Pop Xulture Newsletter # 27
Xollection Machine: Premature Thanksgiving 2024. 11/15/24
Xurrent News
We’re two weeks away from Turkey Day (when I’ll post a list of Thanksgiving TV episodes like last year!) so I decided to give you a little something early to be grateful for. First, you’ll see some brief thoughts on gratitude (Part 1), then a quick review of Vision and the Scarlet Witch and finally, some tech news and a couple bonuses. Enjoy!
Thanksgiving as Benevolence, Part 1: The External Presence
With the American holiday of Thanksgiving upon us, I got to thinking about gratitude. I love gratitude because it gets our focus off ourselves. Self-care and self-love are important but it’s human nature to be unbalanced and worship the god within. Thankfulness frustrates our illusion of control. There’s no way to practice thankfulness without (1) acknowledging an external presence (2) gifting something ultimately (3) beneficial for us. If someone gives me a double-double animal style, I’ll be thankful. But if I’m starving in the Sahara and someone hands me a burger, I’ll be tempted to think there are greater forces at work.
If we’ve taken a step toward relinquishing control, we may call a greater force “the universe” or karma. But I’ve found the external Force to be strangely personal. My experience is that a Being has anticipated my needs and used spiritualnatural power to help me. In two weeks I’ll give some examples from my life (all of which a skeptic can easily explain away) where this external Force made Himself known to me as God.
Xollection Machine: Premature Thanksgiving 2024
A Grateful, Relational Vision (and Scarlet Witch)
I often think of Thanksgiving as food (call me a foodie or a fatty), but really it’s about gratitude. And one of the areas we should consider is gratitude for relationships. One of Marvel’s rare comics with a Thanksgiving theme was Avengers: Vision and the Scarlet Witch from 1985.1 The story can be split in two parts: Before the meal drama and after the meal fight. Kinda sound like your holidays?!
As guests arrive at newly married Vision and Wanda’s (Scarlet Witch) house, each scene is crammed with Avenger’s dishing hot gos (in a meta move, the writers add a footnote admitting so many conversations make them “dizzy”). Then Magneto walks in. Come to find out he’s Wanda’s dad…and family drama gets real!
I can identify with Wanda. When I say I appreciate relationships, I’m usually thinking of the non-judgmental people who support me. However, especially during holiday visits, we may wish certain family weren’t related to us. But maybe we’re supposed to learn patience and extend love and grace to the most unlovely of relatives.
Even for Avengers those can be difficult lessons, unless you’re united by a common enemy. After the Thanksgiving meal, “The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants” (yes, they call themselves that) attack, but Magneto heads them off by quietly grabbing Vision and Quicksilver. The battle’s outcome is fun and creative, but there is a deeper realization of Magneto’s virtue.
Interestingly, Wanda invited blood relations but also surrounded herself with the Avengers, a sort of found family. Back in ’85 no one talked about “found family,”2 but the concept is evidenced in these Avengers’ actions.
When we’ve intentionally fostered relationships (or the equally healthy act of setting boundaries), we build community. This is tough if you’re an introvert like me, but the risk is worth the reward. Enjoy the precious times with those who have supported you through the tough times.
Here’s hoping we don’t have an enemy to unite us. Or certainly one with a better name than “The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants.” Just remember as healthy as found family is, there is a naturally occurring penchant for insulating ourselves with others exactly like us. It sounds great, except it’s the enemy of progress, inclusiveness, tolerance, and any real chance at unity. In the end, we still have to live in the world with others and because everyone is nuanced, it’s important to still interact with and love the unlovely.
BONUS: I learned of this comic from the article: “5 Terrific Thanksgiving Comics to Celebrate the Holiday,” via TheRealStanLee.com – check it out!
Not So Thanksgiving Technology
RIP Freevee
Amazon is shutting down Freevee, granted the content will transition onto Amazon Prime (some of which will still be free even if you don’t have a subscription). Check out this CNET article to find what this could mean for cord-cutting and free TV.
Doctor Who’s Gallifreyan Translator
We Whovians have always been an eclectic bunch, but that hasn’t stopped the BBC from embracing its fans. The broadcasting company responsible for Doctor Who has officially released a Gallifreyan translator. Since there’s no reason to explain what that is, I’ll move into an equally (in my mind) interesting fact about the translator’s creator. Programmer Devon Rohlfing is a fan who created the tool as a labor of love…and now the BBC has adopted the technology as the show’s official translator!
Thanks, in Him,
-Chris (the Bearded Wonder) Fogle
#6, The Vision and the Scarlet Witch: No Strings Attached!
For the historicity of “found family,” I’m adding this screenshot showing the term is being “monitored for evidence of usage” since submitted to CollinsDictionary.com on 8/29/2022:
