WEBVTT - The Rock with Miles Gray 0:00:00.880 --> 0:00:03.920 On the bell Cast, the questions asked if movies have 0:00:04.000 --> 0:00:07.880 women and them are all their discussions just boyfriends and husbands? 0:00:08.039 --> 0:00:13.000 Do they have individualism? The patriarchy? Zef in best start 0:00:13.119 --> 0:00:16.840 changing it with the Bedel Cast. Hello and welcome to 0:00:16.840 --> 0:00:19.240 the Becdel Cast. My name is Caitlin Rante, my name 0:00:19.280 --> 0:00:21.760 is Jamie Laftas, and we're here to talk about how 0:00:21.800 --> 0:00:26.200 women are represented in the movie and are awesome? Women 0:00:26.239 --> 0:00:31.000 are the best? I love women too. Okay, Well, as 0:00:31.040 --> 0:00:33.080 long as we've got that out right at the topic, 0:00:33.280 --> 0:00:37.559 that's critical. Yeah, our listeners need to know that we 0:00:37.640 --> 0:00:41.120 are allies to women. What if they came in, like, 0:00:41.159 --> 0:00:43.760 what if they're not allies to women? I think that'd 0:00:43.760 --> 0:00:46.360 be kind of like an insidious fun place to start. Oh, 0:00:46.400 --> 0:00:50.559 like you know that podcast Analyze Fish. Like it's like, yeah, oh, 0:00:50.720 --> 0:00:53.240 this is a podcast where you convince me to like fish. 0:00:53.240 --> 0:00:56.000 Where this is a podcast where you, Caitlin convinced me 0:00:56.120 --> 0:00:59.800 Jamie to like and respect women. I'm like, you know what, 0:00:59.840 --> 0:01:03.880 I not sold, Well, they kind of seem like idiots. Well, 0:01:04.040 --> 0:01:06.520 the movie we're talking about today, I know we're we're 0:01:06.600 --> 0:01:08.920 recording in a different space with different I think you 0:01:08.959 --> 0:01:11.800 should just address what's going on. We are recording in 0:01:11.800 --> 0:01:15.960 our normal building, right, normal structure of Meltdown Comics, But 0:01:16.000 --> 0:01:19.120 we're in a uh not normal space right because a 0:01:19.160 --> 0:01:22.039 bunch of things have happened. We haven't recorded in a while. Um, 0:01:22.200 --> 0:01:25.080 some things have happened since then where Maltdown Comics. The 0:01:25.160 --> 0:01:31.240 historic comic book store in Hollywood, California is closing down, 0:01:31.560 --> 0:01:34.240 which also means the comedy venue that I do the 0:01:34.319 --> 0:01:38.480 programming for is also closing down. So yeah, we're recording 0:01:38.480 --> 0:01:42.399 in a different podcast studio which is adjacent to our 0:01:42.440 --> 0:01:45.399 normal space. But an Aristotle is not here. He's not 0:01:45.520 --> 0:01:47.640 here today. Did you and ours have fun last night 0:01:47.640 --> 0:01:50.360 at the movies? Yes, we saw a Pacific room too. 0:01:50.600 --> 0:01:53.200 Oh that's so. I liked it better than the first one. 0:01:53.560 --> 0:01:57.440 That's good. What was better about it definitely more women, um, 0:01:57.600 --> 0:02:00.240 a more streamline story that was easier to follow, not 0:02:00.360 --> 0:02:02.560 a billion characters who all looked the same and therefore 0:02:02.600 --> 0:02:05.200 you don't know who's doing what. That's good. And John 0:02:05.200 --> 0:02:09.160 Boega is a much more charismatic leading man than Charlie Huntum, 0:02:09.200 --> 0:02:15.240 I mean, John Beega is very hot, John Bayoga, listen, 0:02:15.320 --> 0:02:19.160 let me just go off the rails very unpopular opinion JK. 0:02:20.040 --> 0:02:23.799 John Beaega very high well cool, full body paralysis every 0:02:23.800 --> 0:02:27.200 time John Beega is visually in front of me in 0:02:27.320 --> 0:02:30.480 any resolution. Hey, folks, this is an example