In an episode that surely not going to get them into trouble, Doc and Nina discuss the Netflix show “History of Swear Words” and what it missed. Doc talks taboos and euphemisms plus the pejoration and amelioration of words over the centuries. In between educational lessons, Nina will reveal her favorite swear word, school Doc on the Wu-Tang Clan, and drop some wise (but foul) parting knowledge on the audience.
Warning: because it is impossible to talk about the subject matter without both saying the words and driving Engineer Mike crazy bleeping out the swears, Doc and Nina will be doing a LOT of cursing in this episode. Therefore, we will mark this episode as explicit. If very strong language offends you, Pop Medievalists, you should probably sit this one out!
In their Christmas episode, Doc explains the bizarre Medieval history of the carol, “Good King Wenceslas,” beginning with the pronunciation (which Nina bungles several times during this episode). They’ll discuss the confusing difference between the two Wenceslases (Wenceslii?), the real-life martyrdom of the correct Wenceslas, some fratricide, and the legend of Blanik Mountain. Plus, Nina successfully makes a connection between King Wenceslas and “The Lord of the Rings.”
Doc and Nina finish up Movember 2020 with a unicorn stinker: 1985’s “Legend” with Tom Cruise, Mia Sara, and Tim effing Curry! Sorry folks, they know you loved this as a kid, but this did NOT hold up!
They’ll talk about innocence and unicorns, the Biblical imagery and the Garden of Eden, Jack’s medieval armor, and more about the 1980’s Satanic Panic. For an added bonus, Doc and Nina will debate the existence of the Lord of Darkness’ father — was he God? Invisible? A chair?! Are they giving this too much thought??
Mo-vember continues (but with some more family friendly counter-programing this time)! This episode, Doc and Nina offer up 1982’s “The Flight of Dragons,” a Rankin/Bass animated medieval-fantasy adventure and one of Nina’s childhood favorites. Dragons, magic, celebrity voice acting, and theological debates – this is some heavy stuff for a children’s movie, folks, but somehow it still works!
Also in this episode, Doc and Nina discuss what dragons represent in medieval history; the movie’s recurring science versus religion themes, and the interesting choices of knighthood and chivalry. Plus, Doc does some karaoke!
Pop Medieval Ep 22: Can You Explain the Penis Tree?
/
RSS Feed
Share
Link
Embed
Mo-vember is back! This year, we’re starting off with two Decameron-themed sex comedies. First, Doc and Nina discuss 2007’s Virgin Territory starring Hayden Christensen and Mischa Barton. They’ll go over this movie’s costume choices, the naked and horned-up nuns, and Tim Roth’s decision to play this movie as straight as possible. This one’s got Nina fired up and angry folks, so prepare for a rant!
Then, they’ll finish up with a better movie, 2017’s The Little Hours. This movie, while also about randy nuns, uses a combination of anachronistic dialogue and some historical accuracy to tell a story. This one’s actually enjoyable!
Warning: this episode contains a fair amount of humorous, though not descriptive, acknowledgement of sex. If that’s not your bag, you may want to sit this one out.
