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Twilight, Vampire Politics, and the Art of Being Useless- Episode 2
18 Plays26 days ago
Twilight was never just about vampires—it was about colonialism, queer-coded villains, and Bella Swan’s commitment to doing absolutely nothing. In this episode, Khalil and Ali unpack the cultural phenomenon that had millennials in a chokehold, debate whether Stephanie Meyer accidentally wrote a polycule, and ask the real questions: Are the Volturi just messy gays? Should Edward and Jacob have just kissed? And why is Bella the least curious person to ever meet a vampire?
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Transcript
Excitement Over Vampire Themes
00:00:06
Speaker
Okay, we're here now. Okay, good. I'm so excited to just jump right into the topic today because it's my choosing. And it's also something that I care about very, very deeply.
00:00:18
Speaker
Twilight. But more importantly, I feel like vampires and fiction and romance novels.
Nosferatu Recommendation and Diversion
00:00:24
Speaker
That's kind of like... Because I recently saw Nosferatu.
00:00:28
Speaker
Highly recommend. what's the What's Johnny Depp's daughter's name? Lily Rose Depp. Yeah, she fully goons in that movie. Like, fully. with tell Like, no, literally, there's a gooning scene where her tongue is out, eyes roll back, and she's like, uh.
00:00:45
Speaker
I don't think I've ever had a real life experience. Really? i feel
Introduction to Twilight Series Discussion
00:00:50
Speaker
like you you have to put yourself in that state of mind. I can't. I don't, like, I feel like I fit to such a, um not to be, like, sex negative, but I just, like, don't do buffoonery.
00:01:00
Speaker
Yeah, it's buffoonery. You have to literally... That's the point of it. You have to like let go of the shackles of... Goonery....pictation. Goonery versus buffoonery. It's the same.
00:01:11
Speaker
It's the same on thing. But like... yeah yeah I was just saying like the letter difference... Yeah, yeah, yeah. But so she goons in that movie and she goons over the 70 year old like decrepit looking vampire. And I'm here for us to I'm here for it. It's so fucking good.
00:01:29
Speaker
But anyway, tangents aside, we're specifically going to be referencing a video that we both watched by ContraPoints. Amazing. Wait, no, we have to introduce the podcast too, though. Okay, I'm getting ahead of myself.
00:01:43
Speaker
Yeah. Hello, everyone. Welcome to the Olive People. ah Today, we're going to be talking about Twilight.
00:01:52
Speaker
Can I jump in now? Yeah, you can jump in now. But like, there had to be like hey. hey and Right, right, right. acknowledge
ContraPoints and Disavowal in Romance
00:02:00
Speaker
the audience. Yeah, it wasn't there because we were talking about the topic, not like a preamble.
00:02:04
Speaker
write Right, right, right. So anyway, ContraPoints, YouTuber extraordinaire, makes these video essays and one of them is on Twilight. It's like a three hour video or something insane like that.
00:02:17
Speaker
How do people, first of all, why make a video that long? Does it get you more money if somebody watches it all the way through? Because I feel like, what's the point? I mean, honestly, I think it's personal preference. like Some people don't like Lord the Rings because it's too long.
00:02:32
Speaker
Right. But I mean from a sense of like, i just want to close the window the sense of like monetization isn't it better to have like short youtube videos so that more people can watch your shit or everyone says everything about the algorithm and like it's all just like what work you know like people have different career paths i think it's very much like what works for someone else might not work for you sound think a little different works for someone else like it's all just so fucking random
00:03:03
Speaker
I see, I see. First thing i want to start off is this the fantasy of disavowal. You're familiar with that, yes? This was in the ContraPoints video.
00:03:14
Speaker
Yeah. So I highly believe that disavowal is something that is in a lot of romance fantasies, mostly because... In life, the female lead is usually the one that's in charge of everything and wants to let go of that control and have somebody like kind of take charge.
00:03:33
Speaker
But because it's within ah fantasy scenario, it's okay. Disavow meaning like things are forced upon you. kind of like Not necessarily just sex, but also… oh Go ahead.
00:03:46
Speaker
I know a good way to describe it. It's like if someone's paying and then you like you're arguing like, oh, I don't want to be i don't want to pay. And then another person's like, no, I insist. You're like, no. And another person just pays. And you're like, okay. thanks so you You have eliminated any shameful feelings of accepting sales, whatever, without um asking for it implicitly, which is embarrassing.
00:04:10
Speaker
Right. But it's also because in our society, women are taught that they're not supposed to want shiny things. They're not supposed they're supposed to be demure and very humble and very like, oh, like, I don't have sexual... you Yeah, exactly. Like, literally, like, I'm just a little girl. i don't.
00:04:29
Speaker
So when it's like... It's fake tits. Exactly. So when things happen to them, it's like, oh, well, it wasn't their choice, but they enjoy it. So I feel like that fantasy is very real. And I actually experience it so much on a day to day. Like I i have the disavowal fantasy, which is why I love vampire story.
Exploring Sexual Roles and Societal Norms
00:04:50
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, sexuality is a spectrum and I definitely could have guessed that for you.
00:04:55
Speaker
How come? I think it's like the sluttier you are But i think it's like I think it's safe to say you're probably sluttier than I am. Probably. I'm making a lot of assumptions, but like I just have a feeling. i am.
00:05:09
Speaker
So it's probably true. And I feel like what if you're just sluttier, I'm like just more of a prude. That's why I'm not having, I'm like just like less willing to have different types of sex.
00:05:20
Speaker
Oh. Because it's just not my thing. I just like, i don't know. I'm very, I guess I'm just a such a utilitarian. It's like, it's it's just really about the physical pleasure. and don't want to deal with any pain. I'm not like, I'll feel like I'll get like embarrassed if someone asked me to role play or like do something like that. Like I'd rather kill myself.
00:05:39
Speaker
Because I'm not an actor. And that's not going to be sexy to me. like I'm just like, no. I could do this scenario IRL. but Interesting. I feel like for me, sex is like a way for me to be able to like completely be somebody else.
00:05:56
Speaker
I'm always just so mean. That's why I'm so real. I'm so real. I literally could not be somebody else I see. I see. this That's so interesting. We're like opposite sides of this section. That's so cool.
00:06:08
Speaker
ah But okay. So now going backtracking a little bit more. What do you think of the Twilight movies? Or the books if you've read them? I really wish I rewatched
Twilight's Characters and Societal Impact
00:06:17
Speaker
all these. I should make a caveat and say I've read them when I was like 14. Yeah.
00:06:21
Speaker
all the way through in like two months. These are huge books. And I sat there and read through everything. But okay, go. I don't, I think I, do you know The Giver? I do. I read that one. I was doing audiobooks.
00:06:34
Speaker
So I like, I split like The Giver, Harry Potter, I'm thinking those were my big two. um Twilight, the movies, personally, I think they're a little stupid.