of a 0:02:30.480 --> 0:02:34.280 conversation that would not pass the Bechtel tests. Interesting because 0:02:35.720 --> 0:02:39.480 we're talking about a man in the Bechdel Tests, which 0:02:39.919 --> 0:02:43.440 podcast is inspired by. I have a lot of for 0:02:43.520 --> 0:02:45.160 the movie we're talking about today, I have a lot 0:02:45.200 --> 0:02:48.720 of asterisks to the Bestel test. What would you kind 0:02:48.720 --> 0:02:51.080 of have to I think even in a movie where 0:02:51.080 --> 0:02:54.400 women are certainly not the focus, and if they are, 0:02:54.840 --> 0:02:59.160 they better be pregnant as well, I think that that 0:02:59.320 --> 0:03:02.919 is Yeah. So the Actel test requires that a movie 0:03:03.040 --> 0:03:06.880 has two female characters. They have to have names, they 0:03:07.160 --> 0:03:09.480 have to talk to each other, and with our version 0:03:09.520 --> 0:03:11.840 of the Bechtel test, they have to have a at 0:03:11.919 --> 0:03:14.760 least two line exchange. So one woman says one thing, 0:03:14.840 --> 0:03:17.359 another one woman responds to her, and neither of those 0:03:17.400 --> 0:03:19.720 can be about a man. Shall we demo? Yes? Let 0:03:19.760 --> 0:03:25.160 us demo? Okay, Jamie, what's your favorite flavor of soup? Hi, Caitlin, 0:03:25.360 --> 0:03:27.480 I think soup is hot water and it is a 0:03:27.480 --> 0:03:30.440 big old racket and I don't believe in it, Jamie. 0:03:30.480 --> 0:03:34.359 I agree, hot water with flavors in it? What are 0:03:34.400 --> 0:03:38.640 you vitamin water but left in the sun? Stupid? That 0:03:38.680 --> 0:03:41.120 passes the back to Certainly, it doesn't have to be 0:03:41.160 --> 0:03:43.080 good writing. We have to say over and over and over, 0:03:43.160 --> 0:03:46.000 it doesn't have to be good. So we'll figure out 0:03:46.000 --> 0:03:49.000 whether or not this movie passes the Backtel test well 0:03:49.320 --> 0:03:53.440 talk about is portrayal Lemon infuriating, infuriating to This movie 0:03:53.520 --> 0:03:56.120 is infuriating to me at a number of levels, so many, 0:03:56.120 --> 0:03:59.280 but on this level specifically, because it just this movie 0:03:59.320 --> 0:04:02.320 is the ultimate proof that the Betel test is flawed. 0:04:03.320 --> 0:04:09.920 Is flawed. Yeah, you can pass it and horrendous showing 0:04:10.040 --> 0:04:12.880 up a lot of things. And we'll get to that 0:04:12.920 --> 0:04:16.240 discussion later on. But first let's introduce our guest. He's 0:04:16.240 --> 0:04:20.200 wearing a great jacket. It's so soft, it's so tanned. 0:04:20.279 --> 0:04:22.200 Can I just say it is a hand me down 0:04:22.480 --> 0:04:27.160 of a Frenchman. I'm wearing a Frenchman's hand me downs 0:04:27.440 --> 0:04:29.240 and that's the only way to live. I mean, there 0:04:29.279 --> 0:04:31.799 couldn't be a better backstory for this very nice jacket. 0:04:32.160 --> 0:04:34.279 We're thrilled to have him. Yeah, the voice you just 0:04:34.360 --> 0:04:37.000 heard is that of the co host of The Daily 0:04:37.080 --> 0:04:43.359 ZiT Guys, Oh my God, how stuff works Network, Miles Gray. Hi, Hi, welcome. 