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PaperclipPerfector  2d ago (text post)   1704 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for August 2, 2026

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I’m…fairly sure that’s neither oedipal nor reverse-oedipal.

I'm, like, dead sure you're wrong. The Oedipal plotline is one in which the father is surpassed by his son, the psychological tension of "killing" the father metaphorically by defeating him is the source of the psychological drama of the plot. It does not literally require that the son fuck his mother (though this is a joke within the show we're talking about, that's kind of irrelevant actually).

The John Wick villains, and something like Succession, are examples. But a) they're recent examples, so would support my point that it's a weird modern Boomer affectation and a corruption of historic plots. But also it's distinguishable because, b) these are clearly examples of failed bad villainous fathers, whose failsons are the anchor around the neck of their legacies. Longshanks in Braveheart, the elder Roy in Succession, whatever his name was in John Wick, they're all evil. And part of their evil selfishness is that they raised shitty sons who will not be able to carry on their legacy, because they were too focused on things like conquering Scotland or the American news market. Having a failson ultimately undermines all your achievements as a man, rather than defeating your failson crowning those achievements.

What distinguishes the new "Old guy is just better than the young guy" plot in something like The Hawk or the Top Gun sequel is that it's presented as good that the old guy is better, that the old guy is still in touch with some cthonic way of being that makes him permanently superior, but that he can't pass on to his son.

But Oedipus’ only conflict with his father was completely unintentional! There’s no incompatibility of ideals, no revenge, nothing to make Oedipus choose to surpass/replace him. I’m not sure what drives the characters in The Hawk but presumably they actually know each other is present.

Though I can’t imagine they’re supposed to work together like Maverick or, uh, Crystal Skull. That has to change the calculus.

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