WEBVTT - The Creep 0:00:03.080 --> 0:00:05.920 Welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind from how Stuff 0:00:05.920 --> 0:00:15.000 Works dot com. Hey, welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind. 0:00:15.040 --> 0:00:17.720 My name is Robert Lamb and I'm Joe McCormick. And 0:00:17.800 --> 0:00:22.320 today we're gonna be talking about creeps. Yes, about creeps, creepiness, 0:00:22.360 --> 0:00:25.799 the nature of creepiness, and what makes creeps creepy. And 0:00:25.880 --> 0:00:28.560 maybe in the end we will find a way to 0:00:28.640 --> 0:00:30.800 love the creep too, because there's a little bit of 0:00:30.800 --> 0:00:32.559 a creep in all of us. Yes, this will give 0:00:32.560 --> 0:00:35.279 everyone the chance to connect with their inner creep. And 0:00:35.360 --> 0:00:39.760 I think also like rethink their creep analysis. They're creep 0:00:39.840 --> 0:00:45.160 judgments that they've passed uh uh in in previous times. Okay, so, Robert, 0:00:45.200 --> 0:00:47.280 I want to test our intuitions a little bit about 0:00:47.280 --> 0:00:51.159 creepiness by running a few scenarios by you. Because creep 0:00:51.680 --> 0:00:54.520 creep is a word we apply intuitively, creepy is a 0:00:54.560 --> 0:00:58.080 word we imply intuitively. But sometimes it's hard to make 0:00:58.080 --> 0:01:00.560 a distinction, like what is creeping us? What is a 0:01:00.600 --> 0:01:03.320 creep and how is it different than like a scary 0:01:03.360 --> 0:01:07.319 guy or a terrifying situation? Yeah, a creep a creeper 0:01:07.360 --> 0:01:11.400 if you will creeping uh is it's sometimes referred. Okay, 0:01:12.120 --> 0:01:14.440 let me know what you think about this. You're standing 0:01:14.440 --> 0:01:16.400 in line at the bank and a man with a 0:01:16.480 --> 0:01:19.720 hunting rifle runs in the door, aims the rifle straight 0:01:19.760 --> 0:01:22.400 at your face and shouts at everybody in the room freeze, 0:01:22.400 --> 0:01:27.000 hands up. Is that creepy? Not creepy? That's terrifying, scary, traumatic, 0:01:27.400 --> 0:01:30.720 but not creepy. I totally agree, not creepy at all. Okay, 0:01:30.760 --> 0:01:32.600 here's another one. You go out for a walk with 0:01:32.680 --> 0:01:35.160 your dog and when you get back home, somebody has 0:01:35.200 --> 0:01:38.039 taped a handwritten note to your front door that says 0:01:38.360 --> 0:01:43.080 why do you take such long walks? That I could 0:01:43.120 --> 0:01:45.840 see that being? That is bull's eye creepy to me. 0:01:45.959 --> 0:01:48.400 It's but I wonder if that goes beyond creepy and 0:01:48.400 --> 0:01:53.400 it's like outright scary because under under what scenario is 0:01:53.440 --> 0:01:56.960 that a valid act by somebody? Is that under under 0:01:57.000 --> 0:01:59.400 for what reason would that be possibly be okay for 0:01:59.440 --> 0:02:01.920 someone to leave that note on your door? Well, I mean, 0:02:02.360 --> 0:02:06.120 creepy things aren't necessarily okay. I mean we're just testing 0:02:06.160 --> 0:02:10.120 our intuitions. Come on, surely your gut says that's creepy? 0:02:10.320 --> 0:02:14.760 Mine does? I've I think that would be like hard creepy. 0:02:14.800 --> 0:02:17.919 This would be this would be creepy bordering on frightening, 0:02:17.960 --> 0:02:21.600 because I'm gonna immediately be concerned about my surroundings. I'm 0:02:21.600 --> 0:02:24.320 gonna be I'm gonna start looking for dead rabbits and 0:02:24.440 --> 0:02:27.120 uh and so forth. Okay, I got another one. Your 0:02:27.120 --> 0:02:30.560 company has been downsizing recently. You arrive at work one 0:02:30.639 --> 0:02:33.120 day to receive an email from your boss that just says, 0:02:33.440 --> 0:02:35.919 please come see me in my office first thing this morning. 0:02:36.720 --> 0:02:42.160 Is that creepy? It's not creepy. Certainly anxiety producing, but 0:02:42.240 --> 0:02:46.240 not not creepy, right story even, but not creepy. Obviously, 0:02:46.280 --> 0:02:49.720 there's something that can be a strong indicator of anxiety. 