WEBVTT - Gremlins with Moujan Zolfaghari 0:00:00.760 --> 0:00:03.720 On the Bell Cast, the questions asked if movies have 0:00:03.920 --> 0:00:07.760 women in them? Are all their discussions just boyfriends and husbands? 0:00:07.920 --> 0:00:12.920 Do they have individualism? The patriarchy? Zef and best start 0:00:13.039 --> 0:00:16.759 changing it with the bec Del Cast. Hello, welcome to 0:00:16.760 --> 0:00:19.720 the Vital Cast. Hi. Why who is Jamie London? My 0:00:19.840 --> 0:00:22.800 name is Cala Darante. This is our show. This is 0:00:22.840 --> 0:00:28.080 our podcast about the betrayal of women. Did a betrayal? Betrayal? 0:00:28.320 --> 0:00:31.160 Which I think it's not too far off. I'm depending 0:00:31.200 --> 0:00:34.360 on the movie. Most movies betray Usually it's about the 0:00:34.360 --> 0:00:39.200 betrayal of women. Yes, um, anyways, this is the show. 0:00:39.360 --> 0:00:42.440 It's if you're your first time listening. Hey, welcome, Welcome. 0:00:42.640 --> 0:00:45.879 If you like Gremlin's the movie we're discussing today, probably 0:00:46.040 --> 0:00:49.840 sorry and yes, because we will be talking about both 0:00:49.840 --> 0:00:52.640 the portrayal of women in the movie and the betrayal 0:00:52.720 --> 0:00:56.680 of women in the movie. T FW, your dad Bryce's 0:00:56.720 --> 0:01:01.560 neck being Santa problem. We can all that was nuts. 0:01:01.720 --> 0:01:04.840 That was a twist I totally forgot about. Well, we'll 0:01:04.840 --> 0:01:08.600 talk about it anyways. Uh So, we critique the portrayal 0:01:08.880 --> 0:01:14.000 of women in famous movies using the Bechdel test as 0:01:14.040 --> 0:01:16.840 a jumping off point, the Bechdel Test being a media 0:01:16.959 --> 0:01:21.319 metric created by Alison Bechdel in the nine eighties. Uh 0:01:21.360 --> 0:01:25.840 and uh, Caitlin, what is it? I'm fucking dummy? I 0:01:25.880 --> 0:01:28.120 forget Well, first of all, Jamie, you're not a dummy. 0:01:28.160 --> 0:01:31.600 But I'm happy to remind you that the Bechdel test 0:01:31.920 --> 0:01:37.480 requires that a movie have two named, female identifying characters 0:01:37.520 --> 0:01:41.760 in the narrative. They must speak to each other, and 0:01:41.840 --> 0:01:46.480 that conversation cannot be about men. Wouldn't you know? A 0:01:46.520 --> 0:01:49.120 lot of movies do not pass this very simple test 0:01:49.440 --> 0:01:53.400 is a very low bar shocks I know. Well, that 0:01:53.560 --> 0:01:59.480 was that we're in the We're in the holiday episodes? Now, yes, 0:01:59.520 --> 0:02:01.840 we certainly are. When are we gonna do a Crazy Nights? 0:02:02.840 --> 0:02:06.080 You know what? We should? Because there are very few 0:02:07.320 --> 0:02:10.000 movies about Hanakah or any other which is going to 0:02:10.080 --> 0:02:12.160 be one of my talking points. But there's so many 0:02:12.200 --> 0:02:15.919 Christmas movies and so few holiday movies that are representative 0:02:15.960 --> 0:02:19.720 of any other major religion. I genuinely I think we 0:02:19.720 --> 0:02:22.280 should do. I love A Crazy Nights. I've never seen it. 0:02:22.360 --> 0:02:24.359 There's so much wrong with it. I mean, it's it's 0:02:24.440 --> 0:02:27.760 kind of a nightmare, but you know, it is it's 0:02:27.840 --> 0:02:31.040 nicer to have to see Adam Sandler as a cartoon. 0:02:31.440 --> 0:02:35.920 Oh sure, yeah. Anyway, so well, that didn't pass the 0:02:35.919 --> 0:02:39.919 test because we talked about Adam. That we did talk 0:02:39.960 --> 0:02:43.560 about Hanakah, and that always passes the Bechtel test. But no, 0:02:43.919 --> 0:02:49.560 I don't know. Basically, because every major religion focuses on 0:02:49.600 --> 0:02:52.240 a patriarchy, I would say that talking about religion in 0:02:52.240 --> 0:02:55.280 general does not actually pass the Bechdel test. But any who, 0:02:56.040 --> 0:02:58.960 here we are the podcasts, this is it. Let's should 0:02:58.960 --> 0:03:01.480 we just introduce our guests. Yeah, I'm psyched to have her. 0:03:01.520 --> 0:03:04.880 