0:04:43.839 --> 0:04:46.239 Thank you so much for having me. I am really 0:04:46.279 --> 0:04:49.719 excited when you first asked me to do this. I 0:04:49.800 --> 0:04:51.359 was just sure what movie we would do when you 0:04:51.400 --> 0:04:53.280 were like, what movies do you like? Like in jes 0:04:53.520 --> 0:04:56.040 like I love The Rock also knowing full wether this 0:04:56.080 --> 0:04:59.360 is a terrible movie, but I'm so glad we picked it. 0:04:59.680 --> 0:05:03.080 I'm because I rewatched it with a critical eye because 0:05:03.120 --> 0:05:05.440 I think I was telling Caitlin before, like every time 0:05:05.480 --> 0:05:08.119 I've watched it, it's just kind of been like on 0:05:08.440 --> 0:05:10.599 and that was the last time. My thought was maybe 0:05:10.640 --> 0:05:12.680 like eight years ago. So to watch it now with 0:05:12.680 --> 0:05:15.600 the critical eye in this is like a t n T, 0:05:15.960 --> 0:05:17.839 Like you turn on t n T and this is 0:05:17.880 --> 0:05:20.239 on in the middle of it. I think by law 0:05:20.320 --> 0:05:22.680 it had to be on at some point at least 0:05:22.720 --> 0:05:25.320 twice in one weekend, like whether it's t NT or 0:05:25.480 --> 0:05:27.960 f X, it was always on. And it's one of 0:05:27.960 --> 0:05:30.039 those movies. It's one of my favorites, where you do 0:05:30.560 --> 0:05:32.800 I've seen Bits and Peace. This is the first time 0:05:32.800 --> 0:05:34.680 I've seen the movie all the way through I will 0:05:34.680 --> 0:05:39.039 say thirty six hours ago. I'm improving. But this is 0:05:39.040 --> 0:05:41.400 one of those movies that I've seen chunks of over 0:05:41.440 --> 0:05:43.640 the years, and it's always the T n T edit 0:05:43.680 --> 0:05:46.279 where it's like, that's not what Sean Connery said in 0:05:46.320 --> 0:05:49.400 the movie, but I'm not quite sure what he actually said. 0:05:50.240 --> 0:05:51.839 Think I know what you're talking about. I love a 0:05:51.880 --> 0:05:55.440 t NT edit. My name's Buck, and I came here 0:05:55.480 --> 0:06:00.560 at a party. That's all. This is happens when you 0:06:00.560 --> 0:06:03.480 meet a stranger in the Alps. The other one from 0:06:03.480 --> 0:06:09.560 Big Lebowski a stranger in the in the what does 0:06:09.640 --> 0:06:15.000 the original met a stranger in the Alps? That's I mean, truly, 0:06:15.040 --> 0:06:17.960 the ultimate creative challenge is to be the one who 0:06:18.120 --> 0:06:21.400 edits for T T. Yeah, and then but even though that, 0:06:21.440 --> 0:06:24.200 you have like the freedom to just be like, honestly, 0:06:24.240 --> 0:06:26.160 I think meet a stranger in the Alps is the 0:06:26.200 --> 0:06:28.320 only thing that's gonna work. And they're gonna like, alright, 0:06:28.400 --> 0:06:31.039 fuck it. You know what. He's a pro. Yeah, he's 0:06:31.040 --> 0:06:33.000 a pro. He knows how to make words sound like 0:06:33.040 --> 0:06:37.640 other words without context. Whoever did kill bo One did 0:06:37.680 --> 0:06:40.039 a real bang up job and I love them there. 0:06:40.320 --> 0:06:42.520 I have not seen that part. That's that it really is. 0:06:42.560 --> 0:06:44.279 I came here to party. My name is Buck, and 0:06:44.320 --> 0:06:49.720 I came here to party. Feminist icon Buck, lots of 0:06:49.960 --> 0:06:52.800 lots of feminist icons in The Rock, which is a 0:06:52.800 --> 0:06:56.120 movie that for all you idiots out there like me, 0:06:56.480 --> 0:06:59.080 the Rock does not appear one time I was waiting 0:06:59.080 --> 0:07:02.520 for a Rock cam. Oh, he does not come. Dwayne 0:07:02.600 --> 0:07:06.520 Johnson not in this movie. Dwayne Johnson absent, which already 0:07:06.600 --> 0:07:09.440 is like, do I like this movie? Hard to see? 0:07:09.960 --> 0:07:12.280 So you hadn't seen bits and pieces of this before? 