00:06:46
Speaker
I'm not, like, I'm not, I even, like, ContraPoints' video, I'm, like, I get the point of Twilight. i understand. It's just, like, it's fine to me. i I'm more interested in, like, the aspects that I think people don't care about Twilight. I'm, like, ooh, I want to know more about the Voltairi. I want to know more about this, like,
00:07:04
Speaker
vampire society and their laws and their customs and the history who is the first vampire were there vampire colonizers did vampires oppose colonizers are they for palestine are they for israel like do they have magic where does the magic come from like i'm like she's totally with like that that that that that love love literally yeah she's totally like if i was bella on like as she got like resurrected to a vampire i would have so many fucking questions like Absolutely. She had zero questions from day one. but She was like, I'm just vibing. just want to be a fucking vampire.
00:07:39
Speaker
like She is very, very dark-sighted for that, to be honest. like Wanting to be a vampire is crazy, but then wanting to do it as 17 without like knowing anything else, just like you said,
00:07:52
Speaker
Did not ask about the history, did not give a shit. But also the Volturi, I love them as well because they're like gay vampires. They're what expect gay vampires to be. So you like I just counterpoints in the video talked about like that violent aspect of like the plot line being necessary to like, yes, for people to watch and understand the movie in like a context that they know, because you couldn't have just a plot where like, the whole issue is the relationship and it's like viability, there had to be some other right.
00:08:23
Speaker
Because I wrote in romance novels, it's like the conflict is the barrier. what ContraPoint describes. Like, there's not supposed to be this, like, actual threat. It's just, like, what is preventing you from getting married to this person?
00:08:37
Speaker
And in Twilight's book, it's the fact that Edward wants to eat her. live my own Twilight. Yeah, you do. Literally, like, my love is always forbidden. It's just, like, a appear it's just just the fact that it's a man.
00:08:51
Speaker
Right. Yeah, that's true. that That is a barrier in itself. That's very true. I feel that. um I think vampires are very campy. And I think that's part of the reason why I really like Twilight.
00:09:04
Speaker
I feel like I take Twilight at face value. Like it's just... Did you hear that or was it just me? You have schizophrenia. Oh my god.
00:09:14
Speaker
I swear I just heard the notification go off, but... you Is your phone just turn off? It's a one button. And mine, like, this is the thing. I don't, why is your, this is the thing that actually pissed me off at the message and always.
00:09:26
Speaker
Yeah. Aside. Aside. Sometimes they'd be like, please turn off your phone. Please turn off your phone. Please turn off. It's like my phone. Why
Feminist Theories and Power Dynamics
00:09:34
Speaker
does your phone ever need to be on loud? There's literally no, like, I can't think of one reason.
00:09:39
Speaker
Vibrate does all the things that loud does, but quiet. But maybe grandma's in the hospital and you have co-perception where you can't feel vibrations and need the auditory stimulation. Are you that way?
00:09:53
Speaker
Maybe. don't know me. That's against my religion. Yeah, I know you're a slut.
00:10:01
Speaker
Um, anyway. What was it? What were we talking about? Twilight. Twilight. I think i I take Twilight at face value. I think I don't watch it for the plot.
00:10:16
Speaker
I more so watch it as like a commentary of where we were at that era when we all tuned in to watch it. I feel like it's so telling of the time. oh my god. Of the things that we enjoyed. Like how cringy Like Twilight would not work now, would not work 20 years ago.
00:10:35
Speaker
it definitely had to have happened 10 years ago. You know what I mean? Yes. Like we were just that cringy millennial like escapist fantasy where it was so unrealistic and so stupid at the same time.
00:10:48
Speaker
And we just didn't care. We ate that shit up. It came out in 2008. So it's 2025 now. 13 years. Okay, would have been around the age. Oh, my Math is so i would have been around the age um my god math is so hard
00:11:07
Speaker
Fuck. Nine? Okay, I was around nine. You were a baby. I was a baby. And I remember, ah like, Jacob, or what's his name? Taylor Lautner was like, I was like having, like, white frames about that man.
00:11:24
Speaker
get it. But I just like, I remember I didn't know, like, we weren't having sex in my, like, fantasies, but like, I was literally like Princess Peach, and like, he was like... Why Princess Peach?
00:11:36
Speaker
Or like, I'm just thinking like a princess that's like- So funny. Being like carried away. Yeah. I'm like, who's going to come save me? Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But then it's like, wait, from what? And then what's going to happen, Diva?
00:11:47
Speaker
Yeah.
00:11:50
Speaker
How did you think people get pregnant? I don't think I was, I just didn't think about it. Really? I didn't think about it. And then I just knew. you not ask your parents?
00:12:03
Speaker
No, I think it's just like i caught on pretty quickly that my like sex and nakedness and that stuff was like taboo. And also they just like always gave a religious perspective.
00:12:13
Speaker
Like really young, they traumatized me with religion because I have a core memory of being even younger than that, younger than nine. And I was crying because they were talking about hell and all the like pre-torture that happens even before that. Yum.
00:12:27
Speaker
and len early on As a seven-year-old, you're like terrified. So then I just like was kind of like, oh, religion's just scary. yeah i i don't want I don't want to know more about what you know God What they fucking do in
Fantasy's Reflection on Society and Identity
00:12:43
Speaker
hell.
00:12:44
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. Just in general, it's always doom and gloom. It's like end of times, end of the world, and then all this sin around us and how everyone, no one is religious anymore and how that's so bad. Yeah, I still remember the khutbas in my mosque on Fridays.
00:13:00
Speaker
The ones that I remember most vividly are the most ridiculous ones. And it's usually the ones where the imam goes, look at our children. They're wearing jeans. Yeah. I'm like, huh?
00:13:12
Speaker
As in like we're like appearing like Westerners or like we're emulating the West. I'm like, okay, is this really the hill you want to die on right now? Like you sound ridiculous.
00:13:23
Speaker
Pans? Yeah, pans. Literally, that's what you're determining if somebody's worthy of... like heaven. i don't know. Ridiculousness. But anyway, so speaking of Jacob, actually, you mentioned something when we were discussing this before about like the implication of like the colonial lens through this. um yeah Through the fact that Jacob is obviously Native American and the way that he's portrayed as well as like his clan and how it's like the animal. like Of course, it's going to be this like
00:14:00
Speaker
yeah it's It's a romance novel, like and it's like symptomatic like it's a symptomatic. It's like, okay, if a romance novel was made in a society full of white supremacists it would be on vampires, it's Twilight. Exactly. it's like I think you could have Twilight in some... Well, actually...
00:14:19
Speaker
I like was ah watching some like feminist video essay on how technically any... or like so There's a feminist theory that like no um no sexual relationship could technically be like equal and like free of whatever. i like through i think there could be Twilight in an egalitarian perfect world. i still could have Funny enough, did you reach the end of ContraPoint's video?
00:14:43
Speaker
Yeah. Did you hear when she talks about egalitarian sex from that crazy lesbian? Where people are just like lying side by side, like doing nothing. Like anything penetrative is emulating heteronormative sex. And in that sense, is straight.
00:15:00
Speaker
Sheila Jeffries, that's the person who it is. Sheila Jeffries is the author of like feminist theories. She's a hardcore feminist who says that any situation where somebody's the sub, somebody's the dom, somebody's the bottom, somebody's the top, you're straight.
