WEBVTT - Miss Congeniality 0:00:00.680 --> 0:00:03.640 On the Bell cast, the questions asked if movies have 0:00:03.800 --> 0:00:07.240 women in um, are all their discussions just boyfriends and 0:00:07.320 --> 0:00:11.600 husbands or do they have individualism? The patriarchy? Zef in 0:00:11.760 --> 0:00:16.479 best start changing it with the beck Del Cast. Hey, DC, 0:00:16.720 --> 0:00:22.840 what's up? Thanks for being here. I'm Caitlin, I'm Jamie. 0:00:23.000 --> 0:00:25.360 Thanks for coming to the Backtel cast. Yeah, and uh 0:00:25.600 --> 0:00:28.560 so right at the top for listeners at home. We're 0:00:28.560 --> 0:00:32.440 in Washington, d C. And we are at an intimate 0:00:32.479 --> 0:00:39.280 gathering at Emissary and DC has everyone that wanted a 0:00:39.400 --> 0:00:43.920 nipple jello shot had one. They're making their way around. 0:00:45.640 --> 0:00:51.640 They're right typical man, they're right in front of them. 0:00:51.840 --> 0:00:54.760 Uh So, I mean, we've really to set the scene. 0:00:54.920 --> 0:00:59.120 We've got a spread, We've got jello shots of nipples, 0:00:59.160 --> 0:01:02.200 of various eyes is. We've got a lot of nipple 0:01:02.280 --> 0:01:04.560 representation in the jello shots. I'm going to pick up 0:01:04.560 --> 0:01:09.280 a particularly large one here. It's good. Uh And then 0:01:09.400 --> 0:01:11.640 if you guys need a drink at any point in 0:01:12.080 --> 0:01:16.399 the show, the Five Nips and the Free Bush are 0:01:16.440 --> 0:01:20.959 available at the bar. So thank you Emissary for making 0:01:21.040 --> 0:01:25.559 us these specialty cocktails. They're delicious, They're really really good. 0:01:25.760 --> 0:01:28.240 And thanks for having us. That will pass the Bechtel 0:01:28.400 --> 0:01:33.720 did what is It's hard at the live episodes because 0:01:33.760 --> 0:01:36.759 it's like they know what it's about, but we still 0:01:36.760 --> 0:01:39.600 have to say it. We have to housekeeping. So we 0:01:39.600 --> 0:01:43.400 we talk about the portrayal of women in movies, we 0:01:43.600 --> 0:01:46.199 use the Bechtel test as a jumping off point, which 0:01:46.240 --> 0:01:50.040 is a test developed by cartoonist and writer Alison Bechtel 0:01:50.720 --> 0:01:53.960 that requires any piece of media have two female identifying 0:01:54.040 --> 0:01:57.400 characters with names speak to each other about something other 0:01:57.520 --> 0:02:00.560 than a man for more than two lines of dialogue. 0:02:01.080 --> 0:02:03.360 You'd think it would be possible for every movie to 0:02:03.440 --> 0:02:05.720 do this, but if you were at our Nightmare Before 0:02:05.800 --> 0:02:09.480 Christmas episode just now, you'll know that Tim Burton can't 0:02:09.520 --> 0:02:13.520 do it. I cannot do it. Some people can. It's hard, 0:02:14.040 --> 0:02:16.639 it's not hard, but it's it's not hard. It's so easy. 0:02:16.760 --> 0:02:21.680 We have been talking for minutes. I haven't brought Tim Burton. 0:02:21.680 --> 0:02:25.600 And that's on that thing that I said I would 0:02:25.639 --> 0:02:29.920 never do. I did it. So we're talking about Miss 0:02:29.919 --> 0:02:38.040 Congeniality today. Yes, clap if you have seen Miss Congeniality. Yeah, 0:02:38.120 --> 0:02:41.040 and no shame, no judgment. Clap if you have not 0:02:41.080 --> 0:02:46.800 seen Miss Congeniality. One bartender in the bag, not bad. 0:02:47.200 --> 0:02:50.680 Everyone did their homework. Everyone. I love when everyone does 0:02:50.720 --> 0:02:54.320 their homework. It's very exciting. Yeah. Also, this is a 0:02:54.360 --> 0:02:58.240 modern classic and there's no excuse. So Miss Congeniality is 0:02:58.680 --> 0:03:02.520 spoiler alert. Oh has been one of my favorite movies. Really. Okay, 0:03:02.560 --> 0:03:04.320 so that's so. As you might have noticed, we don't 0:03:04.320 --> 0:03:06.600 have a guest because this is this is just us, baby, 0:03:06.600 --> 0:03:10.880 It's an intimate gathering. So what's your history. I love 0:03:11.000 --> 0:03:13.600 this movie. I'm pretty sure I didn't see I was 0:03:13.720 --> 0:03:18.280 too young to see it in theaters brag, but I did. 0:03:18.720 --> 0:03:20.800 My My cousin Tammy is here and we have for 0:03:20.840 --> 0:03:24.079 sure watched this movie together nine million times. There are 0:03:24.160 --> 0:03:27.720 various vhs is of it circulating throughout the family and 0:03:27.760 --> 0:03:30.320 the world. Yeah, it was just like one of my 0:03:30.800 --> 0:03:34.160 Still the only form of self defense I know is 0:03:34.360 --> 0:03:38.760 saying from Miss Congeniality I like memorized. I was like, oh, 0:03:38.800 --> 0:03:40.880 this is useful. I don't know if I could actually 0:03:40.920 --> 0:03:47.400 execute it, but yeah, whatever, solar up. No, I'm kidding, 0:03:48.800 --> 0:03:54.200 solar Plexus is hard. It's the gut. Tammy is a 0:03:54.200 --> 0:03:58.920 black belt also, Yeah, she's like a triple black belt. 0:04:00.120 --> 0:04:02.400 I encourage everyone to fight my cousin after the show. 0:04:03.920 --> 0:04:07.440 She'll she'll win. But yeah, no, it's It's always been 0:04:07.440 --> 0:04:09.280 one of my favorites. I think I first saw it 0:04:09.360 --> 0:04:13.480 either with my mom my cousins were both, but I 0:04:13.560 --> 0:04:16.120 watched it at least once a year. Wow, okay, I 0:04:16.160 --> 0:04:20.440 love it so much. Great. I haven't seen this movie much. 0:04:20.920 --> 0:04:24.039 Sorry I didn't grow but they probably only saw it 0:04:24.040 --> 0:04:28.080 for the first time a few years ago and uh 0:04:28.320 --> 0:04:30.800 enjoyed it. I watched it. Here's why I watched it 0:04:31.120 --> 0:04:32.920 because I don't know if you know this or not, 0:04:32.960 --> 0:04:35.559 but I did get a master's degree in screen running 0:04:35.560 --> 0:04:37.919 from Boston University. I hate to bring it up, but 0:04:39.000 --> 0:04:44.600 I wrote a script with a similar ish premise. Um. 0:04:44.640 --> 0:04:48.120 My script was about a woman who takes improv classes 0:04:48.200 --> 0:04:50.440 so that she can learn how to go undercover as 0:04:50.480 --> 0:04:56.039 an FBI agent. Very cool story, I agree, So did 0:04:56.080 --> 0:05:01.000 not make it to the big don't know anyway, So 0:05:01.040 --> 0:05:03.720 that was like the script I was writing. And I 0:05:03.800 --> 0:05:07.080 watched this movie as research. Would have been in like 0:05:07.279 --> 0:05:10.040 two thousand thirteen or something like that that I saw 0:05:10.080 --> 0:05:12.680 this for the first time. Okay, okay, So we came 0:05:12.720 --> 0:05:17.039 in at a very different points a late Miss Congeniality bloomer. 0:05:17.120 --> 0:05:20.000 It's okay, you got there, that's all that count. Uh, 0:05:20.040 --> 0:05:24.080 there's okay, something that I suspect will be polarizing, not 0:05:24.120 --> 0:05:26.560 as polarizing as dry scams web scams, but maybe close 0:05:27.200 --> 0:05:30.760 as Miss Congeniality was the first movie I saw Michael 0:05:30.839 --> 0:05:38.080 Caine in. Mm right, Caitlin first saw Michael Caine and Muppets, 0:05:38.160 --> 0:05:41.960 Christmas Carol. Yeah, lots and not have a feeling that 0:05:42.000 --> 0:05:46.080 maybe there's some Batman people and there is well I'm 0:05:46.160 --> 0:05:51.200 sure he's been in other movies. But that's so wait okay, 0:05:51.320 --> 0:05:54.680 so so clap, clap, your a little pause together. If 0:05:54.839 --> 0:05:58.840 Miss Congeniality was your first cane, okay, we got a few. 0:05:58.920 --> 0:06:03.240 If Muppets was your first cane, if Batman was your 0:06:03.279 --> 0:06:08.440 first cane, yeah, we're adults here, right. How about the movie? 0:06:08.640 --> 0:06:12.479 Is it Elfie from? This is a real thing that 0:06:12.560 --> 0:06:15.880 Michael Kine was in? Again, I have a master's degree. 0:06:17.480 --> 0:06:21.080 It was from like the seventies or something, so coming 0:06:21.080 --> 0:06:24.279 in with slightly different backgrounds, but so shall I do 0:06:24.320 --> 0:06:29.000 the recap? Let's do it. Okay, So Miss Congeniality we 0:06:29.040 --> 0:06:33.479 meet Gracie Heart. She's an FBI agent. She's a little 0:06:33.560 --> 0:06:35.920 rough around the edges, but when we meet her when 0:06:35.960 --> 0:06:40.520 she's a kid. For yes, she punches two boys in 0:06:40.560 --> 0:06:43.800 one scene. Great moment in cinema. It's great. I like 0:06:43.920 --> 0:06:46.360 that scene a lot because I don't know. I thought 0:06:46.400 --> 0:06:48.880 it was like, there there's a boy that is about 0:06:48.880 --> 0:06:51.440 to get beat up because he's being a quote unquote 0:06:51.440 --> 0:06:55.440 like sissy and like he sucks, and then Gracie comes 0:06:55.480 --> 0:06:58.719 to his rescue by punching out the bully. And then 0:06:58.760 --> 0:07:01.920 she approaches the boy she saved and she's like, hey, 0:07:02.160 --> 0:07:04.240 I think you're great. She has a little bit of 0:07:04.240 --> 0:07:07.800 a crush on him, and then he rejects her and 0:07:07.880 --> 0:07:10.480 it's like, now I look even stupider because I needed 0:07:10.520 --> 0:07:13.480 a girl to rescue me. And then she punches him out. 0:07:15.160 --> 0:07:18.640 I feel this is a very like realistic depiction of 0:07:18.640 --> 0:07:22.160 how a young boy would react in that situation. Definitely, 0:07:22.240 --> 0:07:25.520 and I wish that I could punch. I found that 0:07:25.560 --> 0:07:28.360 seemed very cathartic and good. My only problem with it 0:07:28.520 --> 0:07:31.760 is when he's like, you're a girl and she's like, 0:07:31.800 --> 0:07:35.280 well you're a girl, using girl as an insult. Yeah, 0:07:35.320 --> 0:07:40.160 But other than that yeah, perfect scene, no notes perfect. 0:07:41.240 --> 0:07:44.520 So then she we meet her as an adult and 0:07:44.880 --> 0:07:48.800 she's got a middle part. Guys, she's in bad shape. 0:07:48.880 --> 0:07:55.000 The movie would have you believe middle there's nothing wrong 0:07:55.040 --> 0:07:57.200 with them, but for some reason that is like code 0:07:57.280 --> 0:08:01.720 for like, yeah, she's got a middle part and she 0:08:01.840 --> 0:08:06.960 doesn't plug. So she is undercover with the FBI. She's 0:08:06.960 --> 0:08:09.320 a field agent, but you know, she's got frizzy hair, 0:08:09.400 --> 0:08:13.720 so she's not hot yet, and she and her crew 0:08:13.800 --> 0:08:17.720 are looking for a serial killer named the Citizen. The 0:08:17.800 --> 0:08:20.680 figure out that the Citizen is planning to target the 0:08:20.880 --> 0:08:25.440 Misunited States pageant, so they're like, hey, we better send 0:08:25.480 --> 0:08:29.440 someone undercover to like scope this out. Then there's a 0:08:29.600 --> 0:08:37.200 very sinister scene using hacker technology that is just hacker 0:08:37.240 --> 0:08:42.119 technology is often misapplied, and speaking on behalf of my community, 0:08:42.520 --> 0:08:47.400 I apologize where they do. They're looking for the right agent, 0:08:47.600 --> 0:08:50.960 which just means that they're looking at pictures of their 0:08:51.000 --> 0:08:56.600 co workers in bikinis, and everyone is like t he 0:08:56.600 --> 0:08:59.160 he we love this, and then oh what if we 0:08:59.200 --> 0:09:02.120 put our austin a bikini? And then oh wait, he's 0:09:02.320 --> 0:09:05.600 right behind me and we're and we're laughing, and we're 0:09:05.679 --> 0:09:10.160 laughing but we're troubled in the year. That's not good. 0:09:10.280 --> 0:09:13.840 We can unpack that scene at a moment. There's a lot. Yeah. 0:09:14.040 --> 0:09:17.360 So the agent that they end up selecting to go 0:09:17.520 --> 0:09:22.040 under cover to participate in the Miss United States pageants, 0:09:22.160 --> 0:09:30.160 Sandra Bullock, turns out she's hot and her colleague Matthews 0:09:30.200 --> 0:09:35.320 played by Benjamin Bratt, Oh my god, hot, terrible character, 0:09:35.880 --> 0:09:42.040 unbelievably handsome man. So he's leading this operation and he 0:09:42.120 --> 0:09:44.040 convinces her to do this whole thing. So they meet 0:09:44.080 --> 0:09:50.080 with Miss morning Side, Kathy morning Side, Candy Bergen, and 0:09:50.480 --> 0:09:54.920 Stan Fields are all buddy shot. The Chat that's what 0:09:55.160 --> 0:10:04.160 they call him. They call a shot. That's disgusting, okay, 0:10:04.200 --> 0:10:08.400 the shot they meet with the shot. Okay. So she 0:10:08.960 --> 0:10:13.480 enters the contest as Miss New Jersey and she gets 0:10:13.480 --> 0:10:18.559 teamed up with Victor Michael Caine. Great impression both of 0:10:18.640 --> 0:10:23.000 us because he's like a pageant coach, and he gives 0:10:23.000 --> 0:10:27.240 her this major makeover. They bring her to like a 0:10:27.400 --> 0:10:32.320 warehouse like they's so it's like an airplane hangar. Are 0:10:32.360 --> 0:10:34.520 you ever so ugly you need someone to rent a 0:10:34.600 --> 0:10:41.080 building to fix you? It's upsetting how much Princess Diaries 0:10:41.120 --> 0:10:44.640 they need a room for a couple hours. But Sandra Bullock, 0:10:44.679 --> 0:10:48.959 apparently Sandra Bullock in her middle part, are so suffering. 0:10:49.160 --> 0:10:53.480 The flags at half masted and they like locked down. 0:10:53.960 --> 0:10:56.040 I don't even know where they are. Yeah, it's a 0:10:56.200 --> 0:11:00.560 giant building and they needed it to turn Sandra look 0:11:00.600 --> 0:11:05.120 into a beautiful woman. Believable. So then she goes to 0:11:05.160 --> 0:11:10.640 the orientation. She meets miss Rhode Island. Oh god, we 0:11:10.760 --> 0:11:15.440 love her. So you know she's working on her things. 0:11:15.520 --> 0:11:18.000 She like it is a beauty queen. Now she does 0:11:18.040 --> 0:11:24.280 her talent. This this thing you the listeners at home, 0:11:24.480 --> 0:11:28.280 Jamie and I both just rubbed our fingers on our classes. 0:11:29.440 --> 0:11:37.040 Would be so confusing context alright, So and then they 0:11:37.080 --> 0:11:41.280 get some new evidence that the envelope from the Citizen 0:11:41.520 --> 0:11:45.480 was licked by a woman, which is like, what is this? 0:11:45.640 --> 0:11:49.560 DNA does that? We know she's a woman, but that's 0:11:49.640 --> 0:11:55.880 not that's not how that works. Well anyways, the movie 0:11:55.920 --> 0:11:59.920 has to continue, so right, So Kathy morning Side is 0:12:00.040 --> 0:12:02.600 mean to her, victors mean to her. She's like, I quit. 0:12:02.960 --> 0:12:05.400 But then Benjamin Brad's like, but look how hot I 0:12:05.440 --> 0:12:08.520 am And he's like She's like, okay, I'll stay. Then 0:12:08.559 --> 0:12:11.560 I get there like, oh, miss Rhode Island, she's a 0:12:11.679 --> 0:12:16.200 terrorist maybe because she's like Tita and they're like, she's 0:12:16.240 --> 0:12:19.640 she's just in Peta, like that's it. She's like for, 0:12:19.840 --> 0:12:23.320 I don't like for and they're like, well, clearly she's 0:12:23.360 --> 0:12:26.680 a killer. She's but in order to like try to 0:12:26.760 --> 0:12:29.719 coax some information out of her, she hangs out with 0:12:29.760 --> 0:12:32.600 the gals and gets closer to them, maybe even make 0:12:32.679 --> 0:12:36.760 some friends, and learns a little sounding about herself something. 0:12:37.679 --> 0:12:40.920 And then she learns that Miss morning Side is getting 0:12:40.960 --> 0:12:44.920 fired by we already knew the shot was getting fixed, 0:12:45.400 --> 0:12:48.240 we didn't know that Candy was getting dumped as well, 0:12:48.800 --> 0:12:53.120 and this is a game changer. Also, Candy Bergen has 0:12:53.160 --> 0:12:58.840 an unfuckable son who becomes relevant as the movie goes on. Yes, Frank, 0:12:58.960 --> 0:13:03.800 that sounds cruel, but he is dressed like a turtle repeatedly, 0:13:04.320 --> 0:13:08.640 and he's literally the turtle turtle guy. But then they 0:13:08.679 --> 0:13:11.520 catch the citizens are like, wait a minute, we we 0:13:11.600 --> 0:13:13.520 got him. There's no need to be here at the 0:13:13.520 --> 0:13:17.400 pageant anymore. But our friend Heart, she's got a hunch 0:13:17.600 --> 0:13:19.640 and she's like, no, I think we need to keep 0:13:19.640 --> 0:13:23.560 our eye on Miss morning Side, which is true because 0:13:23.559 --> 0:13:26.480 she ends up being so bitter that she got fired 0:13:26.800 --> 0:13:30.520 that and that's God's implied that she lost a pageant 0:13:30.559 --> 0:13:34.360 twenty five years ago and poisoned the winner so that 0:13:34.440 --> 0:13:37.720 she could claim the throne. She's I also don't understand 0:13:38.000 --> 0:13:41.880 was her plan to blow someone's head up? Yes, okay, 0:13:42.120 --> 0:13:47.400 that is exactly the plan. That's a bad plan because 0:13:47.440 --> 0:13:50.720 the crown is like a bomb, right, but it's like that, 0:13:51.040 --> 0:13:53.560 I don't know. I'm just like, of all people, Miss 0:13:54.080 --> 0:13:59.559 Rhode Island, she's so pure well so, so it's time 0:13:59.559 --> 0:14:03.320 for the may and pageant and hearts like, I gotta 0:14:03.360 --> 0:14:06.880 do my talent, but the water glasses got drank, so 0:14:06.920 --> 0:14:09.439 then she has to do the sing scene thing she 0:14:09.480 --> 0:14:14.160 gets she kicks Benjamin Bratt's ass on stage, very satisfying. 0:14:14.360 --> 0:14:17.920 It's really cool. Yeah, and then she makes it into 0:14:17.960 --> 0:14:21.880 the top five and everything's exciting trigged, but we are 0:14:21.880 --> 0:14:27.120 still drilled. And then Mr Rhode Island wins, but hearts 0:14:27.160 --> 0:14:30.240 like she figures out that it's the crown that's the bomb, 0:14:30.360 --> 0:14:34.520 so she like flings herself at her and you know, 0:14:35.000 --> 0:14:37.560 rips off the crown. There's a whole scuffle. The chat 0:14:37.760 --> 0:14:42.400 is like the show must go on keeps singing its 0:14:42.600 --> 0:14:45.920 line roots where he's just saying the lyrics to the 0:14:45.960 --> 0:14:51.040 song five seconds after they've been song is great. It's 0:14:51.040 --> 0:14:54.160 also one of those classic scenes of like it's taking 0:14:54.240 --> 0:14:58.640 forever to detonate a bomb for no reason, like her 0:14:58.720 --> 0:15:02.760 Turtle Son's like I'm gonna do it. It's like normally 0:15:02.840 --> 0:15:07.080 fingers slipped, and then it falls down stair by stair, 0:15:07.200 --> 0:15:11.440 and then finally Candice Burgend is like, I'm gonna blow 0:15:11.560 --> 0:15:15.960 up Miss Rhode Island's head, but she fails. She fells heart, 0:15:16.040 --> 0:15:18.760 saves the day, and then at the end she gets 0:15:19.160 --> 0:15:24.240 voted believe it or not, Miss Congeniality, it's nice, which 0:15:24.280 --> 0:15:31.560 means that you didn't win, but you're nice, yeah, which 0:15:31.760 --> 0:15:38.760 is something that is achievable for people. Yes, Okay, so 0:15:38.840 --> 0:15:42.760 that's the movie. Good Night, No, I'm kidding. Um, So 0:15:42.760 --> 0:15:46.200 where should we start. Let's start with the relationship because 0:15:46.200 --> 0:15:47.920 that is like one of the things I don't like 0:15:48.000 --> 0:15:50.120 about the movie that I just really want to knock off. 0:15:50.920 --> 0:15:53.160 At the top, se can just sing this movie's praises, 0:15:53.480 --> 0:15:59.640 but the relationship in this movie sucks. Yeah, it's a bummer. 0:16:00.040 --> 0:16:04.280 Benjamin Bratt's face and physique are wasted in this movie. 0:16:04.800 --> 0:16:07.120 But it's because and it's weird because it's like I 0:16:07.120 --> 0:16:10.440 think the movie sort of like it. It tries to 0:16:10.480 --> 0:16:14.720 paint them as equals, but in ways that just demonstrate 0:16:14.800 --> 0:16:19.840 their imbalance in the workplace even more. Where at the beginning, especially, 0:16:20.400 --> 0:16:23.960 he's treating her like one of the guys, and he's like, oh, 0:16:24.040 --> 0:16:27.040 we like you know, we like funk with each other. 0:16:27.200 --> 0:16:30.360 We insult each other, but all of his insults are 0:16:31.000 --> 0:16:35.680 very pointedly misogynist about her body. He slaps her ass 0:16:35.760 --> 0:16:39.240 at one point, he makes comments about how he doesn't 0:16:39.240 --> 0:16:41.720 find her attractive all the time, and then the whole 0:16:41.880 --> 0:16:45.200 journey of this relationship is like he respects her after 0:16:45.320 --> 0:16:48.800 she gets a makeover and is just as good at 0:16:48.800 --> 0:16:51.360 her job as she ever was and is the same person, 0:16:51.840 --> 0:16:56.600 but now she has a hair straightener and he's in love. 0:16:56.760 --> 0:16:59.960 I hate it. Some of my favorite lines from him are, 0:17:00.400 --> 0:17:05.359 by the way, you look like hell really cute. I 0:17:05.440 --> 0:17:09.240 think McDonald, their male boss, is more feminine than you. 0:17:09.320 --> 0:17:13.520 I'd rather kiss him, so you know, he's a feminist 0:17:12.720 --> 0:17:17.880 icon to punch. It's a homophobic joke and a misogynist joke. 0:17:18.880 --> 0:17:23.160 Mr Bratt right, he is like he's sexist, he's homophobic. 0:17:23.480 --> 0:17:26.840 It's just like toxic masculinity all over the place. But 0:17:27.240 --> 0:17:30.520 he's the love interest l O L. It's weird. Yeah, 0:17:30.600 --> 0:17:33.159 and it's it's weird because it's like you do, I mean, 0:17:33.320 --> 0:17:35.639 especially the nice younger. I had like a deep affection 0:17:35.760 --> 0:17:40.320 for that character. But it's because there you can tell 0:17:40.560 --> 0:17:44.479 the reason she likes him. But her character, who were 0:17:44.520 --> 0:17:47.600 sort of led to believe calls people out, doesn't really 0:17:47.640 --> 0:17:50.000 call him out to the extent that he deserves to 0:17:50.080 --> 0:17:52.840 be called out right, because she calls out Michael Caine's 0:17:52.880 --> 0:17:56.600 character a lot. She's always like everyone, Yeah, she calls 0:17:56.600 --> 0:18:01.600 out these little boys at the beginning almost for yeah. 0:18:01.640 --> 0:18:05.000 So so that whole character in that relationship, I mean, 0:18:05.040 --> 0:18:08.600 it's like it's a movie in two thousand. There's gonna 0:18:08.680 --> 0:18:13.760 be uh romance shoehorned in. But it's like there there 0:18:13.800 --> 0:18:17.320 were enough good elements of his character that it could 0:18:17.359 --> 0:18:20.720 have been a more level, fair relationship and there didn't 0:18:20.760 --> 0:18:23.239 need to be so many cast off Like most of 0:18:23.280 --> 0:18:26.760 the stuff in this movie that sucks is pretty fixable 0:18:27.000 --> 0:18:29.760 of Like, it's a lot of just cast off misogynists 0:18:29.760 --> 0:18:32.080 and homophobic jokes that don't need to be there. They 0:18:32.080 --> 0:18:36.840 don't really add anything, and by like, just don't do that. 0:18:37.320 --> 0:18:39.560 And it's weird because so this movie was written by 0:18:40.080 --> 0:18:44.120 two women and a guy, Katie Ford and Karen Lucas 0:18:44.200 --> 0:18:47.159 and Mark Lawrence. I was trying to do research on 0:18:47.240 --> 0:18:51.240 each of them. Couldn't find a ton on karenen Lucas. 0:18:51.280 --> 0:18:53.800 But Katie Ford is a queer woman, so you would 0:18:53.800 --> 0:18:55.919 think that there wouldn't be quite so much kind of 0:18:55.960 --> 0:18:59.200 casual homophobia in it. But then it was also two 0:18:59.240 --> 0:19:02.720 thousand so and the other end of that is there's 0:19:02.840 --> 0:19:06.960 more queer characters in this movie than in most movies 0:19:07.080 --> 0:19:10.640 of that time and still now where there's I mean 0:19:10.680 --> 0:19:14.359 at least two characters that have direct impact on the 0:19:14.359 --> 0:19:18.680 plot that identify as queer. And it's not like coding 0:19:18.760 --> 0:19:21.719 and all the bullshit were used to where Michael Caine's 0:19:21.800 --> 0:19:28.080 character identifies as queer. Wait see, I found he's like 0:19:28.080 --> 0:19:32.680 wex your pubes. It's all a character. I found him 0:19:32.720 --> 0:19:36.400 to be more coded that way than identifiably that way. 0:19:36.440 --> 0:19:39.399 But I might have missed something. Well. He implies several 0:19:39.440 --> 0:19:43.280 times that he's in relationships with men and and at 0:19:43.320 --> 0:19:46.960 one point plays it off as a homophobic joke where 0:19:46.960 --> 0:19:49.399 he's talking to someone he knows and he says about 0:19:49.480 --> 0:19:54.000 Benjamin Bratt's character like he he's with me, and she's like, oh, 0:19:54.240 --> 0:19:58.440 so to me that it's not an explicit statement, but 0:19:58.640 --> 0:20:00.479 that I don't know. That went a step further than 0:20:00.560 --> 0:20:03.960 coding to me, because usually like a coded character in 0:20:04.000 --> 0:20:07.200 my head is like playing to every trope and not 0:20:07.359 --> 0:20:11.200 acknowledging anything outside of a trope where he is acknowledging 0:20:11.880 --> 0:20:14.720 he is attracted to men and he's been in relationships 0:20:14.720 --> 0:20:16.920 with men. I feel like it's alluded to several times 0:20:17.520 --> 0:20:19.440 where that was just my read of it. There's a 0:20:19.520 --> 0:20:24.040 moment where he grasps Benjamin Bratt's shoulder and then he's like, 0:20:24.080 --> 0:20:26.400 what a pity that he can't that he can't stay 0:20:29.200 --> 0:20:34.280 and stop with that impression. And then at the end 0:20:34.320 --> 0:20:38.200 of the movie, Miss New York comes out to the 0:20:38.200 --> 0:20:42.800 world on stage and says that it's like, what is 0:20:42.840 --> 0:20:46.480 the line she has? Oh, it's she says, it's great, Oh, 0:20:46.560 --> 0:20:48.800 hang on, I got it here, and her girlfriend's in 0:20:48.800 --> 0:20:51.280 the crowd and she's like yes, and then we're like 0:20:51.560 --> 0:20:56.040 love winds and then she's dragged off stage. So it's like, okay, 0:20:56.680 --> 0:20:58.959 so it's I just want to let all the lesbians 0:20:58.960 --> 0:21:00.760 out there. No. If I can make it into the 0:21:00.800 --> 0:21:03.840 top ten, so can you. And then she's like love you, 0:21:04.240 --> 0:21:08.400 Tina or something Tina's like, and then we're like yeah. 0:21:08.640 --> 0:21:12.720 But then immediately after that they cut to the TV station. 0:21:13.160 --> 0:21:14.720 It's weird. It's like you get a good moment and 0:21:14.760 --> 0:21:16.879 then it's sort of cast off in the next moment 0:21:17.160 --> 0:21:19.240 where the TV people are like, can we even say 0:21:19.480 --> 0:21:25.360 lesbian on television? And it's like no, no, no, right, 0:21:25.720 --> 0:21:28.920 I don't know. Like that mostly worked for me because 0:21:29.119 --> 0:21:32.560 so like Miss New York says says that, and then 0:21:32.640 --> 0:21:36.080 like Gracie collapse and woos to show her support, and 0:21:36.119 --> 0:21:39.639 then William Shatner is like, stay tuned for our final 0:21:39.720 --> 0:21:44.120 five lesbians contestants. And then after that the guy behind 0:21:44.160 --> 0:21:47.280 the scenes is like can we even say And then 0:21:47.320 --> 0:21:49.760 there's a woman who's like, you got a problem with that? 0:21:49.960 --> 0:21:52.280 So to me, like the men are made to look 0:21:52.320 --> 0:21:55.080 like bumbling idiots who like can't hang, and then the 0:21:55.119 --> 0:21:57.679 women in that scene are all like kind of challenging 0:21:57.680 --> 0:22:00.320 the status quo. Well, I would even say that it's 0:22:00.359 --> 0:22:03.000 restricted to gender. I just think that in that scene, 0:22:03.080 --> 0:22:07.920 everyone whose side we're firmly on, which includes Victor, are 0:22:08.160 --> 0:22:12.480 pro miss New York basically coming out to the world 0:22:13.119 --> 0:22:16.480 on live TV, and so everyone whose corner we're in 0:22:16.720 --> 0:22:19.520 is cool with it and not shamy. And yeah, the 0:22:19.600 --> 0:22:23.640 guy who's like like he's made to look that way, 0:22:23.760 --> 0:22:26.760 the movie wants you to see him that way. So yeah, 0:22:26.800 --> 0:22:28.560 so I was okay with that. What didn't work for 0:22:28.600 --> 0:22:32.040 me so well was the scene where Victor tells, like 0:22:32.080 --> 0:22:35.280 a backstage hand, he's like, Benjamin Brett's is with me, 0:22:35.680 --> 0:22:39.240 and then he's like, I'm not with him with him 0:22:39.240 --> 0:22:42.199 because he is wildly insecure about his sexuality and he 0:22:42.280 --> 0:22:44.959 does not like gay people. But again, he is poised 0:22:45.000 --> 0:22:48.280 as the love interest in standard book kisses a homophobe. 