Episode 84 — Podcuddle

[VampiresVampiresVampires 303]

Well, I tried it. I won't get nasty here, but I will say that this is the first Earwolf podcast I couldn't finish.

[KajusX 1807]

(NOTE: I am deleting my little introductory paragraph here where I commented on Chris's #creep #cocaine trending topics people were discussing. I initially said I heard where people were coming from but as a whole he seemed ok in the episode, but reading some more of the comments in this thread and having my memory refreshed of some of the weird things Chris said— coupled with hearing more of him today on i4h— I am totally on board with people's assessment of his attitudes. Anyway. My comment was about comic books, and it's a doozy, and it's where most of my attention went after the episode, so here it is:)

 

I have a gripe! I don't want to be that guy because OOF I hate internet-complaining, but I'm going to be that angry nerd guy (but I'll try and scale it back to 'minor annoyed nerd guy'). Here is my issue:

 

When Chris Gore was explaining the film rights issue of comic book films, which is something I explain constantly when regular folk genuinely ask me "Why another movie? What's with all the reboots?" Chris did a fine job breaking it down and earning some respect and appreciation from me for spreading the word on film rights, then he DUMPED IT ALL ON THE FLOOR when he started explaining where comic book companies make money and what comic books are:

 

Chris: Y'know, 'cuz comic books aren't written for kids anymore. They're written for dudes like me that are older that used to read comic books and now I'll buy the graphic novel $20 hardcover version with paintings and all that and the stories are more adult. Marvel makes its money from all the merch, all the licensing, it's the movies, and the comic books are just a way to explore story material, y'know, cheaply. Effectively, comic books are now development source material for people to mine for story material—

Kulap: They're storyboards.

Chris: Well yeah, exactly.

 

1. Yes, for the most part, comic books in the SUPERHERO GENRE fit Chris's description. The superhero genre dominates comic book sales, perpetuated by the Big 2 of Marvel and DC, and makes up most of their comic book business. Superheroes are the modern mythology. The characters have been around for decades upon decades, their stories retold and rebooted in a monthly, serialized format by a revolving door of creative teams, and have been adapted into many other mediums and formats (radio, tv, movies, animation, toys, amusement park rides, musicals, etc) from the moment of their inception.

 

Most importantly they are PROPERTIES owned by huge companies. They are no different than Mickey Mouse, Tweety Bird, Star Wars, etc. Superheroes (mostly) from the Big 2 reign supreme in all facets of pop culture. 7-11 Big Gulp cups. T-Shirts with insignias. Nerd Mecca which started today down in San Diego (Btw, RIP lady who was fatally struck by a car yesterday while camping out for the Twilight panel. That shit is so fucked up and sad). Comic books are but one medium in which superheroes exist, and it happens to be where the 'superhero' was born.

 

2. Chris then stated that COMIC BOOKS aren't written for kids anymore. Not true. Comic books are written for all ages. Comic books AND superheroes became popular during World War II. That U.S. generation of kids read the books like crazy. Millions of copies sold of single issues. Then that generation grew up, some of them continued to read comic books, the next generation was reading them too, and then they grew up, etc. Multiple generations of adults reading comic books along side young, new readers.

 

What Chris hopefully meant to say but didn't articulate was that the majority of SUPERHERO COMICS— ESPECIALLY FROM MARVEL AND DC— aren't written for kids anymore, and haven't been for a while. That is a true statement. 'Comic books are not written for kids' is not true. Like animation, the youth embraced the art form in its infancy. Now it's a medium (and has been for a goddamn long while), and a medium is not bound by age restriction, despite what some may think.

 

3. When Chris goes on to say that comic books are written for grown up dudes who will open their wallet for any super-deluxe 'graphic novel' hardcover with paintings in it (because of a bullshit collector's mentality thrust upon the comic book community of the batshit '90s when all those original 1940s comics started selling for a shit-load of money because they were RARE due to the U.S.'s paper shortages resulting in recycling drives to support the war effort) that really says more about Chris's mentality than it does about COMIC BOOKS. Fucking hell. 99% of comic books aren't collector's items that one can turn a profit on. They're floppies. They're magazines made of newsprint. In the '90s they printed out millions of copies of an issue, AND SOLD THEM, just like back in the '40s, except this time everybody bought multiple copies: 1 to read (and save) and the rest to really SAVE (because MONEYMONEYMONEY). Everyone saved all those millions of copies except this time there was no WWII paper shortages to force the majority of them to be recycled and destroyed. Comics are not rare and valuable (besides the quality and content of the stories within them).

