Sure, the Venom movie's tagline is "The World Has Enough Superheroes" because this powerful alien symbiote appears to be an evil, man-eating menace,
but have you ever stopped to consider that venom may actually be the victim in all of this?
give me 15 minutes or
honestly
Whatever length this video winds up being because who knows the actual length of this video isn't finalized until like five steps after I record this
Whatever it winds up being stick around because I think I'm gonna be able to change your mind
Hello Internet, welcome to film theory the show that's cringier than a Peter Parker dance break
Okay, maybe not that cringy but close enough
We're talking about VENOM one of spider-man's most popular villains because, let's face it who doesn't love themselves a dark
Doppelganger storyline, am I right? for those of you who need the quick rundown venom is one of several
alien symbiotes to go around possessing human hosts in the spider verse giving them special abilities like
Shape-shifting increased strength and um abnormally long tongue in the new movie journalist
Eddie Brock is investigating the Life Foundation, an organization whose experiments with the symbiotes are a whole lot more sinister than their
Super generic name implies when the investigation goes awry Eddie's body merges with the symbiote
Unleashing venom and his ultimate ability-
awkward one-liners
In all seriousness though
There's an interesting side to venom that no one has ever really stopped to consider
That he's the victim in all of this and I don't mean that in the big bad evil science corporation did
Experiments on him or anything like that
I mean that for all the death and destruction that venom may bring if the symbiote is really just a lost
Confused and scared entity that Eddie Brock might be the thing that's actually infecting it
But to truly understand why we first have to understand the nature of
Parasites you see once you strip away all the alien goo nonsense venom is the dictionary definition of a parasite
I have a parasite
Take for instance, the case of the parasitic wasp and the orb weaving spider, both of which live in Japan.
The female wasp drops her eggs onto the back of the spider which hatch and then become a larva in larval form the baby wasp takes
Control over the spider causing it to build a web
A web that is nearly three times stronger than any web. The spider would ever build for itself in its normal life
It sounds a lot like venom and that increased strength. He gives to his host body's
The reason they do this is that the larva will soon be helpless in a cocoon. It needs a stronger web to protect it. A web that's heavier duty than what a spider would typically build
Once that web is built, the Spider host is killed off. It's no longer useful
Man, just like a parasite always about that web bam
Thank you, ma'am, but for as similar as a spider parasite might be to venom
There's actually a better fit when it comes to the real world.
Which I've talked about very briefly years ago on one of the earliest and cringiest episodes of Game Theory.
HOHOHO!
That worked.
Basically, Toxoplasmosis hijacks the brain of a rat,
forcing it to hide out in the open where it can be found and eaten by cats.
That's bad news for the rat but great news for the parasite
because once it's inside the cat's stomach, it can morph into a cat-compatible form
and then also reproduce inside the cat's digestive system.
After reproducing, it gets pooped back out by the cat and gets into the water supply where it's once again consumed by rats.
It's like a really gross version of the circle of life
"Everything the poop touches, will be your home."
Now, you'd be totally forgiven if none of that immediately reminds you of Venom
but in both cases we're presented with a parasite whose behaviors and abilities change based on the thing it's infecting
Symbiotes affect Peter Parker and Eddie Brock and Cletus Kasady very differently
Just like Toxoplasmosis changes tactics depending on whether it's inside of a cat, or inside a rat or even inside a human.
You see, Toxoplasmosis can also affect humans.
Now I'm not going to say it's gonna cause you to lay down in Mr. Fluffy's food dish in the hopes of him one day eating you
but studies have shown that this could have other effects on the human brain,
specifically it might be linked to an increased risk of schizophrenia.
According to researchers at The Stanley Medical Research Institute,
Furthermore, the researchers finding, quote again
Further stating that
Now before everyone rushes off to put Mr. Fluffy up for adoption,
I'd like to point out that there were more than 40 million people in the US who are currently suspected to be infected with the Toxoplasmosis parasite
and only a teeny tiny fraction of those are diagnosed with full-blown schizophrenia
even if the link between the two is
Scientifically valid and remember it is far from certainty the chances of getting a schizophrenia. Diagnosis are still
Incredibly low just try to be hygienic and make sure that you're washing your hands after you empty the litter box
You're doing that right, right!? Anyway, the link between
Toxoplasma and schizophrenia is really interesting because in a lot of ways it parallels Eddie Brock's
relationship with the venom parasites. For instance one of the main symptoms of both schizophrenia and the symbiote is
psychosis a failure to understand reality and a higher propensity for
Hallucinations and this is something that is
immediately
Apparent from the trailer of the new movie. In that trailer Eddie looks into a car window and sees the reflection of Venom staring back
At him. This should be physically impossible.
The shot is showing us things as Eddie sees them
In this case, he's seeing things that aren't really there. Eddie is also prone to auditory hallucinations, hearing a voice call his name
Venom's voice commending him
Etcetera
"Now wait", I hear you saying, "that isn't a hallucination, venom is literally talking to him" and sure that's true
But it is all still happening in his head. That conversation with Venom is the textbook definition of an auditory hallucination
and one of the clearest signs that Eddie might be headed off to schizophrenia, but why does any of this matter?
I mean sure Venom and Toxoplasmosis might share some similarities
But even I with my over-the-top theories won't go so far as to say that the symbiote is just a hyper, evolved form of this cat parasite.
I don't need another Deadpool as Earnest Hemmingway moment on my hands
No
The reason I bring up the parallels here is that whether we're talking about parasitic wasps, parasites that warp rat brains or fictional alien parasites,
one thing connects all of them : a need for survival.
It's easy to forget but parasites are fighting for survival just like any other living creature
and they're using whatever techniques they have at their disposal
It's why the wasp gets the spider to build a stronger web, so it can reproduce
It's why Toxoplasma forces the rat to get eaten, so it can reproduce inside of the cat's stomach.
But now, take a look at Venom's behavior
We see him presumably eat a guy in the middle of a convenience store and then just leave a witness.
If you need to eat a human to survive, why wouldn't you just track down victims to eat in
uhh, I dunno, dark, secluded alleyways
Instead of, I dunno, the middle of the street where six people,
yes, SIX PEOPLE, count 'em, are watching.
One of whom appears to be recording the whole thing on a cell phone
Behaviors like this result in Eddie and by proxy, Venom
repeatedly getting attacked by thugs, having to run away, having to fight for their lives.
In Spiderman 3
Venom, being evil, gets himself the worst enemy possible, Spider-Man. Any way you slice it this behavior is simply not
Conducive to helping Venom survive. It is instead doing the exact opposite and putting him at active risk
So what is really going on here? Well, it's all explained by toxoplasmosis
You see changing rats' behavior so that they get eaten by cats helps the Toxoplasma survive and reproduce
Inducing psychosis in humans, however, does none those things. It is a loss for the human who starts to develop mental issues
But it's also a loss for the Toxoplasma, who can't move on from the human to the cat's digestive tract and reproduce, because, well,
There just aren't that many man-eating cats out there. The problem is
Toxoplasma didn't evolve to exist in humans
It evolved for the cat-rat style of life
The fact that it also happens to affect humans is entirely accidental, an un-intended side-effect.
This relates to a field called "zoonosis", infectious diseases that begin in animals but can eventually be transmitted to humans
like "Bovine Spongioform Encephalopathy"
probably better known as "Mad Cow Disease"
There's also Bird Flu and probably the single most notorious example in history, the Black Death in 14th century Europe
which was spread by rat fleas that went on to kill human hosts.
One of the reasons that these kinds of diseases can be so fatal to humans is that they didn't evolve to affect humans
They evolved to affect some other animal
The fact that they can infect and kill humans is just an accidental side-effect
which is usually a pretty bad evolutionary strategy if you are a parasite
But this is what seems to be happening in the case of the symbiotes
We're so used to seeing Venom and other symbiotes like Carnage and Scream
Attaching to human hosts that you might make the mistake of assuming that the symbiotes naturally exist to bond with humans
But that's not the case at all. Canonically speaking
The symbiotes were originally created by the primordial deity Null in order to slaughter
The Celestials, basically space gods from the beginning of time. You remember Knowhere from The Guardians of the Galaxy movies?
