WEBVTT - The Santa Clause - Part 2 with Grace Thomas 0:00:00.360 --> 0:00:02.960 Hello, and welcome to the Bechtel Cast. What you're about 0:00:03.000 --> 0:00:06.280 to hear is part two of our very long two 0:00:06.280 --> 0:00:09.639 part episode about the Santa Claus that we recorded live 0:00:09.680 --> 0:00:13.080 in Denver. If you haven't listened to part one yet, 0:00:13.200 --> 0:00:16.480 we strongly suggest you go back and listen to that first. 0:00:17.320 --> 0:00:20.079 And before we get into part two of the episode, 0:00:20.600 --> 0:00:23.720 we just wanted to remind everyone about some upcoming live 0:00:23.760 --> 0:00:28.320 shows that we have. January two, we will be in 0:00:28.440 --> 0:00:31.840 San Francisco at SF Sketch Fest at the Gateway Theater 0:00:31.920 --> 0:00:36.639 and we're covering the Social Network. On January, we will 0:00:36.680 --> 0:00:40.680 be in New York for the Brooklyn Podcast Festival at 0:00:40.680 --> 0:00:45.199 the Bellhouse and we will be covering Black Swan. And finally, 0:00:45.479 --> 0:00:49.560 on January we will be in Philadelphia at Good Good 0:00:49.640 --> 0:00:54.680 Comedy Theater and we'll be covering The Sixth Sense. As always, 0:00:54.680 --> 0:00:57.880 more details and ticket links to our live shows are 0:00:57.920 --> 0:01:01.000 on our website becktel cast dot com and click on 0:01:01.320 --> 0:01:05.959 the live tab and enjoy part two of the Santa 0:01:06.000 --> 0:01:10.319 Claus on the bell Cast. The questions asked if movies 0:01:10.360 --> 0:01:14.000 have women in them, are all their discussions just boyfriends 0:01:14.000 --> 0:01:18.199 and husbands, or do they have individualism? The patriarchy, zef 0:01:18.360 --> 0:01:25.760 invest start changing it with the bec Del cast. You know, 0:01:25.880 --> 0:01:30.800 there's so much to unpack with this movie. Where do 0:01:30.840 --> 0:01:35.240 we begin. It's a feminist tax that much we know. Well, okay, 0:01:35.240 --> 0:01:38.720 it's on every list and yes, um, I just didn't 0:01:38.760 --> 0:01:41.360 want to mention there is a Denver connection because at 0:01:41.360 --> 0:01:45.400 one point Scott Kelvin is talking to Bernard the Elephant. 0:01:45.440 --> 0:01:47.960 He's like, can we take a direct flight back to 0:01:48.000 --> 0:01:50.360 reality or do we have to change planes in Denver? 0:01:50.480 --> 0:01:54.000 And then we're like, wow, that's why we did this here. 0:01:54.280 --> 0:01:57.320 Why are you all clapping for the worst part of Denver? 0:01:59.280 --> 0:02:02.520 The airport is the worst thing the city has to offer. 0:02:03.520 --> 0:02:05.960 I'm obsessed with the airport here. I think about it 0:02:06.000 --> 0:02:10.480 at least once a week. I'm dead serious. I love 0:02:10.600 --> 0:02:13.080 I love the story about how the scary horse statue 0:02:13.240 --> 0:02:17.760 killed the artist. I like everything. If if on your 0:02:17.760 --> 0:02:20.560 way out, if you have some very specific Denver airport 0:02:20.960 --> 0:02:24.600 anecdotal scary Illuminati ship I want to know. I'm like, 0:02:24.960 --> 0:02:29.960 I'm consumed by it. I all laugh and clap now, 0:02:30.280 --> 0:02:32.320 but that airport is going to kill us all one 0:02:34.600 --> 0:02:37.840 and it won't be very cool and creepy and weird. 0:02:37.960 --> 0:02:43.720 And quirky that I passed the gargoyles yesterday, grace past 0:02:44.000 --> 0:02:47.799 the luggage gargoyles. I just I would let someone kill 0:02:47.840 --> 0:02:53.080 me there. Well, the first things I the first thing 0:02:53.080 --> 0:02:54.679 I want to talk about is the first thing we 0:02:54.720 --> 0:02:57.680 see in the movie is Tim Ellen. He's receiving an 0:02:57.720 --> 0:03:00.760 award for his do it All for you Ali, which 0:03:00.960 --> 0:03:04.560 what is what is that? Let's not even think about 0:03:04.600 --> 0:03:07.880 it for a second. But he had I forgot that 0:03:07.919 --> 0:03:10.799 he had a business partner. He has a business partner. 0:03:10.919 --> 0:03:13.560 One of the few people of color in the entire movie. 