Oh my gosh, our guest today. She is a TV writer, 0:03:05.000 --> 0:03:07.760 a comedian, and the co creator and a voice on 0:03:07.800 --> 0:03:12.520 the podcast Mission to Zix Mujan sol Fagari. Happy to 0:03:12.600 --> 0:03:19.920 be here. Hi, that went too high, just just like 0:03:19.960 --> 0:03:23.040 a gremlin. Oh I can I can? I just realize 0:03:23.040 --> 0:03:25.480 I'm really while watching it. But I can do a 0:03:25.480 --> 0:03:29.320 really good giz really born to do gizmo. You should 0:03:29.360 --> 0:03:38.200 have been cast instead of Howie Mandel. Wait what are ope? Wow? What? 0:03:38.440 --> 0:03:42.520 I don't even know where else where to fall on that? 0:03:42.520 --> 0:03:54.720 That is good? Wow girl, wow? Hire this woman to 0:03:54.760 --> 0:03:58.920 be your voice actor on anything? Um? So what is 0:03:58.960 --> 0:04:02.000 your history relationship with the movie. So I've never seen 0:04:02.040 --> 0:04:05.680 it before, but I remember it was a choice I 0:04:05.720 --> 0:04:09.760 recalled as a kid being around, Like I think I 0:04:09.800 --> 0:04:13.080 was alive when Grandlin's Too came out because this came out, 0:04:14.240 --> 0:04:18.680 came out Believe Too, and I just didn't want to 0:04:18.720 --> 0:04:20.799 because it looked really scary and I was a really 0:04:20.839 --> 0:04:24.000 scared kid. In fact, I think around that time when 0:04:24.000 --> 0:04:26.000 Gremlin's Two came out, it was like going to be 0:04:26.040 --> 0:04:28.120 at a birthday party. We're going to watch it, but 0:04:28.200 --> 0:04:30.840 we were also watching Brave Little Toaster and that freaked 0:04:30.880 --> 0:04:33.480 me out, and so I called home and like I 0:04:33.560 --> 0:04:35.520 told my mom, I wanted to go home, and that 0:04:35.640 --> 0:04:38.839 was the movie that got me away from sleepovers. But 0:04:38.920 --> 0:04:41.080 I couldn't tell my mom because I have I'm from 0:04:41.080 --> 0:04:45.240 an immigrant Persian family, and my mom did not approve 0:04:45.360 --> 0:04:48.039 or understand the idea of sleepovers, like why would you 0:04:48.080 --> 0:04:50.760 send your kid to be at a person's house or 0:04:50.760 --> 0:04:53.440 adults drink beer and they have dogs and so like, 0:04:54.640 --> 0:04:56.359 and so I couldn't say it was because they were 0:04:56.360 --> 0:04:58.240 showing me scary movies. I think I was like, I 0:04:58.320 --> 0:05:00.320 just like have a stomach ache or something. Put the 0:05:00.360 --> 0:05:03.719 blame on myself so I could continue this sinful practice 0:05:03.760 --> 0:05:06.440 of sleepovers. I chose not to see it. So I 0:05:06.480 --> 0:05:09.080 saw it for the first time when you told me 0:05:09.160 --> 0:05:11.800 this is a good movie to watch, yeah, or a 0:05:11.880 --> 0:05:15.760 movie to watch. Yes, it's just been a it's been 0:05:15.800 --> 0:05:20.640 a popular request for three holiday seasons running now, and 0:05:20.720 --> 0:05:25.000 so we buckled and uh, yeah, Caitlyn, what's your history 0:05:25.040 --> 0:05:27.440 with the story? Well, I did not see it for 0:05:27.480 --> 0:05:30.000 the first time until fairly recently as well. I think 0:05:30.040 --> 0:05:33.120 I probably watched it maybe three years ago. Like, this 0:05:33.160 --> 0:05:34.760 is not a movie. This is the type of movie 0:05:34.760 --> 0:05:38.760 that I probably would have grown up with under other circumstances, 0:05:38.839 --> 0:05:41.480 because like I would place this in the camp of 0:05:41.520 --> 0:05:46.440 like Back to the Future, the Goonies, like Indiana Jones, 0:05:46.480 --> 0:05:49.360 like that camp of, just like iconic eighties movies. But 0:05:49.440 --> 0:05:51.720 for some reason, this just wasn't in my household, so 0:05:51.760 --> 0:05:53.560 I didn't grow up with it. I have no sentimental 0:05:53.600 --> 0:05:58.520 attachment to it. It's fun, but people love this movie 0:05:58.560 --> 0:06:01.200 and I'm just not quite there with it. But yeah, 0:06:01.240 --> 0:06:02.760 so I saw it for the first time a couple 0:06:02.800 --> 0:06:05.359 of years ago. I still have not seen Gremlins too, 0:06:05.400 --> 0:06:08.240 but I have seen The Key and Peel sketch about 0:06:08.279 --> 0:06:11.720 the pitch meeting for Grandlins too, and I love that 0:06:11.760 --> 0:06:14.479 sketch so much. It has to be better than the 0:06:14.520 --> 0:06:17.320 actual Gremlins to movie, So I'm just going to keep 0:06:17.320 --> 0:06:20.320 watching that over and over again. Yeah, what's your history? 