00:15:14
Speaker
Like that's her stance, which is crazy to me. I don't think it's that crazy. haven't noticed. Insane. but Just because I have fantasies of wanting to be dominated or otherwise, like me dominating, does not mean that I am heteronormative.
00:15:34
Speaker
Not heteronormative, but we're like playing into the dynamics that like of've heterard normativity of I feel like bottom and top is pretty much coded to be superior, inferior. No.
00:15:47
Speaker
See, that's where I don't think. See, that and that's kind of like. Okay, I'm not saying that's true, but I'm just saying that's the, like, just look around you. Like, it doesn't matter if we both don't act like that.
00:16:00
Speaker
I'm just saying so how society, we live in a society and it's not just us. That's true. That's fair. But i I still think that sexual roles can exist outside of sexuality.
00:16:12
Speaker
As in like the whole bipolar aspect of like romance of like somebody has to be the giver, somebody is let take whatever, blah, blah, blah. I think those roles are interchangeable. Like you can go from being one to the other.
00:16:25
Speaker
That it's not like, okay, yeah, it's fluid, but that doesn't mean make the up the dynamic. not oppressive for like the bottom even if it just switches because you can you can go from oppressed to a oppressor easy right but i guess i just don't view that aspect of sex as like oppressive if it's done in a space where you're both on the same page and understanding that you're both like enjoying it if anything i feel more power in it
00:16:57
Speaker
I don't know. Like, I don't understand necessarily like the whole entire theory as to like why penetration is like seen as being like, as soon as you're penetrated, you're seen as like lesser than, you know?
00:17:11
Speaker
Um, I don't see it that way, but I know society has a hang up on it. it I can't really like discuss that part in depth.
Storytelling and Cultural Critiques in Fantasy
00:17:18
Speaker
I don't know. I have no idea why being penetrated makes you seem weak. like I agree with you, but I do know that enough people treat bottom as the woman and top as the guy to like understand that, okay, yeah, gay guys at the very least are doing a heteronormative things.
00:17:36
Speaker
On for like some of us are and same thing with lesbians like they're they very much play into the mask, femme spectrum and then having that like paired up as like a fantasy.
00:17:48
Speaker
Right. No, that's absolutely true. But I don't see the, I guess my question is, is what's the problem with that? Like, what is the, what is the there's a problem with that?
00:18:00
Speaker
Yeah. It just depends on what you're, I mean, okay. Problems are also like, just like, just made up. Cause it's like, if I don't have a problem with that, then there's no problem. But then if I want to make a problem of that, then I will make a problem. Cause it's like, well, I want everyone should be free.
00:18:14
Speaker
you know what I mean? It's like, i know yeah everyone's not going to be free. Yeah, yeah. And we do see that like dynamic, I feel like, a lot in Twilight as well, where it's like, Bella's just completely useless. But then what's so interesting is that she flips it on its head when she becomes the queen, where like she becomes the vampire.
00:18:34
Speaker
And not only is she a vampire, she's the strongest one amongst them. So I feel like in that sense, subconsciously, the author, I feel like, was trying to break that dynamic without actually realizing she's doing something interesting.
00:18:48
Speaker
You know what I'm saying? Oh, yeah. Like she lost, she doesn't have any power in this relationship. And then all of a sudden she has all the power. Yeah, exactly. I guess that is an interesting perspective, but I think it's more from like the, this author is clearly writing about her own fantasy. Absolutely. And she didn't feel powerful.
00:19:07
Speaker
So then obviously when you don't feel powerful, your greatest fantasy is to become powerful. but Like everyone wants to be Harry Potter. Everyone wants to be Bella. Everyone wants to be like Ash Ketchum. Like we're all just like think we're like that girl next door, boy next door, they them next door. And like for some reason we have this unlocked hidden special talent that like is so underrated. But like the most amazing person ever is going to notice it somehow. and And it's always the most mediocre character.
00:19:37
Speaker
Like if you notice the main characters in these books, especially young adult novels, are very like plain Jane, average, basic-ass bitches. And I think that also plays to the fact that she's trying to make the author relate, or the reader relate, by like reading this basic person having all these hot men buy for her attention.
00:19:58
Speaker
They're all like... You get what I'm saying? like You're right, it's absolutely the fantasy of being able to put yourself in somebody's shoe like that. If Bella was interesting, then ah ah readers might not relate to the book.
00:20:12
Speaker
Like um in Jennifer's body, like no one's, no one thinks they're Megan Fox. Exactly. No one like is able to actually appreciate that. Oh, what it's like to be somebody like Megan Fox in this situation. Or I guess like so few people think of themselves as Megan Fox is like that movie is not going to sell.
00:20:30
Speaker
Right, right, right, right. Yeah. I had a thought. Oh, you mentioned Ash Ketchum. I'm just curious. What's your favorite Pokemon? My mind. Who? Oh my god, no way. Wait.
00:20:44
Speaker
Oh, I'm gonna wait. I need to say it without you talking. ahead. Milotic. No! Milotic.
00:20:53
Speaker
Yeah, she's cunt. I like her. I mean, you know mine, obviously. it's mine No, I don't. It's literally my Instagram picture. A Gengar? feel like every Gengar has Instagram the display picture.
00:21:07
Speaker
Literally since I was Gengar. Starmie? That's so weird. Are you kidding me? Why Starmie? Who's Starmie? remember. Who's Starmie? I remember from the first gem with Mei.
00:21:20
Speaker
No, the first gem is Mei. You mean Misty.
Cultural Narratives in Romance and Fantasy
00:21:25
Speaker
Misty, sorry. so yeah but So when she calls out Starmie, Starmie is the only Pokemon that doesn't like say its name.
00:21:34
Speaker
It goes...
00:21:37
Speaker
You know what mean? And she goes that every time I was like, like the second I heard that, I was like, oh my God, something in me just like resonated with that so much.
00:21:48
Speaker
Like instead, like she's so like, and also she's canonically non-binary. Like she has no gender. I say she, but it doesn't have a gender.
00:21:59
Speaker
And it has a Fuscular gem as a face. Like, it literally has, like, nothing. It's just glorious. And it's a Psychic and Water type, so it's, like, super cool. Okay, valid.
00:22:10
Speaker
I just never used it ever. Yeah. I liked, like, cool... Go ahead, Sai. I liked cool, like, more, like, boy Pokemons. Like, I was, like, dragons and serpents and, like... Mylotsonk.
00:22:25
Speaker
Well, Milotic's pretty, but like that things that's a beautiful-looking-ass snake dragon. is. That's not like some like horse or I don't know. It's still like very It's pretty but deadly.
00:22:39
Speaker
Right. It's, you know, like some small cutesy. Yeah, I feel like my Lotic was supposed to be the like feminine version of Gyarados. Like that whole. lot Gyarados is also up there for me.
00:22:52
Speaker
i don't have like a single favorite Pokemon, but I have like, I have a Pokemon type. Are we both water type people? No, I didn't even mean like i have that I have a type in terms of their aesthetic, not in terms of their actual type. but Gotcha, gotcha.