How it's in the shape of a head?
Oh, yeah in the comics that's technically a Celestial's severed head where people are parking their boats
anyway
It shouldn't come as a big surprise that an organism
Created in a separate part of the galaxy with the intent of bonding with space Jeesi (matpat how the heck do i spell that)
would probably experience unintended side effects when trying to bond with a human host
it's a learning process which might explain why Venom's behavior sometimes seems erratic, at best, and completely against his own survival, at worst.
In fact, if anything, it might be the Symbiotes themselves who are affected more by this bonding process.
We often see the Venom symbiote as something who takes control of humans but the link works both ways,
Though, the symbiotes were originally created with evil intentions
One of the quirks of their programming is that they take on some attributes of their host
In many cases, symbiotes feel that their existence has no meaning and one of the reasons they bond with a host is to give their lives a simple purpose.
This is one of the reasons why when venom first bonded with Peter Parker in the comics the thing it did was to go
Out at night and fight crime. The meaning for its own existence came from Peter Parker who spends most of his time fighting crime
However, this had an unintended side effect.
the symbiote's who had bonded with benevolent hosts
infected the symbiotic hive mind with traits such as nobility and honour.
The good symbiotes eventually rebelled against Knull and imprisoned him at the center of their artificial planet in the Andromeda galaxy
Eventually creating the agents of the cosmos as a force, not of chaos,
but for good. If you needed proof that symbiotes weren't designed with humans in mind that seems like a pretty good indicator. The fact that
noble humans were essentially able to reprogram an evil alien symbiote hive mind to be benevolent,
seems to indicate that the symbiotes are not prepared for the effects of what happens when they bond with a completely new organism
In this case, a human.
whether that meant turning over a new leaf and rebelling against their evil creator or simply threatening to eat a dude in the middle of
The street and turning him into a turd. Venom is on an unfamiliar planet fighting for his own survival
And one of the only weapons he has at his disposal is imperfect mankind
He's scared, he's threatened and he's doing his best to survive
The trailer for Venom seems to be trying to sell us on the idea that Venom is the one who's corrupting Eddie Brock
But who knows, in the end, Eddie might just be the one who ends up purifying Venom
but hey, that's just a theory, a film theory and
You know what I first thought to myself when I first saw venom. Wow, that guy is not taking great care of his skin
I mean look at this you guys that is more than a little bit of sunburn and overly enthusiastic exfoliation
I guess not everyone gets themselves Dollar Shave Club every month which is a shame
Since I think a lot of this movie could have been resolved if old Eddie Brock over there might have cleaned
Up his act a bit, did a little visit to the orthodontist, maybe treated himself to some manly
pampering. Dollar Shave Club, our sponsor for today's episode, goes beyond merely its namesake of Shaving and makes stuff
like the calming body cleanser
Clearly something that venom is not been treating himself to recently because if he had he wouldn't be looking so rough around the edges
Shall we say? On the other hand, maybe he's having a really bad day with razor burn
I know razor burn sucks, bro
That's why I'm telling you that a little dollar shave club
Easy shave butter will really take the edge off so to speak so you'll be back to breaking hearts instead of breaking
Basically everything else in this movie. I relate to feeling like a monster sometimes and needing to take better care of myself, pamper myself, so to speak.
So if you too have the monster building inside of you and need a chance to relax, treat yourself to the new Dollar Shave Club
Starter set. Dollar Shave Club basically put together a starter set of their most popular products including that body wash and that shave butter
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along with their executive
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What a great service."
So Dollar Shave Club is Dad Pat approved and not only is their stuff awesome and cheaper than you're gonna find in store and
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They support this channel but most importantly, they support you looking, smelling and feeling
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There at the top of the description just begging to be clicked on
please i'm just a lonely link make my existence worth it (you actually should its a great service)
So go on make that link's existence worth it, and once you're on the other end remember it's only five dollars
That is like the same amount of money that you spent on coffee this morning and that certainly didn't make your skin feel baby soft.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go wrangle Eddie Brock and talk to him about the importance of moisturising