0:06:20.400 --> 0:06:23.600 Jamie also didn't grow up with it. I think my 0:06:23.640 --> 0:06:26.159 mom's reasoning at the time was that it was too violent, 0:06:26.240 --> 0:06:29.919 and watching it now, I'm like, not extremely. It was 0:06:30.000 --> 0:06:32.200 PG when it came out, but that was before before 0:06:32.240 --> 0:06:34.479 there was I think I think this was one of 0:06:34.520 --> 0:06:37.840 two movies that ushered in the PG thirteen rating, This 0:06:38.000 --> 0:06:45.800 and Doom because there are many murders and the Gremlins, 0:06:45.839 --> 0:06:48.839 I mean including those of the Grandlins. There's human murders 0:06:48.880 --> 0:06:51.680 and then a lot of vicious the gremlins die, and 0:06:51.720 --> 0:06:56.080 it's very the microwave thing. I was like, if I 0:06:56.080 --> 0:06:57.719 saw the microwave scene when I was a kid, I 0:06:57.720 --> 0:07:01.839 would have been traumatized. The last Gremlin who just wouldn't 0:07:01.839 --> 0:07:06.880 die and they just showed he was still ALIGNE like, yeah, 0:07:07.279 --> 0:07:10.679 that treat. What a treat? Yeah, I didn't. I didn't 0:07:10.680 --> 0:07:12.960 grow up with it, and I don't think anyone in 0:07:13.000 --> 0:07:15.400 my family had a particular attachment to it. So I 0:07:15.440 --> 0:07:17.560 saw it for the first time a couple of years 0:07:17.560 --> 0:07:22.480 ago and then rewatched it twice for this because there's 0:07:22.520 --> 0:07:25.720 just like, there's so much going on in this movie. 0:07:25.920 --> 0:07:29.520 It's even like genre wise, you're like, what who is 0:07:29.600 --> 0:07:33.800 this for? Exactly? Like it's apparently it was for every 0:07:33.840 --> 0:07:37.240 I mean, it was a very successful let's see, yeah, 0:07:37.240 --> 0:07:39.880 an eleven million dollar budget and it made a hundred 0:07:39.920 --> 0:07:47.200 fifty million dollars back. But then you produced Resolves. It's wild, okay, 0:07:47.240 --> 0:07:49.720 So getting into it there, it is not surprising that 0:07:49.760 --> 0:07:55.200 this movie was written, produced, and directed by all men 0:07:55.200 --> 0:07:58.239 and all white men as well. You know, it almost 0:07:58.280 --> 0:08:00.560 goes without saying because it's a movie made in the 0:08:00.640 --> 0:08:05.920 nineteen eighties, but boy does that show this is an 0:08:05.960 --> 0:08:10.400 early Chris Columbus joint. How old he wrote before and 0:08:10.440 --> 0:08:13.040 it was an YU and he was actually this is 0:08:13.080 --> 0:08:15.480 a spec script. He wasn't intending it to be written, 0:08:15.480 --> 0:08:18.320 no kidding, but well, what what a treat to be 0:08:18.560 --> 0:08:21.600 Chris Colon And actually the film I think it's like 0:08:21.640 --> 0:08:24.200 maybe the film draft or one of the drafts before 0:08:24.240 --> 0:08:27.360 Spielberg got his hands on it was even more Yes, 0:08:27.480 --> 0:08:30.800 I read that that it was really gruesome, and Spielberg 0:08:30.840 --> 0:08:33.000 was like, let's dial this back so that we can 0:08:33.040 --> 0:08:36.719 show it to a broader audience. Spielberg tries to get 0:08:36.760 --> 0:08:38.560 a lot of guys to dial back during this time, 0:08:38.559 --> 0:08:41.840 with varying degrees of success. For for more, go to 0:08:41.880 --> 0:08:44.520 our Indiana Jones episode where he tries to talk George 0:08:44.559 --> 0:08:47.760 Lucas out of making Indiana Jones a rapist and fails. 0:08:47.840 --> 0:08:53.880 It fails. Um so, you know complicit. So shall I 0:08:53.920 --> 0:08:57.480 do the recap? Yeah, let's go for it. Okay, So Gremlins, 0:08:58.360 --> 0:09:02.000 we opened with a guy going into a store in Chinatown. 