00:23:06
Speaker
I'm really getting in the weeds here. But anyway, let's backtrack. So we have already talked about egalitarian sex, basically. yeah What do you think about feminists? I love them.
00:23:18
Speaker
I think it makes sense to like, I mean, i the thing is, I think when it's like one of those things where it's like, if you're not a racialized person, you don't understand how shitty like some ah interactions are on a day to day basis.
00:23:32
Speaker
So I feel like if I was ever a woman, I'd be like, whoa, this is crazy. The way people are talking to me or treat it, whatever. So I like, Hey, pop off feminists. Like keep coming up with theories.
00:23:45
Speaker
Let's be, I want to make one thing clear. If I was a woman, i would hate men. I would hate men. already hate men, but I mean, I would hate them.
00:23:57
Speaker
Like I would literally be plotting their death because I'm like, how is it that I am expected to like live less than somebody else just because of my gender? That being said, I do think there is a section of feminism that is insane.
00:24:15
Speaker
completely being born from this like extremist like desire. Like, hello, Sheila Jeffries is saying being straight is betraying the female gender.
00:24:27
Speaker
but That's literally her stance.
Romantic Fantasies and Personal Identity
00:24:30
Speaker
She's saying that if you're a straight woman and want a man, then you're not a feminist. I also think that it's like she's not trying to personally insult people that aren't being feminist. But I think sex is a bargaining chip in this like power dynamic.
00:24:50
Speaker
And for like the the way to like the only power sometimes women have in society can be sex. So like you're not supposed to have sex then?
00:25:02
Speaker
Yeah, for the they' like it's like being a part of a union. like Don't be a scab. No. You know what you with that argument sounds like, like her argument? It sounds like what people tell us as gay men saying, no, you should just be straight.
00:25:18
Speaker
It's kind of like the same idea. You're asking somebody who's not gay to be gay. like you're saying You're saying homosexuality is the only way to be a feminist, like as in being fully a lesbian.
00:25:32
Speaker
you mean it's It's kind of like the same argument where you're saying it's not valid to be straight. But sometimes it's like just because that this is the only way to do this doesn't mean that it has to be done.
00:25:46
Speaker
Sometimes I think things are just like a rolling ball down a hill. Like we will never – maybe I'll get canceled for this. But I don't think we're ever going to have a society with – not to say – okay.
00:25:57
Speaker
Disclaimer, we should still be activists and blah, blah, blah. But to because we live in a society of not absolutes, like nothing just is like because we have hot, we have cold.
00:26:12
Speaker
So it's like you just will will like never end up in a place where it's like things are just perfect because then it's like nothing would exist. Like it would just be like. It would have to just be like that one thing. But because like many people are going to be alive and many people are going to have different subjective viewpoints on like one concept, something will always be labeled as a problem. Something will always be labeled as not a problem.
00:26:36
Speaker
Like it's just... it's I mean like the thing is I agree with the theory that like... Being a gender traitor means having sex with a man. Like, i I understand that if we were, like, in the context of, like, a union versus an employer and, like, a smaller scale.
00:26:53
Speaker
And then if you just, like, blow it up to the entire world, it becomes less realistic. But I think it's still valid.
ContraPoints on Societal Issues and Romance
00:27:01
Speaker
i think I think so, but honestly, I just feel it's unfair to dictate what somebody's actions are, especially when for Sheila Jeffries, it must be so easy to munch on box.
00:27:12
Speaker
But for somebody... You can't dictate everyone's actions, but what do you do? Like, if you're a doctor, you have to dictate someone's actions to make them better. Okay, they don't have to dictate. Their actions don't have to be dictated, but then it's like, well, then, you know, we're not going to get anywhere.
00:27:27
Speaker
Or maybe you can get there a different way, but... But that's going to affect them. It's not going to affect me. Sheila Jeffries' argument is that everyone has to, like, abandon men completely.
00:27:39
Speaker
Because the problem involves everyone. But I just don't see that being a valid solution. like moving forward i you said Just like you said, the having like the good to experience the bad, you clearly read The Giver.
00:27:52
Speaker
That is The Giver's message. Basically, like you can't erase all bad because then you erase all good. If you like take away the languages for love and affection and whatever, you also take away pain and sorrow because they're kind of like interchangeable. They're actually the same.
00:28:09
Speaker
yeah it's like a horseshoe it's a horseshoe absolutely because how would you experience sorrow if you never experienced love like it's just it's the same like it's you need to believe it's a long we always just feel longing for something yes because being satisfied would be to be dead exactly because yeah you can't be just one thing because we are constantly yeah chain yeah whatever Which is very, it's good you mentioned that because that leads me to my next point, to the whole difference between yearning and romantic love, which I feel like we all experience and we all can relate to. But like the chase, kind of like this prey predator thing is kind of what we crave more so than the actual intimacy of being with the person.
00:28:54
Speaker
Because once you get the thing, for many people it's like oh now what you know like they don't know what to do with it and they see that as falling out of love when I feel like ContraPoints really discusses it or talks about it very well where she says you have to find ways to constantly fall in love with the person you're with to be able to have a sustained relationship
00:29:19
Speaker
sorry I was also i we were talking about romance and then i was like let me check my DMs see if my crush answered me cutely No. Okay. How's that going?
00:29:31
Speaker
Literally the same place it just was. Like, I feel like he's he's not giving one word answers. He's not giving nothing. He is, like, asking things too, but it's just, like, not opening it for eight hours.
00:29:42
Speaker
But then it's like, okay, we've only hung out. Like, it this has been a very short relationship, so I'm very infatuated with this man. And it's like, okay, when we first planned this date, he was, like, really answering fast all the time, even though he was, like, at work because he has a really, like, demanding job.
00:29:59
Speaker
But now it's just like, I'm just like, okay, I get it when it's like, oh, I see a DM from a person. Well, it's like not that urgent. But it's like, if you felt the same way about me, it would be more urgent. Yes, I exactly. i totally get that feeling. I remember getting that texting people and feeling like, wait, but if I got a text from you, I'd respond right away because I'd be like, oh my God, the a they text the and the fabies so they i did yeah, And the fact that they're not doing the same makes you want them more.
00:30:24
Speaker
Is that true?
00:30:27
Speaker
Yeah, but I'm slowly getting over that. Like, I'm not like i I vocalize when I have a crush and I vocalize when I'm feeling infatuated. But I think what people also don't realize and what I'm saying is when I'm talking about my experiences, as I also understand that they're very cyclical.
00:30:41
Speaker
Like I have a oh my God, Washington. I have like to these, but you're like. Literally, I just... Feel yourself. This, like, I'm going to have a crush again. Like, it's fine. But it's like, I love the... I love complaining.
00:30:58
Speaker
i just love complaining. Right. It's going to happen every single time. Right. And do you actually like like this person for who they are? Or is it just the infatuation, like the chase? I think, okay, the thing is because we, okay, the date started off where we had a fight.
00:31:12
Speaker
We got into like a fight about, we were having like a political debate about Islam. And then I wanted to like, it like the it got intense for me. Not super intense, but like to the point where i was like, we need to stop.
