Incidental Mythology
Mythology has never faded away. It has always been a part of us, lingering in our stories as we continued to tell them throughout time. Our current stories, the popular culture around, are our mythology. Its not mythology through some machinations of corporate capitalists who only want more money from our interest. They’re myths because they just are, incidentally.
At Incidental Mythology we explore our contemporary meaningful stories, and really dig down into what these narratives mean to us and why we care so much to tell them, play them, and watch them. At Incidental Mythology, we explain our contemporary mythology, legends and folklore, all in the world of entertainment, and through it learn a lot more about ourselves.
Get all the posts from this blog into your email feed through substack. Substack also has posts that are not shared here, and is a nice way to support me and my work. If you’re interested, go check out my substack here and subscribe!
The Amphibian Man | Monstrosity in Shape of Water
Monsters are important facets of storytelling. They typically stand on the outside, showing us what a society or culture fears most: what categories do we daren't cross? What separations from these categories do we fear? The Shape of Water takes the monster and romanticises it, altering the concept of the monstrous Other to one which humanises it, cares for it, and loves it. In this video, we examine the nature of the Amphibian Man in Shape of Water, how he represents the Other, and how the combinations of Monster Movie and Romance Movie make for a new perspective on an old creature.
Fandom Love | K-Pop Demon Hunters
Sony's K-Pop Demon Hunters is a massive success, and follows the trials of girl K-pop group Huntr/x who double as demon hunters, using their voices and songs to heal the rift which keep demons at bay. The power Huntr/x draws on is connected to the souls of fans, which are given to the idols their their fandom's love. In this essay, we explore the dynamics of love in fandom - what it means to love a celebrity figure, and how K-Pop Demon Hunter portrays the complex relationship in an interesting and dynamic way
Science Fiction vs Magic vs Religion
I know on the surface these three as being my case studies here may seem a bit strange, especially throwing in that last one of Religion. Obviously, we can think that religion has very little to do with fiction - or, maybe, that’s only what religious people will argue against. Others may be very excited about this category being thrown in. Spoiler alert, neither of you may be expecting which way this is going. But even when we remove religion, we are left with discussions of science fiction and magic, two worlds which are, very much, kept separate.
Kiki’s Creativity and Consumerism
Kiki's Delivery Service from Studio Ghibli is a beautiful coming-of-age tale about a thirteen-year-old witch who goes to develop her skills and find herself in a new city. Kiki learns not only how to live on her own, but also how to deal with different personality dynamics, how to embrace her own anxieties, and learn how to balance creativity with capitalism. Today, I'm exploring the way Kiki struggles to understand herself in relation to her creative powers, and how burn out can be followed by chasing the issues of capitalism. Kiki gets caught up in needing to make money in order to fit in, and she allows capitalist insecurities to guide her creative practices, rather than finding her own social worlds which allow her creativity to thrive.
Food as Storytelling
Food can be a social thing. It tells the stories of family and friends. It ties me to the social engagements and ties of my family, even when I’m an ocean away. It ties me to my new friends, the new life I’ve carved for myself through the exchanging of cake.
Research Reflection: the Taylor Swift Survey
This isn’t the first time I’ve worked on a survey, but is the first time in many years. Surveys are always a little more complicated than people think. You need to be direct, but not so direct that it’s leading. You have to ask a lot, but not demand too much of their time. You need to get numbers, but also specificity when you need. Saying, for example, twenty percent of people think this, that’s great - but why?
Secrets Written in the Sky: The Folklore of Taylor Swift
Essentially, Taylor Swift’s music exists as a form of contemporary folklore, and as such is not limited to Swifties alone. Her story, the stories she creates, and the stories spun from the original stories, all exist in a complicated weave of individual and communal storytelling which thrives on its context and its life outside of this context simultaneously.
Schitt’s Creek and Bodily Storytelling
The best and most interesting storytelling incorporates words and the body, working together to help tell the story. In contemporary television, I think my favourite example of this is Alexis Rose from Schitt's Creek. Alexis has a little tick of touching people's nose with a little nose boop whenever she wants to show them some kind of affection. She begins with only David, but as the show continues she sees more and more connections with others, leading to more nose boops. The ability to tell a story, to explore a character, though things that are not described or explained through words, but rather through actions, makes a narrative incredibly impactful, and allows the audience to form deeper and more meaningful connections with the character.
