Today we talk about the importance of character-based story telling superseding social and political commentary, be it human trafficking, weight loss and police brutality. Albeit a fantasy story, there is an argument that a character's catharsis through such heavy and controversial topics can bring catharsis to the reader. Skip plot synopsis @ 3:37
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132: Petshop of Horrors vol. 7
By Akino Matsuri
Translation by Tomoharu Iwo and James Lucas Jones
Lettering by Nunu Ngien
The first chapter, 'Doom' has the detective Leon get involved with the killing of his partner and co-worker Max whilst apprehending his childhood friend who is also killed in the incident. To ease Leon's mind, D gives him a butterfly as a pet, however this butterfly can travel through Leon's dreams and show him his desires. This results in Leon experience time travel where upon dreaming of what things could be like, he then experiences the reality within a waking nightmare, thus experiencing the butterfly effect.
In 'Donor' we see that Leon is assigned to find a missing donor heart whilst D is surprised by the arrival of his sister. A sister whom is willing to give her own organs so to donate to D, eventually the sister poses an existential threat that results in D killing the woman in his defence. When Leon finds a bloodied-up D, we see that D holds not the body of his sister but instead of an orangutan.
In 'Duty' a child soldier, on the run from assassinating a mafioso, hides in the Pet shop and takes D and Christopher as his hostage.
Whilst in the final chapter, 'Diet' shows us three characters. A catwalk model by the name of Irene who is given alternate medicine / diet pills from D. Plus two other patrons which include a boxer by the name of Nash and young girl by the name of Em (Emerelda). All three of them have issues with their weight and intend to make sure they lose a few pounds.
Context:
· Arguably the most famous of all Zhuangzi (Chuang Tsu) stories—"Zhuang Zhou Dreams of Being a Butterfly"—appears at the end of the second chapter of his work, named "On the Equality of Things". This is the main inspiration for the Petshop of Horrors chapter 'Doom' although there is a sort of time travel aspect, the logic depicted however is that Leon is experiencing a dream of how things could be different.
· 'The Butterfly Effect' is a metaphor that has its roots in deterministic philosophy and chaos theory. It describes how small-scale disturbances can cause large-scale events. Attributed to mathematician and meteorologist Edward Norton Lorenz. when describing the cause of Tornados.
· Many diets and fads revolving around weight loss took place during the 80's and 90's as gyms and "super-models" grew in popularity. Most of this was influenced by the controversial 1972 book 'Dr. Atkins' Diet Revolution: The High Calorie Way to Stay Thin Forever' which promotes a high cholesterol diet which results in heart disease. In Chris Van Tulleken's book 'Ultra-Processed People' he explains how caloric restriction is not a long-term solution to weight loss as it is an evolutionary, survival and genetic advantage for weight loss to reduce when starved for long periods. Chris however does explain that an increase in obesity over the years after the 1950's is due to highly processed and chemically augmented foods. Specifically designed not to satiate hunger but sell for profit. Anyone who is willing to go a drastic change in diet should always consult their doctor beforehand. Sadly, many eating disorders exist due to such diets, the social mores, and the ever-changing landscape of nutritional research.
Historical, scientific, and cultural references:
· Xenotransplantation is the name of the procedure where animals are used for organ donor transplantation in humans. Currently pigs are being used in clinical trials as of the date of this podcast being uploaded. The idea of "transgenic pigs" first being used going as far back as 1995.
· Naomi Campbell, a British supermodel most famous during the 1990's, considered a muse by designers like Jean Paul Gaultier with her contemporary Kate Moss. She is often mistaken to be the first black woman to appear on the front cover of Time magazine in September 16th 1991, in fact singers Marian Anderson, Leontyne Price and Aretha Franklin predate her by a few decades. With Marian Anderson appearing on the December 30th 1946 issue.
· It is possible and dangerous to lose weight from a parasite. Often caused by eating raw meats and a lack of hygiene. Of course, parasites that take the identity of their host is still just the stuff of science-fiction.
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