00:31:24
Speaker
I was like, let's cut it. And he thought I meant like the date. And this was like in the first 20 minutes. He's like, okay, well, it was really nice to meet you. And I was like, oh, I just meant the topic. And he's like, oh, okay. Like he, he like actually misunderstood what I was saying.
00:31:37
Speaker
And then we changed topics. And then I like got to know him more. And then I was like, I realized the first, like, yeah, I had a, the thing is we started talking about this political thing right away before I even knew this man, because I was trying to like figure out if he was a Nazi.
00:31:53
Speaker
Right. ah Very valid. Yeah. Very valid, but I just went about it in a way that assuming he was a Nazi until he wasn't. Oh. i said like i I felt very hostile. Boyfriend alert.
00:32:05
Speaker
White boyfriend alert. Yeah. i He's not white. He's ah Iranian. He's Iranian diaspora. So I was like, ooh, are you Islamophobic? Are you like, do you know what i mean? So I kind of came in a suit like guilty as guilty in my mind and like trying to see if he's actually not that.
00:32:22
Speaker
Um, and he wasn't that. And then I kind of felt bad for like the way I went about it in the first place for like coming in hot because I'm like, oh wait, I actually kind of like you. And I think that's what's making me like him more because I'm like, fuck, I didn't have to start that argument. Like, right. You apologize to him about that.
00:32:37
Speaker
We did. And everything's clear. At the end of the date, we literally like made out on the sidewalk. okay Like it wasn't like a, he was like put off. But maybe the thing is, after you leave a date, I feel like everyone reflects. So he could have very well reflected and been like, actually, that was crazy.
00:32:53
Speaker
But see, that's on him. If he's somebody that actually wants to give this a shot, he'd communicate that and say like, by the way, like I did kind of feel iffy about
Vampires in Media and Cultural Implications
00:33:02
Speaker
that. Can we talk about it again? Well, no, he the thing is, it's it is on him. i just want to know.
00:33:07
Speaker
Yeah, I don't care what the answer is. I just want to know. Right, right, right, right, right. So it's like the anticipation, though. No shit, Sherlock. Yeah. Like, ah ah as in you have to wait. i as in i The only reason I'm saying that is because I've been in situations where I was impatient and I would like, almost like pester the other person.
00:33:24
Speaker
No, I didn't pester him. I'm just looking. I just, I'm constantly checking to see if I got a response because my notifications are off because I'm not crazy. So i I, my Instagram will never, like he could have DM'd me like right the second, but my phone won't vibrate. Like I just go and open my Instagram and then things there because I like a little surprise every time I open an app.
00:33:43
Speaker
So like what I'll do to avoid pestering somebody is like put my phone away. And because it doesn't vibrate, it doesn't do anything. I don't know what's going on. And I'm able, my ADHD kicks in and then I just get lost in something. right And it's like, oh, it's actually been three hours. And it's like, oh, now I'll like check. And then it's like the notification is not even there. So it's like it's very it's like a mystery box.
00:34:02
Speaker
Right, bra right, right, right, right. Yeah, well, good luck with that. Hope it works out if it's meant to be. Re-Twilight. Re-Twilight. Actually, i was going to move on to Nosferatu. Did you watch it or no?
00:34:15
Speaker
No. Okay, highly recommend. Highly recommend. and But in general, I feel like vampire media is always about this like chase. kind of this like Because obviously vampires drink blood.
00:34:27
Speaker
So it's like the idea of what's the most dangerous thing to be with. Somebody that literally wants to eat you. So I think that's why we always crave vampire romances. Because the most forbidden love there is.
00:34:40
Speaker
you know I think vampire romance is like the most... like Because literally you're with somebody who could kill you. But that could be like being with a serial killer. That could be with like... But see, because it's something so campy as like a vampire, it's easy to accept. Whereas a serial killer is like real. You get what I'm saying? Like it's a fantasy.
00:35:01
Speaker
It's something do. But people are in love with serial killers. Which is crazy. but That that is what being a vampire is. Very true. And actually, i think ContraPoint talks about that in her video where she describes how like when you aspire to be with a vampire, that sounds ludicrous.
00:35:21
Speaker
So it's more like the fantasy of wanting to be with a serial killer, except you're absolving yourself of the guilt of actually wanting to be with someone dangerous because vampires don't exist. I think it's also wanting to feel special because it's like, you're the one you're the only one who wasn't killed. Right. You,
00:35:40
Speaker
you're like i can change him is such a common it's that trope but i also again it's like a this is why i don't think i like those movies because it's like i think if you like those movies you're ah i can change in person and i think you may be like identify more with your emotions better than people who are like i that's not a fantasy for me i don't want to come in and change somebody who is like erratic and murderous like i want i want to I want someone who's ready to like go, not no renovation required.
00:36:12
Speaker
Interesting. So there's no part of you that like seeks the thrill or like the the feeling of like, oh, he's with he likes me, but he likes nobody else. like you the bad No, that would make me feel too much pressure and anxiety, i think.
00:36:27
Speaker
And I would like want to run away. Okay. Because I'd be like, I'm the only person that could provide you with this. Like, what if I don't want to? What if I'm not in a good mood? Then I feel like I'm such a contrarian sometimes where it's like, well, you like me? Well, I actually don't like you.
00:36:42
Speaker
Like I just, in my brain just flips. No, but but that's exactly it It would be with somebody who normally doesn't like the the person he's with. That's the attractive part of it, is the fact that you're with somebody who you're not sure if they like you or not.
00:36:57
Speaker
ah Oh. The thing is, because I'm also very confrontational, after like a couple times, I think I would just really address the fact in a really like violent, direct way that we're going to kill each other. Yeah, I was like, I imagine you with a steak knife being like,
00:37:16
Speaker
no yeah my vampire boyfriend is like they're i'm i'm the like it's like i would be but like okay i'd be it'd be like reverse twilight but that person's still the vampire and i'm still the human but like i'm the more like aggressive like yeah they're the ones cowering in the dark chain two of the bed literally and i'm like threatening to like open up the blinds they kill them with the sunlight i'm like i'll do it that's not gonna happen in twilight though because they shine in the sunlight Yeah, that part's kind of fucking stupid. It's so stupid.
00:37:48
Speaker
It would have been very interesting to see, like, okay, yeah, Edward couldn't show his skin in the daylight or else people would be like, oh you're... But then people would have been like, oh, what's that body mist you got on, girl? Like, what kind of body mist you Literally, like, who cares?
00:38:00
Speaker
It's supposed to be, like, you literally glow like a diamond. Like, literally, it's so fucking gay. I can't... You tell this is, like, this is a Wattpad story. Absolutely. And the fact that there's a Wattpad story of Twilight that also got equal fame and notoriety, which is Shades of Grey.
00:38:18
Speaker
Fifty Shades of Grey is a fanfiction of Twilight.
00:38:23
Speaker
Did you not know this? No, I didn't. Yeah, the author. They're all just like baseline plots of like basic pornos out there. exactly Exactly. No, it's basically the same thing. Like you can literally replace, I forget, Fifty Shades of Grey's.
