The Bechdel Cast - Josie and the Pussycats with Faye Orlove

Episode Date: March 8, 2018

Your new favorite girl band, Jamie and the PussyCaits, just dropped a hot new single entitled "A Nuanced Discussion About the Portrayal of Women in the Motion Picture Josie and the Pussycats with Spec...ial Guest Faye Orlove." Podcasts are the new music!(This episode contains spoilers)For Bechdel bonuses, sign up for our Patreon at patreon.com/bechdelcast. Follow @fayeorlove on Twitter! While you're there, you should also follow @BechdelCast, @caitlindurante and @hamburgerphone  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Starting point is 00:00:00 Daphne Caruana Galizia was a Maltese investigative journalist who on October 16th 2017 was assassinated. Crooks Everywhere unearthed the plot to murder a one-woman WikiLeaks. She exposed the culture of crime and corruption that were turning her beloved country into a mafia state. Listen to Crooks Everywhere on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, you're just starting your career. That's where we come in. Think of us as your work besties you can turn to for advice. And if we don't know the answer, we bring in people who do, like negotiation expert Maury Tahiripour. If you start thinking about negotiations as just a conversation, then I think it sort of eases us a little bit. Listen to Let's Talk Offline on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, everybody. This is Matt Rogers. And Bowen Yang. We've got some exciting news for you.
Starting point is 00:01:09 You know we're always bringing you the best guests, right? Well, this week we're taking it to the next level. The one, the only, Katherine Hahn is joining us on Lost Culture East. That's right. The queen of comedy herself. Get ready for a conversation that's as hilarious as it is insightful. Tune in for all the laughs, the stories,
Starting point is 00:01:24 and of course, the culture. Don't miss Katherine Hahn on Las Culturistas. Listen to Las Culturistas on Will Ferrell's Big Money Players Network on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. On the Bechdelcast, the questions asked if movies have women in them. Are all their discussions just boyfriends and husbands or do they have individualism? The patriarchy's effin' vast. Start changing it with the Bechdel cast. Hello and welcome to the Bechdel cast.
Starting point is 00:01:53 My name is Caitlin Durante. My name's Jamie Loftus. Yeah, we're doing our last names now. Because of someone who's in the room who can't speak yet. Right. This is the power part of just like, you can't talk yet. This bothers our male guests and they usually don't make it. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:02:06 They usually don't. Interrupt a lot. They're usually, or sometimes the male guests, I'm just going to go ahead and just call out Jack O'Brien. We'll do it. We'll do a loud laugh while we're doing the intro. And it's like, you're not supposed to be seen yet, but you're making yourself known. Our guest on the Giglili episode slamming the table,
Starting point is 00:02:26 throwing a fit. Josh Faden basically threw the table at us in the first two minutes. Who else is Hampton for sure. But we are very excited for our guest today.
Starting point is 00:02:36 I'm so excited. Oh, wait, we didn't say what the podcast is. Oh, yeah, okay. Sorry. We're still in the power zone right now. The Bechdelcast,
Starting point is 00:02:42 it's our podcast about women and how they're portrayed in movies. And wouldn't you know that mainstream hollywood cinema does not portray women very well until very recently i mean this year is pretty good for women in film oh i think this year's pretty good for women i was like um sorry have you checked your news app it's pretty bad out there but we've done several movies recently that came out this year that have fared very well by our standards yes i tanya lady bird girls trip hidden figures came out last year yeah all right so you know where there's options it's getting a little better
Starting point is 00:03:17 there's more options but historically hollywood has not portrayed women well is my point i disagree and i have a 45 minute argument. So we use the Bechdel test as sort of our jumping off point for discussion. Bechdel test being a test created by Alison Bechdel in the comic book. Thanks to watch out for. And in our version of the test, we would like to see movies have two female identifying characters with names, talk about something other than a man for more than two
Starting point is 00:03:45 lines of dialogue does not happen a lot not enough but i'm very excited for today's episode it's a common request when we ask for requests i feel like we've seen this movie come up just about as often as like we got a lot of requests for like legally blonde as well which we did on the patreon so subscribe and then maybe you can hear what I think about Victor Garber. Spoiler alert, hot. But this movie, yeah, we get requests for it because
Starting point is 00:04:14 it's a great movie, it's a cult classic, it's Josie and the Pussycats. Yes, and I'm so excited for our guest today. She's a friend of the cast, she's a friend of you, she's a friend of me. She owns and operates a non-profit art space right here in Hollywood, California
Starting point is 00:04:29 called Junior High. You gotta check this place out. It's great. It's the best. She's a wonderful visual artist. It's Faye Orla for crying out loud. I can talk now. You can.
Starting point is 00:04:39 You're welcome. Thanks for asking permission. Once you said that men usually fail at that, I was like committed. I would have said something otherwise. I was like, must prove myself. Some of our female guests have violated the rule.
Starting point is 00:04:52 But statistically, first of all, men are allowed on the show simply less. But when they do show up, they're talking early. They're talking right. Like, I think we may have an example of like hi i'm jamie hi i'm caitlin hi i'm the guy and it's like we did not ask you to make yourself known yet i literally the only thing you told me when we were about to record was that you're gonna do a two-minute bit at the beginning just you guys and not not to be there you know just us just us cows and I'm really good at instructions.
Starting point is 00:05:28 You can take a direction better than... It's my best trait, honestly. So, Faye, you brought us Josie and the Pussycats. You also brought us Josie and the Pussycats stickers that you drew. They're so good! Yeah! I love it. And can people buy these at your art space, Junior High?
Starting point is 00:05:41 Actually, I don't think they're at Junior High right now. I should bring some, but I just make a bunch of stickers and celebrity junk that's on my website it's just oh that's really good great so josie the pussycats why did you pick this movie when did you first see it what's your history with this movie i have no idea when i first saw it because that is just so much a part of me that it feels like i was birthed and I knew every line. Okay, great. Sort of thing. Yeah. But I'm obsessed with it. I know every word of every song kind of embarrassingly. They did that.
Starting point is 00:06:12 I don't know if you guys saw, but at the East Hotel, they did like the full cast Q&A and the band played like from that did all the recordings with like letters from Cleo, like the singer. Whoa. It was so cool. You were there, right? Oh, yeah. Yeah. I remember that being. Aggressively singer. Whoa. It was so cool. You were there, right? Oh, yeah. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:06:25 I remember that being- Aggressively there. I remember those Insta stories. Yeah. The artist was present that night. Yeah. It was, that was like a dream come true. I think Josie and the Pussycats might be my favorite band.
Starting point is 00:06:38 They are very real to me. Yeah, sure. I don't know. I'll allow it. No, they're the best. And they released a vinyl of all the songs and then there was a mini like seven inch du jour single for yeah wow i should have brought that well i'll show it to you later but it is good marketing how are you familiar at all with the comics that it was based off yeah i would read archie all the time as a
Starting point is 00:07:05 kid and um that was like my big gift i would go to my parents would ship me away to jewish sleep away camp for a month every summer and i would just wait to like week two and a half and i'd get a package of archie comics oh yeah it's worth it are you into riverdale the show i started watching it and i just like haven't had a ton of time, but I'm into whichever Sprouse twin that is. Cole. Yeah. I personally prefer Dylan, but I get it.
