Deadpool: A Wisecracking, Insane Merc With a Mouth

(Warning: Strong languages and some disturbing materials ahead)

Few posts into this blog, and I haven’t had a chance for geeking out on one of the entries. You may know me as an Anthropologist, a metalhead, a motorsport fan and a pro wrestling fan. But what I like to indulge the most is comic books, either from Japan or from America. Speaking of American comic books, I must say that I am personally a Marvel fan who personally loves The Avengers series (albeit most of the time I watch all the movies instead of surfing for more comic books). But when it comes to a specific character, A Canadian mercenary caught me for the first time when his movie first released back in 2016. He suffered from cancer; awaken a mutant gene, which enabled him to regenerate from whatever wounds, or injuries he suffered (including the cancer cell in his body), while at the same time messing with his mind and sanity. His name was Wade Wilson, but everyone around the world known him as Deadpool.

Created by Rob Liefeld and Fabian Nicieza, Deadpool made his publication debut by appearing in The New Mutants #98 in 1991, later gained his own publication in 1997. His real name (Wade Winston Wilson) and hero name is said to be either a spin-off or an inside gag of the DC Comics’ Mercenary-for-hire character Slade Wilson, a.k.a Deathstroke. What differentiates Slade from Wade is Slade is described as a villain/anti-hero affiliated with the Suicide Squad, while also being the main arch nemesis of the Teen Titans, while Wade is mostly an anti-hero who basically conduct his service with some amount of payment, although he affiliates himself with the X-Men and The Avengers in some way. Wade (or Deadpool) himself is aware that he is a comic book character, and he frequently breaks the fourth wall, intended as a comedic effect. He also provided narrations on both the comics and the movies. His backstory revolves around a Canadian mercenary, who suffered from a form of cancer, and according to the 2016 movie, he seeks out various means of medication, ultimately entered the Weapon X program by the villain Ajax. He was tortured so many times, and finally awakens his mutation, disfiguring him in the process. He often referred his now-scarred appearance as “Ryan Reynolds crossed with a Shar-Pei” (Reynolds later potrayed the character in two movies, released in 2016 and 2018 respectively). 

His mutation mainly involves having an accelerated healing factor, which not only allows him to regenerate from his wounds in an accelerated level, also made him psychotic and mentally unstable, as his neurons are also affected by the mutation. His regeneration ranging from mere wounds, scrapes, broken bones, gun shots, stab wounds, and even severed limbs and decapitation, but in order for the latter two to work, Wade must place the severed part into its original place. While this is billed as a curse (Thanos himself said that he is cursed with life, as this factor effectively renders him immortal), Wade sees this as a blessing, because his mental instability is proved as an asset in the battlefield, making him the most unpredictable and improvised fighter ever faced by his foes. Aside from that factor, he is also known as a skilled marksman and an adaptable combatant. He is trained in Savate, among many martial arts. He is also a polyglot, having mastered German, Spanish, Japanese and American Sign Language. This element is portrayed to a comedic effect in Deadpool 2 movie, when Wade is on an assassination job in Hong Kong, saying “I don’t speak Cantonese, but I learned Spanish in 6^thgrade, so Donde esta la biblioteca, which means, I don’t do bargains” (the sentence itself, surprisingly means “where is the library”). 

Let me stress this first. Deadpool is a funny but insane comic book character. Most of his jokes featured on both of his movies are his usual fourth wall breaking or an overly slapstick, often gross, sexually explicit jokes. As evidenced in a scene where Wade masturbated on a couch in the first movie during a “rewind” process. Other element present on both movies is Wade’s profane-filled monologues and references to other aspects of the popular culture. No wonder his movies are rated R. Hell; it might as well be NC-17. Despite this, somehow, he also has a PG-13 version called Once Upon a Deadpool, released December last year. He is also quite violent most of the time, where he would go on a killing spree to find Ajax, hoping that he would reverse his disfigurement. You might have thought that he doesn’t have any moral compass, but during the events of Uncanny X-Force,he stormed off after Wolverine tried to rationalize Fanthomex into killing Apocalypse, who was in a child form at that time. While Logan argues that he is motivated solely by money, Archangel revealed the fact that Wade never cashed his assassination checks. His companions are not spared from this either. Bob, Agent of HYDRA is Wade’s sidekick, but often suffered most of the abuse either from Wade himself or the enemies. He has no combat training or any mutant or inhuman abilities, thus making him pretty much a sitting duck during his time with Wade. This sadistic side of him also present during his time staying with an elderly woman named Blind Al. He would often play cruel pranks, taking advantage of her blindness as well as forbid her visitors from visiting. He also likes to lock the poor woman into a tiny room full of sharp objects dubbed “the Box”. Despite this, Al would always be one step ahead and not less cruel than her roommate. He also had a strange “love-and-hate” relationship with Nathan Summers (Cable). Most of the time they would try to kill each other, but on another instance, they have to work together. It is the comedic aspect that ultimately made me hooked into the character. Yes, he has an unorthodox sense of humor to say the least, but nonetheless, this is a great alternative to every superhero comics and movies, which is always about good guy VS the bad guy. Why don’t we just enjoy a sadistic and insane mercenary dressed in red spandex beating the living hell out of even crazier bad guys (or as Wade would say, “we are the bad guys who fuck-up worse guys”) while laughing our asses off? Marvel Comics sure know the drill when they first published this superhero character.

In the end, We all know that Deadpool is not up on everyone’s alley, and it will require a special breed of genius to better understand his mind beyond his insanity. On both the comics and the movies, the Regenerating Degenerate will always grace the pop culture, especially the superhero universe. He might not as strong as Superman, or as analytical as Batman, or even as morally upheld as Captain America, Wade Wilson is surely one of the most recognizable character ever graced the Marvel Universe. I know Deadpool will discover this article sooner or later, and all I can say is I hope this piece will do you justice. I am just a fan of your work, and even though you are probably the most insane anti-hero out there, I am still a big fan. And after this, I feel like I want to eat a bunch of Chimichangas, in honor of the Merc With a Mouth, The Regenerating Degenerate, and The Man in Red, The One and only, Deadpool. 

K-Pop Fans: The Hard-lined Fandom full of Toxic Comments and Unhealthy Wars

(Warning: Strong Languages and Rants ahead)

I did mention about me not being a fan of K-Pop (Korean Pop) music in the past articles, didn’t I? Well, right now, ‘not being a fan’ has escalated into a minor hate, because while the music itself is quite catchy (but let’s face it, even as an anthropologist who have a massive interest in language studies, I couldn’t get a firm grip in Korean) with most of the lyrics are spoken in Korean language with a slew of English words thrown in between, It’s the fandom that made me loathe K-Pop as a musical genre. I have to admit that the only K-Pop song that I can grasp in terms of language is PSY’s Gangnam Style. And (unapologetically) I am good for that. I can’t even understand most of the songs playing nowadays either. 

Speaking of fans of K-Pop, we are talking about someone who loves the genre, and supports all the artists and groups. Those supports can come from online streaming or buying physical copies of a favorite group’s albums, attending concerts and fan meets, and following the news about their idols. While some K-Pop fans are civilized, well-mannered and well-behaved individuals who are active in the fandom and only minding their own business, there are also a lot (I say A LOT because most of the time, It is these Neanderthals who came out first) of deranged, overly-obsessed music terrorists who thinks that their supposed “idols” (and K-Pop in general) are better than most of the artists across all genres (kind of like Metal with Metal Elitists, although these K-Pop stans are a lot more lethal). First of all, these fanatics would do anything in their power to defend their idols from outside bashing, even if it means to systematically bully a poor soul who was just merely post his criticism on the Korean Entertainment Industry. This has happened to Dolan Twins, who back in 2018 posted a satirical video on YouTube talking about the reality of K-Pop idols that overworked themselves to the point of passing out in the middle of a performance. This inevitably drew the ire of K-Pop fans and then proceeded to flood the comments section with criticism and hate remarks, even when the Twins’ father passed away earlier this year. Instead of offering support and stating their condolences, these deranged fucks instead CELEBRATING the death of someone not related to the problems at hand, this being the Dolan twins’ old man. I know that you disliked them because of a simple (hard hitting) reality. I also pointed out on my last post with similar topic about how they overwork themselves and receiving little numbers on their paychecks, but please. If you want to bash them only because of that, might as well throw yourself into a Cannibal Corpse mosh pit and see if you can last even for a minute. Not only this hate bashing are targeting people outside of their fandoms, they even wage war with their own! Fanwars, ironically, is a normal thing happening within the K-Pop realm. And what makes this thing even bizarre is the wars itself are sparked because of competition within K-Pop idol groups themselves. It can be for chart position, popularity, or even about who is the most handsome/beautiful member. While most fanwars are contained in the realms of social media, this weird activity once escalated into a full-blown fistfight, like when the fans of SECHSKIES and H.O.T wage war against each other. This thing can be varying, one of them is constantly post hate comment about a specific group, even as far as posting death threats to a specific group member. Initiating a “Black Ocean” is also other form of disliking a specific group. A “Black Ocean” is essentially the act of turning the light sticks off and sits still in silence during a performance. Girls Generation once suffered from this type of abuse as a result of then ongoing fanwar between them, TVXQ and Super Junior back in 2008. 

