn't make sense to me is just how clueless she is of the real world when she has seen real world movies. I get movies are a bit heightened, but they should have given her at least a baseline of what to expect. Instead, it's like Plato's "Allegory of the Cave." Everything seems to take her by complete surprise. I mean, I've never seen the movie Let's Make Love, but I'm pretty sure there's more than one dude in it, and Marilyn doesn't just go around sniffing them all.

[Cameron H. 23786]

16 hours ago, Cam Bert said:

Well played.

I honestly wish that scene didn't bother me as much as it did

I have a similar nit to pick. First, Pitt meets up with Lonette. They trade some flirty banter, he throws his arm awkwardly around her, and they discuss what they want to do that night. Unfortunately for them, Nails shows up and tells him a Noid has appeared and is with currently with Holli at her club. Pitt apologizes to Lonette and heads off with Nails to confront Deebs. Fine.

However, when they get there, as Pitt is telling Deebs that it’s against the law for Noids to have sex with Doodles, the movie cuts to Lonette looking forlorn—at the same club!!!

So, what were these plans they were making a minute ago? Lonette is clearly working that night! Not only that, she is working at the same club Nails and Pitt are heading off to! Fuck, guys, at least offer her a ride!

Finally, Pitt returns home, and who’s there? Motherfucking Lonette fresh out of a shower! How the Hell is she teleporting all over Cool World?

But seriously, these kind of continuity issues have always really bugged me, but especially so when you’re dealing with animation. That shit takes time. At some point someone should have been like, “Wait, this doesn’t make sense. Before I draw another line, maybe we should figure this out.”

[ChunkStyle 1160]

20 hours ago, Cam Bert said:

You know I thought a lot about this. Lonette and Holli are in a completely different style than the rest of the doodles so when Brad Pitt was turned into a doodle I thought he would be in a similar style to them but is far more cartoony then them. 

The difference in their art style also makes the sole law of "Noids Don't Have Sex With Doodles" feel very weird to me because practically speaking it seems like the law applies to less than 1% of the population.  It'd be like if in the US the only law was "360 Dunks Are Not Allowed".  Sucks for the people that can and would like to do that.  Will never apply to me.

[grudlian. 4725]

2 hours ago, ChunkStyle said:

It'd be like if in the US the only law was "360 Dunks Are Not Allowed".  Sucks for the people that can and would like to do that.  Will never apply to me.

This is not the America the founding fathers envisioned.

[RyanSz 3140]

Okay so I finally got to listen to the episode and can easily bring some prison/crime expertise to this thread and what was discussed on the show. In regards to the sentence Byrne received, I'm assuming the term murder is being used generally to describe his crime, which is most likely negligent homicide/involuntary manslaughter which carries a sentence of 6 months to a decade on average. I'm guessing it was like in Con Air where a fight broke out between two parties, in this case Byre and the guy sleeping with his wife, and in the course of the fight the other guy died by accident, like he fell and cracked his head on something.  But rather than put that time and effort into explaining why he was behind bars. the writer just went with murder which in turn just creates more questions.

As for his drawing setup in his cell, that is a non-plausible thing as depending on the state, most prison cells aren't bigger than a small storage unit, usually 6' x 10'. Some newer facilities are going with a dorm style unit, called pods, which house around 6 inmates, and those are much larger in size. But that doesn't mean one guy can prop his shit up and just take over space, that will get his ass kicked in no time flat. Also, an inmate can make money while in prison from a personal business venture, they just can't make money off of their crime. A recent example was when OJ Simpson wrote his book If I Did It a couple years back that was very controversial, but he was able to write it and make money off of it as he was acquitted in his criminal trial. Tex Watson of the Manson family tried to do a similar thing at my facility a few years back with both a manuscript and I think some paintings, and that shit got shut down quickly because it was directly linked to his crimes, he also received some additional charges if I recall because of the back channel ways that he was trying to do it. So for a guy like Byrne to just be writing a comic book series and having it sold, that's completely fine, I mean at my facility there are a few guys who have self published books or have sent art out for sale, and they're able to as it doesn't pertain to their crimes.

[Rollo Tomasi 22]

The movie Paul wanted this to be exists, albeit in soap opera rather than comic book form.  In 1991's Delirious, John Candy plays a soap opera writer who gets in a car accident and (Jacob's Ladder scenario) wakes up in his soap opera.  He soon realizes that, as the writer, he has the ability to manipulate events within the soap opera reality.  I saw it when I was a kid, so I can't really judge how good of a movie it is, but it came out shortly before Cool World so the idea was right there for the taking.

[theworstbuddhist 572]

42 minutes ago, Rollo Tomasi said:

The movie Paul wanted this to be exists, albeit in soap opera rather than comic book form.  In 1991's Delirious, John Candy plays a soap opera writer who gets in a car accident and (Jacob's Ladder scenario) wakes up in his soap opera.  He soon realizes that, as the writer, he has the ability to manipulate events within the soap opera reality.  I saw it when I was a kid, so I can't really judge how good of a movie it is, but it came out shortly before Cool World so the idea was right there for the taking.

I think someone mentioned it in the episode? Or am I... delirious?

[Rollo Tomasi 22]

Maybe I am!  Apologies if so.