0:02:49.800 --> 0:02:51.720 It can even be kind of ambiguous in a way, 0:02:51.760 --> 0:02:54.840 but that's not creepy. Okay. So how about you're at 0:02:54.840 --> 0:02:57.800 a funeral for a close friends recently dead relative, and 0:02:57.880 --> 0:03:00.360 as you approach the open casket to pay your risk specs, 0:03:00.639 --> 0:03:03.959 the person in the casket opens her eyes and starts screaming. 0:03:04.400 --> 0:03:08.440 Not creepy, No, No, that's outright terrifying and I'm probably 0:03:08.440 --> 0:03:12.080 losing my mind, right, Okay, one more. You're on a 0:03:12.120 --> 0:03:14.560 train or a bus, uh, and a man comes and 0:03:14.600 --> 0:03:17.040 sits down next to you. He begins rummaging around in 0:03:17.080 --> 0:03:20.120 his backpack, and out of the backpack he produces a 0:03:20.200 --> 0:03:22.760 doll and then sits there in his seat brushing the 0:03:22.800 --> 0:03:25.520 doll's hair. Is that creepy? I think it depends entirely 0:03:25.520 --> 0:03:28.799 how into the brushing he is. Like, because I've been 0:03:28.919 --> 0:03:31.280 having written The Train quite a bit, you do see 0:03:31.320 --> 0:03:34.560 some strange behaviors now and then, but sometimes it's just 0:03:34.600 --> 0:03:37.240 the the attitude of the person can sell you on it. 0:03:37.320 --> 0:03:39.640 So I can easily imagine a dude who's just kind 0:03:39.640 --> 0:03:41.240 of like tired, and he like pulls a doll out 0:03:41.240 --> 0:03:43.200 and he's combing its hair. And if the vibe is 0:03:43.320 --> 0:03:46.040 this is just something this guy does every day. He 0:03:46.120 --> 0:03:48.400 has to do it. I don't know why. Maybe his 0:03:48.560 --> 0:03:50.440 for his job, he has to have this this doll 0:03:50.520 --> 0:03:54.160 properly groomed. Right, Maybe he's a professional doll groomer. Yeah, 0:03:54.280 --> 0:03:56.280 so if it If that's the case, I would say 0:03:56.280 --> 0:03:58.200 not creepy. However, if he's getting it out and like 0:03:58.320 --> 0:04:01.840 lovingly stroking its hair and whispering to it while he 0:04:02.000 --> 0:04:04.360 u while he grooms it, then yes, that would be creepy. Yeah. 0:04:04.360 --> 0:04:06.880 What if he's just singing a little bit. Yeah, singing 0:04:07.440 --> 0:04:10.640 does that enhance the creepiness if it's like a lullaby? 0:04:10.760 --> 0:04:14.960 I guess? Yeah? What if he's singing bon Jovi? Less creepy? 0:04:15.040 --> 0:04:17.680 I guess. This is the thing. It gets difficult and 0:04:17.680 --> 0:04:21.320 you start you're you're trying to find the figure out 0:04:21.360 --> 0:04:25.240 the why behind a scenario. What's up with this individual? 0:04:25.720 --> 0:04:27.600 Why are they doing the thing that they're doing, and 0:04:27.640 --> 0:04:29.479 why are they behaving like this? Why do they dressed 0:04:29.560 --> 0:04:33.080 like this? And your mind's just just crunching it, processing 0:04:33.080 --> 0:04:35.640 and as fast as as as it can, and then 0:04:35.680 --> 0:04:38.560 you have to decide creepy or not creepy? Right, Okay, 0:04:38.600 --> 0:04:40.800 so all these things that they're gonna get some kind 0:04:40.800 --> 0:04:42.800 of fear response like we talked about, but they're not 0:04:42.880 --> 0:04:46.919 all creepy. And likewise, the creep as a person is 0:04:46.960 --> 0:04:51.040 a particular figure, but different than a monster, or maybe 0:04:51.120 --> 0:04:54.880 different than a dangerous person or a scary guy or 0:04:54.920 --> 0:04:58.719 a predator. Even though we very strongly have this idea 0:04:58.760 --> 0:05:02.320 of what a creep is, though it may be very 0:05:02.360 --> 0:05:05.560 ambiguous to us. In the big hazy thing, right, and 0:05:05.600 --> 0:05:08.120 the creep, especially in fiction, the creep may turn out 0:05:08.160 --> 0:05:10.560 to be monster. The creep may turn out to be hero. 0:05:10.880 --> 0:05:13.440 And example that instantly comes to mind Boo Radley from 0:05:13.440 --> 0:05:16.520 To Kill a Mockingbird. Oh, perfect creepy character. But he 0:05:16.600 --> 0:05:19.440 ends up it ends up not being the threat and 0:05:19.560 --> 0:05:22.000 ends up saving the day. So you think he's a creep, 0:05:22.160 --> 0:05:24.400 but then he turns out to be a good guy. 0:05:24.600 --> 0:05:26.760 Is he still a creep after you know he's a 0:05:26.800 --> 0:05:31.600 good guy? No, because there, for the most part not, 0:05:31.760 --> 0:05:36.200 I would guess, because the threat analysis has been fully computated. 0:05:36.240 --> 0:05:39.080 He's proven himself to be a non creep. Okay, well, 0:05:39.120 --> 0:05:42.719 let's get into the literary history of the creep a 0:05:42.760 --> 0:05:45.080 little bit. First of all, I was wondering how long 0:05:45.120 --> 0:05:48.360 has the word creepy been in English. It it seems 0:05:48.360 --> 0:05:50.880 to get a lot more mileage than it ever has before, 0:05:50.920 --> 0:05:52.840 but from what I could tell, it dates back at 0:05:52.920 --> 0:05:56.599 least to Charles Dickens, who some sources have alleged coined 0:05:56.600 --> 0:05:59.520 the term, and it appears in David Copperfield. Did you 0:05:59.560 --> 0:06:01.840 ever read the copper Field? I never have? Yeah, So 0:06:02.120 --> 0:06:06.080 eighteen forty nine, Dickens writes of a character named Mrs Gummage, 0:06:06.120 --> 0:06:08.640 which is a great creepy name. Dickens as great at 0:06:08.680 --> 0:06:12.880 those quote. She was constantly complaining of the cold and 0:06:12.960 --> 0:06:16.719 of its occasioning a visitation in her back, which she 0:06:16.839 --> 0:06:20.880 called the creeps. Okay, so it's not it. It's a 0:06:20.920 --> 0:06:23.120 little bit removed from our current usage of the word. 0:06:23.440 --> 0:06:27.440 Yeah exactly. So uh, this means like a physical sensation, 0:06:27.560 --> 0:06:29.880 and it's mostly unrelated to the way we use it now. 0:06:29.920 --> 0:06:32.200 But I do want to make a side note that Dickens, 0:06:32.240 --> 0:06:35.680 by the way, is full of great creeps, like of 0:06:35.760 --> 0:06:39.359 any author in English, there's creeps everywhere and they're great. 0:06:39.600 --> 0:06:43.760 Who's the child catcher in Oliver Oliver? In Oliver Twist, 0:06:43.880 --> 0:06:47.279 I can't remember childcatcher? Yeah, or I keep there are 0:06:47.279 --> 0:06:50.080 a lot of I remember in Uh. In Oliver Twist, 0:06:50.120 --> 0:06:55.880 it describes describes Noah Claypool as eel like I think 0:06:55.920 --> 0:06:58.640 he's a creep. Man, I'm blanking on the name of 0:06:58.640 --> 0:07:01.320 this character. I'm sure someone will remind Yeah. But by now, 0:07:01.360 --> 0:07:04.680 of course, the creeps, creepiness and of course the person 0:07:04.720 --> 0:07:08.080 who is a creep has come to mean something very different, 0:07:08.200 --> 0:07:11.080 right And from my experience, the concept of creepiness is 0:07:11.680 --> 0:07:15.360 utterly pervasive and everyday conversation, we we talk about it 0:07:15.400 --> 0:07:17.840 all the time. The creep is a standard type of 0:07:17.840 --> 0:07:21.440 person we encounter and under the wrong circumstances or with 0:07:21.480 --> 0:07:24.320 a bit of bad luck or awkward behavior, we are 0:07:24.400 --> 0:07:27.400 all ourselves sometimes the creep. Yeah. I think this is 0:07:27.400 --> 0:07:29.520 an important thing to drive home. No matter how handsome 0:07:29.600 --> 0:07:31.600 or suave you happen to think you are, no matter 0:07:31.640 --> 0:07:35.360 how harmless you think your appearance or demeanor happens to be, 0:07:35.480 --> 0:07:37.720 no matter how chill you are, you have come off 0:07:37.760 --> 0:07:40.120 as a creep at some point in the past. Absolutely, 0:07:40.240 --> 0:07:44.000 you have acted weird. We've all acted weird. Sometimes it's creepy, 0:07:44.360 --> 0:07:48.440 but we definitely do live in the age of creepiness. 