When we talk about the demography of the K-Pop fans, Most of the them that I know are between the ages 12-18 years old, but not dismissing the adults who are also hooked with the music itself, but when it comes to teenage fans, they are turning their passion for K-Pop into an obsession, and more often than not, these obsessions even escalated to the point of being flat-out disgusting. Some K-Pop fandoms like EXO-L, Blink (Blackpink), and even ARMY are probably the most active & devoted fandoms existing today. The way these overly obsessed animals done within these fandoms is they are not hesitate to pick up items related to theirbias (favorite member of the group) from normal stuff like autographed cards and posters, to absurd items like drink bottles and even tissue sheets used by them to wipe the sweat from performing. What makes this funny for me is the idols might be good looking and somehow in a good shape (remember those diets and starvation they have to endure? I do), but sweat is still sweat. It stinks. You are willingly dropping your IQ points to that of a Baboon just to obtain your bias’ memorabilia. Not only that, they are also fantasizing themselves married to one of the members of the group they idolize. Let me tell you this. They barely even know you. So stop deluding yourself and face the fact that you maybe a fan, but these idols don’t even know you personally. But of course, these obsessed fans will stop at nothing to make her known in the fandom. Sasaeng fans are K-Pop fans who are so obsessed with their idols, the only thing they will ever do to gain the attention is to stalk, invade the idol’s personal space, hack their phones, and even sending fan notes written in menstrual blood (yuck!). When it comes to overall obsessions, these sasaengshas to take the cake. They even cause physical injuries to some of the idols (Heechul suffered a broken leg after being involved in a crash while trying to evade a sasaengchasing him on the road). Still, who the hell am I to judge when they are so devoted to their idols. After all, I’m just a normal metal fan who coincidentally has some relatives and friends that are big K-Pop fans (no offence here). 

Here’s a food for the thought. Everyone has the right to indulge themselves into their favorite music. Whether it’s Pop, K-Pop, EDM or Metal. And just like what I say with the Metal Elitists, You don’t have to shove your taste down to everyone’s throats. Some might just don’t like it. And since I am now have a slight hate towards K-Pop (Mostly to the fans and the industry, not the music), I got to say, I have never seen a fandom so toxic and hostile to others ever in my life. Yes you got those girls and boys with porcelain of a skin and great appearance (while starving themselves to death in the process and reconstructing their faces with plastic surgeries in between), and yes, they are talented. But I guess nothing calms me more than pounding beats and monstrous guitar riffs of a good Heavy Metal tune. And to close this rant, I just want you to know that I am writing this fully aware with the consequence of opening the floodgates of hell that is K-Pop stan’s hate comments. And during the process of writing, I have yelled SLAYER (while listening to Angel Of Death, Raining Blood and Repentless in the process) twice and blasted some good Cradle of Filth album to calm my nerves.

Reign in Blood For the Final Time: A Murderous Tribute to Slayer

For every beginning, there is bound to be an end. For a ‘hello’, there is always be a ‘goodbye.’ Today, the metal community bids farewell to one of the giants of the genre, who is billed as the pioneers of Thrash Metal and defined the genre as their long-lasting legacy. During their time producing “noisy pleasures”, there were dramas, line-up changes, feuds, and even some criticism (mostly about their supposed satanic imagery and their lyrical content, which evolves around war, religion, anti-religion, terrorism, human experimentation and prison). They might not be performing live ever again, but there is still one thing left to do: release another album. This is a heavy metal tribute to the Californian behemoths Slayer.