0:09:02.040 --> 0:09:06.040 It's the holiday season. We're not sure what city or 0:09:06.160 --> 0:09:09.160 area of the country. This isn't I don't foggy. It 0:09:09.240 --> 0:09:12.000 reminded me of the l A that is. What is 0:09:12.040 --> 0:09:15.880 that movie that I hate with Harrison Ford Runner Unner. 0:09:16.080 --> 0:09:19.120 Yeah it looks like the start of it. Yeah, yeah, 0:09:19.160 --> 0:09:24.080 like the foggy blueness and yeah yeah I was. I 0:09:24.160 --> 0:09:27.160 was like, oh, I hate that, I hate Blade Runner. 0:09:27.280 --> 0:09:30.880 That's how I started the low key racism that's about 0:09:30.880 --> 0:09:34.880 to happen. Yeah, yeah, we'll get there. So. Um So 0:09:34.920 --> 0:09:38.679 he goes into Chinatown in whatever city that they're in, 0:09:38.920 --> 0:09:42.959 somewhere where it snows um and he sees a creature 0:09:43.200 --> 0:09:47.280 called magua, but we don't we don't see this creature 0:09:47.360 --> 0:09:49.560 yet as the audience. But he's like, this will make 0:09:49.600 --> 0:09:52.959 a perfect gift for my son. And then the store 0:09:53.000 --> 0:09:56.760 owner is like, hey, this isn't for sale and you 0:09:56.800 --> 0:09:59.680 shouldn't take this, because he was basically like, you can't 0:09:59.720 --> 0:10:04.439 hand right because the maguay require a lot of care 0:10:04.800 --> 0:10:07.840 and attention, and there are three rules for taking care 0:10:07.880 --> 0:10:09.960 of the maguay, which is to keep them out of 0:10:09.960 --> 0:10:13.800 bright light, especially sunlight, because it will kill them. Number two, 0:10:13.920 --> 0:10:16.880 to keep them away from water, and number three, never 0:10:17.000 --> 0:10:20.880 feed them after midnight. So he's like, great, here's two 0:10:20.920 --> 0:10:24.560 hundred dollars. I'm taking this with me, and then we 0:10:24.600 --> 0:10:28.720 meet his son, Billy, who, based on the opening a 0:10:28.720 --> 0:10:30.920 few scenes of this movie, you're like, oh, he's buying 0:10:30.960 --> 0:10:34.160 a small furry animal for his son. His son's probably 0:10:34.160 --> 0:10:38.240 ten years old and he works. He's an adult with 0:10:38.280 --> 0:10:40.240 a job at a bank. He could be also a 0:10:40.360 --> 0:10:42.040 third year old playing at twenty year old, like I 0:10:42.080 --> 0:10:45.240 wouldn't be. He is a young either way. You think 0:10:45.240 --> 0:10:47.320 he's going to be a child, and he is an 0:10:47.320 --> 0:10:49.600 adult with a job at a bank, although when his 0:10:49.679 --> 0:10:51.960 dad gives him the gift, he's like, is it a puppy? 0:10:52.480 --> 0:10:57.680 He is? Also his only friend is Corey Feldman is 0:10:57.679 --> 0:10:59.360 like a ten year old, so I have to believe 0:10:59.400 --> 0:11:01.920 that the original draft in the script was like him 0:11:01.960 --> 0:11:03.920 as a kid, and then they aged him up for 0:11:03.960 --> 0:11:05.880 some reason, but also just a bad choice for a 0:11:05.920 --> 0:11:09.600 friend of any age. It's weird because you would, like, 0:11:10.040 --> 0:11:12.200 I feel like this movie would almost work better if 0:11:12.280 --> 0:11:15.640 it were a ten year old discovering mom instead of 0:11:15.640 --> 0:11:18.040 a twenty year old man. But there's a lot of 0:11:18.080 --> 0:11:20.920 like I think this movie kind of tries and fails 0:11:21.040 --> 0:11:24.600 a bunch of times to make commentary on class, and 0:11:24.720 --> 0:11:26.920 that's why the character was aged up, because there's like 0:11:26.960 --> 0:11:29.679 a few references to like, well, he has to support 0:11:29.720 --> 0:11:31.760 his family and that's why he works at the bank, 0:11:31.840 --> 0:11:35.040 and because his dad's a shitty inventor where it's like 0:11:35.600 --> 0:11:39.439 there were also a lot of weird like Disney. I mean, 0:11:39.640 --> 0:11:41.600 I guess it couldn't have been references to this because 0:11:41.600 --> 