00:38:38
Speaker
yeah I watched the first movie. That one is, it's so unwatchable, but obviously in a good way. Like i I'd recommend watching it high and just like laughing with friends. Like watch it with like 20 people.
00:38:49
Speaker
It's so ridiculous. Same with Twilight. Hello. Every time I watch it, I'm like cracking up. If you watch Twilight, okay, here's homework for our listeners, viewers, whatever. If you watch Twilight and Amazon Prime, when you move your cursor, it'll like
Cultural Narratives and Individual Experiences
00:39:05
Speaker
give you a panel of like, usually give they give you like interesting trivia,
00:39:10
Speaker
interesting tidbits about the movie but when you do it for twilight frame by frame there's always a caption saying at minute 10 36 you can see the microphone you know like it gives you like spoofs or like goofs of the movie and it is hilarious bella here is seen walking into the restaurant with her backpack and leaving without where them but Okay, yeah.
00:39:33
Speaker
A big one of that is like in Game of Thrones, there was like a Starbucks cup on one of the... That is a big one. How did no one see that? That's a huge one. and They could have easily have like CGI'd it out too.
00:39:45
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah, that's crazy. They clearly stopped caring towards the end. But there's another... Okay. oh Go ahead. Okay, so the thing is, at Twilight, I wanted to watch it as a kid.
00:39:57
Speaker
But because I was a guy, it was just not going to happen. And my sister was really into Twilight. um So I would like try to when she was like watching in the living or something, I'd be around. She was such a bitch, though. She wouldn't just like let me hang out. We weren't like friendly siblings. So she'd like, why are you here? Why are you watching this? it Go away. And it's like...
00:40:16
Speaker
can't just let me be here. Like the thing is I wasn't he just allowed to like sit. Yeah. I wonder if maybe that's her insecurity of being like you're going to make fun of her for wanting to watch Twilight.
00:40:29
Speaker
Who knows? Yeah. The thing is my sister to me she's like kind of an and she's a little bit of an enigma because I think she's such a people pleaser. that bitch if you're watching you're going to have an identity crisis.
00:40:41
Speaker
Oh Habib Good luck. Good luck. We'll be here for you. do we like your cistern?
00:40:51
Speaker
I love my sister. Okay.
00:40:55
Speaker
ah Do I like my sister? Yeah, there's a difference. There's a difference. there's ap See, like when you love someone, there's always room to like them. Yes. Right? Yeah.
00:41:06
Speaker
Like it's like, I might hate you, but if we fix the problem, I can like you. But if I don't like you, it's like we're never, we we might not get anywhere. Yes, yes, yes, yes. Totally, totally. Are you familiar with any other vampire genre, movies, books, TV shows?
00:41:21
Speaker
I was actually just thinking that the Wizards of Waverly from the Disney Channel. Have you did you watch? Yeah. Yeah. So there's the the vampire um and love scene where like Alex Russo, Selena Gomez. We hate her, by the way.
00:41:38
Speaker
Enemy of the pod. Enemy of everything. and yeah Yeah. But like enemy of everything, but including this podcast. Yeah. Like, she dates a she's the one dating a vampire. No, then that that would make her lesbian.
00:41:52
Speaker
So her brother dates a vampire and she dates a werewolf. And then the werewolf and vampire fight each other. And then I think just the vampire ends up coming back and dating the...
00:42:03
Speaker
the brother. Anyway, in terms of that plot line, it was very much different than Twilight because like they're wizard. So it's like, they're also like on an equal playing field.
00:42:13
Speaker
It was more about like the dynamics of, um, the bamp the vampire and the werewolf not being able to play nice in general. So it's like, okay, let's remake Twilight, but it's actually not about Bella. It's about Edward and Jacob and their hatred for each other. Oh, that's so interesting. I mean, Edward and Jacob are basically lovers.
00:42:37
Speaker
I feel like they progress towards this love-hate relationship where towards the end like they're sister wives they're sister wives that's what it is that's a better that's a better way to describe it like i feel like and there's that one theme where edward just clearly robert pattinson the actor clearly was not acting when jacob was like so i should call you dad now and then it pans to robert pattinson and he's just like no oh like fully himself you know like being like the fuck is this and it's just so funny though because like the ending of that film where they all become this like random polygill where jacob is dating like the child or whatever he's not dating the child i don't know he's fully hating the child
00:43:27
Speaker
So he's dating the child and Edward dating Bella, whatever. ah It's like, it's so, queer it's like, it's a heterosexual queer dynamic that had to happen in a way with like all this mysticism, which is so sad because I'm always saying this, like gay people, queer people have so much more um willingness to like use all this different vocabulary to like actually talk.
00:43:53
Speaker
Like we just live out our fantasies. ah Absolutely. you know mean? Absolutely. Stray people are like venting all this shit to just like, what's who's this bitch that wrote Twilight? Stephanie Meyer.
00:44:03
Speaker
Yeah. If Stephanie Meyer was any kind of queer, we would never have Twilight. Absolutely. And in fact, she would be somewhere paying $600 for a room in like a shitty urban center, like living with a bunch of fucking queers in like some egalitarian, not egalitarian, whatever polycule where like,
00:44:25
Speaker
Everyone's fucking everybody. Absolutely. Absolutely. And I feel like so I don't think Stephanie Meyer is even aware of this, but keeping Jacob around like subconsciously, I think her dating ah Jacob dating Bella's daughter is Stephanie Meyer's way of being able to have them both.
00:44:45
Speaker
Because she's not going to have two lovers. That's too sinful. But the fact that, you know, like that way she gets to keep them all together and in her mind that satisfies. And she doesn't realize how queer that is. Exactly like you're describing. Like, girl, you just want to be with two people at once.
00:45:00
Speaker
that The thing is, it'd be so messy because, okay, I don't even want to imagine a situation in which my child is also dating someone that I liked and had a sexual encounter with. But in a situation where there's a group of men where it's like, okay, maybe it's like me and my boyfriend start dating...
00:45:22
Speaker
Another couple... I don't understand... Okay, anyway... The point is... It's like if I was Bella... I would not be able to not want to stop fucking Jacob... Or whatever... Exactly... Whatever... It's like why... Like are you guys... Like... What?
00:45:37
Speaker
Exactly... And I think that's the... That's the thing that like... stephanie myers is doing unconsciously again nothing she's doing i feel like she purposefully did it all just poured out of her i'm not giving her credit this is all the baby aspect was weird i think maybe she should have killed the child so then it would have been less weird and then like and then jacob still could be like in the family but then like the child's dead so there's not this like weird child romance Right, right.
00:46:04
Speaker
I mean, they pose it as like, oh, this isn't a romance. He's her guardian until she needs something else. Like when she grows up, eventually, vi when she when she the whole thing is that when she grows up, if she wants a boyfriend, then he'll be a boyfriend.
00:46:20
Speaker
Really? is that like canon? That's canon. As in... Stephanie Myers wrote that down. She didn't verbatim say that, but it's basically implied. Jacob's saying, I am whatever she wants me to be.