0:03:13.919 --> 0:03:17.320 She is a woman who starts to accept like she's like, 0:03:17.440 --> 0:03:20.760 thank you, and then he pushes her out of the way. 0:03:20.960 --> 0:03:23.560 He grabs the microphone out of her hand, interrupts her, 0:03:23.919 --> 0:03:27.079 and starts being like, let's fucking party, Like that's what 0:03:27.280 --> 0:03:31.920 he that's what he does. I can't really defend Scott there, right. 0:03:33.840 --> 0:03:36.480 I would say that it's possible it was it was 0:03:36.520 --> 0:03:42.440 a stage direction, mishap. Okay, No, that's that's not what happened. 0:03:42.600 --> 0:03:45.040 He should have let her finish her sentence and given 0:03:45.040 --> 0:03:47.160 her thanks, and then he could have leaned in with 0:03:47.240 --> 0:03:52.040 his stupid comments. But yes, I also wasn't lost on us, 0:03:52.400 --> 0:03:55.800 Sure wasn't. And then shortly after that he's driving home. 0:03:56.200 --> 0:03:58.600 He's on the phone with Laura, I think, and he's 0:03:58.720 --> 0:04:01.560 lying to her because he's like, oh man, there's so 0:04:01.680 --> 0:04:04.400 much traffic. I'm going to be so too lit at 0:04:04.440 --> 0:04:08.760 the do It All for You Doll Christmas party. Gross, 0:04:09.040 --> 0:04:10.640 there's like that Well, I was gonna say, there's like 0:04:10.680 --> 0:04:14.000 that weird comment that like alludes to like one of 0:04:14.080 --> 0:04:17.880 his co workers is having sex with a secretary your wife, 0:04:18.640 --> 0:04:21.960 and it's the coworker that stressed the Santa Claus as well. Yeah, 0:04:22.320 --> 0:04:28.680 which is significant. I'm sure it's for it's it's really significant. 0:04:28.720 --> 0:04:33.200 But we're gonna go into that on the Patreon version. Yeah, 0:04:33.240 --> 0:04:36.400 you can't get it for free, and we're gonna be 0:04:36.480 --> 0:04:43.000 checking subscriptions before we get into that. But he's lying 0:04:43.040 --> 0:04:46.240 to Laura and then he pretends to like keep this 0:04:46.520 --> 0:04:49.680 illusion alive of there being so much traffic. He pretends 0:04:49.760 --> 0:04:53.159 to scream at a woman driver who I guess like 0:04:53.320 --> 0:04:56.680 flipped him off in his imagination, and then he's like, oh, 0:04:56.880 --> 0:05:02.039 same to you, and that's not very lady like. It's like, well, okay, Scott, 0:05:02.160 --> 0:05:04.680 women aren't allowed to flip people off, What do you mean? 0:05:05.839 --> 0:05:08.200 I think the point here is that he is a 0:05:08.320 --> 0:05:23.520 raging misogynist, thank younist, not a raging alcoholic. Just better. 0:05:23.600 --> 0:05:29.200 I don't know. My dad was both, so I'm far 0:05:29.320 --> 0:05:32.640 more disturbed by the other than him, like yelling at 0:05:32.640 --> 0:05:35.080 a person who does not exist. I'm more disturbed by 0:05:35.120 --> 0:05:38.200 the fact that he flirts with a child. We've got 0:05:38.240 --> 0:05:41.560 bigger fish. I'm just getting warmed up. We've got bigger 0:05:41.560 --> 0:05:45.160 fish to frout. Yeah, yeah, I think that. I mean again, 0:05:45.160 --> 0:05:47.040 we we sort of touched on this already, but the 0:05:47.520 --> 0:05:51.720 divorce narrative I think is kind of interesting. And then 0:05:51.920 --> 0:05:55.800 we meet Laura. We never find out anything about her. 0:05:55.920 --> 0:05:59.320 Let's not we let's find out about Judge Reinholdt like 0:05:59.720 --> 0:06:02.200 we we find out a lot about Neil. We find 0:06:02.200 --> 0:06:05.360 out what degrees he has, we find out what his 0:06:05.480 --> 0:06:08.720 area of specialty like we we never find out if 0:06:09.279 --> 0:06:14.760 Laura has a job that we don't know. We don't 0:06:16.480 --> 0:06:19.240 all we know she wanted a board game when she 0:06:19.400 --> 0:06:23.920 was little, and the board game is also like very 0:06:23.960 --> 0:06:29.279 like coded feminine. So we learned way more about Neil 0:06:29.560 --> 0:06:32.000 than we learn about Laura, which I think is kind 0:06:32.040 --> 0:06:35.719 of like, I mean, you could easily just write out 0:06:35.839 --> 0:06:39.800 Neil and have Laura driving