0:11:43.920 it was like references to Disney movies that may not 0:11:44.000 --> 0:11:47.559 have even existed yet. But like the whole like dad 0:11:47.600 --> 0:11:50.240 being a shitty inventor thing, You're like, oh, that's kind 0:11:50.240 --> 0:11:53.080 of beauty and the Beastie. And then there's that whole 0:11:53.120 --> 0:11:54.640 for a scene with what's the name of the mean 0:11:54.679 --> 0:11:59.559 old lady that is like Mrs Deeg she's basically Mrs 0:11:59.559 --> 0:12:04.600 Galt exactizard. She's a combo of Miss Gulch and of 0:12:04.880 --> 0:12:09.160 Mr Potter from It's a Wonderful Life and also Scrooge. Right, 0:12:10.240 --> 0:12:13.800 oh yeah, she's she's a lot of villains in one 0:12:13.880 --> 0:12:16.880 and then ultimately I'm just like, it feels like her 0:12:16.960 --> 0:12:19.360 character is supposed to be yea like the like she 0:12:19.480 --> 0:12:22.720 has a main villain or something, but then but then 0:12:23.000 --> 0:12:26.400 it kind of falls flat. My first reaction upon seeing 0:12:27.080 --> 0:12:32.760 Ms Mrs Degle like, who I like this badassum and 0:12:32.840 --> 0:12:35.240 like she doesn't take like she's just walking by and 0:12:35.360 --> 0:12:38.800 just like stopping cars. Like she has her own agenda, 0:12:38.840 --> 0:12:40.800 she has her own backstory. But but then she's a 0:12:40.840 --> 0:12:46.040 capitalist like boozals ceramic head. You're like, this could go 0:12:46.120 --> 0:12:51.000 a lot of ways. She's killing dogs. So Billy works 0:12:51.040 --> 0:12:53.280 at a bank. He has a dog, and then there's 0:12:53.320 --> 0:12:56.559 also a woman there named Kate who works at the 0:12:56.600 --> 0:12:59.240 bank and his friends with Billy, and then Mrs Deegle 0:12:59.320 --> 0:13:03.600 comes in and she's so much misgul that she's basically like, oh, 0:13:03.679 --> 0:13:06.360 get to my pretty and your little dog to She 0:13:06.520 --> 0:13:09.440 literally tries she's except if she goes a step further 0:13:09.480 --> 0:13:12.120 and describes how she would kill her dog. But in 0:13:12.200 --> 0:13:16.320 her defense, like the dog ruined like a precious ornament 0:13:16.600 --> 0:13:19.439 of a ceramic, Like probably she saved money, Like we 0:13:19.480 --> 0:13:22.040 don't know the backstory, but this vicious dog came and 0:13:22.080 --> 0:13:25.240 destroyed it, this beautiful thing she had, maybe the last 0:13:25.280 --> 0:13:29.000 thing her dad husband gave her. And like Stell brings 0:13:29.000 --> 0:13:31.959 this dog to work. I mean, come at that's true. 0:13:32.280 --> 0:13:39.200 The dogank necessarily there is here at Anderson Sophie's dog. 0:13:40.080 --> 0:13:43.720 We had a degree in it. I feel like at 0:13:43.720 --> 0:13:46.440 the bank, I don't know, maybe I'm being a stiff 0:13:46.480 --> 0:13:48.480 by being like, don't bring your dog to the bank, 0:13:48.559 --> 0:13:51.679 but I feel perhaps don't banks are Yeah, they're not 0:13:51.760 --> 0:13:55.400 necessarily a dog friendly and the hell dogs don't belong there? Yeah, 0:13:55.559 --> 0:13:58.840 dogs being happy places? Um okay. So then so we 0:13:58.920 --> 0:14:02.000 meet Billy and Kate and Mrs Deagle and then the 0:14:02.040 --> 0:14:05.880 man from the beginning gives the Maguay to Billy for Christmas, 0:14:06.000 --> 0:14:09.200 and he's cute. He's fury. His name is is Gizmo. 0:14:09.280 --> 0:14:13.720 He likes to sing. And then Billy's friend Pete, which 0:14:13.720 --> 0:14:16.800 is Corey Felman's character, comes over and Gizmo his friend 0:14:16.880 --> 0:14:20.800 is a ten year old who's dressed as a Christmas 0:14:20.800 --> 0:14:24.640 tree for most of the movie, and he accidentally spills 0:14:24.720 --> 0:14:27.040 a jar of water on Gizmo and then these little 0:14:27.080 --> 0:14:30.640 like furballs burst out of his body and then they 0:14:30.680 --> 0:14:33.520 grow into other magua, so he like, we find out 0:14:33.520 --> 0:14:36.200 that they multiply when they come in contact with water. 0:14:37.120 --> 0:14:40.120 But the new ones, the new magua, are not like Gizmo. 