Starting point is 00:07:32 I think Dylan has the longer hair, right? Yeah, he's the thick twin. Yeah, he's cute too. I'm here for the thick twin. If there's twins, I'm going for the thicker twin. Good to get that. Just know that right off the bat. The thin twin. All right. We got the thick twin. You got the figure twin. Good to get that. Just know that right off the bat. The thin twin.
Starting point is 00:07:46 All right. We got the thick twin. You got the thin twin. I'll write a song about it. Please, please. And then you'll really know how I feel about twins. Jamie, when did you first see the movie? On Christmas at your house.
Starting point is 00:08:00 Yeah, because Caitlin and I do spend all major holidays together. We were together on Thanksgiving and Christmas this year, which is tragic and beautiful. Where are most of your families? Where? They don't like us. They're on the East Coast. It's too cold. It's too hard to get to.
Starting point is 00:08:16 Yeah. So I first saw Josie and the Pussycats. It was probably, it must have been like 2000, I think it was my freshman year of college. So like 2004, a friend showed it to me. Instantly loved it. Bought it on DVD right away. Watched it dozens of times since then. Definitely one of my favorites.
Starting point is 00:08:33 Super underrated. A lot of people don't know about this movie or if they know about it, they assume that it's terrible. Yeah. Well, because it did not get good reviews at the time. I mean, I think this was like one of those notoriously bad Ebert reviews of like, this is the worst movie I've... He hates movies about girl bands because he also hated Spice World. Really? Yeah.
Starting point is 00:08:51 Well, Spice World, to be fair, is really bad. It's bad, but it's so funny. It's one of my favorite movies of all time. It's bad, but it's also good. Great? Question mark? Yeah. I wish it was more popular so I had more opportunities to whip out the fact that I do know every dance from that movie mostly i just perform solo to myself but of course yeah yeah i'm sorry i'm like in a crazy mood that's quite all right so yeah i i saw it early i just texted a boy
Starting point is 00:09:15 this doesn't pass the bank till test return to forum um everything's great i'm shifting around i see it like a fucking psychopath and i'm thinking about the fish's butt from the shape of water oh gosh all right well speaking of the water there uh it stars sally hawkins and she is also in paddington and paddington too no so good for her check out paddington's the paddington franchise the paddington's paddington expanded universe yeah the cinematic universe uh anyway so yeah The Paddington's The Paddington's The Paddington Expanded Universe Yeah the Cinematic Universe Anyway so Yeah
Starting point is 00:09:47 Cinematic Universe Do you know if Paddington 2 is canon? Paddington 2 is canon Paddington 2 is 100% canon Okay relax I can't even believe
Starting point is 00:09:55 You would question this I'm upset Caleb's about to like Throw up some furniture And I feel unsafe At this time Okay so Josie and the Pussycats
Starting point is 00:10:04 What were we talking about? Okay So I think we can all agree That we enjoy this movie It's so good This is one of those movies I feel unsafe at this time. Okay, so, Josie the Pussycat. What were we talking about? Okay. So, I think we can all agree that we enjoy this movie. It's so good. This is one of those movies that I truly don't know how I had not seen it, because every element of it appeals to me, especially
Starting point is 00:10:17 and this is, and normally I will wax poetic about Alfred Molina, who I think could have found a really fun bit role in this movie. Sure. If someone had their fucking head on. But for me, this movie is Alan Cumming. He is
Starting point is 00:10:34 the star. I had like a bet with myself how far in we'd be till when you mentioned Alan Cumming. I think I won. She's gonna bring it up and she will take a drink of water right when she says his name. I need to lube my mouth up before I say his name. I have to be fully slippery so I can talk about Alan Cumming.
Starting point is 00:10:57 Alan Cumming, I mean, obviously, feminist icon, queer icon, the list goes on. He's amazing. And this is... And a British national treasure, I'm guessing scott scottish scottish national treasure is this he really had a good one because that's like the best part in the movie when his accent goes away briefly oh no he's scottish he's scottish oh yeah but i think he had a british accent yeah yes he did that's why i assumed he was terrible it was not good yeah but it turns out because he's a he's a. Anyways, he's the best part of the good wife, which I've seen every episode of.
Starting point is 00:11:28 That's weird. Anyway. Shall I do the recap? Do the recap. Oh, wait. Can we say who's in this movie besides Alan Cumming? Certainly. Because it's kind of a star-studded roster.
Starting point is 00:11:41 It's star-studded. So Josie is Rachel Lee Cook. Rosario Dawson plays, again, this happens on the pod where we don't remember people's names. Character names. Character names. Her name is Val. Val. And then Tara Reid is as herself.
Starting point is 00:11:56 Melody. Melody. Yeah. And also Parker Posey. Any scene with Parker Posey and Alan Cumming. Oh my. Yeah. Posey. Any scene with Parker Posey and Alan Cumming. Oh my. Yeah, so, Josie and the Pussycats is about a band
Starting point is 00:12:07 comprised of those three characters, Josie, Val, and Mel. They're called the Pussycats. They live in Riverdale and they're just trying to make it. You know, they're doing small gigs. They don't have a following yet. They love music. They all live together. They live in the same
Starting point is 00:12:23 trailer. There's a boy named Alan M who Josie... Oh! Big ol' crush on. Okay, Faye. Alan M, hot or not? Not hot. He literally wears flip-flops. Thank you! He's a disaster. He's a mess. Okay, he doesn't have good fashion, but he's got a cute little... I don't think anyone's attractive if I've seen their feet.
Starting point is 00:12:40 Oh. I understand that, yeah. Caitlin is... We've watched Josie and the pussy cats together twice now and she stands out for for alan m every time she's like no he's he's a good dude alan m he's he's all bangs i mean his haircut is very much of that i mean he can't even fix his own truck he has to get a woman's help. Like, is that supposed to be hot? Oh, which we'll talk about. Yeah, one of Caitlyn's favorite tropes. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:13:07 Woman who fixed the car. Women just inexplicably know so much about cars. I think L&M's fine. So, I... She begins to backpedal. L&M, not hot. L&M... Good guy, not hot.
Starting point is 00:13:20 Mostly hot. I'm pretty sure he has a leather bracelet on in 90% of the movie. I used to wear a sweatband all the time that said, I have issues. Is that from Hot Topic? I cut it out. Oh my gosh. On sale. I almost feel like you should legally be wearing that still just to warn people.
Starting point is 00:13:38 It's basically, it was a medical band. It feels that way. I just didn't know it. The font is crazy. There's all these pictures of me and my grandma i'm wearing a back brace with my fucking things as i have issues and my grandma is she has this smile on her face where she's just smiling but you can also tell she is making fun of me by making me have a photo taken in that moment in time, she's fully attacking me.
