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Unexpected Heroes
#308: What starts as a conversation about The Suicide Squad quickly derails into a larger conversation about what makes heroes unexpected, and why we don’t see many older heroes.
Transcript
Josué Cardona 0:11
Welcome to GT radio on the Geek Therapy network here at Geek Therapy. We believe that the best way to understand each other and ourselves is through the media we care about, my name is Josué Cardona. I’m joined by Link Keller
Link Keller 0:20
hello.
Josué Cardona 0:22
and Lara Taylor.
Lara Taylor 0:23
Hey,
Josué Cardona 0:24
Lara it’s your turn you’re up.
Lara Taylor 0:28
Our pre show shenanigans made me forget what I’m talking about today. Um, but not really. Uh, so Nina and I were watching the Suicide Squad.
Josué Cardona 0:40
just Suicide Squad or the ?
Lara Taylor 0:42
The Suicide Squad. Okay, the Suicide Squad, the new one
Link Keller 0:46
2021
Lara Taylor 0:47
So this is a wonderful topic that we’re going to talk about, but um big spoilers for how The Suicide Squad ends. So, um, yeah, you might not want to listen if you haven’t watched it yet. Um, so we’re watching the Suicide Squad. And there’s a whole thing about unexpected heroes like we got some badasses is right. The Rats!
Josué Cardona 1:14
do we?
Lara Taylor 1:16
We do. I mean, Harley is pretty badass.
Josué Cardona 1:19
True, true.
Lara Taylor 1:20
Harley is pretty badass. And so is Bloodsport? Yeah. But, and then there’s some others that are not so badass. But the most badass of them all is not just the one controlling the rats. What is it ratcatcher 2. But, but But Sebastian and the rest of the rats are the true heroes of this movie. I loved it so much that it was like a simple little animal that was the hero of the movie. And when Josué, when you and I were talking about this, like a week ago or so I had forgotten exactly what the ratcatcher says to ratcatcher 2. But saying something along the lines of like, they’re the lowliest of creatures, but they still have purpose. And I think that that’s something that I can get behind. Like, maybe I’m not the greatest X y&z I don’t know, I’m not the greatest speaker right now, apparently. But I have purpose and I can come up with a good topic. Um, and I thought it made me think of other examples in media of unexpected heroes, but I think it was just cool to know like, the rats are gonna save us in the future. That’s all.
Josué Cardona 2:47
Yeah, the the line from the father was, it surprised me when my father after watching the movie said that, that part stuck with him?
Lara Taylor 2:57
yeah cuz your dad is the like, I only want to watch the action parts.
Josué Cardona 3:02
Yeah.
Link Keller 3:04
of which there were several great ones.
Lara Taylor 3:06
Absolutely. Even including the rats.
Josué Cardona 3:10
I thought it was a very fun movie. And so which is what surprised me that he would give to that. Oh, yeah. No, I enjoyed it. You know, what part I really liked. He talks about, he talks about that, quote,
Link Keller 3:21
Papa Taika Waititi?
Lara Taylor 3:26
He’s, he’s our father.
Josué Cardona 3:28
Yeah. And he was telling me in Spanish, and he’s, you know, and he’s like, saying the part in Spanish and he’s, he was, I think, really, really resonated with him. And I was, I was, so I was very happy to hear that you want us to talk about, you know, that, that idea? Because I wonder how many people it does resonate with, it’s a good reminder. Sometimes you you may feel hopeless or worthless or undervalued, or, you know, through comparing yourself to other people. And yeah, and and you may think, oh, like, I’m not like other people, or I’m not capable of this or that, but that that doesn’t. that’s not helpful
Lara Taylor 4:10
or other people. Like even if you’re thinking about that about yourself, but like other people’s opinion of you like this whole thing with the rats like they are the lowliest of creatures, right? But they’re also not. I think it made me think of Rocket Raccoon and how people treat him and he is my favorite of the Guardians of the Galaxy. And just like, everyone treats him like just trash and like a Rodent and a trash panda. And he’s the best and he’s a badass with his giant gun, destroying everything. And his dirty mouth.
Josué Cardona 4:24
I wonder how many people have told them that he’s no good and survived? Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Yeah, thats a good point, the the idea of them being the lowliest creatures is the Oh society says, or like, like, it’s, this is this is, this is your position in the world as as it has been established, this is what you were born into. And not letting that define you
Lara Taylor 5:23
that doesn’t mean you don’t have purpose and you don’t have meaning and you don’t have value of your own.
Josué Cardona 5:30
Or that you can’t save the day it
Lara Taylor 5:31
or that you can’t save the day and save us from a giant starfish.