00:46:33
Speaker
And as a child, she obviously needs a guardian. But then as she grows up, he's it's grooming. It's fully, fully grooming. It's so bad. It's crazy. It's actually... In that world... See, this is the other confusing part.
00:46:50
Speaker
Because vampires don't age. Right. So how's what the fuck how what the va what's a vampire baby? No, so... Okay, very good questions. if In the Twilight mythos, if a baby is turned into a vampire the traditional way by biting them, they fully are frozen as a baby.
00:47:12
Speaker
They will never age. The reason why Bella's child ages is because she is a hybrid human vampire, which they have no experience on except for that one like South American vampire that they bring with them.
00:47:27
Speaker
I'm going to be entering a hole. If you didn't watch the last movies, then ignore me. But basically, long story short, human vampires can grow. to what So the baby's going to die one day? No. So that's the thing. They also find out that from other people who are human vampires, they reach a certain age and then conveniently stay immortal.
00:47:47
Speaker
Okay, what does a human vampire mean? Like, they were born a vampire? they weren't like No, no, it they exactly. They were born from a human womb from a vampire. do Oh, right, because it was Bella was ah wasn't a vampire when the baby was born, and when the baby like killed her. Correct.
00:48:05
Speaker
correct ah Yeah, yeah, yeah. In terms of other medias that have vampires in them, we ah John and I recently watched Castlevania.
00:48:16
Speaker
Do you watch like anime slash cartoon stuff
Philosophical Exploration of Destiny and Beliefs
00:48:19
Speaker
or no? I've watched Hotel Transylvania. Okay, that one is, and that's the child the kid movie, right? Yeah. But no, but there's vampires in it.
00:48:28
Speaker
There is. there And Selena Gomez, our enemy. mean Twilight's also a kid movie. Like, everyone who was watching that was young. I mean, yeah, Twilight is a kid movie. But I would say Hotel Transylvania.
00:48:38
Speaker
I loved it. I know. I'm not trying to say the Hotel Transylvania. I get it. i go Yeah, yeah. But I like that movie. I think they had the sequel, too, or something. Or maybe even... Also about forbidden love.
00:48:50
Speaker
Right, the daughter wants to date a human. Right, right, right, right. Yeah, I like that movie. Who played the Dracula? Was it? if I feel like it's somebody famous. ah The voice actor, I don't know.
00:49:01
Speaker
No, I think it's Adam Sandler. Oh, why did you have to tell me that? I feel like it's Adam Sandler. I don't know why I don't think it is.
00:49:12
Speaker
Yeah, look it up quick. Quick quick Google. um But yeah, Castlevania is a really cool take on vampires, in my opinion, where they're still sexy, they're still great, but then humans also have magic and they're fighting like hell, essentially.
00:49:27
Speaker
So there's a lot of blood, gore, guts. And to me, that's the perfect combo. When it's like the campiness of vampires with the goriness of killing like hell creatures, I like that combination. That's like my sweet spot.
00:49:40
Speaker
What do I like? I don't know. I don't know if I... I'm like more like... I like i don't mind gore and guts and blah, blah, blah. and I just like... i like some magic. i was like Which Castlevania has. Maybe you should watch it.
00:49:54
Speaker
Okay. yeah i'm um i want I don't know why I like when people can like cast spells or in a whole fantasy world where there's like just like magic is existing. I just think that shit's so cool. It's like a whole other physics or science to me, but it's interesting.
00:50:11
Speaker
It's like, whoa, this is fun applications rather than like you know building a nuclear bomb. Right. So look into this. um' I remember talking about this extensively with somebody.
00:50:25
Speaker
A lot of gay people actually find magic and the concept of magic very enticing because we relate to the fact that magicians or wizards or witches are usually seen as like ostracized from society or other but at the same time they have this magical ability and create all these amazing things which is what we as queer people feel our queerness to be does that make sense but i like that doesn't explain lord of the rings to me because the lord the rings and say i love like a whole world where everyone's just magic yeah so you like lord of the rings i loved lord of the rings
00:51:02
Speaker
My one issue with Lord of the Rings, which is my issue, is the fact that I have a problem with any plot where the villain is defeated by the power of love. That's not how the villain was defeated. It just feels like very idealistic in the sense like all the friends, like the gaggle, but what are they called?
00:51:20
Speaker
The first one. The fellowship. The gaggle. The fellowship of the ring. I just feel like it's so... and Have you ever done anything hard in your life?
00:51:31
Speaker
Yeah. Okay. So when you do those hard things, don't you feel like on your journey to that, all these like unexpected things happen to like that, like kind of helped you on the way or like led you down that path? No, absolutely. I guess what I'm trying to say is I'm not, I'm not trying to say that is not realistic. I'm saying in my mind, if magic existed,
00:51:55
Speaker
If all these hell creatures existed, we would not be living in like this utopian, not utopian, but you get what I'm saying? Like this idealistic version of a fantasy world.
00:52:06
Speaker
It would be not idealistic. No, but it is like Game of Thrones. What do you mean? i what you Lord of the Rings? Yeah, people are dying. The peasants are dying. People are like... Barely. They keep doing, like, these righteous things. I'm like, come on But the fellowship is the good people. They literally are betrayed by, like, that that the principal of it.
00:52:27
Speaker
Saruman, the, like, smartest wizard, fucking abandoned them. um They had the the the king of Rohan was fucking possessed by, like... But see, there are evil people.
00:52:40
Speaker
and There were people who were like betraying and there was Boromir and Faramir, the men of like the last big city in Lord of the Rings.
00:52:50
Speaker
They were both like very corruptible by the way the ring and they like almost tried to steal it. so like there is some like I'll give you an example of what's sticking out to my head. i'll give you an example of what's sticking out to my head the king that is possessed, the guy who's doing the possessing where he keeps whispering in his ear.
00:53:09
Speaker
I forget. where Right. When they finally end the possession, they literally just send him on his way to Saruman. like they're literally like They're literally just like, okay, you can leave now. Go back and tell Saruman that the king is free. And I'm like, are you fucking stupid?
00:53:27
Speaker
Kill the motherfucker. No, you don't get Lord of the Rings. Gandalf was there, and they would have killed him if it wasn't if Gandalf were weren't there. And Gandalf was like, no, or no it's it was Aragorn that said, okay, you know what? Enough people have been killed.
00:53:42
Speaker
But it's like the wisdom in that is the point of the movie is having mercy. Okay, so you're pro capital punishment, apparently. I'm pro killing like people that want to kill me.
00:53:54
Speaker
You know, like, na ah you better start with a lot of people back home. I guess. Okay, here. Let me go. ah I want to say that I think the point of mercy in Lord of the Rings was mercy that saved Gollum in turn saved the whole entire world because Gollum's only reason the ring was destroyed.
00:54:14
Speaker
So it's like sometimes bad things that happen actually like result. It's like Nassib. It's like you don't know why things are happening until it's all happened. The concept of Naseeb is like the Islamic term for like predetermination where it's just like things happen because that's the way it's supposed to happen.
00:54:34
Speaker
Yeah. How do I explain to somebody? I tried explaining Naseeb but not just qada'u qadr meaning like you still have will but at the same time things are already predetermined.
