Frankenstein at 200: Why Mary Shelley Still Rules
Parallel Frequencies — Show Notes
Fandom gatekeeping is real. And it's keeping people out.
There's a wall between casual interest and "real" fandom — the unspoken rule that you have to be all in or not at all. Blane and Coco talk about what happens when you're intimidated by a fanbase before you even try. Doctor Who. Star Wars. The White Lotus. These aren't just shows anymore. They're communities with decades of lore, inside jokes, and an intensity that can feel like a closed door.
But here's what matters: culture doesn't stay alive because gatekeepers protect it. It survives because new people keep discovering it — even if they're wearing a Nirvana shirt without knowing three songs. Even if they're discovering Parallel Frequencies through an "I'm a Freak" shirt without ever listening to an episode.
The conversation shifts when you realize gatekeeping isn't about protecting quality. It's about belonging. And the moment you decide someone doesn't belong, you've already decided the culture is dying.
Plus: Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein at 19. We're still mining that story. What does that tell us about what actually lasts?
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Well, I feel you on the Doctor Who because some
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Doctor Who fans that are just like, oh, yeah,
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all out. And I don't doubt that it's probably
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a great show. I probably would get really into
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it. But maybe I'm a little bit afraid that I
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won't be as into it as they are. And therefore,
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I don't deserve to be a fan or something. You
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know, you have to be like all in or not enough.
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I don't know. Maybe it's a little bit of that.
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But I have kept myself with my head buried in
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the sand just enough to not know how season one
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of The White Lotus ends. So at this very moment,
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I don't know what's going to happen. And that's
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what keeps me going. I'm at midnight last night
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knowing I had to get up early this morning and
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I was still just one more episode. I just want
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to see how this turns out. There's just one more.
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I'm going to have to check that show out because
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they're three, four, five seasons deep now, I
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think. So I'm going to have to make sure I get
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on that bandwagon finally. But we've been to
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cons and fan acts and all these places where
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these fandoms converge. And I'm not trying to
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say that they're not friendly. That's not it
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at all. It's just intimidating. I think it's
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intimidating to get into a... It would be like
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somebody of my age never seen Star Wars. anything
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and all of a sudden they want to jump in that's
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overwhelming that's a lot you know that's a lot
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yeah and are you the type of person that if you
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saw a person you saw a young person wearing a
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nirvana t -shirt you'd be like you can't wear
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that shirt you don't nirvana's like are you one
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of those or is it like be a fan in whatever capacity
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you want to be yes i i think i love look I've
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seen the kids around the neighborhood wearing
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the Nirvana t -shirts. Me and my wife even saw
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them. We were walking around the other day and
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Lindsay, she looked at me, she's like, I bet
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they can't name three Nirvana songs. I'm like,
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yeah, it's true. It's true, but I don't have
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a problem with it because I think it keeps the
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culture alive too. I think it's, even if you
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don't know, there could be people out there soon
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wearing I'm a freak shirts and never heard this
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show Parallel Frequencies at all. You know, but
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that's what I'm looking at. If they were wearing
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it, I'd be thrilled. Yeah, but it builds culture.
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Would you have a problem of somebody wearing
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an I'm a freak shirt that doesn't listen to our
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show? Nah, not at all. Not at all. We brought
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up some good stuff here. I think we've done a
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full show already, so we'll wrap this thing up.
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No, I'm kidding. Let's get to Movie Monday, Trophy
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Tuesday. It's just, it's something. Today's a
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day, okay? But let's acknowledge something right
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off the bat. Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein
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in 1818. She was 19 years old. 19 years old.
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We are still mining that story for new men.