 

I buy the floppies because I love the monthly format of a 22-page comic. I bag the issues so they don't get fucked up (because flimsy magazine books get fucked up easy) so I can thumb through them later. Then, when a story I really enjoyed is collected into a trade paperback volume (or hardcover), I buy it so I can put that book on my bookshelf, where it can stand up straight and be where it belongs with all my books, and it's much more convenient to flip through. It's akin to watching a television show as it airs, then when it comes out on dvd I buy the season. I don't even have an issue with OMNIBUS editions. It's like buying all the seasons at once (or a whole lot of them at once). But, if you own all the seasons individually and they're in great shape, then what the fuck are you buying the whole box set for (unless you're upgrading and giving away your copies to potential new fans, hopefully)?

 

To mindlessly buy any deluxe new hardcover GRAHHHphic NOVVVel (*adjusts monicle*) is akin to people buying every new edition of the Star Wars films or any other similar property (there's that word again) that's trying to squeeze every last penny out of its loyal fanbase by offering up a new coat of paint for a thing people have already liked, own, and have spent more money on than they should. If you have the money to go for the gold, then right on. No judgements. You like what you like. But let us be honest about what is happening here.

 

(Btw, 'graphic novel' is a bloated term meant to dignify comic books, and gets used improperly all the time to the point where now it really doesn't matter how it gets used, but still. It was once meant to signify a comic book that came out all at once as a thick, self-contained story, like a novel. Joe Kubert's Jew Gangster is a graphic novel. Monthly comic books collected into a volume is called a trade paperback, or tpb for short. and now monthly comics that take years to end but DO have a definite ending are also called graphic novels, because they end— once again— like how novels have endings. Now it just means a thick comic book, which is fine. Of course that is fine. But we're not reading graphic novels when it's all said and done, we're reading comic books, and if we are in a conversation and you call your Spider-Man Essentials Vol 8 a graphic novel, I might get a weird look on my face)

 

4. All of that stuff is something one can take issue with, and that is apparently what I have just done, but what really upset me (as much as an opinion about an entertainment medium I adore can) was when Chris decided to take an entire artistic medium and crassly define it by its POTENTIAL MONETARY WORTH IN OTHER, MORE PROFITABLE ENTERTAINMENT MEDIUMS. Chris is right— comic books don't make billions of dollars, but movies based on them do. The math checks out. Case closed.

 

Comic books is not widely recognized nor respected as a legitimate storytelling art form in the United States. Japan and Europe are two examples of places where the people love and adore comic books much more than the U.S. They get printed on nice paper and in over-sized formats. There is content for everyone of every age, and most people there know that comics are not "just for kids" nor are they "just for adults," just like tv and film and books. It is also reputed for having more than one genre. "I like comic books" doesn't equal "I like superheroes" in Japan and Europe. It is getting better in the US all the time but FUUUUUUCK do I hate the lack of respect for an artform that marries visual art and writing together to tell a fucking story in a way unique to itself. TO TELL A FUCKING STORY. We LOVE stories.

 

Comic books aren't "just a way to explore story material," whatever the fuck that condescending dreck means. Comic books are stories, PERIOD. They are full of raw, unmolested ideas far less artificial and plastic than any movie with enough credited writers to count on two hands (who had to FIGHT for credit after the film was made, no less!), with massive amounts of studio interference and changes made to the vision of the story by agencies, managers, producers and vapid hollywood stars far detached from any real issues of humanity all fighting for room to piss in the pot before it gets crowd-tested and run back through that same obstacle course of shit. FUCKING. GROSS. And the only reason stories in comic books are being cheaply mined is because they don't get any respect in the U.S.!

 

SO. Comic books are great because they are full of amazingly raw and touching ideas and designs, but since nobody respects the form, it allows big companies to buy up distribution and development rights on the cheap, then adapt the source material into more profitable entertainment mediums and make the company billions. You know, ART. Fucking awesome. Good for comic books. What a ringing endorsement. SDCC, here we come!

