The "Beard of Evil"

Note: This post is actually going to be a "one reel wonder," since I'm posting on Monday and the Re-Watch posting doesn't go up until Tuesday. Tomorrow, FryDaddy and I are making a twelve-hundred-mile trek to San Antonio to attend and present at the mack daddy of popcult conferences, the joint regional SW Texas and National PCA/ACA shindig. San Antonio is reputed to be a beautiful city and we're both looking forward to seeing some of its charms, including the Alamo. San Antonio is named for Saint Anthony of Padua, who is listed as (among other things) the patron saint of lost articles. So if I misplace my hotel key, I at least know who to ask for intercession. More will be posted from the conference itself.

Reel One: Tonight, the film class discussed the trope of the "alternate universe," especially the "mirror universe" in which people and settings are familiar, yet somehow "off" just a crucial little bit. It's a popular theme in fantasy and science fiction, with examples including Alice's trip to Wonderland and "The Wish" episode in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. But for the purposes of our class discussion, we went back to the vaults and took in the Jerome Bixby scripted "Mirror, Mirror" episode of the first Star Trek series. This wonderful (and, in places, wonderfully cheesy) episode features an ruthlessly logical Mr. Spock, who can be distinguished from the "real" Mr. Spock by his pointy goatee, hence, "the Beard of Evil." Said Beard has also been parodied on other shows, including South Park. The class seemed to enjoy picking "Mirror, Mirror" apart and I've asked them to write on how the concept by telling me what their "mirror image" would be like and how I might be able to distinguish the "real" from the "false."

Should make for interesting reading!

Coming Soon: The exam film! Working title: "The Exam Film."