Starting point is 00:14:06 I look like shit. Listen, I was 12 and I looked like absolute shit. I have issues. You've got issues. I have issues. Well, so do the pussycats because they simply... Amazing, we're back on track. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:14:16 That was an amazing segue. Thank you so much. You do this professionally. Wait. Kayleen, have you been to college? Yes. Not only have I been to college, I have been to grad school where I did get a master's degree in screenwriting from Boston
Starting point is 00:14:30 University. I do not like to bring it up. But here we are. Okay, anyway, so the Pussycats are having issues. You know, they're trying to build a following. They're talented musicians. They've got great songs, but no one is listening to them. Meanwhile, there is Alan Cummings' character, whose name is Wideframe. Alan Cumming. Did I say, what did I say? No, Alan Cumming as himself. Okay. Jamie just took that as a moment to repeat the name
Starting point is 00:14:52 Alan Cumming to herself. Got it. That's all that was happening. I have to do it every couple minutes or I'll die. It's a contract thing. It's actually what it said on the inside of your sweatband. Do not resuscitate. Just whisper Alan Cumming.
Starting point is 00:15:07 She will pop out of it. Okay, so Alan Cumming plays this guy named Wyatt Frame and he's helping to run a label called Mega Records. Mega Records. And they just got rid of their frontrunner band
Starting point is 00:15:23 DuJour. Can we talk about we'll get to this but there is top of the movie Alan Cumming straight up jumps out of a plane. Yes. Elegantly. And this happens because he's sort of like managing this band DuJour, this boy band who's super popular. Who is Donald
Starting point is 00:15:40 Faison, Breckenmeyer Seth Green. And then another guy. Which I love because when DuJour comes back at the end of the movie, it's only the guy because it's like, oh, you couldn't afford the other three for more than one day. Yeah, they're in full body cast. That's not really them. That's got to be. Those are some extras.
Starting point is 00:15:59 So Alan Cumming has to jump out of a plane because this boy band starts to figure out something fishy that's going on with the record label so Wyatt basically crashes the plane they're on he jumps to safety and now he's on the lookout for a new front runner band to be the most popular and he finds the pussycats so please don't um, could we all do it together? How can I save this? All right, fine. So he discovers the Pussycats. Without even hearing them play, he offers them a record deal. And they're just like, what's all this about? And he's like, doesn't matter.
Starting point is 00:16:36 Just sign with us and we'll make you stars. And they're like, okay. And then they go. They get makeovers. They start recording some music. There's this ominous machine. It's like this recording device. They're like, what's all this?
Starting point is 00:16:49 And he's like, don't worry about it. Meanwhile, we meet Fiona, played by Parker Posey. And we learn that the record company that they are running is actually just sort of this way to insert subliminal messages into music to get teenagers to buy a bunch of crap. So there's product placement all over this movie. We did the count. We did the count. We made a note. So I think there's upwards of 80 products being hawked throughout the course of this movie.
Starting point is 00:17:15 Yeah. It's wild. It's crazy. And some of them are so, like some of my favorite ones are the ones that only come up once of like, uh, Tidy Cats, do you have $5? Because we'll put you in our movie like there is a weird very small tiny cats they actually did during that q a they said they did not get paid by any of those brands really yeah and a lot of brands didn't want to be involved like i think
Starting point is 00:17:37 gap pulled out like they had a big gap thing like the the girls were going to be in a gap commercial and they had to like pull. They filmed it and everything. They got no money for product placement for that. I think no one would have knew. Because the movie sends a very anti-corporate message of like, hey, consumerism is bad. Product placement
Starting point is 00:17:58 is bad. I'm pro-corporate. Capitalism is no good. Hey, but speaking of Tidy Cats though, did you know that cats have eight nipples this has been cat facts with caitlin oh my god i need more sentences to start with speaking of tiny cats um 2018 new mood so yeah this whole record company is basically just a whole scam to insert subliminal messages into music to get teenagers to buy things and then that's what du jour figured out and that's why they died but then the great at the end with the metallica concert joke is so good. I thank God every day I knew the lyrics to Enter Sandman.
Starting point is 00:18:49 Every joke in this movie is the best joke ever written. This movie is wild. It's the perfect satire and it's so funny. Meanwhile, so they make the Pussycats these huge stars, except that they change their name to Josie in the Pussycats. Josie, because she's the lead singer, becomes kind of the front woman of the band. You can find a similar story in... Sorry, my mouth is a little too lubed up. Oh, wow.
Starting point is 00:19:12 Started to drown. Similar themes are explored in the Cheetah Girls extended universe. Oh, I'm not very familiar. I'm only familiar with the Barcelona. That's the second one. Cheetah Girls 2. Oh, speaking of sequels, Paddington 2?
Starting point is 00:19:28 Anyway. Speaking of tidy cats. So as the band gets more popular, Wyatt starts to insert these subliminal messages into songs that only she's listening to. Her disc man. Yeah. She's holding a disc.
Starting point is 00:19:43 Her disc, yeah. Because Val and Mel are starting to realize something's fishy.. Her disc man. Yeah. She's holding a disc. Because like Val and Mel are starting to realize something's fishy. Like something's not quite right here. So they try to break the band apart by getting Josie to turn on Val and Mel. But it doesn't work.
Starting point is 00:19:57 They figure it out. They figure out this whole subliminal message scam. There's this great, very long climactic sequence at the end where they confront Wyatt and Fiona there's like a fight that happens there they're like happens backstage at a concert that everyone's
Starting point is 00:20:13 waiting for can I just say really quick Alan Cumming has a middle part for this entire movie yes okay that's all you're gonna lube up again'm sorry. Let me just lube my mouth up. Please. So I can handle that fact. That was Alan Facts with Jamie. Sponsored by Tidy Cats. Speaking of Tidy Cats. I also, my second favorite product placement in this movie, I think it would be Advil. Yeah, there's Advil. The climactic scene takes place basically on a floor that's covered in Advil logos.
Starting point is 00:20:47 Oh, yeah. My favorite is the McDonald's shower. Oh, my God. I love that. I didn't want that. That's a perfect scene. Yeah. That's a perfect scene.
Starting point is 00:20:56 I mean, which is crazy because Tara Reid. Oh, my God. Yeah. Beware of. Upside down, right? Yeah. Tara Reid is the only person in that scene. And Tara Reid's character.
Starting point is 00:21:04 I hate that character. She's very annoying and I we'll get into it but I can't stand that character anyway lots of fan service for Carson Daly who I I say I've said it before I'll say it again truly the world's most mediocre man right couldn't be a more I'm, that is someone's dad with frosted tips. Anyways. So the movie ends with they confront the record company. The feds come in. They shut them down, even though they were in on it the whole time. And they're like, actually, subliminal messaging works much better in movies. And then there's that great, Josie and the Pussycats are the best movie ever.
Starting point is 00:21:41 And then. So funny. So they play the concert. And Josie and hot Alan M m get together at the end and everything's i do like that scene at the end because it's so goofy and weird like the joke is that they're screaming across the stadium and they can both hear each other and it's so long and they're like i love you i love you too i'm like i don't know if i okay sure great so that's the story let's talk about the female characters in it of which there are several who who's your favorite perker posy oh for sure okay fiona fiona is amazing yeah she has like a real desperation
Starting point is 00:22:17 to be popular that i just also relate to in a very sad way and and i think consistently has the best looks oh for sure like she gets the looks it think consistently has the best looks. Oh, for sure. She gets the looks. She's the best and she's just like, hey girls, this is a hot gossip. She just wants to hang out with a bunch of cool girls. She was like the ugly girl in high school you find out and just wants to be popular and hang out with
Starting point is 00:22:37 girls. Alan Cummings has been an albino guy the whole time. Is that joke insensitive? Probably. I think so. Speaking of tightidy Cats, Alan coming as an albino man also has a middle part. Oh, wow.