 

5. Kulap. Oh Kulap! I'm really hoping when you chimed in encouragingly with "They're storyboards!" you were just trying to be agreeable and didn't really mean that. We all (hopefully) know comic books aren't 'storyboards.' Try and make a shot-for-shot movie out of a comic book and you make a terribly-paced, clunkily-directed movie. Comic books are their own narrative art form/language (plus were around before the invention of a story board). Sure, a movie can pay homage to a panel in a comic book, but a comic book is not a series of storyboards. The ideas that can be conveyed in the GUTTERS between panels in a comic book are capable of saying things only a comic can. It's not just a series of key frames.

 

I know this conversation was had during the chart segment on the new Spider-Man film, and so one could make the argument that Chris's explanation was solely about the relationship the superhero genre of the comic book industry has with their conglomerate parent distribution companies, but it was so vague, callous and poorly expressed that I felt compelled to comment on it in defense of a barely-respected medium in which I find so much enjoyment and worth.

 

I can swallow Chris's opinion of what comic books are to the Hollywood machine through the eyes of a marketer or advertiser, because that's what the comic books are to them. They are dollar signs. Hollywood is going to fuck out comic books until the last drop. And that's fine. It's entertainment. But that is not what comic books are, nor is it all they are good for. They are a form of expression, and their stories are moving and crushing and hilarious and every emotion under the sun, and they can't be told in this way in any other medium. Motion comics aren't even close to the experience of reading a comic.

 

Please don't get me wrong. I love seeing these ideas brought to new audiences in new mediums. I love film and television and music and musicals and all that. I love seeing all the gorgeous actors making the best of the lo-brow superhero adventure soap opera stories they've been cast in, to the scorn and adoration of the superhero-savvy audiences. But I'll always love comics books more. They are worthy of respect, and the creators of comic books should be the millionaire superstars (or at least living comfortably for fuck's sake!). Creator Rights. Original stories. New ideas. Respect. 'Comic book' does not equal superheroes. 'Comic book' equals stories, just like any other medium.

 

For those of you going, "huh? tl;dr" but then actually did read my huge comment, here's a modest list of comic books that aren't in the superhero genre and are phenomenal reads (I'll try to guess a general, arbitrary age rating). Some of them have been adapted into other mediums:

 

Bone by Jeff Smith (all ages)

Blankets by Craig Thompson (16+)

Like A Velvet Glove Cast In Iron by Daniel Clowes (16+)

Black Hole by Charles Burns (16+)

Scott Pilgrim by Brian Lee O'Malley(16+)

BLACKSAD by Juan Díaz Canales and Juanjo Guarnido (16+)

The Adventures of Tintin series by Hergé (all ages)

The Amazing Screw-On Head and Other Curious Objects by Mike Mignola (13+)

Preacher by Garth Ennis & Steve Dillon (16+)

The Keepers of the Maser by Frezzato (16+)

The Upturned Stone by Scott Hampton (13+)

Phonogram by Kieron Gillen & Jamie McKelvie (16+)

100 Bullets by Brian Azzarello & Eduardo Risso (16+)

Northlanders by Brian Wood (16+)

Freakangels by Warren Ellis & Paul Duffield (16+)

Queen & Country by Greg Rucka (16+)

Locke & Key by Joe Hill & Gabriel Rodriguez (16+)

Beasts of Burden by Evan Dorkin & Jill Thompson (13+)

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (Marvel) adapted by Eric Shanower & Skottie Young (all ages)

 

Etc etc etc. Anyway. I've said my piece. Keep up the good work, guys. I really really REALLY DO love your podcast!

[Gym Sockerman 1326]

I just couldn't get through it either. Wie and Ku bring me untold joy each week, but I just can't listen to anyone talk who is going to give me lessons on "picking up chicks at the bar". Just blows a fuse with me.

[KajusX 1807]

P.S. That Scare Tactics clip was great! Howard, you're pretty.

[Lukas Holmes 2287]

Yeah, Chris Gore was a little weird. Movies section was good, except I didn't like all the dumping on TED. I've never heard them dump on any comedy before, so it sort of threw me for a loop.

[robinsbruce 4985]

Ill have to agree with kajusx. Im constantly arguing with my friends on weather or not cartoons of any variety are art, as I think they are. Bone is a good example because it is ageless and very, very cool. It is actually one of my favorite piecies of art for any genre.

More cool points must be awarded to KajusX for noticing that america is the only place that has a HUGE comic scene but acts like its only for kids or nerds. Comics are for everyone, just not every comic is for everyone.