0:14:40.200 --> 0:14:43.120 They're a little bit more rambunctious, and there's one with 0:14:43.160 --> 0:14:45.240 a stripe on his head and he's like their leader. 0:14:46.200 --> 0:14:49.440 And then Billy wakes up and his dog Barney is 0:14:49.480 --> 0:14:52.600 like hanging outside tangled in like Christmas lights, and he 0:14:52.640 --> 0:14:55.280 thinks it was Mrs Deegle, but it's like maybe it 0:14:55.400 --> 0:14:58.360 was the Muguay. We don't know, uh, And then he 0:14:58.400 --> 0:15:00.760 takes one of them to school and one of his like, 0:15:00.800 --> 0:15:04.800 I guess former teachers run some tests on it, oh, right, 0:15:04.960 --> 0:15:07.120 because he's not it's weird that he would just go 0:15:07.240 --> 0:15:10.600 to the high school. He's a man man, Right, I 0:15:10.680 --> 0:15:13.960 have no relationship with anyone in my high school anymore. 0:15:14.080 --> 0:15:17.840 To go to a scientist, like a proper scientist. You're 0:15:17.840 --> 0:15:23.200 an adult. You were at a bank, so like I didn't. 0:15:23.280 --> 0:15:25.240 That didn't even register with me because he actually he 0:15:25.320 --> 0:15:27.800 belongs there, right, He's like, oh, yeah, I just go 0:15:27.840 --> 0:15:30.800 into the high school unless he is in high school 0:15:30.880 --> 0:15:33.320 and he just also has a job at a bank, 0:15:33.640 --> 0:15:35.840 and he's never we just never seen him at school. 0:15:36.440 --> 0:15:38.480 It's not clear how old he's supposed to be. And 0:15:38.560 --> 0:15:41.440 his best friend is ten, yes, so I don't know 0:15:41.960 --> 0:15:47.160 what's what's going on with Billy. So then Billy feeds 0:15:47.280 --> 0:15:51.400 the other magway and he wakes up and they've transformed 0:15:51.400 --> 0:15:53.480 there in these like cocoon phase now, and he's like, 0:15:53.520 --> 0:15:56.000 wait a minute, I didn't feed them after midnight. But 0:15:56.320 --> 0:15:58.440 it turns out he did because they like cut the 0:15:58.440 --> 0:16:00.360 cord to his alarm clock, and I tricked him so 0:16:00.400 --> 0:16:03.280 that they would be fed after midnight. And then these 0:16:03.320 --> 0:16:09.520 like egg cocoon things hatch and born are these scary, creepy, 0:16:09.600 --> 0:16:14.360 violent gremlins because most still nice and cute, so he's fine. 0:16:15.320 --> 0:16:18.520 So these gremlins start to reak havoc on the city. 0:16:18.840 --> 0:16:21.160 There's like the one at the school who's like attacking 0:16:21.160 --> 0:16:24.080 the teacher. Um, there's the ones at home that attack 0:16:24.200 --> 0:16:27.600 his mom. The mom fights back, the mom fights back, 0:16:27.600 --> 0:16:30.760 and we'll talk about that scene. But Stripe, the stripy 0:16:30.800 --> 0:16:34.440 one survives and escapes, and then so Billy goes after Stripe. 0:16:34.840 --> 0:16:38.600 Stripe jumps in a swimming pool and multiplies like crazy, 0:16:38.760 --> 0:16:42.040 go to the y. They like read havoc on the 0:16:42.240 --> 0:16:49.240 y is just open. It's fun to stay at um. 0:16:49.280 --> 0:16:52.360 And so now there's an army of gremlins and they're 0:16:52.400 --> 0:16:57.040 going all over town. They kill Mrs Deegle and they 0:16:57.120 --> 0:16:59.480 kill a lot of people. They do kill the racist neighbor, 0:17:00.200 --> 0:17:01.840 so that's a win. But also the man who looked 0:17:01.880 --> 0:17:03.640 like Santa Claus who was in the beginning of the movie. 0:17:03.640 --> 0:17:07.639 He was just simply buying a tree. There are some 0:17:07.680 --> 0:17:10.760 of their kills are on point, others are, Yeah, they're 0:17:10.760 --> 0:17:14.280 just killing at random, Pope Kate reveals in the eleventh hour. 0:17:15.000 --> 0:17:17.879 Sorry Phoebe Ka plays Kate. She reveals in the eleventh 0:17:17.880 --> 0:17:20.240 hour because originally she's like, I don't like Christmas, and 0:17:20.240 --> 0:17:24.720 Billy's like, why I'm ten, I love Christmass and she's 0:17:24.800 --> 0:17:28.199 at the end, She's like, well, since you asked, my 0:17:28.280 --> 0:17:30.640 dad dressed up as Santa and got in our chimney. 