Starting point is 00:22:50 Okay. Speaking of Tidy Cats, yes. Yeah, no, I think that joke is insensitive to people with albinism. I think the joke of Fiona's character
Starting point is 00:23:00 having a lisp is also insensitive to people with lisps. It's not... It's not a perfect movie. Unfortunately, a perfect movie. But also, in its defense, it is a perfect movie. Speaking of, Tidy Cat's perfect movie.
Starting point is 00:23:11 Okay. That was a reach. I see where you're going. No, it wasn't. It was spot on. Thank you. Nothing but respect. Anyway, so, Fiona, that character is amazing.
Starting point is 00:23:23 The very best moment of my entire life, I was 13 and at the mall with my mom in a J.Crew, and a random person told me I looked like Parker Posey. And I remember what the leather gloves next to me looked like. I was just shaken. I was like, and I don't look like her is the thing. You imprinted. So I was just, best moment ever.
Starting point is 00:23:40 I still think about it when I'm sad. It's my happy place. That J.Crew. Once when I was little, my family went to Martha's Vineyard. We could only afford to go for two days every two or three years because it's rich people shit, but we would go. And one time when I was very young, like five years old, I grabbed onto what I thought was my mom's leg in an ice cream shop and it was Uma Thurman's leg.
Starting point is 00:24:02 And she was straight up disgusted with me. She was like, whose poor child is this? Can I kill it? We still talk about it sometimes. Remember when my adorable daughter touched Uma Thurman and she looked like she wanted to kick her? Uma Thurman did not want a kid touching her by total accident. I'm sorry.
Starting point is 00:24:25 So anyways, that's my happy moment. Violating Uma Thurman did not want a kid touching her by total accident. I'm sorry. So anyways, that's my happy moment. Violating Uma Thurman's space and being punished. Sure. Okay, so Josie and the Pussycats is a movie about a band of all women. You don't see that many rock bands that feature even just a single woman, let alone all of the members of the band are women. So that's cool. So yeah, I mean, this is not a perfect movie.
Starting point is 00:24:48 There are some flaws, which we'll get to. But as far as the portrayal of women, it's a movie where the female characters are driving the story. They are... They're flawed. They've got lots of different... Like, there's a lot of different types of women
Starting point is 00:25:02 in this movie. Not enough different types of women. No, and the characterization is a little... characterization is not the strongest we've ever seen. No. But. Tara Reid does seem like she learned how to drum, though. And for that, I applaud her. She did.
Starting point is 00:25:13 She talks about that. She does? At that Q&A. Wow. She learned to drum. Because I was like, they go out of, because you don't see any Rachel Leake. I mean, I don't think the other two people. No, that is not her singing.
Starting point is 00:25:22 That is not her singing? No, it's not her voice. Didn't know. It's the girl from Letters to to cleo whose name i can't remember right now oh okay that makes sense but also i don't know why i feel like a little bit betrayed i don't know it's fine it does ruin a little bit of the magic yeah that it's it was all fake yeah the whole story was fake well That's mine. Well, not the corporate greed. That's very real. That's extremely real.
Starting point is 00:25:48 So you're going to cling to that. Oh, that was something I wanted to talk about on the second viewing of this. I thought it was so just like a weird story point that Josie and Mel and Val, from moment one, anytime they're talking about the band, they never say, like, we play music because we love music. They say, we play music because we want a record deal. Like, they're fucking capitalists from moment one, which is, like, I mean, that's just, like, a choice. Yeah. But it was interesting. And I think that pays off later when they're, like, corporate greed is actually bad.
Starting point is 00:26:20 But, like, from moment one, they not only are very, they're, like, we want to be famous and we want a record deal. And that is the objective a little more so than the music at first. Yeah. But they also viewed and they're playing bowling alleys and they say a few different times that they viewed du jour as their direct competition. It's like, I'm sorry you were playing a bowling alley. Like you're, chill out. But there's that scene when they're on the airplane and they're like taking a flight to go and get famous. Is this the plane that has all the like the target plane or is it the one that has all the phones fused into the wall?
Starting point is 00:26:56 It's the Motorola plane. So in that scene, they have this like nice conversation about how we're going to be friends first and a band second. Like they're prioritizing. So not necessarily prioritizing their music over anything, but like they're prioritizing their friendship over being in a band. So, I mean, that to me redeems them for maybe being a little bit too capitalist in the fact that they're like that. I don't even think that that's bad. I just thought that that's like kind of weird. Like not something I noticed at first
Starting point is 00:27:25 because I feel like usually when we're introduced to these stories, it's like, and we just love playing music so much and it's about the art. But for Josie and the Fuzzy Cats, they're like, I mean,
Starting point is 00:27:34 obviously they care about the music. But they also care about the money. The reason we have that whole scene at their house is I think we're supposed to understand that they live together and they're broke. And I think that's driving this capitalist need more so than like the fame aspect because they don't seem to really care about that they just want to be able to like not eat ramen like they're specifically like eating they're sharing they're sharing one package and they they say they're the only people
Starting point is 00:28:00 in the history of Riverdale to share a bus pass. There are all three of them in their bus pass. I love that bus pass. Hell up, bro. And it's more of a commentary on how artists don't get paid. Wow. Point taken. Wow, the guest really overstepping.
Starting point is 00:28:20 Interesting. Interesting choice. No, it's fine. I've been displaced and I quit and actually see you later this is the first time in my life i've ever been uh wrong a hard day for me um there's a couple things i want to mention things that i did not enjoy about the movie one is the trope that drives me nuts where a movie to show that the girl is not like the other girls. She's good at fixing cars. We see it in that stupid Julia Roberts movie about running
Starting point is 00:28:50 away from your wedding. And Pretty Woman. She knows a lot about cars. Oh, really? I haven't seen that in a long time. I need to rewatch Pretty Woman. Megan Fox. Megan Fox and Transformers. Although there's a good case to be made there. But whatever. Sometimes when it happens, I am totally fine to accept it. there but whatever there's sometimes when it happens i
Starting point is 00:29:05 am totally fine to accept it like in itania when that happens or in hidden figures when it happens but to me they're like nothing about her skill to being good at fixing cars doesn't pay off at any point in the story or it just it just feels like it's tacked on in this movie it's weird and i don't think ever comes back. And I feel like that is like kind of cinematic shorthand for like, she's a guy's gal. She can hang. And I think that that's all that we're supposed to take away from that. And it's just kind of lazy writing. It's Alan M's car.