that side of this story, 0:06:39.839 --> 0:06:42.680 but they just don't do that because even like later 0:06:42.760 --> 0:06:45.200 in the story, where Neil is the one who's the 0:06:45.279 --> 0:06:47.080 driving force between like we have to take this to 0:06:47.120 --> 0:06:50.719 a custody level, he thinks he's Santa and Laura is 0:06:50.760 --> 0:06:53.200 more like, I don't know, and I feel like it's 0:06:53.200 --> 0:06:56.360 like almost she gets the illusion of agency in that 0:06:56.480 --> 0:06:59.839 scene where she's with Neil and she's like, I'm not sure, 0:07:00.080 --> 0:07:02.279 like what's so wrong with believing in Santa Claus And 0:07:02.279 --> 0:07:04.520 so she's kind of like reticent and pulling back. But 0:07:04.600 --> 0:07:07.719 it doesn't matter that she feels that way narratively because 0:07:07.920 --> 0:07:11.880 they're already at the courthouse and he loses custody two 0:07:11.880 --> 0:07:14.600 seconds later. So it's like almost giving her the like, oh, 0:07:14.680 --> 0:07:16.960 maybe she'll get to do something, and then she doesn't, right, 0:07:18.240 --> 0:07:20.000 And that's all we know about her. That's all we know, 0:07:20.600 --> 0:07:24.000 and that's the podcast. And with the cops too, it's 0:07:24.120 --> 0:07:27.400 like when Charlie calls her from the North Bowl, it's 0:07:27.440 --> 0:07:30.760 like keep him on the line, like she would not 0:07:31.600 --> 0:07:38.000 do that. You know, she's not allowed to watch cop movies, right, 0:07:38.160 --> 0:07:40.840 it's like and then I mean you touched on this, Jamie, 0:07:40.880 --> 0:07:44.800 but like Scott Calvin is allowed to be a single man, 0:07:45.080 --> 0:07:47.920 but like they had to have her be like remarried 0:07:48.000 --> 0:07:50.600 or like partnered off of someone else, because god forbid 0:07:50.680 --> 0:07:54.760 we see an unmarried woman on screen if we if 0:07:54.760 --> 0:07:56.760 she if she was unmarried, we might need to learn 0:07:56.800 --> 0:08:01.920 what her job was. What hate that? Yeah, No, so 0:08:01.960 --> 0:08:05.280 I mean she's just like extremely I mean these are 0:08:05.320 --> 0:08:07.720 from the creators of Lola Bunny, so I guess, like 0:08:07.800 --> 0:08:13.000 you know, they're they're not space jam Mola Bunny's first appearance, 0:08:13.280 --> 0:08:18.360 I believe, so yeah, yeah, the more you know, But yeah, 0:08:18.400 --> 0:08:20.560 I mean she's she's like it sucks because I don't 0:08:20.760 --> 0:08:23.560 think she's like a bad character. I think that there 0:08:23.600 --> 0:08:26.920 are a lot of tropes that are avoided with her 0:08:27.000 --> 0:08:29.240 that you see a lot, especially if it's like a 0:08:29.280 --> 0:08:32.920 divorced woman. You see people often go for like the 0:08:32.960 --> 0:08:36.800 shrill tropes or the like he's so fun and she 0:08:36.840 --> 0:08:39.760 couldn't handle it, like or she's like using all of 0:08:39.800 --> 0:08:42.640 his money, like you know, like she got like a 0:08:42.679 --> 0:08:44.920 huge settlement or whatever. Yeah, like just kind of the 0:08:44.920 --> 0:08:48.080 basic stuff that you see a lot and the good thing. 0:08:48.320 --> 0:08:50.440 It sucks because it's like nothing is really written in 0:08:50.520 --> 0:08:54.280 place of those tropes. Um, but like it is clear 0:08:54.320 --> 0:08:57.760 that Scott and Laura and Neil all very much care 0:08:57.800 --> 0:09:00.960 about Charlie's well being and that is like they're driving, 0:09:01.080 --> 0:09:03.400 like she doesn't want to be talking to Scott, but 0:09:03.520 --> 0:09:07.000 she will for short bursts because she has to. And 0:09:07.080 --> 0:09:08.800 like I don't know that that I thought was like 0:09:09.040 --> 0:09:11.800 pretty well done. Yeah, I mean, and there there is 0:09:11.880 --> 0:09:16.480 just like we were talking about the Christmas Industrial Complex 0:09:18.200 --> 0:09:20.200 on the way over here, and it is like a 0:09:20.880 --> 0:09:22.760 more so than any other. I mean, there's the most 0:09:22.840 --> 0:09:25.520 characters associated I mean, I think, at least in American 0:09:25.559 --> 0:09:30.839 culture with the Christmas holiday, and they're all I mean, 0:09:30.880 --> 0:09:34.480 I'm grinched out tonight. Right. We've got the Grinch, We've 0:09:34.520 --> 0:09:37.520 got Santa, We've got Jack Frost, We've got who else? 0:09:37.520 --> 0:09:45.360 Do we got frostst Snowman, Scrooge, Rudolph, Rudolph Bastard right there? 0:09:46.200 --> 0:09:50.280 We got snow Miser and heat Miser right there. They 0:09:51.320 --> 0:09:54.120 they have the best songs and also the only gay 0:09:54.200 --> 0:09:57.920 characters in all Christmas. At least, at least we get 0:09:58.000 --> 0:10:03.440 queer representation. The Snow and Heat miser. I do love 0:10:03.520 --> 0:10:06.160 snow and heat miser I feel like they're underrated. But 0:10:06.200 --> 0:10:09.680 there it's it's such a like it's such a male 0:10:10.440 --> 0:10:17.360 Jesus right, oh my three wives. Man forgot the other 0:10:17.480 --> 0:10:22.680 people who were there at Jesus Jimmy j C. Just 0:10:22.800 --> 0:10:29.400 like Jesus Christ makes you wow. What if whoever kills 0:10:29.520 --> 0:10:37.160 Jesus Christ has to become most judious Christ this summer. 0:10:37.280 --> 0:10:52.960 Judas is in for a route away anyway, So it 0:10:53.040 --> 0:10:58.640 is it's a very like male dominated holiday idealized. But 0:10:58.720 --> 0:11:00.520 and the movie is too. It's like the most famous 0:11:00.559 --> 0:11:03.240 Christmas movies, like this is one of them. Home Alone 0:11:03.280 --> 0:11:05.400 is one of them. A Christmas Story is one of them. 0:11:05.679 --> 0:11:09.280 Three very similar kids, like basically the same area, in 0:11:09.320 --> 0:11:12.400 the same background. Like it's it's all like little white 0:11:12.440 --> 0:11:16.199 boys that you're supposed to like from fairly upscale families 0:11:16.440 --> 0:11:18.679 that you're supposed to be plugging yourself into for like 0:11:18.840 --> 0:11:22.520 most movies in general, but it is particularly bad for 0:11:22.760 --> 0:11:29.880 like this genre of movie I will defend. There is 0:11:29.920 --> 0:11:32.360 a deleted scene from the Santa Claus where they do 0:11:32.440 --> 0:11:37.480 reveal or as job. She's an anthropology professor. Really, it's 0:11:38.160 --> 0:11:41.840 it's in the month where Charlie has been kid napped. 0:11:41.280 --> 0:11:46.960 She cancels, she cancels UM student hours. What I only 0:11:46.960 --> 0:11:51.440 went to. She cancels office affice for a day. And 0:11:51.440 --> 0:11:53.400 the scene is just ten minutes of her crying at 0:11:53.440 --> 0:11:59.360 her office. I can't I was in the middle. I 0:11:59.400 --> 0:12:02.760 was like, she's issues. I found out a fund My 0:12:02.760 --> 0:12:07.240 favorite fact I found out about this film. Sorry, UM 0:12:07.400 --> 0:12:10.000 has nothing to do with women. Here is what it is. 0:12:10.880 --> 0:12:13.960 Towards the beginning of the film, a brief exchange between 0:12:13.960 --> 0:12:15.840 Scott and Laura takes place in which, and this is 0:12:15.920 --> 0:12:18.400 from the original cut in ninety four you can't find 0:12:18.440 --> 0:12:22.360 it now, uh, A brief exchange takes place between Scott 0:12:22.400 --> 0:12:24.640 and Laura in which Laura hands Scott a piece of 0:12:24.679 --> 0:12:27.920 paper with Neil's mother's phone number on it. Scott then 0:12:27.960 --> 0:12:32.320 says one eight hundred spank me, I know that number. 0:12:32.880 --> 0:12:36.120 In the United States, the exchange was removed from all 0:12:36.200 --> 0:12:40.280 home media releases of the film, starting with the DVD release, 0:12:40.559 --> 0:12:44.680 after an incident in which a child from steal Acomb, 0:12:44.760 --> 0:12:48.280 Washington called the number, which turned out to be an 0:12:48.320 --> 0:12:52.480 actual working sex line number, and racked up a four 0:12:52.600 --> 0:13:00.920 hundred dollar bill. Now that you say that I remember 0:13:00.960 --> 0:13:03.040 heard that. I remember that from like when I like, 0:13:03.520 --> 0:13:06.320 I must have seen it before they cut it out, 0:13:06.760 --> 0:13:09.480 but oh my god, it's yeah. I guess if you 0:13:09.520 --> 0:13:12.040 saw it before, it would still be in there. And 0:13:12.080 --> 0:13:16.120 then one kid in Washington ruined it for all of us. 0:13:18.600 --> 0:13:22.000 So anyways, that's the only fact about this I was 0:13:22.040 --> 0:13:24.720 gonna say that that. Um, I think, like you said, Jamie, 0:13:24.800 --> 0:13:28.520 like this movie subverts some of those like trophy stereotype 0:13:28.559 --> 0:13:30.480 things we see in a lot of like children and 0:13:30.559 --> 0:13:33.560 family movies in that like a lot of mom characters 0:13:33.600 --> 0:13:36.319 would be poised as like a very shrewd but she 0:13:36.480 --> 0:13:39.120 and Scott are generally making an effort. They're making an effort, 0:13:39.120 --> 0:13:42.520 and she seems to be like level headed and just 0:13:42.559 --> 0:13:46.320 like a reasonable person, and we don't know anything about 0:13:46.360 --> 0:13:49.480 her other than that. But it also Charlie really likes 0:13:49.600 --> 0:13:52.520 and respects her, to which I feel like is especially 0:13:52.960 --> 0:13:55.199 coming off of like a home alone episode were of 0:13:55.240 --> 0:13:58.080 a colleague games like my mom is dat like he's 0:13:58.120 --> 0:14:02.839 so he's a very furious, little tiny person, um, but 0:14:02.960 --> 0:14:05.559 Charlie is like he loves his mom. He also loves 0:14:05.679 --> 0:14:09.480 Neil um and they don't like demonize the stepparent coming 0:14:09.520 --> 0:14:12.959 in and he Charlie knows all this, all these this 0:14:13.240 --> 0:14:17.480 like psychologists lingo. I bet if you try to dose 0:14:17.559 --> 0:14:19.360 your well beatrin, he'd be like, oh, yeah, I can 0:14:19.400 --> 0:14:22.800 do that, right, he's eight years old. But like I 0:14:22.800 --> 0:14:26.560 don't know. Yeah, the way the parenting was treated, I thought, yeah, nice, 0:14:26.600 --> 0:14:29.960 it was, Yeah, it was fine. It was I would say, 0:14:30.000 --> 0:14:37.680 almost unrealistic. Yeah, do parents really care them? Maybe that 0:14:37.920 --> 0:14:40.640 respectful to each other after such a rift is form? 0:14:40.840 --> 0:14:50.320 Let's going going? My childhood would say otherwise the optimism. 0:14:50.640 --> 0:14:53.480 Another woman in the movie, there's two women who work 0:14:53.520 --> 0:14:56.920 at Charlie's school. One is his teacher. She doesn't know 0:14:56.960 --> 0:15:01.360 the word stepfather because it is like Charlie, bring up 0:15:01.360 --> 0:15:05.840 your your your neil, you're all right? What is wrong 0:15:05.880 --> 0:15:09.360 with you? You know? Um? And then his principle, who 0:15:09.440 --> 0:15:11.920 do we get a name for the principle? I don't get. 0:15:13.200 --> 0:15:17.520 She's one of the only speaking role right well her, 0:15:17.680 --> 0:15:20.360 and then um, Scott's business partner at the beginning he 0:15:20.600 --> 0:15:25.360 pushes out of the way. Um, so you know not 0:15:25.600 --> 0:15:28.520 both of those characters get my thirty seconds of screen 0:15:28.560 --> 0:15:32.760 time at most. Yeah, yeah, there. And then there's a 0:15:32.840 --> 0:15:35.640 Judy the Elf Judy with the kid that Tim Allen 0:15:35.720 --> 0:15:38.880 hits on. Yes, not only does he hit on her, 0:15:38.920 --> 0:15:46.640 but she's like, I'm dating some yeah, I'm in, which 0:15:46.720 --> 0:15:54.240 again just suggests a horrible reality. And also the North Pole, 0:15:54.400 --> 0:15:57.480 at least when Scott Calvin arrives in the first one, 0:15:57.760 --> 0:16:01.880 is a pretty gender normative space where Judy is really 0:16:01.920 --> 0:16:05.760 only doing domestic duties. She's like working as Santa's assistant. 