0:07:12.800 --> 0:07:15.760 I mean very bits and pieces. I knew that Nick 0:07:15.840 --> 0:07:19.040 Cage and Sean Connrew were in a movie together and 0:07:19.080 --> 0:07:22.920 found that to be interesting. I didn't remember that it 0:07:23.000 --> 0:07:26.320 was a Michael Bay joint and that that adds a 0:07:26.320 --> 0:07:31.360 lot peak. This is well, this is a peak Bay. 0:07:33.400 --> 0:07:36.920 Stop that right now, Thank you so much. My coat 0:07:36.960 --> 0:07:40.400 and I have to go Jean Paul's coat and I 0:07:40.440 --> 0:07:43.160 have to do and I must go some miles. When 0:07:43.160 --> 0:07:46.160 did you first see so sorry, when did you see 0:07:46.200 --> 0:07:48.880 The Rock? Oh my god, I'm sorry. I had to 0:07:48.880 --> 0:07:51.200 get high after watching the movie because I was so 0:07:51.320 --> 0:07:53.840 fucked up. I was like, I need weed after seeing this. 0:07:54.000 --> 0:07:55.840 So you're catching me there, and I also have a 0:07:55.880 --> 0:07:58.360 piece on the way here. Um. But the first time 0:07:58.360 --> 0:08:02.040 I saw it was in the theater, so I'm like 0:08:02.120 --> 0:08:04.840 twelve years old. This was like in the period when 0:08:04.880 --> 0:08:07.440 there were blockbusters in the summer and you were like, movie, 0:08:08.120 --> 0:08:10.200 these are like the big tent pole movies come out, 0:08:10.240 --> 0:08:11.760 and it didn't matter what the funk it was, you 0:08:11.800 --> 0:08:13.240 just need to see it because it was such a 0:08:13.240 --> 0:08:16.120 spectacle and the movie like that, It's effect on me 0:08:16.320 --> 0:08:18.000 was like pretty profound. At the time, I thought I 0:08:18.040 --> 0:08:20.240 wanted to be like a Navy seal because of the movie, 0:08:20.480 --> 0:08:23.440 Like it indoctrinated me very well. That is something I 0:08:23.480 --> 0:08:25.480 had a question about because I was I was too 0:08:25.560 --> 0:08:27.160 young to see this movie when it came out. I 0:08:27.200 --> 0:08:29.240 And also it's like even if I was old enough, 0:08:29.280 --> 0:08:30.960 it wouldn't have been aligned. Like I don't think that 0:08:31.040 --> 0:08:32.679 this is a movie in the nineties you would have 0:08:32.720 --> 0:08:34.679 taken a young girl to see, right. Well, you know, 0:08:34.720 --> 0:08:36.640 it's weird that people would just take their whole families. 0:08:36.640 --> 0:08:38.480 I remember, like I went with a group of people 0:08:38.480 --> 0:08:40.400 and like the Little Sister Games, she was like six, 0:08:40.400 --> 0:08:43.360 and it's just like, hey, the big movies out, let's 0:08:43.360 --> 0:08:46.040 go to the all see it. By the time I 0:08:46.080 --> 0:08:48.840 was in middle school high school, there was such a 0:08:49.000 --> 0:08:52.079 reputation for all the boys who were like getting into 0:08:52.080 --> 0:08:54.520 the military and the idea of going into the military. 0:08:54.600 --> 0:08:57.560 It was always Navy, Sales and Marines and like these 0:08:57.559 --> 0:09:00.440 are the badass branches of the military. And I feel 0:09:00.440 --> 0:09:02.960 like it's movies like this that really pushed that agenda. 0:09:03.320 --> 0:09:05.640 And that's such a Michael Bay thing to push a 0:09:05.760 --> 0:09:10.959 very specific view of very specific branches of the military 0:09:11.000 --> 0:09:14.840 that like really took hold of young people's brains. And 0:09:14.880 --> 0:09:17.280 it's weird to watch now and be like, oh, this 0:09:17.360 --> 0:09:19.000 is why all the boys I went to school with 0:09:19.120 --> 0:09:23.040 thought Marines were like the fucking coolest is because Ed 0:09:23.160 --> 0:09:26.000 Harris and his baldass head were doing their best and 0:09:26.200 --> 0:09:29.120 n like it's just crazy. And the Navy seals too, 0:09:29.440 --> 0:09:31.640 like the technology they were using and they're just like 0:09:31.679 --> 0:09:34.120 this superbero type ship. To