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GATG isn't, on the face of it, a political show. However, regular listeners have probably picked up on some of the personal politics of the various geeks on the team. We don't agree on everything by any means, although I think it's safe to say that we're all to the left of current political thinking, and we're all more or less socially liberal - just so you know where we're coming from.
Given that we don't have a group recording scheduled until next week Regie thought he'd "treat" you all to his thoughts on politics in geek culture. Don't worry, it's not a party political rant, but a reflection on the place of politics in fiction. The views expressed in this episode are Regie's and may not be representative of views held by other members of the team.
So, anyway. He starts off by pointing out that art is, and always has been political, for as long as there has been art and politics. He mentions Holbein's painting The Ambassadors, which is this:
Click the image for more info.
He also mentioned the work of American photographic artist Robert Mapplethorpe. This self portrait is Regie's favourite of his works, and unlike rather a lot of Mapplethorpe's work it's safe to include here. Click on the image for more info on Mapplethorpe, but be aware that many of his images are "not safe for work" and you might not want to google his work if you're reading on a work or school network, or you're on the bus...
Regie then went on to highlight the frequency with which the likes of Captain America and Batman would punch Nazis on the covers of their comics in the 1940s. Some examples:
We then moved on to the sixties and the X-Men. There's a pretty straightforward essay on the links between the X-Men and Lee & Kirby's views on the civil rights movement of the 1960s here, but you'll find more in depth analysis if you google for it.
There was some discussion of Doctor Who, Regie was adamant that the show was always political. Here's a Radio Times article featuring Sylvester McCoy's thought on the matter.
Regie went on to talk about Thought Bubble. Given that he's written a blog post about it this week, rather than just duplicate all that info in these shownotes we'll just send you to this week's Wednesday Waffle.
Then he went back to the current series of Doctor Who. We're just going to suggest that if you haven't seen it, go and check it out on the BBC iPlayer.
And finally, he implored you to go and see Birds of Prey and the Faboulous Emancipation of one Harley Quinn at the cinema. If you're not sure, here's the trailer:
See you next week! Until then, be kind to yourselves, and kind to everybody else. Above all else, hold the gates open and include everyone!