Welcome to Night Vale is a rather unusual podcast. It is
done in the form of a local radio show set in the lovecraftian town of Night
Vale. The podcast is a product of Common Place books and is written by
Joseph Fink and Jeffery Cranor. The show is narrated by Cecil Baldwin who
shares his first name with the show's main character, radio show host Cecil
Gershwin Palmer.
As described in the first episode,
called "Pilot", Night Vale is "a friendly desert community
where the sun is hot, the moon is beautiful, and mysterious light pass overhead
as we all pretend to sleep." The town supposedly sits somewhere in
the United States and is neighbored by their rival town of Desert Bluffs.
The people who live in Night Vale aren't exactly unusual. Most of
them lead relatively average lives while dealing with the town's strange
situations. Angels, who are all named Erika, frequently visit the town to help
out even though it is against the law in Night Vale to acknowledge the
existence of angels. There is an underground city comprised of miniature people
that is located in the pin retrieval area of the Desert Flower Bowling Alley
and Arcade Fun Complex. Megan Wallaby, the daughter of Herschel and Tak
Wallaby, was born as an adult man's hand. Her parents are very proud of her.
The Night Vale Public Library is full of municipally approved books for
the citizens to enjoy, but citizens are warned to be careful of the
bloodthirsty librarians and the faceless specter who haunts the biography
section. I could go on and on about the mysterious occurrences of
Night Vale but I don't want to spoil too much.
One of the most interesting things about
Night Vale is the sense of mystery it instill in its listeners. Not only
are the situations mysterious but also the characters. We listeners don't
even know what Cecil Palmer, the main character, looks like. He has no
canonical design and the only description we have ever gotten is that "he
is wearing a tie. He is not tall or short, not thin or fat."
That's it. That's all we know. But this actually adds appeal to the
podcast as the listener's own imagination can take over. Here are few fan
illustrations of Cecil:
Being able to create one's own
personal version of Cecil allows the listener to become more personal with the
podcast's story and its characters.
Another interesting aspect about Welcome
to Night Vale is its representation of the LGBTQIA+ community.
Cecil Baldwin has expressed in an essay about playing queer characters
that Cecil Palmer's character is handled the best overall. Baldwin
expressed that other gay characters he had played in past theatrical shows were
portrayed as the sassy, stylish stereotype and were mostly put in the show for
laughs. Whereas Cecil Palmer's sexuality is definitely not the central
point of his character. The listener does hear about Cecil's crush on the
gorgeous scientist, Carlos, quite a bit but it's nothing more than what a
straight man or woman would say about their own crush. Palmer has no
coming out moment. Rather, he just starts talking about his feelings for Carlos
as if it were a normality (which it should be). The citizens of Night
Vale do not show overwhelming approval for Cecil's sexuality nor do
they disapprove of it. Cecil and Carlos are portrayed as any other
couple. They go on normal dates, eventually buy a condo together,
and face real challenges that any other couple would have to face such as
miscommunications. Neither Cecil nor Carlos are completely enveloped in
their relationship and both are able to express their own wants and interests
outside of the relationship. Carlos is very dedicated to his scientific
research of Night Vale just as Cecil is very devoted to his job as radio host.
Cecil and Carlos's relationship is portrayed as the most normal thing in
Night Vale.
So yeah, if you like to mix the
normal with the weird than Welcome to Night Vale is the
podcast for you. And if you want to start listening then I would start
now because you have got a lot of catching up to do!
-René