Josué Cardona 5:36
Yeah.
Lara Taylor 5:38
Or Thanos. Or, you know, another idea. Another concept I thought of was the the T Rex at the end of Jurassic Park. How like, there’s all these humans and like, Oh, we got to escape. Nope, the T rex is the hero and saves everybody from getting eaten by velociraptors. And that doesn’t mean that no one thinks that T rex is the lowliest of the but no one expected the T Rex to save the humans. So
Josué Cardona 6:07
T Rex has had a lot. We’re much more respected in the 90s, though, than they are than they are today.
Lara Taylor 6:13
Yeah, you’re right. You’re right.
Josué Cardona 6:18
Yeah, yeah, I don’t I don’t know. I don’t know what the T Rex. I get where you’re going. But
Lara Taylor 6:26
it’s a little different. But it’s still like, you can also be an unexpected hero for yourself, for others, whatever. There’s like that cheesy quote. That’s like, what is it to? To the world, you may be one person, but to one person, you might be the world, kind of thing. Rats. You are the rat.
Josué Cardona 6:52
I mean, we’ve talked about this a lot. tons of stories, right. It’s the it’s the underdog. It’s this person who and in and I think in the context that we’ve talked about before is how it’s it is very often a young, white male figure who’s like not cool, or you know, it’s like a nerd. And then like,
Josué Cardona 7:23
neville longbottom.
Josué Cardona 7:25
Yeah. You know, and think oh, yeah, then, you know, they’re there. They’re the Chosen One somehow and, etc. But a lot of those stories, this is this is kind of where my I often I often get upset when we talk about the hero’s journey. It’s this kind of stuff where it’s like, what stories are you basing that on? Right? Like, like, what exactly is that is that trope is that is that a story that you keep retelling? There’s a video on on that’s like a TEDx talk. Where this guy is, hates the hero’s journey, but he’s talking about it as from the point of view of being a father. You know, he has a daughter, he like, that sucks. It sucks. Because one of the stories that we’re looking at were the stories from my daughter to to feel like she can be the hero of a story. And while some of the elements are relatable, taking people completely out of it. And using examples like rats and Rocket Raccoon, I think are helpful because you can you can see yourself in. In any of these characters. Yeah, but it’s easier if it’s not a person that you can...
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By Geek Therapy Network#308: What starts as a conversation about The Suicide Squad quickly derails into a larger conversation about what makes heroes unexpected, and why we don’t see many older heroes.
Transcript
Josué Cardona 0:11
Welcome to GT radio on the Geek Therapy network here at Geek Therapy. We believe that the best way to understand each other and ourselves is through the media we care about, my name is Josué Cardona. I’m joined by Link Keller
Link Keller 0:20
hello.
Josué Cardona 0:22
and Lara Taylor.
Lara Taylor 0:23
Hey,
Josué Cardona 0:24
Lara it’s your turn you’re up.
Lara Taylor 0:28
Our pre show shenanigans made me forget what I’m talking about today. Um, but not really. Uh, so Nina and I were watching the Suicide Squad.
Josué Cardona 0:40
just Suicide Squad or the ?
Lara Taylor 0:42
The Suicide Squad. Okay, the Suicide Squad, the new one
Link Keller 0:46
2021
Lara Taylor 0:47
So this is a wonderful topic that we’re going to talk about, but um big spoilers for how The Suicide Squad ends. So, um, yeah, you might not want to listen if you haven’t watched it yet. Um, so we’re watching the Suicide Squad. And there’s a whole thing about unexpected heroes like we got some badasses is right. The Rats!
Josué Cardona 1:14
do we?
Lara Taylor 1:16
We do. I mean, Harley is pretty badass.
Josué Cardona 1:19
True, true.
Lara Taylor 1:20
Harley is pretty badass. And so is Bloodsport? Yeah. But, and then there’s some others that are not so badass. But the most badass of them all is not just the one controlling the rats. What is it ratcatcher 2. But, but But Sebastian and the rest of the rats are the true heroes of this movie. I loved it so much that it was like a simple little animal that was the hero of the movie. And when Josué, when you and I were talking about this, like a week ago or so I had forgotten exactly what the ratcatcher says to ratcatcher 2. But saying something along the lines of like, they’re the lowliest of creatures, but they still have purpose. And I think that that’s something that I can get behind. Like, maybe I’m not the greatest X y&z I don’t know, I’m not the greatest speaker right now, apparently. But I have purpose and I can come up with a good topic. Um, and I thought it made me think of other examples in media of unexpected heroes, but I think it was just cool to know like, the rats are gonna save us in the future. That’s all.