me as a twelve year 0:09:34.120 --> 0:09:38.040 old kid, was like very appealing and god like. I 0:09:38.080 --> 0:09:40.880 remember right after I like begged my parents to buy 0:09:40.960 --> 0:09:43.720 me like Urban Camel, like that gray and white, like 0:09:43.760 --> 0:09:46.280 those fatigues that Ed Harrison those guys were, because I 0:09:46.280 --> 0:09:48.760 was like, that's I'm gonna dress forever. Because of this moment, 0:09:49.000 --> 0:09:50.880 I feel like you're touching on something very important, which 0:09:50.920 --> 0:09:53.800 is when young people see movies like this, they're like, Oh, 0:09:53.880 --> 0:09:55.480 I want to be like that person. So if a 0:09:55.559 --> 0:09:59.040 young girl saw women being in the military, they'd be like, Oh, 0:09:59.080 --> 0:10:01.920 I can be in the military. Very two but so little. 0:10:01.960 --> 0:10:04.520 But I would argue that this is such an inaccurate 0:10:04.559 --> 0:10:08.080 representation of the military. It's basically like, I'm not saying 0:10:08.080 --> 0:10:10.840 about this movie specifically for women, but I'm saying there 0:10:10.880 --> 0:10:14.480 were movies that made like women in stem seem cool, 0:10:14.559 --> 0:10:17.280 or women in like computer science, or like women in 0:10:17.400 --> 0:10:21.600 law seem really cool, we would see more women trying 0:10:21.640 --> 0:10:24.600 to do jobs like that is like a laser guided 0:10:24.640 --> 0:10:28.520 missile for testosterone. This is film which is kind of 0:10:28.520 --> 0:10:31.280 like an overarching theme in all of Michael Basbok where 0:10:31.280 --> 0:10:35.640 even if you get into the Transformers franchise and again 0:10:35.720 --> 0:10:37.520 I feel like I do this every other episode, but 0:10:37.559 --> 0:10:39.960 I will direct people to friends of the cast. Lindsay 0:10:40.000 --> 0:10:44.400 Ellis is really great video essay series on the Transformers series, 0:10:44.640 --> 0:10:48.559 but there's very strong pro military themes in the Transformers 0:10:48.559 --> 0:10:51.760 series to where like this is just like a big 0:10:51.880 --> 0:10:55.120 overarching theme of Michael Bay's work, which is always kind 0:10:55.120 --> 0:10:58.440 of regarded as like, well, these movies are not good, 0:10:58.480 --> 0:11:00.760 but everyone's going to see them, so they are very 0:11:00.800 --> 0:11:04.320 relevant and from what I could tell, and I tried 0:11:04.360 --> 0:11:06.959 to backtrack and do some research on how this movie 0:11:07.040 --> 0:11:09.400 was reviewed at the time, which was pretty well. I 0:11:09.400 --> 0:11:11.680 mean it got three and a half stars from Ebert. 0:11:12.080 --> 0:11:15.160 It got like this movie was well reviewed, right, which 0:11:15.200 --> 0:11:17.240 is crazy to watch it now and be like, oh, yeah, great. 0:11:17.280 --> 0:11:19.280 But but this was like peak block. This is the 0:11:19.320 --> 0:11:21.600 same year that Mission Impossible comes out. This is like 0:11:21.840 --> 0:11:27.880 peak action dudes, military adjacent shit is like this specific 0:11:27.960 --> 0:11:29.880 years when all the big ones come out, and this 0:11:29.960 --> 0:11:32.680 is the most successful of that year. But even now, 0:11:32.920 --> 0:11:35.760 just last year, the A V Club wrote this big 0:11:35.800 --> 0:11:38.440 piece on How the Rock, which is sort off, I 0:11:38.440 --> 0:11:41.480 feel like I've forgotten Michael bay movie. Now, I don't 0:11:41.520 --> 0:11:44.160 think so. I see, I had never heard of it. 0:11:44.240 --> 0:11:47.800 I thought it was a vehicle for the Rock, the 0:11:47.920 --> 0:11:51.120 rock