Listen to Gobbledygeek Episode 514- "Ren Faire"
Hail and well met! This week, Paul and Arlo raise their overpriced goblets to Lance Oppenheim’s HBO docuseries Ren Faire.
Gobbledygeek Episode 514 "Ren Faire" is available for listening or download right here, on Spotify, or on Apple Podcasts.
Hail and well met! This week, Paul and Arlo raise their overpriced goblets to Lance Oppenheim’s HBO docuseries Ren Faire. The three-episode series concerns the nation’s largest Renaissance faire, the Texas Renaissance Festival, and the power-hungry Oompa Loompas looking to take over the chocolate factory from their perverted Willy Wonka. The boys are in awe (derogatory) of TRF owner George Coulam, a self-professed horny old man who seems much more interested in “sugaring” young women than in running his theme park. George berates all his pitiful hangers-on, including lifer Jeffrey Baldwin, Red Bull aficionado Louie Migliaccio, and no-nonsense Darla Smith. Topics of discussion include Oppenheim’s blend of documentary and narrative filmmaking techniques, whether or not anyone involved is deserving of our sympathy, and LARPing.
NEXT: hope you know where your super suit is, because The Deli Counter of Justice co-founder Eric Sipple is joining Paul and Arlo for a That Was Then look back at 2004’s The Incredibles.
LINKS
- Important Scoop: A Job Shuffle at HBO’s ‘Ren Faire’ by Vince Mancini
- Ren Faire’s Darla, Jeff, and Louie on Surviving HBO’s Real-Life Succession and King George by Julie Miller, Vanity Fair
- What If Game of Thrones and Succession Had a Docu-Baby? by Rebecca Alter, Vulture
- “Harvesting Artifice”: Lance Oppenheim Heightens Reality in HBO Series ‘Ren Faire’ by Dan Schindel, Documentary Magazine
MUSIC
- “How Can I Keep From Singing?” by Enya, Shepherd Moons (1991)
- “Who I’d Be” by Daniel Breaker & Bryan D’Arcy James, Shrek: The Musical (2010)
GOBBLEDYCARES
- National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/
- Abortion Funds in Every State: https://bit.ly/AbortionFundsTwitter
- Support AAPI communities and those affected by anti-Asian violence: https://www.gofundme.com/c/act/stop-aapi-hate
- Support the AAPI Civic Engagement Fund: https://aapifund.org/
- Support Black Lives Matter and find anti-racism resources: https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co/
- The Trevor Project provides information and support to LGBTQ youth: thetrevorproject.org
- Trans Lifeline: https://translifeline.org/
- National Center for Transgender Equality: transequality.org
- Advocate for writers who might be owed money due to discontinuance of royalties: https://www.writersmustbepaid.org/
- Help teachers and classrooms in need: https://www.donorschoose.org/
- Do your part to remove the burden of medical debt for individuals, families, and veterans: https://www.unduemedicaldebt.org/
- Register to vote: https://vote.gov/