0:07:48.720 --> 0:07:50.680 This is something that a couple of writers were going 0:07:50.720 --> 0:07:53.600 to talk about today have alluded to. But I decided 0:07:53.640 --> 0:07:56.120 to do a Google Ingram search for creepy, you know 0:07:56.160 --> 0:07:59.240 the Ingram viewer where it'll it'll chart the usage of 0:07:59.280 --> 0:08:03.560 a word about printed literature across a long period of time. 0:08:03.920 --> 0:08:06.920 And so I looked at the word creepy from the 0:08:07.040 --> 0:08:10.520 r eighteen hundred until two thousand eight, and it's interesting 0:08:10.520 --> 0:08:12.960 there's sort of a rising and falling bell curve of 0:08:13.040 --> 0:08:17.200 creepy usage from about nineteen hundred to nineteen forty and 0:08:17.200 --> 0:08:20.120 then creepy goes dormant through the fifties and sixties. I 0:08:20.160 --> 0:08:23.640 wonder why that is. But then around nineteen seventy nineteen 0:08:23.680 --> 0:08:26.120 eighty it begins to rise again. And then there is 0:08:26.200 --> 0:08:30.920 this dramatic, precipitous spike way above the norm coming up 0:08:30.920 --> 0:08:34.599 to the two thousand's. So for some reason, the millennium 0:08:34.760 --> 0:08:39.520 is the millennium of creepiness. Well that sounds about right. 0:08:39.840 --> 0:08:41.560 But maybe we can get a better idea of what 0:08:41.640 --> 0:08:43.800 the creep is, who the creep is if we just 0:08:43.920 --> 0:08:49.320 look at some great examples of creeps for for context. Sure, um, 0:08:49.400 --> 0:08:51.800 while start off by mentioning that the name of the 0:08:51.920 --> 0:08:55.679 character from Oliver Twist came to mind, and that's Fagan. Fagan. Oh, 0:08:55.720 --> 0:08:58.000 of course Fagan a creep. Though I don't know if 0:08:58.040 --> 0:09:01.680 Fagan's a creep. Noah Claypools are creep, but Fagan, I remember, see. 0:09:01.720 --> 0:09:04.400 I remember being in a musical, like a community theater 0:09:04.520 --> 0:09:09.080 musical version of Oliver and our our drama teacher played 0:09:09.080 --> 0:09:11.400 Fagan and I felt like he did a very creepy 0:09:11.440 --> 0:09:13.640 take on Fagan. So that's the one that's that's stuck 0:09:13.640 --> 0:09:15.439 in my mind. He was great at it. Wait, I 0:09:15.480 --> 0:09:17.400 guess when you think about the details of it, it 0:09:17.440 --> 0:09:20.360 is truly creepy. He's this guy who collects an army 0:09:20.440 --> 0:09:24.320 of little children who he Yeah, yeah, he's kind of 0:09:24.320 --> 0:09:27.160 a creep. But but certainly there are some more iconic 0:09:27.360 --> 0:09:30.680 creeps that instantly come to mind. So have you seen 0:09:30.720 --> 0:09:34.480 the Lonely Island video for Do the Creep? Yes? Was 0:09:34.480 --> 0:09:37.160 it snl or uh It's well, they sort of came 0:09:37.160 --> 0:09:39.720 out of snl okay and then they did this album 0:09:39.720 --> 0:09:42.600 with all these videos. Yeah. Yeah, it's got uh Andy 0:09:42.640 --> 0:09:46.360 Sandberg and Nicki Minaj and Nicki Minaj that's a guest 0:09:46.360 --> 0:09:48.559 stuff spot in it as a female creep, which we 0:09:48.640 --> 0:09:51.640 can come back to. But then also John Waters introduces 0:09:51.720 --> 0:09:55.520 it and they're kind of dressed like young John Waters 0:09:55.559 --> 0:09:58.880 in this video as they're they're doing the creek, they're 0:09:59.120 --> 0:10:03.640 they're taking on these anerisms of a very creepy male individual, 0:10:03.960 --> 0:10:06.400 a guy who's got a pencil mustache and invades your 0:10:06.440 --> 0:10:09.079 personal space. Yeah, it will come back to John Waters 0:10:09.280 --> 0:10:10.920 in a in a bit too. But I feel like 0:10:10.960 --> 0:10:13.880 he's an individual who has embraced his creepiness and thus 0:10:13.880 --> 0:10:17.560 transcended it. Yes, like he's adorable now. Yeah, so it's 0:10:17.640 --> 0:10:20.439 kind of an interesting area there. In a way, it's 0:10:20.440 --> 0:10:23.080 like the more you know a creep either either it's 0:10:23.080 --> 0:10:25.439 going to firmly establish their creepiness or it's going to 0:10:25.520 --> 0:10:28.760 dissolve them a bit and dissolve the creepiness. Right, nobody 0:10:28.800 --> 0:10:31.880 ever remains the same amount of creepy they seemed at first. 