stars in the Rock. But the movie is so well, 0:11:51.120 --> 0:11:53.440 it's well. I read a few different pieces of saying 0:11:53.440 --> 0:11:59.200 like this is Michael Bay is technically, structurally, ETCETERA best movie, 0:11:59.360 --> 0:12:02.520 maybe not most memorable, but best in terms of putting 0:12:02.520 --> 0:12:05.719 a movie together with a story that makes sense. Is 0:12:05.880 --> 0:12:10.240 the closest he's gotten to making a cohesive narrative. But 0:12:10.320 --> 0:12:12.680 I've never heard of it. See I've heard of it 0:12:12.720 --> 0:12:14.480 for you. So my backstory with this is I only 0:12:14.480 --> 0:12:16.880 saw it for the first time almost exactly a year ago, 0:12:16.960 --> 0:12:21.360 because I remember posting on Facebook because for years I 0:12:21.400 --> 0:12:23.560 was always like, fuck Michael Bay. I hate him. He's 0:12:23.600 --> 0:12:26.320 a horrible director and he sucks. And everyone's like, well, 0:12:26.360 --> 0:12:28.280 have you seen The Rock? And I'm like no, people 0:12:28.280 --> 0:12:31.360 would be like, that's the one you would like The Rock. 0:12:31.440 --> 0:12:33.440 The Rock is actually a good movie. So I like 0:12:33.520 --> 0:12:37.920 heard all the stuff I Caitlin, you will like The Rock, 0:12:38.040 --> 0:12:40.960 And I think, like, I genuinely think that that is 0:12:41.000 --> 0:12:43.960 a thing when we're looking at male directors versus female 0:12:43.960 --> 0:12:47.160 directors or male directors, if you have one good one, 0:12:47.559 --> 0:12:50.240 they're always like, no, he's actually good, because have you 0:12:50.280 --> 0:12:53.760 seen this movie that came out twenty two years ago, right, 0:12:53.920 --> 0:12:56.040 But if it's a female director, if she makes one 0:12:56.360 --> 0:12:59.680 bad one, it's like all her previous successes are completely 0:13:01.440 --> 0:13:03.240 but yeah, that this seems to be the one that 0:13:03.280 --> 0:13:05.559 people direct you to have, like, well, Michael Bay was 0:13:05.600 --> 0:13:09.160 at one point semi competent. But I wouldn't. I wouldn't 0:13:09.160 --> 0:13:10.880 like cape for it, like then be like, you know, 0:13:11.000 --> 0:13:14.600 you would really like the word to say that. I've 0:13:14.600 --> 0:13:17.080 had no less than ten different people said that exactly 0:13:17.200 --> 0:13:18.800 to me, Well, yeah, it kind of sucks, but the 0:13:18.880 --> 0:13:20.480 rocks pretty good, and I think you'd like it. And 0:13:20.520 --> 0:13:22.199 then I watched it and I fucking hated it. I 0:13:22.200 --> 0:13:24.360 think maybe it's terrible unless it's like the caveat of 0:13:24.360 --> 0:13:29.760 like it's the most brainless peak nineties action film. But 0:13:29.800 --> 0:13:31.960 I wouldn't. I would be I would attached so many caveats, 0:13:32.000 --> 0:13:34.880 wouldn't be like you're going, you know what, I peaks 0:13:34.920 --> 0:13:38.120 cinema there once I found out this was a Michael 0:13:38.120 --> 0:13:40.640 Bay joint, and also reading the behind the scenes stuff 0:13:40.679 --> 0:13:43.959 for this movie is wild and that like there's who's 0:13:44.000 --> 0:13:49.040 the guy Don, what's his name? Producer? Okay, so Don 0:13:49.080 --> 0:13:51.160 Simpson in the middle of production for this movie. He's 0:13:51.160 --> 0:13:54.520 like the big producer who works with Bruckheimer and works 0:13:54.559 --> 0:13:57.120 with Michael Band. This movie dies of a coke over 0:13:58.080 --> 0:14:00.600 a few months. Not to laugh at someone's cooke overdose, 0:14:00.720 --> 0:14:04.400 but this is peak nineties, like toxic male, like we're 0:14:04.400 --> 0:14:07.840 gonna make a movie about seals, and then one dies 0:14:07.920 --> 0:14:10.760 of a coke overdose and then like the twist at 0:14:10.760 --> 0:14:13.480 the end is it's dedicated to this guy who had 0:14:13.480 --> 0:14:17.600 a coke overdose. There's also I'm getting way ahead of myself, 0:14:17.600 --> 0:14:20.640 but I do need to say now, Nick Cage is 0:14:20.760 --> 0:14:24.520 the protagonist technically one of two in this movie. I 0:14:24.520 --> 0:14:28.040 would say, yeah, I would say technically like the poster protagonist, 0:14:28.440 --> 0:14:30.280 where you know Sean Connery is like the villain, but 0:14:30.360 --> 0:14:33.400 not really, Like there's no there's a lot of straight, 0:14:34.000 --> 0:14:38.640 white male heroes, but are they villains? But there's so nuance. 0:14:38.720 --> 0:14:41.440 But if they weren't like white and straight, probably they 0:14:41.440 --> 0:14:44.640 would just be villains. But anyways, Nick Cage at the 0:14:44.720 --> 0:14:47.040 end of this movie, the last line he delivers is 0:14:47.120 --> 0:14:51.520 basically a prequel to National Treasure, where he's like, Babe, 0:14:51.600 --> 0:14:55.400 did you know who the real killer of cas? I 0:14:55.440 --> 0:14:57.440 was like, are you reading the fucking back of the 0:14:57.520 --> 0:15:00.760 Declaration of Independence right now? Dude? Like, are you it 0:15:00.840 --> 0:15:06.560 was for good? MAUI? Before the way he looks at 0:15:06.560 --> 0:15:09.520 that microphone is so amazing too. What about Nick Cage? 0:15:09.600 --> 0:15:12.320 Just like we have to give him a Chekhov's gun 0:15:12.360 --> 0:15:17.000 style prop that reveals in that scene that we haven't 0:15:17.000 --> 0:15:21.080 seen yet in the Do they not even have a 0:15:21.120 --> 0:15:24.960 dog at their house? Don't? At the end, it's like, oh, 0:15:25.000 --> 0:15:27.040 I guess they got married, but like and then pretending 0:15:27.080 --> 0:15:28.680 to be like broke because they're like, we're in this 0:15:28.720 --> 0:15:35.520 shitty VW. Beetle Right, Kansas, Kansas, Walton, Kansas. Oh okay, 0:15:35.520 --> 0:15:37.560 I'm sorry. I was not watching this movie. I just 0:15:37.600 --> 0:15:40.040 watched it, and I have a picture graphic memory. I 0:15:40.120 --> 0:15:43.160 was remembering that do you really front pew right leg? 0:15:43.360 --> 0:15:48.160 You know? That's awesome? No, it's only for The Rock, 0:15:48.200 --> 0:15:54.920 though it's asking about any other it is. Remember, I've 0:15:54.960 --> 0:15:56.160 been going to a lot of therapy and I'm being 0:15:56.200 --> 0:15:59.560 to see it as a strength. Yeah. Sorry, I won't 0:15:59.640 --> 0:16:03.920 know that. Fine triggered. Um, you're actually activating my coping skills. 0:16:06.360 --> 0:16:09.000 That's a great way to look at the should do 0:16:09.000 --> 0:16:12.520 the recap, Okay, I'll do. I'll do this so freaking fast. 0:16:12.720 --> 0:16:16.320 So The Rock is about so as you said, not 0:16:16.360 --> 0:16:19.360 the Rock, not Dwayne the Rock Johnson. But the protagonist 0:16:19.480 --> 0:16:22.920 is Nicolas Cage. His character's name is Stanley good Speed, 0:16:23.040 --> 0:16:29.640 good Speed. What a reveal He is a like chemical expert, 0:16:29.720 --> 0:16:34.600 chemicals weapons expert for the FBI. He gets called in 0:16:34.880 --> 0:16:38.320 to help with this hostage situation that takes place where 0:16:38.560 --> 0:16:41.600 and Harris's character, whose name is Frank Hummel, is a 0:16:41.960 --> 0:16:47.480 which is a weird choice. Hummel is a German porcelain statue, 0:16:47.800 --> 0:16:50.280 was interested in what the deal with the whole hummele 0:16:50.400 --> 0:16:54.520 thing was. But I crack, yeah, my grandma would like 0:16:54.560 --> 0:16:57.960 collect hummels. They're like these weird German porcelain, very commercial 0:16:58.160 --> 0:17:01.320 statues where it would be like Christian horribles in porcelain. 