1 00:00:03,279 --> 00:00:05,600 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of 2 00:00:05,640 --> 00:00:10,040 Speaker 1: My Heart Radio. Hi, my name is Robert Lamb and 3 00:00:10,080 --> 00:00:13,039 Speaker 1: this is the Monster Fact, a short form series from 4 00:00:13,080 --> 00:00:17,119 Speaker 1: Stuff to Blow Your Mind, focusing in on mythical creatures, ideas, 5 00:00:17,160 --> 00:00:25,400 Speaker 1: and monsters in time. Recently on Weird House Cinema, we 6 00:00:25,440 --> 00:00:31,120 Speaker 1: discussed Luccio fulci fantasy film Conquest, a gory and dreamlike 7 00:00:31,240 --> 00:00:35,920 Speaker 1: jaunt full of stone age combat murderous monsters. In Dark Magic, 8 00:00:36,520 --> 00:00:39,559 Speaker 1: the villain of the piece was Okron, a sorceress who 9 00:00:39,600 --> 00:00:43,320 Speaker 1: commands a war band of beast men and masked warriors. 10 00:00:43,800 --> 00:00:46,879 Speaker 1: She has depicted clad only in a golden chain mail bikini, 11 00:00:46,960 --> 00:00:51,640 Speaker 1: and her head is enclosed entirely within a golden helm 12 00:00:51,760 --> 00:00:55,360 Speaker 1: until in the film's climax, when our hero destroys the 13 00:00:55,400 --> 00:00:58,760 Speaker 1: helmet with an arrow of light, revealing a hideous hag's 14 00:00:58,840 --> 00:01:02,840 Speaker 1: face beneath a helm. Now, on one hand, we might 15 00:01:03,000 --> 00:01:06,760 Speaker 1: dismiss the details of the character as pure titilation. In 16 00:01:06,800 --> 00:01:10,640 Speaker 1: a night Sword and Sorcery film, a genre is pointed 17 00:01:10,640 --> 00:01:13,680 Speaker 1: out by Robert A. Rushing in his book, descended from 18 00:01:13,760 --> 00:01:18,039 Speaker 1: Hercules that often pitted a hyper masculine hero against a 19 00:01:18,160 --> 00:01:22,920 Speaker 1: feminine villain, but the juxtaposition of Hag's face, an exaggerated 20 00:01:22,959 --> 00:01:26,959 Speaker 1: monstrous take on aging women, and the body of the 21 00:01:27,080 --> 00:01:30,399 Speaker 1: model playing the role in this film, it brings to 22 00:01:30,440 --> 00:01:35,160 Speaker 1: mind larger trends in folklore, mythology, and more. As we've 23 00:01:35,160 --> 00:01:38,160 Speaker 1: discussed on the show, older depictions of the Greek monster 24 00:01:38,280 --> 00:01:42,320 Speaker 1: Medusa were entirely monstrous, but later traditions and certainly modern 25 00:01:42,400 --> 00:01:46,360 Speaker 1: traditions often depict her with a monstrous head atop an 26 00:01:46,360 --> 00:01:50,280 Speaker 1: otherwise alluring humanoid body. We can also look to the 27 00:01:50,280 --> 00:01:54,400 Speaker 1: tradition of yokai and yuri in Japanese folklore, in which 28 00:01:54,440 --> 00:01:57,600 Speaker 1: such figures are prone to draw men in and then 29 00:01:57,800 --> 00:02:02,400 Speaker 1: frighten them with a shocking reveal. The kuchasaki Ona reveals 30 00:02:02,400 --> 00:02:06,440 Speaker 1: the monstrous mouth between beneath her surgical mask, and the 31 00:02:06,840 --> 00:02:12,280 Speaker 1: Noperabo reveals the complete smooth flesh absence of a face entirely. 32 00:02:13,000 --> 00:02:18,119 Speaker 1: Okron's unmasking either meats or subverts expectations, depending on where 33 00:02:18,120 --> 00:02:21,440 Speaker 1: you're coming from. There's also something to be said for 34 00:02:21,520 --> 00:02:24,880 Speaker 1: a figure that combines imagery of both a youthful woman 35 00:02:25,000 --> 00:02:28,040 Speaker 1: and an old woman, or of the living and the dead. 36 00:02:28,560 --> 00:02:32,200 Speaker 1: Consider the Nordic goddess Hell, who is often depicted as 37 00:02:32,240 --> 00:02:37,280 Speaker 1: half blue, half dead, signifying her connection to the underworld. 38 00:02:38,040 --> 00:02:41,400 Speaker 1: In neopaganism, we have the figure of the triple goddess, 39 00:02:41,400 --> 00:02:45,800 Speaker 1: composed of maiden, mother, and chrone archetypical stages of the 40 00:02:45,840 --> 00:02:49,720 Speaker 1: feminine life cycle. We also encounter various myths and folk 41 00:02:49,800 --> 00:02:53,679 Speaker 1: tales in which an aged witch takes on the likeness 42 00:02:53,720 --> 00:02:56,239 Speaker 1: of a youthful beauty, as well as the reverse, in 43 00:02:56,280 --> 00:02:59,000 Speaker 1: which a goddess in the form of a maiden or 44 00:02:59,120 --> 00:03:01,680 Speaker 1: mother takes on the eyes of a crone or hag. 45 00:03:02,040 --> 00:03:05,480 Speaker 1: In some cases, these dueling forms are linked to the 46 00:03:05,520 --> 00:03:10,560 Speaker 1: cycle of the seasons and the resurrection or rejuvenation of spring. 47 00:03:11,240 --> 00:03:13,639 Speaker 1: Not to say that Okron is directly tied to any 48 00:03:13,680 --> 00:03:17,320 Speaker 1: of these ideas, but the convergence of images cannot help 49 00:03:17,360 --> 00:03:21,480 Speaker 1: but invoke much older modes of symbolism As an aside, 50 00:03:21,600 --> 00:03:24,760 Speaker 1: the young lady or old hag image is a popular 51 00:03:24,800 --> 00:03:28,720 Speaker 1: optical illusion. When viewing the illustration, it may look like 52 00:03:28,800 --> 00:03:32,320 Speaker 1: either an old woman's side profile looking down or a 53 00:03:32,400 --> 00:03:35,800 Speaker 1: younger woman facing away from us. Your brain can see 54 00:03:35,840 --> 00:03:45,000 Speaker 1: either image, but not at the same time. Tune in 55 00:03:45,040 --> 00:03:47,720 Speaker 1: for additional episodes of the Monster Fact each week. As 56 00:03:47,720 --> 00:03:50,960 Speaker 1: always You can email us at contact at stuff to 57 00:03:51,000 --> 00:04:01,680 Speaker 1: Blow your Mind dot com. Stuff to Blow Your Mind 58 00:04:01,760 --> 00:04:04,560 Speaker 1: is the production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts for my 59 00:04:04,600 --> 00:04:07,680 Speaker 1: heart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or 60 00:04:07,680 --> 00:04:09,400 Speaker 1: wherever you listen to your favorite shows.