I must also politely disagree with Lukas on the Ted thing. DUMP ON IT. seth macfarlane is talented but only marginally funny. He can barely hold a plot together for twenty two mintues much less an hour and a half. No amount of hot chicks or wahlberg can save that "Rom-com" from being more of his recycled material formatted for a bigger, dumber audience.

[micusficus 40]

So Post-Hardcore is any kind of music that uses hardcore as a framework to make something different. Sometimes it's really just emocore and sometimes it gets pretty out there and edges into (gasp) mathrock territory. I'm in a band that is somewhat post-hardcore so... plugs: http://soundcloud.com/ratsratsrats

[jokerswild2505 0]

This thread made me register for the forum!

 

I felt like I had to "defend" this one, which is weird because I did not finish it and skipped over the pick up artist stuff at the very beginning. I have many of the same issues everyone else did...how can a movie reviewer not have seen any of the top 5...creepy pick up discussion is never good...etc.

 

I do have to say though that to me this was a much better listen than the fogelnest podcast...another i could not bring myself to finish.

 

I feel like the whole pick up awfulness would have been avoided if kulap hadn't thrown the "try it on me" line out there which is when i cut ahead a few minutes then cut ahead a few more til I found it was over. If it was an earwolf regular i bet that question would have resulted in some improv rather than awkwardness.

 

I also don't know if it is a G4 thing but there have been similar appearances with some of those guys and gals (Kevin Pereira on DLM for example) that have felt a little bit off as well.

 

I rarely don't finish these, so I'm mostly there with yall, it just seems this backlash is a bit much.

 

Anyways...keep up the good work Howard and Kulap. The show is great

[benk 257]

Wow. Can't believe everyone is freaking out over this. I thought Chris Gore was a very interesting guest, had a lot to say and brought a lot of great opinions to the podcast. You guys "couldn't finish" a podcast where the guest spoke intelligently about every subject and admired the two hosts? He clearly is a big Howard Kremer fan and loved what Who Charted is about.

 

As for the pick up thing, I guess I can see how you might find that creepy, but... Kulap clearly invited it in. And don't forget this is the same girl who said she wanted to sit on M. Fassbender's face. He wasn't even HITTING on her, he also was talking about the whole time how he wasn't just looking to have random sex with someone, he was looking for something more long-term and someone to have fun with.

 

I mean, Jesus. I've never heard of Chris Gore before and I'll probably never look him up again, but he was a fine guest. I feel like everyone here is completely misinterpreting what happened here. Am I that off base?

 

We're all fans of comedy here. Do we have to take everything so seriously?

[Shannon 2953]

You know, I was going to come in here and say that my heart was warmed and I was really proud of the way y'all reacted to gross misogyny and general creepiness in this episode.

 

...And now we have an addition of, "she was asking for it."

 

I'm so terribly disappointed.

[webslinga 20]

A few things. Chris Gore definitely has a creepy, creepy vibe. I listened to him on the last Improv for Humans and even without his patented "pick up techniques" my stomach was instinctively turning. There's so many things going on with this dude; need for validation, lack of self awareness, weird inscrutable agendas. It's fascinating and gross at the same time.

 

I hope Ku didn't feel uncomfortable (she might know him quite well for all I know), and I don't think he was trying to hit on her... but it makes me uncomfortable, in general, to listen to people talk about their "how to win friends and get ahead" techniques. Especially when it involves instantly sizing someone up and taking advantage of perceived weakness.

 

Anyways, check him out on IfH. Besser is respectul, but also kind of takes him apart.

[action52 554]

@KajusX:

 

I have not listened to the podcast yet (I originally planned to skip it, but after all these comments I want to listen out of morbid curiosity) but based on reading that, it seems like you are completely misunderstanding what they said. Since your post was so long, I will try to address it point by point.

 

1. What you said here is factually true, but I fail to see how it disagrees with anything they said. Perhaps I am missing something.

 

2. You're being petty. Up until the 80s or 90s, the vast majority of comic books were written for children. Today the vast majority are written for teenagers and up. What he said is true of the comic book industry IN GENERAL.

 

3. You're giving me figures about how people were still buying the regular, "floppy" comic books by the millions in the 90s... do you have any figures for today? Because I would expect they sell a hell of a lot less, especially with digital media. I think he was saying that what we think of traditionally as "comic books" are an ever-shrinking market, and that comic book companies are making most of their profits by squeezing money out of the hardcore collectors and developing more profitable media like movies (mainly the latter).

