Mental Health Through Pop Culture

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Venom

In this episode…

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GUESTS OF THIS ADVENTURE

Joining me for this adventure is Ryan Silberstein & Jacob Gunther. Ryan is a writer and critic for Cinema 76 and one of the hosts of the show, The Shame Files. Ryan has been featured on our show prior with Mission Impossible: Fallout & Batman Ninja. While Jacob on the other hand is making his debut here. He is the teacher and pastor behind the ministry, Haven House. Which you can follow their teaching on Google Play.

VENOMOUS ANTAGONIST

Riz Ahmed plays the main antagonist of the film. The handling of his character, too, has been the complainants of many fans and critics alike. However, for our specific coverage we’re not looking really at the choice of how he was handled. Rather, how his character and his eventual out of this world alter ego, relate to the source material of the film. Was it truly a good choice to make him the villain for the anti-hero’s first solo outing?

DOES EVERY HERO NEED LOVE?

For as long as we have made comic book movies, we have had mostly male heroes. For every one of those male heroes we have had female leads portraying love interests. Batman had Vicki Vale. Superman had Lois Lane. Ant-Man had The Wasp. Did Eddie Brock really need Anne Weying? Please let us know what you think of this point of the film in the comments below.

VALUE OF THE “R”

Some studios have said that R-rated superhero movies are like the black plague. Then you look and see films like Deadpool & Logan and you can sing a different tune. Some of content of this film is muted by its rating. Venom is almost primed for that R rating to truly do the character justice.

SYMBIOTIC RELATIONSHIP

For this episode’s “Roads to Hope”, we are looking at the value of community. How throughout Eddie’s arc in the film, he’s essentially alone until he meets Venom. How Venom truly changes his perception and the two find value in one another.

More importantly, if you or someone you know is struggling with suicide, depression, self-harm or addiction, please feel free to reach out, use any of our resources, call the suicide life line: 1-800-273-8255 or text 741-741.

Credits: Music by Logan McElroy and Shawn Davis. The X-Files & the Predator are properties of Fox. We do not own nor claim any rights. The Flash & Man of Steel are property of Warner Brothers & DC Comics. We do not own nor claim any rights. Networked by That's Entertainment! Venom is property of Sony and Marvel. We do not own nor claim any rights.