Starting point is 00:29:38 And he's like, well, my truck died. You got to help me fix it. And they're sort of like kind of flirting and bonding during that scene while she's fixing. He is straight up playing guitar. guitar barefoot and he fixes his car he's awful yeah if anyone shows up and starts playing the acoustic guitar at me i'm fully upset i at me you can't just play it near me you're playing it at me directly i would love to link in this episode the band camp extension for my ex-boyfriend who wrote the full album your body is dumb after i broke up with them never play the guitar around me i'll scream i'm sorry the boy you texted earlier was a drummer so i listen you can know
Starting point is 00:30:18 that facet of his personality you can drum around me that's fine okay i've never had an issue with drummers people it's acoustic guitar no i had the same ex-boyfriend thing it was like and kind of the bass went home from college saw him over the summer literally asked if while we were like hanging out just sitting like by his car in a suburban town in maryland if he could take out his acoustic guitar and play something and i was like i guess oh i'm bone dry yeah i i'm basically a eunuch if you play the i've never if you want to make someone less horny than they've ever been in their life and i would say i'm pretty on a pretty high horny percentile if we're serving the country you're constantly lubed i will. I am fully lubed at all times. But, man, if you're considering playing the acoustic guitar,
Starting point is 00:31:08 you're doing it for you. And it's so clear when you're doing that. Can't you mind if I play my guitar? And it's like, no, no. You know who doesn't do that? Drummers. Because they would also look crazy. You mind if I just bring my little rubber pad out?
Starting point is 00:31:25 I have a great track record with drummers. My high school boyfriend was a drummer. Oh, good. And you were a clarinetist. Shout out to... Oboe. Excuse me. Yes.
Starting point is 00:31:35 It's okay. I was a clarinetist. Okay, we're all... I, too, clarinetist. Really? That's why I got confused. Oh, I was a double reed girl. Not to brag.
Starting point is 00:31:44 Sorry, just the one single reads for me we should probably be in a band two clarinets a real z and the pussycats jamie and the tidy cats oh my god it's perfect two clarinets and an oak like that kind of physical response my blood pressure just like rose wow okay so anyway uh more about the movie sure um another thing that i didn't necessarily pick up on that much until this sort of watching this movie through the bechtel cast lens was the fact that the band so josie val and mel are all really mean to their manager's sister, whose name is Alexandra.
Starting point is 00:32:31 So there's a character named Alexander. He is their band manager. And then his sister, played by Missy Pyle, Alexandra, they do a lot of body shaming to her. She comes in, and they basically call her fat they're like oh did you lose weight or something like that she's at one point like putting on lip gloss and val is like oh that lip gloss won't hide your mustache like they're doing they're like really cruel to her in a way that i don't understand why this is and it feels really
Starting point is 00:33:00 unneeded and bizarre it's a very bizarre choice like i would almost to the point where i'd almost rather and i know that this is like archie canon or whatever but like i would almost rather that character not even be there than her be there and only be used for the things that she's used for because it really is like she there's no consistency with her other than like she hates like she's like jealous she doesn't even like work for them she's just around yeah she's just around and mean and like her she's only driven by and i mean listen i can relate to living a life driven by spite but it just it does doesn't make sense with this story it's weird they do like kind of bring it up they're
Starting point is 00:33:41 like they say to her why are you here and she, I was in the comic books. It's very fourth wall. Which is a funny joke. But the fact that the way they treat each other. But if you're that aware of how you're adapting it, then it's like, do a better job with that character. Yeah. I mean, it was 2001. The body positivity movement wasn't popular yet. So there's lots of body shaming in this movie.
Starting point is 00:34:03 And it's, I don't know, it's just a glaring thing in an otherwise perfect movie um no yeah so i it's so easy to insert the trope in a movie of like girls being petty and catty toward each other and it really bugged me this time around seeing it i i'm interested in your thoughts on this, ladies. For Val's character, played by Rosario Dawson, I feel like, and it made me think about, because she's the only woman of color in this movie at all. I think so. Is that true? Well, that's depressing.
Starting point is 00:34:38 And I feel like her character is underdeveloped in comparison to the other two in the band obviously josie's going to be the most characterized she's the protagonist right but it's i i feel like there is a tendency especially when she's already being presented as a token character like she's you know she's the only woman of color we see on screen that the the movie kind of like sabotages characters like this i think it happens in the craft a lot as well where the one woman of color we see she gets less to do and mainly what we know about her is that she is supportive of the white people around like that's really all we know about that like and she's integral to the plot obviously but like tara reed like she has a
Starting point is 00:35:23 very distinct character and it's like she's a doofus she's all you know we're gonna get a 45 minute scene with her in Carson Daly and I'm gonna love every second of it uh Josie has like very distinct personality traits Val does not really have that and I feel like what she mainly has is that she is supportive of the other two and uh that's just something that I thought about. The characterization there, yeah, she's definitely robbed in terms of having a developed character. Yeah, it does feel a lot like,
Starting point is 00:35:53 usually if there's a movie with mostly white women and then one woman of color, that character often, we know the least about her background, her backstory, her family life, anything like that. We know the least about that. We know the least about her background her backstory her family life anything like that we know the least about that we know the least about her personality and i think that we're a two hazard i guess i would think that because there are so many white writers in you know hollywood working i i feel like there might be like a feeling of like oh well there's only one person of color in the entire cast i don't want to fuck it up because i but then the result is they just don't really write a character for that person
Starting point is 00:36:29 right and that is also not a good result and that just means that we should have more people writing a movie exactly i think that's what sophia coppola said when she wrote and directed that beguiled adaptation where she's like i don't't know how to, I am not a person of color so I don't know how to write character. Yeah. Didn't know what the Bechdel test was.
Starting point is 00:36:48 Whom? The consequences of that, like I understand the hesitancy to misrepresent a character if you do not have that same experience.
Starting point is 00:36:56 Right, but then like talk to someone. Exactly. It's as easy as that. Give someone else work, you know, it's. Or let that like co-write something with someone.
Starting point is 00:37:02 If you want to write a movie where some of the characters are people of color, excellent. Bring on a co-writer, you know, it's... Or let that, like, co-write something with someone. If you want to write a movie where some of the characters are people of color, excellent. Bring on a co-writer. Bring on... Consult with people. Like, it is not hard. I mean, and it's not egregious in Josie and the Pussycats, but it is just, like, something that I was thinking about. She also has the worst makeover.
Starting point is 00:37:20 I mean, it's like... Yes! Her makeover is boring. It... Nothing happens. Hair flips. Highlights. Unshadow. She's just like, we'llover is boring. Nothing happens. Hair flips, highlights, eyeshadow. She's just like, we'll brush your hair for a minute.