0:10:32.120 --> 0:10:35.160 It either gets better or gets worse. That's that's some 0:10:35.280 --> 0:10:39.840 sound sound advice there. Um for me. There's a well, 0:10:39.880 --> 0:10:42.240 there's an actor by the name of Lucky Yates who 0:10:42.360 --> 0:10:45.480 some of the anyone who listens or rather watches Archer 0:10:45.880 --> 0:10:47.839 maybe familiar with with him because he does one of 0:10:47.880 --> 0:10:51.160 the voices on that show. Does Dr Creeker does a 0:10:51.240 --> 0:10:54.360 doctor of character. But he he also has a character, 0:10:54.400 --> 0:10:56.200 and I don't know that he does this character anymore, 0:10:56.240 --> 0:10:58.280 but he did for a while here in the Atlanta area. 0:10:58.280 --> 0:11:00.880 He did this character of the Fiend and the theme 0:11:01.000 --> 0:11:03.520 would would host various events such as a late night 0:11:03.640 --> 0:11:07.240 horror creepy show, puppet show, and various puppet slams in 0:11:07.280 --> 0:11:09.880 the area. And uh and this was kind of a 0:11:10.640 --> 0:11:12.839 like imagine like a little bit of Vincent Price, a 0:11:12.840 --> 0:11:16.480 little bit of little Richard all sort of dashed together 0:11:17.040 --> 0:11:19.880 and that was the fiend. This does not sound like 0:11:19.920 --> 0:11:23.280 a creep to me. This sounds like a like a 0:11:23.280 --> 0:11:28.400 a suave dude, suave but a little threatening like kind 0:11:28.400 --> 0:11:31.439 of that's the thing. You're not really sure if he's threatening, 0:11:31.440 --> 0:11:34.120 but he certainly came off as uh is a little 0:11:34.160 --> 0:11:36.880 bit creepy, kind of a pencil than mustache going on, 0:11:36.920 --> 0:11:39.560 as I recall, and also kind of a a pan 0:11:39.679 --> 0:11:45.240 sexual aura. Um. Other characters, well, first of all, most characters. 0:11:45.280 --> 0:11:48.120 I think that Peter Lori play Peter Lori, who what 0:11:48.240 --> 0:11:51.320 a great creep he was in Casablanca as he creep? Yeah, 0:11:51.320 --> 0:11:53.240 he's kind of a creep. Yeah, I have a hard 0:11:53.280 --> 0:11:55.440 time remembering him not but I guess in like Twenty 0:11:55.840 --> 0:11:58.960 Leagues under the Sea wasn't a creep and uh, and 0:11:59.040 --> 0:12:00.800 I guess in some movies he plays more of an 0:12:00.800 --> 0:12:06.720 outright monster type character. This is true of some actors. 0:12:06.880 --> 0:12:09.400 There are people who get type cast as creeps. And 0:12:09.480 --> 0:12:12.080 I would have to introduce the name of a guy 0:12:12.120 --> 0:12:14.640 who I greatly love and respect as an actor, but 0:12:14.720 --> 0:12:18.320 he's always a creep. Tom Noonan God bless him. Oh yes, 0:12:18.440 --> 0:12:21.160 tom noonon Is is always I can't think of a 0:12:21.200 --> 0:12:23.200 non creepy tom Noon and Roll, and I wonder what 0:12:23.240 --> 0:12:24.960 it's like to be tom Noon. I mean, I don't 0:12:24.960 --> 0:12:27.520 know anything about him personally. I'm sure he is just 0:12:27.600 --> 0:12:31.640 a wonderfully sweet, great guy, you know. I I can't 0:12:31.679 --> 0:12:34.440 imagine that he's actually a creep in real life. But 0:12:34.520 --> 0:12:37.280 what's it like to be that guy who's always cast 0:12:37.400 --> 0:12:40.200 as a creep because he's perfect for it? Right? Because 0:12:40.200 --> 0:12:43.240 he was the bad guy in RoboCop two, the drug 0:12:43.240 --> 0:12:46.160 dealer who ends up inside the machine. He was the 0:12:46.520 --> 0:12:50.200 great Red Dragon in Man Hunter? Yes, who else was? 0:12:50.240 --> 0:12:52.000 He's in an episode of The X Files where he 0:12:52.040 --> 0:12:55.640 plays like a child murderer. He was a creepy priest 0:12:55.679 --> 0:12:58.560 on an episode of Louis Yeah, and he's also in 0:12:58.640 --> 0:13:03.600 House of the Devil, playing a world endingly creepy role. Well. 0:13:03.640 --> 0:13:05.480 One thing is I guess interesting to point out about 0:13:05.520 --> 0:13:08.240 character actors is character actors often have kind of a 0:13:08.320 --> 0:13:12.559 unique look, maybe even a slightly grotesque look. And then 0:13:12.600 --> 0:13:16.680 that is that is blown evermore out of a proportion 0:13:16.840 --> 0:13:23.880 by either acting opposite perfect looking