The tale as old as time but timeless to us all. With special guest Chelsea (@corseque), we embark on a deep analysis into Beauty and the Beast, following it from its origins in Greek myth and 18th French Salons to its modern day film and literary adaptations. Prepare for lots of love for the monster husband trope and how these stories are subversive female power fantasies. Also, too many mentions of horns, scales, and fur to count.
Who’s the biggest, baddest kaiju of them all? This week we dip our toes into the massive Godzilla franchise and collectively develop a crush on the skyscraper-sized metaphor for nuclear disaster. Highlights include our love for the original film, a salt fest for the 1998 schlockbuster, and a deep analysis of 2016’s Shin Godzilla with its modern take on the mythos. We also talk snake genitalia and the preciousness that is our big ugly “ketchup fish” Kamata-kun.
Join us as we touch on one of the most formative sci-fi books in history, War of the Worlds! Martians, tripods, hysteria, and existential dread ensue as we discuss the original book, radio drama, and the 2005 blockbuster film. Also Dildos. Lots of dildos.
This week we’re excited to bring you a beloved Metamashina classic, Meredith Ann Pierce’s The Darkangel Trilogy. We know you all love hero/villain romances so if you’re not familiar with this story, buckle in for a ride to the moon and allow us to introduce you to one of our earliest #problematic faves. Nat waxes poetic about Carl Jung, Shi can’t stop talking about Irrylath, and Erin gets triggered by men with ponytails.
Robot women have existed since the dawn of time, but we’re just beginning to talk about them on Metamashina. We start our series on ladies of the future with the 1927 silent film Metropolis, directed by Fritz Lang and reconstructed in 2010. The harpies get heavy on Marxism, history, feminine-coded maschinenmensch, and why we can all love both Freder and Faust.
The second part of our discussion of the Alien Franchise ends with a whimper rather than a bang as we try hard to appreciate the beautiful, but flawed Prometheus and Alien: Covenant. Content warning: we discuss physical and sexual violence as presented in these films, as well as Space Jesus, Robot Lucifer, the stupidest scientists ever sent to meet alien life, and why all women could benefit from a robot companion (as long as it’s not programmed by a narcissistic asshole).
Ellen Ripley: feminist icon. Ridley Scott: not so much. Today’s episode covers the first four films of the Alien franchise–yes, even Resurrection, though none of us remembers it well. We’re going deep into the salt mines for our take on the formative series, including why we love xenomorphs and robots with Oedipal complexes. We also cover why we’re not so hot on male writers clinging to hard-edged 90s nostalgia and so-called “Strong Female Characters.” Nothing’s perfect, we guess.