0:16:05.800 --> 0:16:08.360 She's bringing him cookie, she's making sure he's comfortable in 0:16:08.440 --> 0:16:12.400 the best pajama exactly. And then we see the entire 0:16:12.440 --> 0:16:16.320 Elf military is all male. You know, Bernard's the CEO, 0:16:17.760 --> 0:16:22.600 and and you know, so there's there's there's work to 0:16:22.600 --> 0:16:25.280 be done at the North Pole. I'll say it, say 0:16:25.440 --> 0:16:29.200 I agree. Yeah. One thing that I didn't hate about 0:16:29.200 --> 0:16:35.160 this movie that says everything because it rules it's not 0:16:35.360 --> 0:16:40.680 very good. Um oh, I'm sorry. She actively untrue. He 0:16:41.000 --> 0:16:47.080 Santa falls off a lad Yeah, and my dad saw 0:16:47.280 --> 0:16:59.080 with me. Yeah, brilliant cinemas. There's a British alf oh yeah, yeah. 0:16:59.240 --> 0:17:02.600 Why was it was a choice or was he really British? 0:17:02.640 --> 0:17:04.840 I was on the fence. I mean yeah, I mean 0:17:04.880 --> 0:17:07.879 this is a very American normative. Most of the people 0:17:07.880 --> 0:17:16.080 in the North Pole are Americans, don't doesn't track but anyway, Um, 0:17:16.119 --> 0:17:18.119 one of the things that I don't hate about the 0:17:18.119 --> 0:17:22.640 movie is that they at least acknowledge that not everyone 0:17:22.760 --> 0:17:26.000 celebrates Christmas because in that line, that line of questioning, 0:17:26.000 --> 0:17:28.840 when Neil is like, well how could he be Santa? 0:17:28.960 --> 0:17:32.080 When this, this and this, and Charlie is like, well, 0:17:32.119 --> 0:17:36.440 not everyone celebrates Christmas. Not everyone has a fireplace, ak 0:17:36.640 --> 0:17:42.800 not everyone's rich because fireplace equals rich. And that's the 0:17:42.920 --> 0:17:48.000 end of my statement. I like Charlie that I think 0:17:48.080 --> 0:17:49.959 like Charlie is a cool because I feel like sometimes 0:17:49.960 --> 0:17:54.639 in in in movies, people will like undershoot or overshoot, 0:17:54.760 --> 0:17:57.160 like how a child character is written. Like it's so 0:17:57.240 --> 0:17:59.840 annoying to me when a kid is written as like 0:18:00.160 --> 0:18:02.840 too smart or precocious, where it's like five hundred days 0:18:02.840 --> 0:18:04.680 of summer and there's like a little girl folding around 0:18:04.800 --> 0:18:06.840 like Jesse in Court and love it. You don't understand 0:18:06.920 --> 0:18:11.720 emotional labor. I'm like, shuck, like I'm exhausted by that. 0:18:12.000 --> 0:18:15.640 But it's like Charlie. Charlie is like a smart kid, 0:18:15.720 --> 0:18:18.119 but not so smart that you're like, this is unrealistic. 0:18:18.160 --> 0:18:21.760 He's just an emotionally intelligent step son of a therapist. 0:18:22.080 --> 0:18:25.760 He's just and I love that for he's an empathetic kid. 0:18:31.760 --> 0:18:35.320 I have. I have a little context corner, please, yes, okay? 0:18:35.400 --> 0:18:39.360 So I went online, I logged in, okay, and I 0:18:39.400 --> 0:18:43.679 was curious because you know, Christmas Is has so many 0:18:43.920 --> 0:18:48.800 looming male figures over it. As wondering what the history 0:18:49.040 --> 0:18:53.080 of women as Santa was. And there was a great 0:18:53.200 --> 0:18:55.679 article that came out in Mail magazine last year that 0:18:55.800 --> 0:18:58.320 breaks that down very concisely. And I want to tell 0:18:58.320 --> 0:19:01.320 you my favorite over the past a hundred fifty years, 0:19:02.040 --> 0:19:05.879 the various attempts of women to get involved in Santa 0:19:06.000 --> 0:19:07.760 and the various ways in which they have been shut 0:19:07.760 --> 0:19:13.320 down and sometimes arrested. What So, in eighteen forty nine, 0:19:13.880 --> 0:19:18.800 we have the first recorded moment of women as Santa, 0:19:18.960 --> 0:19:21.640 or a woman is a part of Santa lore. Mrs 0:19:21.680 --> 0:19:25.240 Claus is first introduced as a concept in eighteen forty nine, 0:19:25.680 --> 0:19:30.639 right ninety seven quote. It's not quite female Santa just yet, 0:19:30.880 --> 0:19:34.200 but we see our first inklings when Charles W. Howard 0:19:34.359 --> 0:19:37.439 found the Charles W. Howards Santa Claus School in New 0:19:37.520 --> 0:19:42.400 York aka Santa University, to train up and coming Santa's. 0:19:42.440 --> 0:19:46.919 And he lets two women trained to be Santa's only 0:19:46.960 --> 0:19:49.520 if all the other Santas are killed at Santa University. 0:19:50.760 --> 0:19:55.040 What's that man's name again? Charles W. Howard That he's 0:19:55.080 --> 0:19:59.080 a hero there feminist icon and no, but he is 0:19:59.080 --> 0:20:02.520 actually not, because I say they're The women who are 0:20:02.560 --> 0:20:06.280 trained to Santa's are trained to quote great little girls 0:20:06.359 --> 0:20:08.119 learn what they want in their Christmas stockings, teach them 0:20:08.119 --> 0:20:10.760 how to play with dollies, dollhouses, dishes and clothes. So 0:20:11.840 --> 0:20:18.720 not so good things get interesting. The first female Santa. 0:20:19.280 --> 0:20:25.119 It's World War two. World War two creates a Santa 0:20:25.280 --> 0:20:31.119 vacuum by shipping. Wait right, it's so there's a Santa 0:20:31.240 --> 0:20:33.840 vacuum because all able bodied men are fighting in the war. 0:20:34.840 --> 0:20:37.680 There's no one. There's not someone around to be Santa. Wait, 0:20:37.720 --> 0:20:41.480 women step in. There needs to be like a league 0:20:41.520 --> 0:20:44.960 of their own, but for Santa. And well, let's make 0:20:45.040 --> 0:20:51.760 Santa University first. First things, very Donald famous for crying, 0:20:52.880 --> 0:20:55.479 but it's okay. So women step in to do you know, 0:20:55.560 --> 0:20:57.760 a lot of jobs, A lot of women enter the workforce, 0:20:57.960 --> 0:21:02.439 and Santa is no exception. A Chicago department store throws 0:21:02.640 --> 0:21:05.800 a woman a bone. Quote. The manpower shortage has even 0:21:05.880 --> 0:21:09.760 hit old st Nick unquote. The Smithsonian reported at the 0:21:09.840 --> 0:21:13.760 time this Lady Santa Claus has turned up dressed like Mr. 0:21:13.840 --> 0:21:17.119 Claus except for the whiskers, at a Chicago department store, 0:21:17.280 --> 0:21:20.240 and youngster seemed just as happy telling her which gifts 0:21:20.240 --> 0:21:23.720 they're hoping for. That same year, a new Jersey Woolworth 0:21:24.040 --> 0:21:26.760 hires a female Santa because they are quote unable to 0:21:26.760 --> 0:21:30.760 find a man suitable for the job unquote. The mother 0:21:30.840 --> 0:21:34.439 of eight, Anna Michaelson wears the biopic will where a skirt, 0:21:35.640 --> 0:21:37.600 well where a skirt and set of trousers, but all 0:21:37.640 --> 0:21:40.399 the other stuff will be the same as the traditional 0:21:40.640 --> 0:21:45.399 Chris Kringle. This fuel's outrage, but people eventually accept it. 0:21:45.920 --> 0:21:49.600 But the Wichita Daily Times calls the ordeal women quote 0:21:49.600 --> 0:21:57.240 invading another male. Bastian columnist Henry McLemore pends a national 0:21:57.320 --> 0:22:01.920 op ed calling it a quote minor hall, Christine Kringle, 0:22:03.800 --> 0:22:09.040 Sarah st Nicholas, Susie Santa Claus, holy smoke unquote. It's 0:22:11.400 --> 0:22:15.120 he also should have said, Sandra Claus. But listen when 0:22:15.160 --> 0:22:18.840 it comes to my opinion. Clause died on the beaches 0:22:18.880 --> 0:22:28.560 of Normanchy. You're really just adding to Santa University lore, 0:22:29.920 --> 0:22:33.040 because there is. Santa University was up in operational in 0:22:33.040 --> 0:22:35.680 World War Two. If you want me to write enough, 0:22:35.920 --> 0:22:41.520 I could use this. Ninety three British actress Daisy Bellmore 0:22:41.600 --> 0:22:44.000 accepts the job of a female Santa in New York 0:22:44.040 --> 0:22:47.879 for Sax's fifth Avenue. The beardless Bellmore is called Mrs Clause, 0:22:47.880 --> 0:22:50.320 but is given her own throne and full Santa Wish 0:22:50.320 --> 0:22:54.800 granting powers. That same year, Max Factor releases a photo 0:22:54.920 --> 0:22:58.760 of the ideal Santa Ladies included. Aside from portraying the 0:22:58.840 --> 0:23:01.919 female Santa with nail polish, women portraying St. Nick are 0:23:01.920 --> 0:23:05.679 instructed to masculinize the performance in every way, including puffing 0:23:05.720 --> 0:23:08.840 their cheeks with cotton, lowering their voices, and putting on 0:23:08.880 --> 0:23:13.480 a fake bulbous nose. Four women begin dressing as female 0:23:13.800 --> 0:23:15.280 