The Midnight Myth Podcast

How far have we come, and how far will we go? In the latest Midnight Myth, Derek and Laurel take a voyage through the history of the Disney Princess, tracing the way to Moana. We explore the myths that make up her environment, the exciting new portrayal of powerful women on the big screen, and some of the academic discourse and critique of the world of the movie. In Moana, we see an exhilarating step forward, but now that we’re past that reef, there’s much more to learn about finding our way.

Three brothers come to a ridge over a river, using magic they create a bridge and anger Death. Death tricks them into gifts that will destroy them, and thus the Deathly Hallows are born. This week, Derek and Laurel look at the story of the Deathly Hallows built inside the final installment of the Harry Potter universe. Derek and Laurel examine the construction of folklore and how adding it into a narrative grounds the story, then look at Harry Potter through the lens of religious re-contextualization.

Did you honestly think we were done talking about Rick and Morty? We haven’t even scratched the surface of the multiverse of Midnight Myth Rick and Morty talk. Listen this week as we deconstruct the story structure of Rick and Morty, trying to understand why the antihero works and doesn’t work in modern serialized commercial shows. We go from Ancient Greece to the Sopranos to Rick and Morty, all to ascertain what makes the antihero one of post-modernity's most commercially viable archetypes.

I turned myself into a podcast is a reflection and meditation on the Sci-Fi interdimensional madness of Rick and Morty. While we all covet the power of turning ourselves into sentient pickles, the question remains, what is this show about? Is it really a hodgepodge of nihilistic philosophies turned into comedy so tragic that we don’t know if we should laugh or cry? Rick and Morty makes us laugh at the very futile nature of human existence, but somehow gives Derek and Laurel hope. Listen, as we Meseek and Destroy!

It’s a spooky scary Halloween episode with Derek & Laurel! With ample history, mischief, and delight, we revisit one of our favorite holiday movies, Tim Burton’s the Nightmare Before Christmas. By combining the two most popular holidays in America, Nightmare reminds us of the spirit behind them both. Its a story of life and death, faith and love, adventure and fear, and of course… trick and treat.

I am Jack’s toxic masculinity. Few movies attempt to address a crisis of masculinity with as much style or swagger as David Fincher’s adaptation of Chuck Palahniuk’s anarchist classic, Fight Club. But what happens when the charm and wit of your villain takes over the steering wheel? Perhaps there’s a one in a million chance the whole car blows up. So grab your fists, and remember that even the Mona Lisa won’t last forever, as Derek and Laurel dive deep into the symbolism, intentions, interpretations, and legacy of Fight Club. I am not a space monkey, I am a unique snowflake.

Everything is Batman. Listen as Derek and Laurel peel under the bat mobile hood of Gotham’s favorite son Bruce Wayne and his true self, the darling of pop culture, the Dark Knight, hero of heroes, Batman. In particular, we examine Frank Miller’s the Dark Knight Returns as a watershed moment in rebranding of the crime fighter from a campy Adam West cheeseball to a tortured lonely man who will stop at nothing to fight crime. The theme, why Batman? Why is he our hero, the one who’s fame and power shakes pop culture to its very knees?

On this week’s episode, we step into the strange dystopian world of the Hunger Games Trilogy. By tracking the evolution of the films themselves and their thematic intentions, Derek & Laurel draw real-world conclusions about the horror of war, the collective amnesia of humanity, and why revolutions fail. Spoilers within for the Hunger Games films, Rogue One, and V for Vendetta!

What is real? Am I real? Are you? Is this podcast real? Is my experience dictated by my perspective, by the materials i interact with, or by some higher essence? When questions like these start to mess with our heads, we filter them through the lens of the quintessence indie mind f*ck, Being John Malkovich. Derek and Laurel take look at Plato’s timeless allegory of the cave, the theory of the forms, and themes of universe justice (and also puppets).

What is a stoic character? Grim, emotionally immovable, and cold in the face of great human pain? Listen this week as Derek and Laurel delve into the archetypal stoic character and unpack Stoic philosophy along the way. The current stoic character construct bares some superficial resemblance to the philosophy started in Ancient Athens in 350 BCE, but do the tropes really do justice to the philosophical doctrine? By examining characters from the Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones, Gladiator, and more, we will try to discover the truth beneath the unshakeable facades.