[hspter 6]

On 5/11/2020 at 6:52 PM, Cam Bert said:

I honestly wish that scene didn't bother me as much as it did

Don't worry Cam I noticed that too (well the snake-eyes-turning-into-3s part) and was like "that's dumb".

[Cam Bert 8145]

1 hour ago, hspter said:

Don't worry Cam I noticed that too (well the snake-eyes-turning-into-3s part) and was like "that's dumb".

[Cam Bert 8145]

Time for a deep dark dive in the depths of my soul. Maybe I'm admitting too much to you people, but considering we just did Space Jam, am I alone in thinking Lola Bunny is like ten times sexier than Holli Wood?

[grudlian. 4725]

9 hours ago, Cam Bert said:

Time for a deep dark dive in the depths of my soul. Maybe I'm admitting too much to you people, but considering we just did Space Jam, am I alone in thinking Lola Bunny is like ten times sexier than Holli Wood?

 

[codemarla 3]

I spent most of this movie thinking: "Is this meant to be an allegory for interracial relationships?" and if it is, then I guess it the movie is against it as once the two "races" mix, both societies start to crumble. 

[MarkWotton 5]

I knew I was going to be upset when I heard you were going to do Cool World. I love this movie! I saw it in theaters, I bought the VHS, I still have the soundtrack ON VINYL!! I love this film. It’s not as confusing as you made it out to be.

the Cool World has always existed, it’s a parallel universe to our own. Doc. Whiskers is using the spike to attempt to cross through to and explore the other dimensions, including our own. When he accidentally brings Harris into the Cool World. At this point they switch places and Whiskers plugs up the doorway using the spike. 
Jump ahead to 1992 Doc. Whiskers becomes Vegas Vinnie after creating the first Casino at the crossroads of the dimensions, you’ll notice that Doc’s first name is Vincent later in the film. Now we get Jack Deebs, he’s in prison (Criminal) the yang to Harris’ yin (Cop). He created the Cool World comic book based on his dreams. Those dreams were placed in his head by Holli to manipulate him and entice him to cross over. 
You even played a clip that explains the fact that Deebs did not create Cool World and he’s not the first Noid to come through. Then immediately said that Harris’ job policing Noid/Doodle relations was pointless because he’s the only Noid, he’s not the only Noid just the only Noid right now. It is suggested that Holli has tried this before not just by Harris but also by Sparks, Holli’s jealous boyfriend. 
the whole point of both the male leads  characters is that they are two sides of the same coin. Harris, the Noid cop who won’t break the rules, and Deebs, the Noid criminal who will go all the way. 
Once Jack and Holli cross over that causes an imbalance in the continuum which is why things start getting trippy. They upset the balance. Holli believes that if she can harness the power of the spike it would make her real permanently. But also allow her to be in control of both worlds. 

[hspter 6]

4 hours ago, MarkWotton said:

He created the Cool World comic book based on his dreams. Those dreams were placed in his head by Holli to manipulate him and entice him to cross over. 

yes!! I was just coming here to say that. In the episode they play a clip where Jack Deebs sort of rambles out "I have visions", which led me to believe that Holli was manipulating someone who was vulnerable and alone (and apparently had a very rough breakup recently).

I haaaaaaated this movie. This type of gross sexual raucous animation is just like, Twilight Zone creepy to me. I had more trouble watching this than any other movie for HDTGM (which admittedly I'm a newer fan so it's basically 2010-2012 and half of 2019-2020).

[Keith Ryan 0]

Hey everybody!

I know that digging for imagery in failed films like Cool World is a fool’s errand, but a backstory became obvious to me whilst watching, probably cos I went to Catholic school (long since reformed)…

Cool World is literally hell, and the veil between earth and hell is thinnest in Sin City (which is why it was set in Vegas). The imagery in Cool World is straight up hellish: from the absurd architecture to the grotesque denizens (including demonic goons and gargoyles), to the ghostlike black-and-white doodles that occasionally float through frame. The name “Cool” World is ironic and telling.

Gabriel Byrne’s character was able to travel to hell because he killed someone and made a Faustian pact to gain success and notoriety from his art. He was granted visions of hell, which he faithfully reproduces and sells from prison to great acclaim. Holli Would, a classic succubus, begins to tempt him because she wants to become corporeal and seduce as many mortals as possible.

The stakes are high: all hell will break loose if beings continue to cross the veil, further weakening it (as we see towards the end of the film). That’s why Brad Pitt’s character has been charged with policing the exchange of noids and doodles between hell and earth. He was dragged, half-dead, into hell because - like Gabriel Byrne’s character - he has also killed, but in a wartime context, which means there is some ethical ambiguity to his sins. This places him in a sort of purgatorial position where he labours for decades (without ageing!) to keep hell and earth separate but can still exist in either one. At the end of the film, he finally dies on earth and is sent permanently to hell, where he becomes a doodle and immediately commits the original sin with his own succubus… now without the risk of her becoming corporeal and wreaking havoc on earth.

Though I’ve only watched this stinker once, I can’t recall details of the film that contradict my theory. Feel free to poke holes!

PS. Did anyone else think the “spike” scenes parallel the opening of Gozer’s portal in Ghostbusters?