The Shape of Genre
In other words, it is primarily because of the addition of a second genre – the addition of romance – that makes the monster movie more poignant. It changes the perspective of a monster movie, making us suddenly sympathetic for the monster because we see the human inside.
Taylor Swift, the Corn Wolf
Taylor Swift, therefore, is a Corn Wolf. She is human, and idol, and symbol all at once. She is the music and the performer. She is the writer and the topic, and even the theme. All of these are possible, and it is because all of these are possible that she is the figure she is.
Stardew Valley and Religion
Religion, like most aspects of extended worldbuilding in Stardew Valley, is left largely up to player interpretation. Yoba, a god-like figure, is mentioned several times in both player dialogue and in item descriptions. But what is this religion? And how can we learn to look at it like scholars do physical world religions?
Intelligence and Taskmaster
The UK Panel Show Taskmaster flips the script on a lot of aspects of the traditional panel show, but more than that it also flips the script on representations of what makes a person intelligent. By giving contestants a serious of tasks all different in approach, and all having a variety of ways to answer the task, demonstrates how people learn and think differently, and that all forms of this are valid and intelligent in their own right.
Self-Mythology in Win or Lose
Win or Lose demonstrates how storytelling is all about perspective - difference of perspective shifts narratives and understandings. All stories are impacted by the narrator and the experiences they face. Win or Lose helps to paint the way that self-mythologising happens at all times, and how this perspective also impacts our views and the stories we tell of others.
Psych and the Camp Detective
USA's Psych is one of my favourite shows, so it's time for a little video essay on it! One of the things I think is most prevalent about the show is its absurdity and exaggerations. I argue that Psych is a presentation of the detective genre as camp, and camp from the perspective of heterosexuality masculinity. The show has a nuance to its craziness which forces the audience to question reality, and the levels of and garnering of knowledge.
Frieren, Grief, and Memorialisation
Today, we're talking about Frieren: Beyond Journey's End - an anime that starts at the end. A typical fantasy set up of an elf, a dwarf, and two human heroes saving the world is turned upside down when time continues to move forward, and suddenly only an elf with a long life remains, looking back at the companions she's lost. Frieren is a show about grief and memory and the ways we recontextualise those we lost throughout our life. But most of all, Frieren is a show about how to live.
Mythology Retelling in Hades
Today, we're talking about the role that video games play in retelling old myths, and I think one of my favourite examples of this is Hades. Supergiant Games decided to utilise a relatively obscure figure in Greek Mythology, Zagreus, and not only give him a proper story, but also incorporates all variants of the Zagreus myths which exist. They provided reasons for these variants to exist, which helps to elevate their retelling to being a myth itself.
Jack Skellington: Trickster
As a nice little Christmas treat, I wanted to talk about the figure that occupies the minds and hearts of every little emo and goth kid from the naughties: Jack Skellington. Nightmare Before Christmas occupies the lovely space between Halloween and Christmas, uniting the two holidays which are typically at odds with one another. I want to talk about that liminal space, and the figure that embodies it, the protagonist Jack Skellington. We talk about Jack as a Trickster figure, and how it demonstrates the odd character arc he experiences throughout the film.
The Chthulucene Reviewed
The Anthropocene as a term has come outside of its original geographical context to expand into sociology, anthropology, the humanities, and even popular culture outside of the Ivory Tower. However, the idea is not without it's critiques. Today, we're reviewing one of those: Donna Haraway's Chthulucene. We not only review the concept, but use Princess Mononoke and Lord of the Rings as case studies to explore how narratives can embody the idea of the Chthulucene.
Cosplay and the Dressing of Identity
This week, we have a nice little excerpt from the second chapter of my new book Cosplay and the Dressing of Identity, out now! We chat about the history of cosplay, the sociology of dressing, and how cosplay is so much more than just dressing up.
The Divine Beast Dancing Lion
Today's video essay was inspired by a conversation had over an Elden Ring speed run. So we're talking about probably my favourite boss design: the Divine Beast Dancing Lion. The Dancing Lion's design is based on masked and costumed rituals, most notably the Chinese dancing lion. We talk about the power of these types of rituals, why they matter, and how they work. And ultimately figure out why the beast's weak spot is still its head.