Starting point is 00:37:28 And I feel like they dress her in outfits that are not flattering to her. No. Which is crazy because it's like, what is not going to hang well on Rosario? I know. It's really bizarre. She's perfect. That makeover scene is, speaking of tidy cats, that makeover scene is speaking of tidy cats that makeover scene is so blue why is that was that whole scene shot in like fluorescent lighting because there it's so
Starting point is 00:37:53 it's that scene makes me laugh because it's blue in a way that most is usually reserved for action movies right yeah sci-fi kind of stuff very blue and then they're they're so uncomfortably improvising through this scene we're like at one point terry's just like holding a brush and she's like yeah yeah they're like throw some cotton balls at each other it'll be hilarious i feel like my like interpretation of the blue is that it was supposed to be kind of like surgical like they were supposed to be like going through this very like regimented like idea of beauty and marketing and branding to like whoa because it felt very like it does look sterile yeah yeah yeah everyone's wearing like lab coats and shit yeah but it also could maybe one of their key lights broke yeah maybe they're like oh we have all these
Starting point is 00:38:40 blue gels let's figure out what scene to use them in definitely i just inherited a bunch of blue gels from my grandfather they're like 20 cents i'm fat with blue gels right now we have got to use it and i also do you think and do we know because you know so much about canon were they friends they don't seem like they ever spent a moment together outside of the set of Jessie and the Pussycats. The actors? Yeah. No, they made that very clear during the Q&A. You can feel that in the movie. Well, Tara was incredibly drunk or incredibly something
Starting point is 00:39:15 and just kept bringing up, like, she was like, we haven't really seen each other since then, but that was such an incredible time, just like over and over. Oh, it's like, that was your time. Yeah, that was your time. Okay. Oh, God. Wait, can was your time. Yeah, that was your time. Oh, God. Wait, can we just talk about her character for a second? Because I imagine she's just
Starting point is 00:39:31 I don't even know what they're going for. I mean, she's this character who's like she loves rainbows and puppies and she just wants everyone to get along and she's got a heart of gold. But she's also just extremely annoying and stupid and it's like don't why why write a character like that i think i find her very annoying problem too though yeah
Starting point is 00:39:50 again i'm not i'm not familiar with the archie comics so i don't know how that character is represented in those but i don't know she just and maybe it's just because it's tara reed bringing that role to life and i don't necessarily think she's very talented wow yeah sorry guys we're gonna go there hot take tara reed maybe not the most talented caitlin duranti actor i am not a feminist icon i hate sorry no i do think a lot of that is like source because when in the comic book world, you literally have like, this is the dumb friend. Because you have talk bubbles to work with. It wasn't like really fleshed out.
Starting point is 00:40:30 But I'll always make the argument that when you're adapting something, you can take the liberty to change. I think so too. Or tone it down a little bit. I mean, I think with the casting choice, they made it clear what they wanted the character to be. Not to keep piling on Tara Reid anyways the scene between her and Carson Daly is great it should be put in a museum god Carson Daly is so boring and in that scene too this is one of my favorite like there's all these cardboard cutouts of like TRL guests and if you watch it in 2018, you can really spot out. It's like,
Starting point is 00:41:05 can't how many predators are in frame right now? A lot of, what's that word you used when we talked about the Grinch? Oh my God. Stuff that's in the frame. Oh, mise en scene. Mise en scene.
Starting point is 00:41:15 That's a film degree. Yeah. I recognize it from my own film degree. That's that word. Speaking of tiny cats, I also have a film degree. I was wondering when you were going to ask. Mise en scene.
Starting point is 00:41:27 The mise en scene in the Carson Daly scene is full of what we now know to be sexual predators. There's no less than four Johnny Depps in that film. There's a ton of Johnny Depps. There's a ton of Matt Damon. Also, Aries Spears, problematic guy. There are a number of peers of ours, comedians. I've never heard of Aries Spears. He was on Mad TV for a while. There are several. He peers of ours, comedians. I've never heard of Aries Spears before this. He was on MADtv for a while.
Starting point is 00:41:46 There are several. He did a Cosby impression. Yeah, he did a Cosby impression. Oh, yikes. Yikes. Doesn't age well at all, of course. And then as a person, comedian friends of ours will post something on Twitter, and he will then troll them a lot for stuff that they've said. He's not a good guy.
Starting point is 00:42:04 Feminist icon. Aries Spears. Aries Spears. Yeah, slide right into our mentions ari spears yeah i dare you i'm kidding no i really don't want i just want to quickly talk about the alexander character their band manager one he physically strikes his sister apparently more than once in a day because he kicks her in the shin or something like that and she's like ow and he's like oh i'm sorry that my bad that was an accident but oh that was twice in one day huh so he's like repeatedly hitting her another weird choice why do we see this choice being made of a man physically striking a woman and then later on this guy's a piece of shit, because later on, they're all in the bathroom
Starting point is 00:42:46 after Alan Cumming has been like, here, have a record deal. And they're like, this is... In the Starbucks bathroom. Yeah, they're in a Starbucks. And they're like, this is suspicious. This is all happening really fast. And Alexander comes in and he's like,
Starting point is 00:42:56 what if you're like having a band meeting? I should be here. And they're like, this is the ladies room, which like, why do we have to have separate... Well, 2001. 2001. A space odyssey speaking of tidy cats you thought I was gonna say 9-11 but I said Shrek yeah
Starting point is 00:43:11 so and then they're like well get out of here this is the ladies room and he's like what is nothing I haven't seen before and then I think Val in an attempt to get him to leave, she's like, anyone have change for a tampon? And he's like, bye. See you. Gross. So no comment. He can't. He can't hang. He cannot.
Starting point is 00:43:31 He's not just one of the girls. He's not. Josie's one of the boys. I bet he's probably because he's fixing too many cars. Well, that was probably it. Something. It definitely has to do with a car. I was sure it was.
Starting point is 00:43:43 He is fucking the tailpipe of a car and it's no not a tampon in sight no no tampons i think if we just all had you know if men hung unused tampons around their room kind of like dream catchers oh yeah that would be nice that'd be nice and then if you wake up and there's a bloody tampon hanging in a man's room it just means that they had a dream what like a bad dream that's a dream catcher i get i follow yeah uh i think that like like mobiles that go over baby's cribs should actually just be dirty tampons not dirty although maybe let's why are we shaming women for bleeding free bleed all the time free bleed on your baby this is final way of feminism the last wave it's the free blade on your baby
Starting point is 00:44:27 just stick it okay if we can get back on track the point i'm trying and i don't i also might be reaching but please hashtag free blade on your baby the movie isn't making a comment on this which is you know not the biggest deal because it's a quick scene and like that's this is not what this movie is about him being grossed out by bodily functions but i feel like we almost never see representation of a man not being grossed out by a woman bleeding and it would have been a nice opportunity for him to be like i don't care about tampons and then right don't see it and i'm just like oh you missed it an opportunity movie yeah for him or maybe you know maybe win some points back and be like i have a quarter yeah and i don't think we should have to be paying for these
Starting point is 00:45:12 right why are we not giving great that would be an amazing moment feminist icon why are we paying for these why are we there's a public health issue there yeah anyways there's a few oh you mentioned jamie the scene when they're recording in the studio for the first time so much wind blowing where is it coming from why do we have to see women's hair blowing around i love i think that that was a joke i i've like because rachel lee cook's hair is going it's feathered I want to hear a breeze it was designed knowing a breeze would pass her by
Starting point is 00:45:52 designed for a breeze I want to hear the recordings of that session because it would all be like it's just a hard wind and then Tara Reid hitting a cymbal it was a full on wind machine. That's like, if that is a joke, it's one of my favorite jokes in the whole movie. I think it's, I don't know if it's a joke.
Starting point is 00:46:11 I feel like if it was a joke, they would have played up the wind more. Right. It's almost too subtle to be a joke. I don't know. Either way. This movie is not known for its subtlety. No, it's not. Shout out to Eugene Levy.
