Neomodern Despair, Awe, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe | Dr. Joe Meyer #50

I can't believe this is episode 50 already. Time goes very quickly. As many of you know, I have been working on my book about Neomodernism. In this episode of the Neutral Ground Podcast, I read a conference paper that I recently presented at the 2022 Psychology and the Arts conference. The paper is titled: "Breaking through the Neomodern Despair: How the Marvel Cinematic Universe Produced a Moment of Awe." It practically falls off the tongue, doesn't it? The paper has three goals: 1) I touch upon Keltner and Haidt's research on awe; 2) I define Neomodern despair through warnings that were given about the loss of narrative knowledge by Jean-Francois Lytard and Agnes Heller; 3) and finally, I dissect the scene from Avengers: Endgame where Captain America (Steve Rogers) is shown finally wielding Mjolnir (Thor's hammer). As I say in my introduction, I had to hack this paper down from its 20+ pages to 11, so some things probably read more rushed than they should. I hope you enjoy.

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// EPISODE OUTLINE //
00:00 teaser on Neomodern despair
00:25 Introduction
01:57 Title of paper and beginning
05:32 Let's talk about awe
06:27 Keltner and Haidt's 2003 study
07:19 Mental health crisis and Generation Z
08:45 What is Neomodern despair?
14:36 Good news in terms of awe
16:11 Begin the discussion of Avengers and Captain America
18:15 Why does this scene from Avengers: Endgame work?
19:57 Keltner and Haidt's five additional themes connected with awe
21:14 Does this scene produce awe?
21:43 Final thoughts on why this is so important for us
23:08 Closing words

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