This is I'm going to say every year up to 0:23:15.359 --> 0:23:20.280 the present. I'm kidding. Women begin dressing as female Santa's 0:23:20.280 --> 0:23:23.080 around the holidays for charity, and a sixty two year 0:23:23.080 --> 0:23:28.080 old Phoebec Brook wears the bio pig Is notably wears 0:23:28.080 --> 0:23:32.920 the beard as well. For half a century there's little 0:23:33.000 --> 0:23:38.320 kerfuffle over women and Santa clause. Then Donna Underwood of 0:23:38.320 --> 0:23:41.520 West Virginia is hired to portray Santa for a local mall. 0:23:41.720 --> 0:23:46.200 A mall manager complains, the mall fires her, She sues them, 0:23:46.480 --> 0:23:52.679 she loses. Marta Brown is given the part of a 0:23:52.680 --> 0:23:56.199 female Santa at a Louisville, Kentucky walmart, then loses it 0:23:56.240 --> 0:24:00.520 when a customer complains. She sues sixty thous and dollars 0:24:00.560 --> 0:24:06.160 for lost wages, and like Underwood, she loses again. This 0:24:06.240 --> 0:24:10.880 is the end women, isn't there? Oh? I guess I would? 0:24:11.080 --> 0:24:14.399 I guess I meant they lost in court the same thing. Uh. 0:24:15.760 --> 0:24:18.760 Last year, two women volunteered to play Santa in a 0:24:18.840 --> 0:24:25.680 Christmas parade in England and the town Protestant uh. And 0:24:25.880 --> 0:24:28.840 the outcome, as of the time of writing was undecided 0:24:28.880 --> 0:24:31.080 of whether they would be allowed to march. And then 0:24:31.160 --> 0:24:33.399 this year there's been a lot made of there's an 0:24:33.440 --> 0:24:36.439 Anna Kendrick vehicle coming out at Disney Plus where they're like, 0:24:36.720 --> 0:24:40.639 it's female Santa, don't be fooled by the big mouse. 0:24:40.840 --> 0:24:45.560 She plays Santa's daughter. The fucking patriarchy is upheld. Santa 0:24:46.640 --> 0:24:49.040 does she become Santa in the end. I don't know, 0:24:49.080 --> 0:24:55.080 it's not so all that to say. The fight continues. 0:24:55.840 --> 0:25:00.480 Uh Santa is a woman. Yeah, okay, that's that's that's 0:25:00.520 --> 0:25:04.160 what I had to say. Thank you, You're welcome. Let's 0:25:04.240 --> 0:25:10.479 see I wrote down feminist icon. Soy milk girl. Oh 0:25:10.680 --> 0:25:14.600 she was so sweets. That was her name. Judy is 0:25:14.600 --> 0:25:18.080 the Judy is the elf? Right, I forget she's I 0:25:18.080 --> 0:25:20.360 don't think she might not have been named. She has 0:25:20.400 --> 0:25:24.040 an arc, but she doesn't have a name right because 0:25:24.040 --> 0:25:26.439 Scott Calvin shows up the first day is like Santa 0:25:26.440 --> 0:25:29.239 Claus for idiots, and then he comes back and he's like, 0:25:29.320 --> 0:25:32.320 I've changed my views and I see your political point. 0:25:33.280 --> 0:25:36.640 The next year, Jamie, what episode wasn't recently that you 0:25:36.840 --> 0:25:40.359 were talking about how almost every story ever made is 0:25:40.359 --> 0:25:44.440 like a father son story. Oh, I really could be 0:25:45.119 --> 0:25:51.000 anything there. I think it was a Matreon episode. But yeah, 0:25:51.080 --> 0:25:54.520 there's just like so many stories that even when they 0:25:54.800 --> 0:25:58.080 like even sometimes we're a movie. I noticed it lately, 0:25:58.119 --> 0:26:00.000 and I don't think this is spoiling anything. But even 0:26:00.000 --> 0:26:02.399 when I saw a Parasite, which I loved that movie 0:26:02.480 --> 0:26:05.399 so much, but like, even when there are well written 0:26:05.440 --> 0:26:07.920 female characters in the movie. There's still just a core 0:26:08.080 --> 0:26:10.200 of like but it's really about a father and a 0:26:10.320 --> 0:26:14.040 son do each other right, and you're just like, come up, 0:26:14.040 --> 0:26:17.919 please please. Also, this is something we've talked about, probably 0:26:17.920 --> 0:26:21.520 more on the patroon ak Matreon, but because we've covered 0:26:21.560 --> 0:26:26.760 a lot of Grinch and Muppets, Christmas Carol on that. 0:26:27.320 --> 0:26:31.760 But yeah, um, so many Christmas stories end up being 0:26:31.800 --> 0:26:35.400