Starting point is 00:46:21 There are 80. Oh, yeah. Eugene Levy's in it. In a weird scene when i and i don't know what to make of this but you see him like he's giving this instructional like here's what we do at this company we trick teenagers into buying a bunch of crap he's like we live in the most ass-kicking country in the world and then this woman in a bikini like stands by him and like waves the american flag which is a joke but i think that that's commentary yeah because he's wrong and we all know that their their weird money fuck dungeon is wrong
Starting point is 00:46:49 there's no way around it i feel like we haven't talked that much about parker posey's character i love female villains i like that we have a male and a female villain in this movie uh mainly i feel like probably just to let alan comingming and Parker Posey be together. And they're so great together. And it's like, can you kiss? They do. They do. I know they do.
Starting point is 00:47:11 But it's like, not in every scene. Just at the end. I love it. My favorite moment is when I think they do like a laugh off in her creepy bedroom. Like a villain laugh. It's so good. love it any other two actors that's the worst scene of all time it's insufferable the main thing i want to say about josie and the pussycats is that it's a it's not a movie that's seeking to dismantle the patriarchy
Starting point is 00:47:39 necessarily it's a fun movie it doesn't necessarily have an agenda except it has the like anti-corporate anti-capitalist agenda but that also feels weird in a movie that has so much product placement although it makes me feel better that those companies did not pay it's funnier because like it could have been like really cheap for them to be like oh well yeah we can just make a bunch of money of this movie that we're saying is anti-capitalist they did that too though it's like taking the money of these big corporations and then basically making fun of them yeah that's true i'm kind of there for that yeah but i think yeah it could work either way yeah so that's that's more the agenda of the movie than necessarily be well i don't know like i totally agree that it's like it seems like know, whatever, the objective of this movie was decided. And then, you know, other areas were not given as careful consideration as we would hope.
Starting point is 00:48:30 Where it's like, we basically see, of the female characters especially, we see like one body type across the board. It's a very thin movie. It's a very white movie. It's, you know, like there's obviously places where it could be doing much better. And that should be acknowledged. But also it is like such a good movie. And it like, oh God, did you see Alan Cumming's? Oh, we didn't talk about the most important scene in the movie, which is when Alan Cumming is driving his car sponsored by Ray-Ban. So he's looking for his new band.
Starting point is 00:49:03 And I'm already like, oh oh alan cumming is on screen right and then he almost hits josie and the pussycats with his car and then it's like this moment where meatloaf's paradise by the dashboard light is meatloaf one of the greatest actors of our generation sorry one of the currently one of the worst singers in the entire world sorry and then alan cumming breaks the fourth wall turns and doesn't he like wink or something yeah he gives like a sly little like smile no one does it better he should have gotten an oscar just for that my favorite alan cumming performance ever is like one second in an hbo commercial where it's like i don't even know what they pulled from but i i've watched the commercial a lot where there's it's alan coming
Starting point is 00:49:52 on stage i think it's like a taped live performance and he just goes broadway and you're just like there it is we don't need to make art anymore or porn or porn mean, we can all retire. That's beautiful. As sexual beings, we can retire. Broadway. Broadway. Speaking of Tidy Cats, let's talk about whether or not this movie passes the Bechdel test. Oh, I think yes. Yeah, it does.
Starting point is 00:50:16 Oh, for sure. It does. I like how we pause. We've done a lot of movies lately where there's not even a discussion to be had about it. We're just like, yes, of course it does. They talk about their music a lot. Friendship a lot of movies lately where there's like not even a discussion to be had about it we're just like yes of course it does they talk about their music a lot friendship a lot friendship and yeah and there's a lot of female characters well we didn't really talk about the friendship aspect but i do like think that it is great to see female friendship portrayed in a way that is like very supportive and loving throughout. Because it's the corporate...
Starting point is 00:50:46 Alan Cumming and Parker Posey try to drive a wedge into the friendship, and they can't because... Well, they do. For a quick moment. Right. But I mean, that's with weird science. But there's never a moment in the... Even when...
Starting point is 00:51:02 There's never a moment which is not manufactured by these villains that tears them apart. It's all. A very strong friendship. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Cheetah Girls, a little bit different. I have no idea what Cheetah Girls is. Really? The Disney movie?
Starting point is 00:51:16 Is it a, like, Disney original? Starring Raven. Raven Simone. Yeah. And the girl who went on to date Rob Kardashian from 3LW. And then the other girl from 3LW. Is it? And then the white girl.
Starting point is 00:51:25 Wait, is it a Disney Channel movie? Yeah, it is a DCOM. Okay, that's why I have no idea. That's a Disney Channel original movie. I've never seen a single Disney Channel original movie. I don't think I've ever missed one. I just started my own podcast. It's just me watching DCOMs.
Starting point is 00:51:39 I would love to hear a thing or love DCOM. Wow, I have to skip Smart House. I'm still scared of it. Are you still scared of Smart House? That house has so much power over them. The thing about that house is that it was very smart. By the way, Aristotle is in the corner giggling his little face off. All right.
Starting point is 00:51:54 He can take over hosting the Smart House episode. Who was the male star of Smart House? Wasn't it this? No, no. It was a white family. I thought it was the boy from Smart Guy for a second. Taj Mahal right now. Anyway. So, no, it was a white family. I thought it was the boy from Smart Guy for a second. Taj Mahal right now. Anyway, so yeah, the female friendship, we see a similar thing in like Spice World where, you know, you think there would be conflict in a band scenario where there's always, you know, there's egos and there's all kinds of stuff that might come between them as a band and as friends. But the only thing that does briefly come between this band and Josie and the Pussycats
Starting point is 00:52:27 is manufactured by the villains. Yeah, it's like literal brainwashing. Yeah, brainwashing. And she barely succumbs. She succumbs to it, but then she quickly figures out like, hey, like this is weird. And she figures out what's happening. And that's to say that, again, the female characters of this movie are driving the story.
Starting point is 00:52:45 Sometimes in movies, even if there is a female protagonist, like she doesn't even get to like figure out the big mystery or like even participate in the climax of her own movie, which is what we saw in like Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Or in Aladdin where Jasmine is literally physically thrown out of the screen while the conflict is resolved. Yeah. She's also wearing, she's also a sex slave. There a lot going on oh goodness can't wait to look forward to the aladdin episode yikes are you gonna do that oh for sure oh yeah for sure yeah that red bikini i mean that was a large part of my childhood jafar is a queer icon anyways iago Iago feminist so yeah the
Starting point is 00:53:26 female characters in this movie are without question participating in the story driving the story their friendships are solid it's a fun movie
Starting point is 00:53:35 you know it's you gotta watch it you gotta watch it check it out it's great to see women being funny and contributing
Starting point is 00:53:42 to the comedy of the movie a lot of times in a comedy female characters are robbed of any opportunity to be funny. So that's great for this movie. Should we rate the movie? Let's rate it. Yeah. Let's rate it.
Starting point is 00:53:55 Let's rate the movie on our nipple scale of 0 to 5 nipples based on its portrayal of women. I'm going to give it 4 because I think the main characters, especially Val and Mel, could have been more fleshed out, especially Val, like you said, being the only person of color. She feels a bit sidelined. Her character doesn't feel as developed as the others. And I don't know, you can still, you can have a dumb character and have it not be so annoying. And maybe this is just my personal thing, but Mel's character to me is ins be so annoying. And maybe this is just my personal thing, but Mel's character to me is insufferable. And anytime she's on screen,
Starting point is 00:54:29 I'm just like, yeah, she doesn't bother me. I like when she's like, maybe it's in this room. Maybe it's in this room. Oh, I hate that scene. I'm like,
Starting point is 00:54:36 I don't know. And especially like what a boon for Tara Reid to literally play two type exactly and make a lot of money doing it. That's true. Good for her. Do it. Again, I guess in this episode I'm... Dare I say you go, girl?