 

4. It doesn't sound to me like Chris is saying that comic books are nothing more than "POTENTIAL MONETARY WORTH IN OTHER, MORE PROFITABLE ENTERTAINMENT MEDIUMS," he's saying that this is how comic book companies have come to see their own intellectual property. It seems to me like they are just talking about the way the business works, not passing judgement on its worth as an art form.

 

5. Same with Kulap. When she says comic books are storyboards, I highly doubt that she is saying that's all they should be worth as an art form. She is talking about how, more and more, comic book companies are seeing their intellectual properties this way.

 

Now, this is how it looks to me based on reading the quote you posted. Maybe after I listen to the podcast, I will have a different interpretation.

[Lukas Holmes 2287]

Am I that off base?

 

Yes. Yes you are.

 

Two things. 1) There is no way Kulap could have guessed that inviting him to go on with that topic would have resulted in a twenty minute speech that was a how-to guide for serial killers. Except with serial killers, the story ends with killing someone, and his ended with, 'but I want a meaningful relationship'.

 

2) There were two specific things that struck me-his surprise at finding out Kulap was married and his referring to her as a 'hot comic book girl fan' or whatever he said. Both, very unsettling.

 

But more than that, what I didn't care for was how important 'he' was. When Kulap chimed in that comics were made for people like her, he completly glossed over it, almost mockingly so 'well, for guys like me'. I was very impressed with Kulap for not pulling out the, 'oh, are you on the cover of a DC comic right now?' line.

 

I can see where people would wonder if he wasn't just trying to make his point clear at the start, but the entire show he gave off a weird vibe. All in all, his knowledge of the show (lack of it) his bizarre rambling nature, his creepy dedication to finding out where The Smashing Pumpkins were on the charts, and more, made me dislike him as a guest.

 

Oh, and one more thing. To pull up what Kulap said in an ealier show about Fassbender is a little distatseful. Women can say whatever they want about crushes, and she can say whatever she wants in terms of a comedic take on celebrity crushes. That in no way means that hence forth she is allowed to be treated with disrespect on sexual topics and don't get me wrong, I don't think that's what you meant, but people will take it to mean that once a woman expresses in interest in sex then from there out, she's open game.

 

You're better than that. We're better than that and yes this is a comedy podcast but guess what, we're all adults and we can behave as such when the time arrises.

 

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm gunna go have a summah.

[KajusX 1807]

@Kevin Please give the podcast a listen. My comment was meant to be read by people who listened to the episode first and are now on the forum.

 

1. I did not include the whole start to the conversation, which was Chris talking about superheroes. I started the quote where Chris went off the rails switching his terminology to comic books. As I mentioned numerous times, comic book =/= superheroes. Comic books are a medium. Superheroes are a genre.

 

2. Chris said very plainly "comic books aren't written for kids anymore." That's simply not true, no matter what size the all ages audience is. I named some of those titles at the end of my comment. Chris did not say "The majority of comics aren't written strictly for kids." If he had I wouldn't have had a problem. Then I attempted to extract actual meaning from his statement, which was that yes, the bulk of superhero comics from largely Marvel and DC aren't really written for kids anymore. The characters appeal to kids, and they have larger kid audiences in other mediums (like cartoons for kids), but superhero comics from these long-standing publishers are not marketed towards kids for the most part. Kids do still read them though. I don't see how I was being petty here.

 

3. I did not provide a sales figure for how well comics are doing presently because I felt it was inferred how small the market is now since the collector-fueled days of the '90s. I probably should have. For the record, to be a smash-success-take-all-the-marbles single issue today means selling about 250,000 copies (I don't know if digital is included in that figure and I haven't gotten around to looking it up).

 

But sales figures were not even what my third point was about. It was about Chris's claim that people who buy comic books are like him, and when he say, "like him," he explains how he just wants a fix, and will buy the same thing with a new coat of paint over and over again. Again, that's not true. Yes there are some comic fans that do that, there are still comics published with variant covers (a recent resurgence tapping into that '90s nostalgia) but to say all people who read comic books are like that is a gross misrepresentation of the community of readers.