starring humanoid individuals, or 0:13:24.040 --> 0:13:28.520 just you know, having increasingly creepy settings makeup etcetera. So 0:13:28.559 --> 0:13:31.120 I've got a creep for us. Yeah. Uh. One of 0:13:31.160 --> 0:13:34.000 the writers that we were reading in preparation for this episode, 0:13:34.000 --> 0:13:37.959 a cultural critic named Adam Kotsko, wrote this piece called 0:13:38.040 --> 0:13:41.680 nice to Meet You in New Inquiry, and he expanded 0:13:41.679 --> 0:13:44.560 it into a book about creepiness. But he calls attention 0:13:45.000 --> 0:13:48.800 to the Burger King King. Oh yes, right, the advertising 0:13:48.800 --> 0:13:51.760 phenomenon beginning in like the mid two thousands of the 0:13:51.840 --> 0:13:57.560 Creepy King, which is Burger King's lurking mascot. I don't know, Robert, 0:13:57.600 --> 0:13:59.880 I put some links in the in our notes to 0:13:59.880 --> 0:14:01.839 these videos. Did you go back and watch these? Yeah, 0:14:02.200 --> 0:14:04.520 we watched at least one of them. I remember them 0:14:04.559 --> 0:14:07.920 making the rounds back back in the day, and everyone 0:14:07.920 --> 0:14:11.680 embraced this creep factor exactly, so they got great word 0:14:11.679 --> 0:14:14.440 of mouth. It was sort of a viral marketing sensation, 0:14:14.559 --> 0:14:17.040 except I don't think it made anybody want to eat 0:14:17.080 --> 0:14:20.920 Burger King. But the most common version of this type 0:14:20.920 --> 0:14:24.880 of commercial is somebody gets freaked out because they discover 0:14:25.240 --> 0:14:28.600 the Burger King. Who's this guy in a king outfit 0:14:28.720 --> 0:14:34.920 with a unmoving, smiling king mask. The mask itself is 0:14:35.360 --> 0:14:40.080 kind of reminiscent of the the anonymous v for Vendetta 0:14:40.160 --> 0:14:45.400 mask sort of, except it's got this big grin. Um, yeah, yeah, 0:14:45.440 --> 0:14:48.040 it's it's pretty awful. But they discovered somebody in the 0:14:48.080 --> 0:14:52.400 commercial discovers the King is like watching them or leaning 0:14:52.440 --> 0:14:55.760 over their bed or staring at them from somewhere, and 0:14:55.800 --> 0:14:59.440 they get creeped out rightly because the King is creepy. 0:14:59.480 --> 0:15:02.400 But then they're anxiety is calmed because the King offers 0:15:02.440 --> 0:15:08.080 them some disgusting Burger King products. Uh, well, tell me this. 0:15:08.200 --> 0:15:10.840 I know we're both fans of of this particular film, 0:15:11.160 --> 0:15:13.920 or at least treatments of this film. But Torgo from 0:15:14.000 --> 0:15:17.680 Manos the Hands of Faith, Torgo is the ultimate creep. 0:15:17.720 --> 0:15:21.240 If there is one creep to list, it is Torgo. 0:15:21.640 --> 0:15:23.400 If you haven't seen this movie, it was a it 0:15:23.480 --> 0:15:26.000 was a great hit on Mystery Science Theater three thousand. 0:15:26.040 --> 0:15:28.680 But it was a film produced in El Paso, Texas 0:15:28.720 --> 0:15:32.400 in the nineteen sixties, and it has this character in 0:15:32.440 --> 0:15:34.880 it who's kind of I mean, what can you You 0:15:34.920 --> 0:15:36.760 don't know much about him in the movie. He's just 0:15:36.800 --> 0:15:40.479 a guy with very large knees who kind of talks 0:15:40.560 --> 0:15:43.880 like this. That's a good Torgo, like apparently he was 0:15:43.920 --> 0:15:46.480 supposed to be a satyr. I think so, but it's 0:15:46.520 --> 0:15:50.080 not really. The sader effects are not great. So he 0:15:50.200 --> 0:15:52.600 just looks like he has enormous weird legs and he 0:15:52.640 --> 0:15:59.160 shuffles about and he's helpful sometimes, you know, but very 0:15:59.280 --> 0:16:02.720 very very cree be. Yeah, never tally inappropriate behavior, right, 0:16:02.800 --> 0:16:06.680 and but never completely feels like a threat. Oh no, 0:16:06.880 --> 0:16:09.800 later in the but early on, like I'm thinking, when 0:16:09.880 --> 0:16:15.760 like the Famili's first encounters him, he's he's just carrying luggage, yes, 0:16:16.720 --> 0:16:19.760 and just eating up lots of lots of screen time. Okay, 0:16:19.800 --> 0:16:22.080 we we can't do too manymore, but at one I 0:16:22.120 --> 0:16:25.080 gotta mention you ever seen Crinkles, the clown from the 0:16:25.160 --> 0:16:28.880 nineteen sixties post sugar rice Crinkles commercial. I have not, 0:16:29.080 --> 0:16:30.840 and I knows you put the now I noticed you 0:16:30.880 --> 0:16:32.640 put the link in the notes and I didn't click 0:16:32.640 --> 0:16:35.040 on it. Well, that that's worth a look. It's this 0:16:35.160 --> 0:16:38.800 clown who's eating cereal. And I think part of what's 0:16:38.840 --> 0:16:41.600 creepy about it is the production of the commercial. So 0:16:41.640 --> 0:16:44.520 it's not even all the clown clowns get a bad rap. 0:16:44.880 --> 0:16:48.760 We can talk about clowns, but I have to admit 0:16:48.800 --> 0:16:51.640 he is kind of creepy looking, but it's the production 0:16:51.680 --> 0:16:54.600 of the commercial that does not have like rapid editing 0:16:54.720 --> 0:16:57.320 like commercials do now. So there are scenes of this 0:16:57.400 --> 0:17:00.800 clown just eating cereal and taking a long time to 0:17:00.880 --> 0:17:06.440 say anything after he has a bite, and it's quite creepy. 0:17:06.680 --> 0:17:10.359 I think the silence makes it creepier. Okay, well, I 0:17:10.400 --> 0:17:13.200 will definitely have to watch that and creep myself out. Um. 0:17:13.359 --> 0:17:16.560 One that comes to my mind instantly too is riff Raff, 0:17:16.720 --> 0:17:20.560 played by Richard O'Brien in Rocky HRR Picture Show. And 0:17:20.600 --> 0:17:23.880 I guess really most characters that Richard O'Brien plays fall 0:17:23.880 --> 0:17:27.360 into that creepy role because he's see another Tom Noonan type. Yeah, yeah, 0:17:27.400 --> 0:17:30.119 he has this natural Will you remember Dark City he 0:17:30.240 --> 0:17:33.639 played the what Mr Hand as one of the strangers. Yeah, 0:17:33.680 --> 0:17:36.840 so he's he definitely pops up in my mind. Is 0:17:37.200 --> 0:17:40.560 both a riff Raff is a creepy character, but then 0:17:41.080 --> 0:17:43.480 Richard O'Brien himself is kind of I think I think 0:17:43.480 --> 0:17:45.000 it would be fair to say he is a proud 0:17:45.160 --> 0:17:48.800 creep as well. And uh you know, I also from 0:17:48.920 --> 0:17:51.800 a personal note, I have to think back to the 0:17:51.840 --> 0:17:54.160 monster science videos that have done here for how stuff 0:17:54.200 --> 0:17:59.880 works where I play the character Dr Anton Jessup. Um, wait, 0:18:00.040 --> 0:18:02.159 that was you that. I know it was such a 0:18:02.160 --> 0:18:05.320 performance it's hard, too hard to believe. But yes, that 0:18:05.400 --> 0:18:09.720 was actually made Joe, and uh, you know, and it's 0:18:09.720 --> 0:18:12.600 a very two dimensional character. I didn't when really that's 0:18:12.640 --> 0:18:14.879 the thing about a creep. A creep is two dimensional. 0:18:15.000 --> 0:18:19.280 Once they become three dimensional, there's something infinitely worse or 0:18:19.480 --> 0:18:23.720 something infinitely more human. But but we did try to 0:18:23.760 --> 0:18:32.199 implement greasy hair, overly enthusiastic nature, poor posture, excessive gesticulation, 0:18:32.320 --> 0:18:38.560 excessive smiling, lack of boundaries, pale skin, obsessiveness. Yeah, and 0:18:38.560 --> 0:18:40.439 and as I say these things, I also have to realize, 0:18:40.440 --> 0:18:42.840 like a lot of these are they're not They're not 0:18:42.880 --> 0:18:45.960 too far removed, probably from how I am in real life. 0:18:46.560 --> 0:18:48.480 So I have to come back to what we said 0:18:48.480 --> 0:18:50.639 earlier about no matter you know, how you think you 0:18:50.720 --> 0:18:54.560 carry yourself in in our world, you've probably come off 0:18:54.600 --> 0:18:57.239 as a creeper. So whatever I'm trying to achieve with 0:18:57.359 --> 0:19:00.440 Dr Anton Jessup, people have probably seen me in public 0:19:00.520 --> 0:19:03.040 and thought exactly the same thing with me. So in 0:19:03.400 --> 0:19:06.320 many cases, it may be the difference between normal person 