Slayer first formed in Huntington Beach, California by guitarists Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman, Chilean vocalist/bassist Tom Araya and drummer Dave Lombardo in 1981. At that time, they performed mostly cover songs from various legendary bands like Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, and Venom. Since their formation up until today, they released 12 studio albums, 2 live albums, a box set, 6 music videos, 2 EPs and a cover album. They also bagged two Grammy Awards for ‘Best Metal Performance’ in 2007 and 2008, with both songs came from their 2006 albumChrist Illusion.Among those 12 albums by Slayer so far, most metalheads will tell you that the 1986 offering Reign in Bloodis considered one of the heaviest and the most influential Thrash Metal records ever. Those feats came from humble beginnings, with considerable amount of popularity after being spotted by Brian Slagel, founder of Metal Blade Records, Slayer released their first ever (self-financed) studio albumShow No Mercy in 1983. During the process of making the record, Araya worked as a respiratory therapist to cover the expenses, as well as using the money borrowed from Kerry’s father. Their future direction was established by the release of Haunting The Chapel EP in 1984. Metal Blade financed their second album Hell Awaits, with producer Ron Fair, which featured even darker sound from its predecessor and more complexity in its composition. Slayer switched to Def Jam records for their iconic Reign In Blood album, which features the then highly controversial song Angel of Death. The song itself is about Josef Mengele, a Nazi physician who conducted human experimentations on concentration camps like Auschwitz. They decided to slow down the tempo and incorporate more melodic singing with the release of South of Heaven in 1988 with mixed reception. While being the most commercially successful records at that time, this move also generated critics alike. Realizing this, they cranked it back to eleven while still retaining their melodic element with 1990 album Seasons in the Abyss. Two years after the release of the album, Lombardo left the band and was filled by then Forbidden drummer Paul Bostaph. He contributed as the drummer for four Slayer albums between 1992 and 2005 with Divine Intervention (1994), a Punk cover album titled Undisputed Attitude(1997), Diabolus in Musica (1998) which was heavily criticized for incorporating Nu Metal elements like tuned-down guitars, and God Hates Us Allin 2001. He would later return to Slayer with the release of 2015’s Repentless. Lombardo continued as the drummer in the years following his exit in 2005, with the first record back being Christ Illusion. The album itself contained songs Eyes of The Insaneand bonus track Final Six, which snatched a Grammy Award for ‘Best Metal performance’ in 2007 and 2008 respectively. The final album with the original Araya, King, Hanneman and Lombardo line-up was World Painted Blood,released in 2011. Hanneman died from cirrhosis due to his habit of drinking on May 2013, while Lombardo was fired on February. For Repentless,King and Araya enlisted Exodus guitarist Gary Holt and the aforementioned Bostaph, who mad his return to the band since 2005 (although Holt was not credited with the writing process of the album itself). 

There is no denying the legacy of the band Slayer. They are regarded as one of the “Big 4” bands of the Thrash Metal genre, alongside Metallica, Megadeth and Anthrax. They are also said to be responsible for the rise of Death Metal, and had influenced numerous bands like Behemoth, Gojira, Kreator, Bullet For My Valentine, Lamb of God, Slipknot, Cannibal Corpse and Avenged Sevenfold. Their playing style is also distinguishable from the rest of the Big 4, with fast-paced drums, chaotic-sounding guitar riffs, and overall aggression of their music paired with their murderous and graphic image as well as their violent lyrical content. No wonder some crazed members of the society hated this band so much. Not only the music is deemed dangerous, their album covers are controversial as well. Most notably God Hates Us All, which had to be released with an alternative version featuring crosses lined up, down, right and left (the original cover itself features the Slayer logo carved into The Bible with blood spattered all over it) and Christ Illusion, which gained backlash from the Christian community. 

Slayer recently wrapped up their final tour on November 30 in Los Angeles’ The Forum. While stating that the band would continue, they stated that there are no further plans to tour and play live ever again, although they are currently working on the follow up to Repentless.This is a huge loss for the Metal community, as Slayer is regarded as the most violent, yet successful bands to ever graced the genre. You reigned in blood, showed no mercy, and most importantly, you thrashed your way in the middle of a raining blood with a repentless attitude. As a metalhead myself, I salute the guys at Slayer, past and present and congratulate them for an amazing career from 1981 to 2019. Reign strong, Slayer, enjoy the times ahead, and we’ll see you down the road.