Josué Cardona 2:47
Yeah, the the line from the father was, it surprised me when my father after watching the movie said that, that part stuck with him?
Lara Taylor 2:57
yeah cuz your dad is the like, I only want to watch the action parts.
Josué Cardona 3:02
Yeah.
Link Keller 3:04
of which there were several great ones.
Lara Taylor 3:06
Absolutely. Even including the rats.
Josué Cardona 3:10
I thought it was a very fun movie. And so which is what surprised me that he would give to that. Oh, yeah. No, I enjoyed it. You know, what part I really liked. He talks about, he talks about that, quote,
Link Keller 3:21
Papa Taika Waititi?
Lara Taylor 3:26
He’s, he’s our father.
Josué Cardona 3:28
Yeah. And he was telling me in Spanish, and he’s, you know, and he’s like, saying the part in Spanish and he’s, he was, I think, really, really resonated with him. And I was, I was, so I was very happy to hear that you want us to talk about, you know, that, that idea? Because I wonder how many people it does resonate with, it’s a good reminder. Sometimes you you may feel hopeless or worthless or undervalued, or, you know, through comparing yourself to other people. And yeah, and and you may think, oh, like, I’m not like other people, or I’m not capable of this or that, but that that doesn’t. that’s not helpful
Lara Taylor 4:10
or other people. Like even if you’re thinking about that about yourself, but like other people’s opinion of you like this whole thing with the rats like they are the lowliest of creatures, right? But they’re also not. I think it made me think of Rocket Raccoon and how people treat him and he is my favorite of the Guardians of the Galaxy. And just like, everyone treats him like just trash and like a Rodent and a trash panda. And he’s the best and he’s a badass with his giant gun, destroying everything. And his dirty mouth.
Josué Cardona 4:24
I wonder how many people have told them that he’s no good and survived? Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Yeah, thats a good point, the the idea of them being the lowliest creatures is the Oh society says, or like, like, it’s, this is this is, this is your position in the world as as it has been established, this is what you were born into. And not letting that define you
Lara Taylor 5:23
that doesn’t mean you don’t have purpose and you don’t have meaning and you don’t have value of your own.
Josué Cardona 5:30
Or that you can’t save the day it
Lara Taylor 5:31
or that you can’t save the day and save us from a giant starfish.
Josué Cardona 5:36
Yeah.
Lara Taylor 5:38
Or Thanos. Or, you know, another idea. Another concept I thought of was the the T Rex at the end of Jurassic Park. How like, there’s all these humans and like, Oh, we got to escape. Nope, the T rex is the hero and saves everybody from getting eaten by velociraptors. And that doesn’t mean that no one thinks that T rex is the lowliest of the but no one expected the T Rex to save the humans. So
Josué Cardona 6:07
T Rex has had a lot. We’re much more respected in the 90s, though, than they are than they are today.
Lara Taylor 6:13
Yeah, you’re right. You’re right.
Josué Cardona 6:18
Yeah, yeah, I don’t I don’t know. I don’t know what the T Rex. I get where you’re going. But
Lara Taylor 6:26
it’s a little different. But it’s still like, you can also be an unexpected hero for yourself, for others, whatever. There’s like that cheesy quote. That’s like, what is it to? To the world, you may be one person, but to one person, you might be the world, kind of thing. Rats. You are the rat.
Josué Cardona 6:52
I mean, we’ve talked about this a lot. tons of stories, right. It’s the it’s the underdog. It’s this person who and in and I think in the context that we’ve talked about before is how it’s it is very often a young, white male figure who’s like not cool, or you know, it’s like a nerd. And then like,
Josué Cardona 7:23
neville longbottom.
Josué Cardona 7:25
Yeah. You know, and think oh, yeah, then, you know, they’re there. They’re the Chosen One somehow and, etc. But a lot of those stories, this is this is kind of where my I often I often get upset when we talk about the hero’s journey. It’s this kind of stuff where it’s like, what stories are you basing that on? Right? Like, like, what exactly is that is that trope is that is that a story that you keep retelling? There’s a video on on that’s like a TEDx talk. Where this guy is, hates the hero’s journey, but he’s talking about it as from the point of view of being a father. You know, he has a daughter, he like, that sucks. It sucks. Because one of the stories that we’re looking at were the stories from my daughter to to feel like she can be the hero of a story. And while some of the elements are relatable, taking people completely out of it. And using examples like rats and Rocket Raccoon, I think are helpful because you can you can see yourself in. In any of these characters. Yeah, but it’s easier if it’s not a person that you can...