0:19:06.359 --> 0:19:09.280 and a creep is just a difference in some mannerisms 0:19:09.280 --> 0:19:12.320 and grooming. Yeah, and I think the who is observing 0:19:12.320 --> 0:19:17.080 you and you know what moment have they caught you in? Okay? 0:19:17.160 --> 0:19:20.359 So one thing you might have noticed with us talking 0:19:20.400 --> 0:19:22.440 about all these examples so far is that I think 0:19:22.560 --> 0:19:26.560 every single one of them we mentioned is male. Yes, 0:19:27.000 --> 0:19:31.280 so is creepiness inherently a male property? Is there such 0:19:31.280 --> 0:19:34.199 a thing as a lady creep? Or culturally do we 0:19:34.359 --> 0:19:37.320 just tend to assume if you're talking about a creep, 0:19:37.400 --> 0:19:39.640 that creep is a man, And if you're talking about 0:19:39.640 --> 0:19:42.840 somebody being creepy, you're probably referring to a person who 0:19:42.920 --> 0:19:46.000 is male. This is a certainly a topic that it's 0:19:46.119 --> 0:19:48.040 that's explored in some of the literature we've looked at, 0:19:48.480 --> 0:19:51.679 and it it does seem to be this double standard 0:19:51.720 --> 0:19:54.240 that exposes a lot of our a lot of the 0:19:54.240 --> 0:19:58.520 sexual politics and our culture. That Yeah, I mean, I 0:19:58.560 --> 0:20:01.880 don't even have to to elaborate on it too much, 0:20:01.920 --> 0:20:04.120 but you are I found that you you are kind 0:20:04.119 --> 0:20:07.080 of It pains to come up with good examples of 0:20:07.160 --> 0:20:11.560 even a fictional creepy female. Um, the best that I 0:20:11.600 --> 0:20:15.200 can come up with is clearly going to be Jerry 0:20:15.200 --> 0:20:18.560 Blank from Strangers with Candy. Now, I've never seen Stranger, 0:20:18.640 --> 0:20:20.840 so you got to explain Jerry Blank to me. Okay. 0:20:20.840 --> 0:20:25.080 So this was a character played by Amy Sadaris and 0:20:25.400 --> 0:20:29.800 the show also featured Stephen Colbert. It's one of the teachers, 0:20:29.920 --> 0:20:32.560 but it was like an after school special on the show. 0:20:33.280 --> 0:20:37.520 Jerry is um an older x con whose returned to 0:20:37.600 --> 0:20:40.680 an actual high school and it's taking high school classes 0:20:40.800 --> 0:20:46.280 alongside more or less real teenagers. Quite plausible. Yeah, but 0:20:46.359 --> 0:20:49.920 she's acting like a teenager as well, So there's a 0:20:50.000 --> 0:20:53.520 there's a lot of grotesque body humor. Uh you know, 0:20:53.640 --> 0:20:56.359 Jerry's this older lady. Sadaris wore a fat suit to 0:20:56.400 --> 0:21:00.680 play the role. She's always making these these funny twisted faces. 0:21:01.200 --> 0:21:05.560 But she's also pans sexually aggressive, I guess you'd say, 0:21:05.640 --> 0:21:09.280 And she's generally and generally inappropriate ways. She's also a 0:21:09.280 --> 0:21:12.480 little bit racist, and that comes out in in what 0:21:12.640 --> 0:21:16.320 she's talking about. Most of the time, she makes terrible choices. 0:21:17.200 --> 0:21:19.639 But yet even in this comedy, we find ourselves caring 0:21:19.680 --> 0:21:22.560 about her, like we know in a way they achieve 0:21:22.640 --> 0:21:25.399 something special with Jerry because we care about Jerry we 0:21:25.480 --> 0:21:28.560 know enough about Jerry and granted it's a comic character, 0:21:28.600 --> 0:21:32.119 it's an unreal character, but she is still kind of 0:21:32.160 --> 0:21:35.399 a grotesque character, and she's still a creepy character. I 0:21:35.440 --> 0:21:37.199 think how much of that do you think is the 0:21:37.280 --> 0:21:40.160 character and how much is just what Amy Sadaris brings 0:21:40.200 --> 0:21:43.159 to it. Oh, I mean, it's hard to separate the 0:21:43.200 --> 0:21:45.240 two because it's yeah, it's so much of it is 0:21:45.280 --> 0:21:49.879 just Amy Sadaris is wonderful, twitchy performance. It's really one 0:21:49.920 --> 0:21:53.040 of the great comedic performances of all time. You know, 0:21:53.080 --> 0:21:56.040 Amy Sadaris actually plays a kind of creepy character in 0:21:56.160 --> 0:22:01.520