 

4. You just have to listen to the episode. The interpretation of Chris's words you offered up is something I already offerred up myself in my comment. my main criticism, which is what my whole comment was about, is that Chris spoke extremely inarticulately about the subject. Multiple times in my comment I wrote things along the lines of "If he had said this word in place of that word, then what he's saying could possibly make sense, but he didn't, so I can only comment on what he said with the words he chose." What was so jarring about that inarticulation is that Chris had just been speaking in what appeared to be a knowledgeable manner on the topic of film. He segue wade into comic books, and totally ate it.

 

My post was born out of irritation, but my goal wasn't burying Chris with scorn. I overstated the case JUST IN CASE anyone who listened to the episode who then visited this forum wound up absorbing what he said about comic books, and I wanted to course correct by just jamming in as much accurate info into a single post as possible.

 

5. Kulap is a very accomodating, polite and cheerful host. I already gave Kulap an out. But stating 'They're storyboards' is not a ringing endoresment for comic books, and that statement is not true, by itself and in the context of which it was said as a reply to Chris's already sweeping generalizations.

 

Don't get me wrong, I wrote way more than I planned to. I got on a tear (and over a very small snippet of the podcast). But language is important, and comic books are important to me as a medium for artistic expression. What sounded like coherent, well-thought out observations on the topic of the film world immediately nose-dived into hyperbole and inaccurate, broadly-sweeping statements about comic books, but with the same confidence and air of expertise. He failed to accurately define what comics are, who they are for, and what their value as a medium is (other than putting a price tag on it), and THAT was a sad thing to hear. I felt I had to speak up in case anyone listened to this episode and decided to take Chris's word for what comic books are and adopt it as an opinion of their own without knowing some more facts first.

[vgfitzger 46]

I think the reason I find him so distasteful is that he thinks he's such a stellar guest that he cuts all his appearances together into his own podcast every week. Like some kind of greatest hits album. More like greatest shits.

[Shannon 2953]

I think the reason I find him so distasteful is that he thinks he's such a stellar guest that he cuts all his appearances together into his own podcast every week. Like some kind of greatest hits album. More like greatest shits.

 

 

I was wondering about this when he mentioned it on I4H today... He said his podcast is about him being a jerk on other people's podcasts?

 

I seriously don't get this dude.

[KajusX 1807]

Yeah, I've started to lose patience with him after i4h. "I like to fuck with people!" Bully for him.

[benk 257]

In no way did I think or say that Kulap was "asking for it." I'm not a psychopath. She clearly said "try it out on me!" as she has done with many other guests. I also don't think outgoing women should be subjected to leering or molestation. I was merely suggesting that Kulap was probably okay with the low level "hitting on" that Chris Gore was doing. I don't know what she was feeling, though. Maybe she was horrified Gore said her top was nice.

 

I was also taken aback with the way that Gore dismissed Kulap's love of comic's as if it couldn't be true. But I also enjoyed their conversation about the music and movies this week (as I do every week, I'm a very easy listener to please).

 

I think mainly the reason I posted what I did is I've seen a lot of people lately (especially in the CBB forums) posting their displeasure with shows because it didn't fit their idea of what the show should be. Now obviously, this wasn't the case with this show, but I still feel like you guys are blowing this way out of proportion. If you think that makes me some kind of sexist asshole, then so be it.

 

One final note - Started listening to the I4H appearce by Gore, and he comes off immediately as crazy. I still don't feel like he came off that way here, though.

[VampiresVampiresVampires 303]

I was going to leave this alone, but I just listened to the end of I4H. I actually have a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach from this guy. It's kind of like the gutshot feeling you get after watching, "Boys Don't Cry," or the documentary about the slaughtering of dolphins. I may be overly sensitive, but MAN do I feel dirty. (Which is probably exactly what he wants.)

 

 

*update

 

Okay, I just watched "Winnebego Man." FAITH IN HUMANITY RESTORED!

[Timfastic 5]

I listened to the whole episode. There were multiple instances of this guy being a creep, and I thought Kulap's silence throughout most of his ramblings spoke volumes. He is supposed to be a film expert, but really didn't say anything particularly interesting about film at all. I mean, he spoke a little more "deep" about cinema than most people, but it was still pretty Film 101.

 

I wonder if maybe Kulap was trying to cut the tension of his creepiness with a "See it doesn't work on me, you can't essentialize women like that" sort of approach that probably never really came to fruition because Gore was all over the fucking place.

 

I mean, I caught this all after like...7 beers at 3am while falling asleep. So, i don't think we are blowing it out of proportion. It was incredibly obvious. I fumbled through a registration process in order to say so.

