ABOUT THIS EPISODE
Topics covered:
Dr. Hole and Ariana’s favorite and least favorite fucked up films, feat. disturbing classics like The Notebook and The Human Centipede 2; supernatural horror vs. gore; horror as a haven for social outcasts and the fine line between horror fan and gore gooner.
Fruit Chan’s Dumplings and the extremes women are pushed to to pursue beauty; Dr. Hole's findings as a budding data scientist on lip fillers/Botox; the Brazilification of America, body dysmorphia, and going into debt for cosmetic procedures.
Porn’s impact on beauty standards; parallels between porn and images of extreme images of violence by the way of Sontag; Mondo films as well-meaning educational content, then as propaganda; porn tropes and Lana Del Rey shaping women’s sexual experiences.
Sex as power; Salò as Marxist critique of fascism and consumerism, and as possible admission of Pasolini’s Boy Lover mind a la SmartSchoolBoy9; artistic value vs. gratuitous shock content of exploitation cinema; why every pornsick freak needs to watch A Serbian Film.
Gooner cultural anthropological analysis; the social pressure of women to accept increasingly extreme pornography; is Lana del Rey the ultimate pick-me goonette?
The evolution of Japanese erotica from woodblock prints to the eroguronansensu movement; the impact of Allied occupation and censorship laws on pornography and the birth of Pinku; a case study on porn’s societal impact through public harassment and deep-seated child exploitation issues in Japan.
The post-COVID increase of street harassment; the interconnectedness of war, violence, and sexual exploitation of women; and our own radical grey demi-asexual identities.
Finally, we read a listener-submitted spooky story about a shadowy visitor as a teaser for our upcoming Halloween event, Gilded Fireside Tales. Please submit your stories at tinyurl.com/gildedtales!