0:17:30.720 --> 0:17:33.000 First of all, why would you do that? And then 0:17:33.400 --> 0:17:36.200 he got like, well he got confronted, fell and broke 0:17:36.280 --> 0:17:39.320 his neck and chimney. She's like, and that's how I 0:17:39.320 --> 0:17:41.920 found that Santa wasn't and she could smell him. She 0:17:41.960 --> 0:17:44.240 knew there was like a it's a weird, like very 0:17:44.320 --> 0:17:46.720 dramatic monologue. That also if you google it is in 0:17:47.000 --> 0:17:52.680 comedy monologues. Uh, because actually the intention of that scene, 0:17:53.119 --> 0:17:56.080 it was like Joe Dante Eisther the director, or Chris Cooper, 0:17:56.240 --> 0:18:01.200 the dude who wrote it, Chris Cooper, Christmas Scoop, Chris Coop. 0:18:02.200 --> 0:18:05.000 But they actually want they wanted that scene in because 0:18:05.000 --> 0:18:07.720 it's it's both comedy and drama, so it plays with 0:18:07.760 --> 0:18:09.239 the crowd. So I guess, like back in the day 0:18:09.240 --> 0:18:10.960 when the movie came out, if you watch it with 0:18:10.960 --> 0:18:12.800 like a full theater, people will be laughing at that 0:18:12.840 --> 0:18:15.280 scene because it's jarring. But me watching it alone, I 0:18:15.359 --> 0:18:19.159 was like, what is happening? Morbid? It's a moment of backstory. 0:18:19.320 --> 0:18:21.840 Do we need this? This was like one of the 0:18:21.920 --> 0:18:25.879 few times that a movie chooses to characterize. It's like, basically, 0:18:25.920 --> 0:18:28.280 it's only female character, and you're just like, I didn't 0:18:28.359 --> 0:18:32.520 need that. Yeah, I actually didn't want to know like that, 0:18:32.720 --> 0:18:35.439 What did that add to the story? Nothing? Because for 0:18:35.480 --> 0:18:37.920 a while I was on board with her because I'm 0:18:37.920 --> 0:18:40.800 a curmudgeon who thinks Christmas is creepy and I don't 0:18:40.840 --> 0:18:43.960 like it. And she's like, yeah, I don't celebrate Christmas, 0:18:43.960 --> 0:18:45.680 and I'm fine with that. But then you find out 0:18:45.680 --> 0:18:48.440 why and it's because like her dad had this grizzly 0:18:48.560 --> 0:18:51.760 Christmas related death and it's like, Chris Columbus, you sick 0:18:51.840 --> 0:18:55.240 of Like what are you talking about? That's crazy? There? 0:18:55.240 --> 0:18:57.199 I don't know. I liked her character. Well, we can 0:18:57.200 --> 0:18:59.640 get into that. I liked her character a lot where 0:18:59.680 --> 0:19:05.920 she's you know, she's a working gal. She's she's like perfect, 0:19:06.080 --> 0:19:09.639 we'll get it, like perfect girl next door with demon background, 0:19:10.200 --> 0:19:14.920 with the most fucked backstory ever. I just don't God. 0:19:15.040 --> 0:19:18.560 I mean, when I eventually fish back Chris Columbus and 0:19:18.600 --> 0:19:22.320 I will Chris coop Columbus, Mr, I'm just like, why 0:19:22.320 --> 0:19:24.400 did she why did you do her like that? There? 0:19:24.520 --> 0:19:26.560 She worked so hard? Why did you have to kill 0:19:26.600 --> 0:19:31.040 her dad and the most violent fashion. Okay, so then 0:19:31.280 --> 0:19:33.920 the Gremlins are killing people. They invade a movie theater 0:19:34.000 --> 0:19:36.280 where they watch snow White, which is how we know 0:19:36.359 --> 0:19:38.560 that they're the villains of the movie because they love 0:19:38.680 --> 0:19:41.480 snow White and stuffing dwarves. Refer back to our snow 0:19:41.480 --> 0:19:45.359 White episode for more details. Um. And then Billy and 0:19:45.440 --> 0:19:47.720 Kate blow up the movie theater and then it kills 0:19:47.800 --> 0:19:50.440 all the Grandlins except again for Stripe, and then he goes. 0:19:50.520 --> 0:19:54.480 Stripe goes into a department store and comes everything up right, 0:19:54.560 --> 0:19:59.120 I remember place the Stripe has a gun and just 0:19:59.480 --> 0:20:02.720 shooting that Billy. Not only does he have guns, but 0:20:02.760 --> 0:20:06.160 they grandma's have these tiny guns like Greenlin Gruman size gun. 0:20:06.400 --> 0:20:11.359 Did they get them? Like, oh boy, I just don't know. 0:20:11.440 --> 0:20:15.680 And then Stripe tries to multiply himself again. But then Gizmo, 0:20:16.000 --> 0:20:18.160 he's been racing around in a like little toy car, 0:20:18.280 --> 0:20:21.840 and he zooms up and opens a window and lets 0:20:21.880 --> 0:20:25.200 the sunlight in and then it melts Stripe in what's 0:20:25.240 --> 0:20:30.960 a horrifying scene. Yeah, it's really disgusting. And then so 0:20:31.000 --> 0:20:33.840 then the bad Grandmins have been defeated. And then at 0:20:33.840 --> 0:20:37.320 the end of the movie, the Chinese store owner comes 0:20:37.359 --> 0:20:40.960 back and he's like, you messed up, you white people. 0:20:41.040 --> 0:20:43.879 I'm taking gizmo back because you don't know how to 0:20:44.000 --> 0:20:47.320 do anything. The Dad's just like, oh man, sorry, yeah, 0:20:47.640 --> 0:20:51.600 I think that would help. Oh boy. And that is 0:20:51.720 --> 0:20:56.119 the movie. Yea, So why don't we take a quick 0:20:56.160 --> 0:21:04.840 break and then we will come back to discuss and 0:21:04.920 --> 0:21:10.760 we're back where to begin? Well, let's talk about should 0:21:10.760 --> 0:21:16.520 we just go right into the racism of the movie, 0:21:17.760 --> 0:21:23.400 part of the Sunday or the chocolate I mean, we 0:21:23.960 --> 0:21:28.600 let's get into it. That's that's a lot. That's a lot. Yeah. 0:21:28.720 --> 0:21:33.360 So the way Asian and specifically Chinese culture is represented 0:21:33.400 --> 0:21:37.680 in this movie is um. I talked to a friend 0:21:37.720 --> 0:21:41.320 of the cast, former guest Steve Shaun, who was our 0:21:41.320 --> 0:21:45.360 guest on the Crazy Rich Asians episode, and she had 0:21:45.480 --> 0:21:48.160 this to say about it. I'm just gonna read what 0:21:48.359 --> 0:21:51.320 she wrote because it's great. She says, well, there's no 0:21:51.400 --> 0:21:54.520 existence of furry critters in Chinese history that explode into 0:21:54.600 --> 0:21:59.359 a mass of overpopulation overnight. Magua in Chinese literally means 0:21:59.600 --> 0:22:03.000 demon or devil, but it doesn't have the traditional Judeo 0:22:03.080 --> 0:22:06.639 Christian connotations attached. Sometimes a demon in Chinese culture is 0:22:06.680 --> 0:22:09.040 simply a spirit that has returned to Earth or someone 0:22:09.280 --> 0:22:12.640 with an unsettled debt. Demons aren't necessarily evil. The thing 0:22:12.680 --> 0:22:15.919 I find funny about the Chinese origin of Gremlins is 0:22:15.920 --> 0:22:18.960 that the movie Critter takes very little from any kind 0:22:19.000 --> 0:22:23.080 of real Chinese mythology, but really builds on the nineteen 0:22:23.200 --> 0:22:26.800 eighties fear of Red China. I really see the Magwis 0:22:26.920 --> 0:22:29.600 or Chinese critters as just another extension of the Red scare. 0:22:30.040 --> 0:22:33.320 These Chinese monsters are uncontrollable. They run rampant in America, 0:22:33.359 --> 0:22:36.640 aping all the things that make America American. The Gremlins 0:22:36.640 --> 0:22:39.320 are incredibly destructive once they've been let out of the bag, 0:22:39.400 --> 0:22:41.479 so to speak. They run amuck during the height of 0:22:41.520 --> 0:22:44.879 a very sacred holiday in America, which is Christmas. This 0:22:45.040 --> 0:22:48.480 to me really reads as a what happens scenario if 0:22:48.520 --> 0:22:52.640 something Asian does take over in America. This is supported 0:22:52.680 --> 0:22:55.760 textually by a line of dialogue. Um. This is the 0:22:55.840 --> 0:22:58.359 racist character who we mentioned, who hates all things for 0:22:58.480 --> 0:23:01.000 and he says, you gotta watch out for gremlins because 0:23:01.040 --> 0:23:04.480 foreigners put gremlins in their machinery. The same gremlins that 0:23:04.520 --> 0:23:08.040 brought down our planes in World War Two. There's definitely 0:23:08.040 --> 0:23:10.200