 

 

posting their displeasure with shows because it didn't fit their idea of what the show should be.

 

The genius of WC is that each episode is customized for each guest. So, it isn't really ever supposed to be a specific way. They always have different charts and orient those charts based on the lives of the guests they have on. So, maybe I had the expectation that a supposed film expert might have some insightful or entertaining film based anecdotes, He took it off on weird directions on his own.

[action52 554]

OK KajusX, I've listened to the rest of the episode. To be honest, I still think you might have misrepresented some things, but to be honest he didn't make a lot of sense and was such a douchebag in general that I don't want to bother talking about it anymore. Basically we'd be quibbling over the nuances of how he made an idiot of himself, and it's hard to think of a bigger waste of time.

 

And please don't take this as an insult, but your post was probably a huge waste of time, too. You seem to be an intelligent person overall, but I think you have been baited into a fool's errand. At first I was annoyed at your post for not seeming to make sense, but after listening to the podcast I see that this was just because of what you were trying to respond to. And I don't think you have to worry about people getting false ideas about comic books from this guy--even if he didn't alienate everyone with his attitude, he's so incoherent in his comic book rant that it's hard to get much of an idea about anything regarding the subject.

 

I still will defend what Kulap said, though. She was talking, as a comic book fan, about her disappointment with the new Spider-Man movie and the industry in general. And dammit, she was right--you go into the board room at Disney, or whatever conglomerate owns DC comics now, and that's how they see their comic book properties. As a springboard for something more profitable. Does some great art manage to come out of this system? Absolutely. But that's not the goal of the system.

 

Oh yeah, the pickup artist bit was kinda creepy, but pretty tame compared to what's out there. Actually it was much less manipulative than most of what I hear from those types. I think the reason most of these things seem to work is the placebo effect--it gives people confidence, which means they actually go out and try to pick up women much more than they had before, and don't fuck themselves over by being nervous and saying/doing something stupid. Maybe it was because the comments here are usually so positive--seeing all these negative responses made me think I was in for a complete scumbag which would nauseate me to listen to... which he really wasn't. And some of the criticisms made no sense.

 

"Creepy dedication to finding out where The Smashing Pumpkins were on the charts?" How is it creepy if you're a big fan of one of the most popular alternative bands of all time who just put out an album, and you want to know if it charted?

 

Don't get me wrong, I think there are plenty of valid reasons not to like this guy, but it seems exaggerated in some parts.

[DanEngler 5249]

Given the debates that ensued after episodes with Eric Andre, Tony Clifton, Adam Pally, Andy Kindler, and now Chris Gore, it's shaping up to be the Summah of Contentious Guests at Earwolf!

 

Is it the record-breaking temperatures across North America? Is it the sudden influx of thousands of new listeners thanks to CBBTV? Or are these simply the first warning signs that the world is suffering from a catastrophic Paul F. Tompkins drought?

 

Consider these facts:

 

● Paul has not appeared on an Earwolf podcast since May

● A proper episode of the Pod F. Tompkast has not been released since May

● TrackPFT updates have fallen conspicuously silent

● Paul is not participating in the San Diego Comic-Con live CBB due to his distaste for nerds (and possibly dorks)

 

Will this Tompkinslessness be our undoing? Has Earth reached a tipping point from which we cannot recover? Is there no one with the gift of the second sight to advise us in this, our hour of need? #soundoff in the comments below!

[jokerswild2505 0]

You know, I was going to come in here and say that my heart was warmed and I was really proud of the way y'all reacted to gross misogyny and general creepiness in this episode.

 

...And now we have an addition of, "she was asking for it."

 

I'm so terribly disappointed.

 

Not my intention if that was what you got from my post. Seemed like she was aiming for some improv and instead got a speech on the subject.

 

Also kind of surprised that so many are so disgusted by that segment but still listened to it. As soon as I could tell he was going down the creep road I skipped ahead until he had moved on.

[KajusX 1807]

@Kevin— Oh I KNOW my post was a huge waste of time. Ultimately, I typed it up for me.

 

I don't know how you misinterpreted me attacking Kulap. I only had one qualm and it was over a single sentence she uttered, and it had nothing to do with her disappointment in Spider-Man.

 

But yeah, see? You have to listen to the episode first, as a rule.

[ebok 26]

Hmm, I was really expecting him to be wearing a bowling shirt.