514 - Ren Faire

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/