00:54:47
Speaker
I just think that's like a mental gymnastic thing Muslims can't um figure out because it would mean that heaven or hell is invalid if you don't actually have a choice.
00:54:59
Speaker
But like, I mean, I'm not a traditional Muslim slash maybe not really a Muslim, depending and I don't really care if I'm thinking of Muslim or not a Muslim. i Like, whatever. But personally, i do believe in, like, predetermination. But it's like, that's exactly why hell can't exist. so Because there are so many things that are quite literally outside of our control that will inevitably, like, influence our decisions that you are not.
00:55:22
Speaker
On the grand scheme of, like, an all-powerful being that created the entire planet, including the universe, it's like, you're not going to fucking sit here and split hairs about, like, oh, you killed somebody. But it's like, oh, wait, you actually killed somebody because like this happened to you in the past. So it's actually your mom's fault. But your mom did that because... they yeah Oh, wait, actually, you know what? This is actually nobody's fault. It's like if you're a manager of a restaurant and you see like a systematic issue, you're not blaming the people.
00:55:50
Speaker
You're like, oh this is happening because the the heat on the grill is too low The fridge stopped working. You don't get mad at the people. So it's like it's kind of common fucking sense.
00:56:00
Speaker
Right. No, you're absolutely right. I very much agree with you on that. It's like the concept of moral injury. Like when we see things happening against our own, like, for example, a nurse in a hospital ward taking care of 20 sick patients, one of them is like, can you sit with me?
00:56:16
Speaker
because I'm about to die and I want someone there
Societal Norms and Cultural Narratives
00:56:18
Speaker
with me. But then she's like, oh, I have to take care of 19 other patients so she can't. And the patient passes away alone. That's like she feels moral injury because I assume the nurse is she. Wow, feminists are going to come for me now. And I also, I am always she-ing people.
00:56:35
Speaker
Yeah, I do that too. I really do. So that's what I mean by she. She, she. Okay. I pointed to both of us. um Yeah. So anyway, so the concept of moral injury is like feeling like you want to do something but can't because of systemic issues.
00:56:52
Speaker
Yeah, and that's sad. Yeah. But, the like, like um to to say that Naseeb also includes that we have will. I don't think people have free will. like Like, what is free will? You know what i mean And also, like, what does it matter?
00:57:05
Speaker
Because it's like, I guess the example I was given all the time was like, okay, let's say you get into a car. Like, your free will is that you put on a seatbelt and you drive safely, but, like... You can't control like if there's a tornado and you get blown away or like someone if someone else literally just hits you.
00:57:22
Speaker
But like your free will is everything that you can do that's within your control. But you also... You can't control if you were born with parents who maybe never told you to put on a seatbelt. I always had these questions and I just feel like is Islam doesn't have a good answer for it.
00:57:37
Speaker
Because they'll like... um remember my like my dad really telling me about a concept that's like... So I don't know if it's actually, maybe you'll know that the Arabic term for it, but like where you're not supposed to ask too much, you're not supposed to think about it too much.
00:57:51
Speaker
Like he was like, oh, like, because like God is outside of our, like the scope of our friends. If you think about it, like that's pretty much like the path towards non-believing. But it's like, that is so, that's such a culty thing. It's a culty thing to say.
00:58:05
Speaker
You're so a right. That's so true. they Is that a thing that people told you before? i i think the people that have told me that are people who don't have the answer. Like in terms of like Islamic classes, because again, I would take Islamic class every day at school.
00:58:20
Speaker
And whenever I'd ask a question they don't know the answer to, they'd use that cop-out. And I think it's a cop-out, honestly. I think we are allowed. we are I think God wants us to introspect and think about the world. He doesn't want us to...
00:58:33
Speaker
just blindly turn around and like deny or accept something just yeah because nothing in this world just is everything is in relative relativity with everything else and like that that space it's like here's hot and here's cold let's like explore warm absolutely absolutely going back to the idea of like when you were talking about the seatbelt thing did you watch benjamin button The bear?
00:59:00
Speaker
oh no, I didn't want... I i know, like, I get the concept of, like, a person who reversed ages. Yeah. So in that show, ah kate ah Kate Winslet, I think that's the actress who plays the ballerina, gets run over by a car at some point and breaks her leg.
00:59:13
Speaker
But they shoot it in such an interesting way where they showed an old man waking up. Oh, but his he forgot to set his alarm. So then he, like, went to wake... You know, it's like that trickle effect of, like, how that car ended up there and how she ended up in front of the car.
00:59:28
Speaker
Final destination. yeah it was so well done where I was like, oh, wow, it is true. Like everything does happen in such a series of events that you can't control that are just going to happen.
00:59:39
Speaker
and Yeah, or it's just like even like how I moved to Toronto or how I have my current job. It's just like so many random things that had nothing to do with anything happened where it's like because I did this, then I ended up meeting this person who told me to do this. And then I did this and then I met this person who said to do this.
00:59:56
Speaker
And if one of those things, if one of those things hadn't happened, then you wouldn't be where you are. The whole thing is, yeah, you're right. yeah So like that is Lord of the Rings. I can see that. I can see that. Yeah, I have a love-hate relationship with Lord of the Rings, but that's a whole other episode.
01:00:12
Speaker
Anyway, that'll be our this podcast topic. Maybe. Is this the vampire episode? like to how That was the vampire episode. i don't have I don't have much to say about Twilight, to be honest. This was your, was my, Bully Ali's episode.
01:00:26
Speaker
I like saying whose ideas is who. Like, I
Closing Thoughts and Recommendations
01:00:28
Speaker
like but announcing being like, this was my idea. This was your idea. I do want to do a media moment just to share music that I listened to this week that really got me through the week.
01:00:38
Speaker
There's this, um, Ibrahim Ma'alouf. Look him up. And he has an, I'm going to show, show the Spotify thing on the screen. Yeah. Show it. Show the camera.
01:00:51
Speaker
It's this concert specifically. It's like a three-hour album. I listened to it yesterday at work, and I was like, thank God I have stimulation. Because otherwise, I think he's a trombonist or something, but it was really good.
01:01:03
Speaker
Anyway. My media moment is, if anyone's watching RuPaul's Drag Race, are you watching? I'm not. Homophobe. I know.
01:01:14
Speaker
Wow. I hate RuPaul. um So for my people who are watching Drag Race, who watched a whole hour of this, Justice for Acacia forgot because it's it so she's a country queen who sang who sang a little like minute song for a talent show called. I'm going to look it up right here.
01:01:36
Speaker
It's called Bulls. by acacia forgot and um i think it was like it was actually such a cute like i'm a sucker for a little love song and it's like a little country gay love song cute and i really liked it and i think like all the other queens were like shitting on her in the episode being like it was not even that good and then she was in the bottom that's the thing about drag race they will literally put people in the bottom where it's like that was actually really good like you're punishing this person for being talented yeah So everyone go listen to Acacia Forgot Bulls.
01:02:12
Speaker
Cool. Well, everyone, think i so yeah thank you so much for listening, watching. This is the Olive Pupils. See you next week. Bye.