Starting point is 00:54:51 I guess. I'll say it. All right. I'll say it. Say it. So yeah, the characterization isn't as great as we would hope. There are also the parts when the women of the band are body shaming Alexandra and vice versa. That's a weird choice. So there's just some kind of weird choices. But overall, I like the message of like the all the anti-corporate
Starting point is 00:55:11 stuff. I like just the fact that it's a fun movie starring women. You get a woman villain who's a great character. Yeah, that's it. Four nipples, three for each of the members of the band. And the fourth one goes to Parker Posey. Cool. Faye, what say you? I'm going to go a full five nips on this. Wowie. It is just, like, my all-time favorite movie, and I know it is a portrayal of women,
Starting point is 00:55:34 but I did watch this when I was, like, 11, and... Did you feel empowered? I think... I didn't. I think it was so subtly a movie about girls that were friends that only looking back on it now, I'm realizing it's like the only movie I watched when I was like a kid that I was that was about girls that were friends and in a band. And I think it affected me a lot in a way that wasn't like it wasn't like hit over the head with it, which I think is it was a movie ahead of its time for a lot of reasons, I think. Yeah. And yeah, I totally, I mean, I agree with everything we've been saying about body types, diversity, and like,
Starting point is 00:56:07 there's a lot of complexities to being a woman that aren't, you know, showcased. But I think just for this being a 2001 movie that's literally about a band of girls that are best friends
Starting point is 00:56:16 is like special. Pretty cool. Who are you giving your nippies to? Ooh. Sorry for making eye contact when I said that. I mean,
Starting point is 00:56:24 I feel like you now. I feel like you're buying for them. I actually can't contact when I said that. I mean, I feel like you now. I feel like you're vying for them. I actually can't look at you ever again. Are you guys vibing? I don't know. Ross is in the room. I'm going to give five straight nipples to Jamie Loftus. Thank you so much. I hope you use them wisely. I'm going to.
Starting point is 00:56:40 As someone with an irregular number of nipples already, just please use those five very wisely. Listen, I need spare tires. Keep them in my back pocket. Keep them in the trunk. Keep your nips in the trunk. Okay.
Starting point is 00:56:55 I'm going to give it three and a half. Guys, I'm sorry. I love this movie so much. It's an unreasonable expectation to be like every movie has to be perfect in every single way. But I just, especially because this is a movie that's marketed to young girls, there were a lot of missed opportunities that I would have liked to see capitalized on. But I don't have anything to add in terms of you pretty much covered it. But I do love that there was a major film release directed at kids that was about how corporations suck and it's also so
Starting point is 00:57:26 funny. I would argue that any scene Alan Cumming is in with anyone does pass the Bechdel test. I think we should make an across the board exception for that. I've already made that exception for Alfred Molina. People are flooding my DMs. Jamie, will you
Starting point is 00:57:42 pardon Alfred Molina for not being able to pass the Bechdel test? Yes, of course. Does that mean if Alan Cumming and Alfred Molina speak to each other
Starting point is 00:57:50 in a movie, that passes the Bechdel test too? Oh, of course it does. And they could be talking about their own penises and it would still pass the Bechdel test. If Alan,
Starting point is 00:58:00 a scene where Alan Cumming and Alfred Molina are like, they both whip out their dicks and they're like, let's compare. They're measuring. They're measuring their penis. That is still a full pass.
Starting point is 00:58:10 It's a full pass. Just like a nice, calm, peaceful. They're like, well, how much is yours? Instead of these normal dick measuring contests where they're like, much bigger. There's a scene. There's a be gentle. Motivated by curiosity. Basically an ASMR video.
Starting point is 00:58:26 I hope that happens for you, Jamie. I just want that out in the world for you. An ASMR video of Ellen coming and Elvira gently measuring each other's penis. We all want that, but I really want that for you. That is, I will have to make a cartoon of that. And I have to go. I have to get started. I have to make a cartoon of that and I have to go I have to get started this is my own personal smut stash for just me
Starting point is 00:58:52 well we've had a blast here today what a time guess who I'm giving them to Tidy Cats? I'll give two to Alan Cumming and one and a half to tidy cats great all right well speaking of tidy cats faye thank you so much for being here thank you this is so fun this is yay what what would you like to plug where can people find you online oh my god
Starting point is 00:59:16 at fay or love on everything and then um i was gonna plug i thought of it while we were doing this that at junior high we're in a vet space for women. And we're starting a new series of nights. It's going to be once a month. My friend Darby's hosting. We came up with like a really clever name that I can't remember. But it's movies that are not only featuring women, but made by women. So we're going to be screening, I think, like a trailer and then a short and have whoever made the short there, like female directors, producers.
Starting point is 00:59:44 And then watch a movie. I think we talked about doing Josie, in fact, because it was made by a woman and team. Yes, yes, yes. This movie was written and directed by Harry Elfant and Deborah Kaplan. Yeah, and they're really cool. But yeah, so just look on welcometojrhigh.com. We have a whole calendar. That's not up yet, but just keep your eyes out or on Instagram at welcometojrhigh.
Starting point is 01:00:04 And if you have ideas for similar things, please reach out. Awesome. You can follow the Bechtelcast on all the social media platforms at Bechtelcast. You can rate and review us on iTunes. That helps us out a lot. What also helps us out is going to our Patreon and
Starting point is 01:00:19 subscribing. Yeah, it's great. Give us $5 a month or else. Thank you so much. Well, speaking of tidy cats, bye! Bye! subscribing. Yeah, it's great. Give us $5 a month or else. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. Well, speaking of tidy cats, bye. Bye. Daphne Caruana Galizia was a Maltese investigative journalist
Starting point is 01:00:33 who on October 16th, 2017 was assassinated. Crooks everywhere unearthed the plot to murder a one woman WikiLeaks. She exposed the culture of crime and corruption that were turning her beloved country
Starting point is 01:00:46 into a mafia state. Listen to Crooks everywhere on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, I'm Gianna Pradenti. And I'm Jemaine Jackson-Gadson. We're the hosts of Let's Talk Offline from LinkedIn News and iHeart Podcasts.
Starting point is 01:01:09 There's a lot to figure out when you're just starting your career. That's where we come in. Think of us as your work besties you can turn to for advice. And if we don't know the answer, we bring in people who do, like negotiation expert Maury Tahiripour. If you start thinking about negotiations as just a conversation, then I think it sort of eases us a little bit. Listen to Let's Talk Offline on the iHeartRadio app, Katherine Hahn is joining us on Las Culturistas.
Starting point is 01:01:46 That's right, the queen of comedy herself. Get ready for a conversation that's as hilarious as it is insightful. Tune in for all the laughs, the stories, and of course, the culture.
Starting point is 01:01:55 Don't miss Katherine Hahn on Las Culturistas. Listen to Las Culturistas on Will Ferrell's Big Money Players Network on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get
Starting point is 01:02:04 your podcasts.

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