0:22:48.320 --> 0:22:51.800 At the end of the movie, Sandy, there are still 0:22:51.840 --> 0:22:53.760 there are problems, and he was also in The blind Side, 0:22:53.800 --> 0:22:58.080 so she's got certainly some problematic things of her catalog. 0:22:58.920 --> 0:23:02.680 The way this movie handles queerness is kind of all 0:23:02.760 --> 0:23:06.359 over the place. But I don't know if for two 0:23:06.359 --> 0:23:09.800 thousand it acknowledges queerness in the way that most mainstream 0:23:09.840 --> 0:23:13.119 movies wouldn't give it. That. Yeah, So back to the 0:23:13.160 --> 0:23:16.560 conversation about the Benjamin Bratt character and he is in 0:23:16.640 --> 0:23:20.800 a pool and that's good. Uh, well, you see his nipples. 0:23:23.040 --> 0:23:26.040 That's great. Yeah, there's that whole scene where their heart 0:23:26.080 --> 0:23:29.200 and Matthews are wrestling. Whenever he's trying to convince her 0:23:29.320 --> 0:23:34.040 to like take this undercover role, there's moments where like 0:23:34.160 --> 0:23:38.000 she he's like, just do a few like button shipping exercises, 0:23:38.160 --> 0:23:40.959 tighten ess, slap or in the ass. He slaps her 0:23:40.960 --> 0:23:42.480 in the ass again. At the end of the scene. 0:23:43.119 --> 0:23:47.280 There's a moment where like she has his head right 0:23:47.440 --> 0:23:51.440 in her crotch and they're like doing this whole thing. 0:23:51.560 --> 0:23:53.280 So it's like, oh, I wonder if these characters have 0:23:53.400 --> 0:23:57.680 sexual tension, that that is a thing that whenever, like 0:23:58.240 --> 0:24:00.720 a woman is fighting a man in a movie, I 0:24:00.720 --> 0:24:03.639 feel like it always comes down to the head between 0:24:03.680 --> 0:24:06.880 the legs and it becomes this like sexual subtext of 0:24:07.160 --> 0:24:09.520 I know that's a legitimate move you can do, but 0:24:09.640 --> 0:24:13.080 must we every single time? And must we deliver a cute, 0:24:13.080 --> 0:24:15.800 little punchy line while we do it, like squeeze head 0:24:15.800 --> 0:24:21.840 of like you I was gonna say, you're cute, but 0:24:21.880 --> 0:24:26.360 whatever equip not you're cute that's not equip that's just 0:24:26.440 --> 0:24:29.520 a feeling. I feel like I feel like Black Widow 0:24:29.520 --> 0:24:31.880 does it all the time, and like the Avengers movies. 0:24:32.080 --> 0:24:36.800 It happens in the Jumanji Welcome to the Jungle Ever 0:24:36.880 --> 0:24:40.680 heard of it? Is there a fandom for that feeling, 0:24:40.760 --> 0:24:44.200 doesn't it? It's the guy who can find the nipple? Basically, 0:24:44.240 --> 0:24:50.000 any any movie where there is a like female action star, 0:24:50.920 --> 0:24:53.920 you can better believe that she is wrapping her pussy 0:24:54.040 --> 0:24:57.320 around his face and using it to slam him into 0:24:57.320 --> 0:25:00.639 the ground. He's like, Wow, she's powerful, and you're just 0:25:00.680 --> 0:25:04.600 like ick, yeah, that's gross. And of course that moment 0:25:04.680 --> 0:25:08.680 happens a lot, and usually in narratives where a woman 0:25:08.760 --> 0:25:13.479 who is like unusually strong or good at fighting is 0:25:13.520 --> 0:25:16.000 forced to prove that over and over and over, which 0:25:16.040 --> 0:25:19.560 this movie does a few times. Hey, i think it's 0:25:20.040 --> 0:25:23.280 about time for us to just take a little quick break. 0:25:23.480 --> 0:25:33.040 I'm tired. I'm tired news the way okay, transition a 0:25:33.040 --> 0:25:35.400 little bit to the way Gracie is treated by her 0:25:35.440 --> 0:25:39.880 co workers again is all over the place where they 0:25:39.960 --> 0:25:45.000 definitely know she's good and they do seem to respect her, 0:25:45.480 --> 0:25:49.480 and like the opening sequence in Like the Present day 0:25:50.160 --> 0:25:53.200 is Gracie makes a call during they're trying to catch 0:25:53.240 --> 0:25:56.359 some Russian guys. There's a briefcase, it's all very vague, 0:25:56.880 --> 0:25:59.879