0:17:01.520 --> 0:17:04.439 And then okay, I know we interrupt, I know we 0:17:04.480 --> 0:17:08.520 interrupted the thing constantly. But the two writers credited on 0:17:08.560 --> 0:17:12.399 this movie, who are not, thankfully I think for their 0:17:12.400 --> 0:17:15.600 own reputations, not visually credited and also because of writer's 0:17:15.640 --> 0:17:20.119 guilt rules, Sorkin and Tarantino contributed to the script for 0:17:20.160 --> 0:17:22.919 The Rock. Yeah, so it's impossible to say where these 0:17:23.000 --> 0:17:25.760 names come from or what these specific things I find 0:17:25.800 --> 0:17:27.800 interesting comes from. But there are a lot of good 0:17:27.840 --> 0:17:30.399 writers involved in this movie, but few of them are 0:17:30.400 --> 0:17:32.560 actually credit. There's like a quote about how Sorkin like 0:17:32.680 --> 0:17:35.280 wrote quote most of the good dialogue or something like that. 0:17:35.440 --> 0:17:40.640 I mean, of course there Simpsons. You know, Sorkin loves 0:17:40.640 --> 0:17:42.920 Coke too, so they're probably all just like flying off code. 0:17:43.720 --> 0:17:47.399 So it was apparently Aaron Sorkin Tarantino. And then the 0:17:47.440 --> 0:17:52.400 three credited screenwriters were David Weiseberg, Douglas Cook, and Mark Rosner. 0:17:52.560 --> 0:17:56.480 So a bunch of freaking men wrote this movie. Cool alright. 0:17:56.560 --> 0:17:59.359 So anyway, the story is Frank Hummel is like a 0:17:59.440 --> 0:18:03.800 Marie like black Ops. He was doing things commanded by 0:18:03.840 --> 0:18:07.560 the government that we're technically illegal and then not compensated 0:18:07.600 --> 0:18:11.359 fairly or you know, just various injustices were done to 0:18:11.640 --> 0:18:14.560 like him and his fellow Marines and their families and 0:18:14.600 --> 0:18:16.679 things like that. A lot is done to humanize the 0:18:16.760 --> 0:18:20.080 villain in this and which is I think Michael Bay 0:18:20.119 --> 0:18:23.120 thing that is normally not thought about, right. He well, 0:18:23.160 --> 0:18:25.960 he literally sets his stakes up in the first thing 0:18:26.080 --> 0:18:28.760 by talking to his wife's grave. I would say, he 0:18:28.840 --> 0:18:33.440 screams that his wife, I'm so sorry. His wife's grave 0:18:33.640 --> 0:18:40.960 says Barbara Hummels, his wife. I was like wife. And secondly, 0:18:41.119 --> 0:18:46.160 it's the first thing his wife I guess because they're 0:18:46.200 --> 0:18:49.359 already pre like designing the plots. So he'll be there, 0:18:49.400 --> 0:18:52.160 and then I'll be Yeah. She she is only defined 0:18:52.240 --> 0:18:58.000 on her gravestone by her relationship. Yeah, maybe they'll finally 0:18:58.040 --> 0:19:00.800 listen to me. There. God, when this movie starts with 0:19:00.880 --> 0:19:04.200 like a Jerry Bruckheimer joint, a Michael Bay joint, You're like, Okay, 0:19:04.240 --> 0:19:06.399 so there's gonna be a lot of men with veneers 0:19:06.440 --> 0:19:09.639 in this movie. Crazy. Then you find out the movies 0:19:09.680 --> 0:19:13.159 about Alcatraz, You're like, great. And then you find out 0:19:13.200 --> 0:19:18.320 about poor fucking Barbara Hummel. Ed Harris, who is I 0:19:18.359 --> 0:19:21.679 will say, doing his very best in this whole movie. 0:19:21.760 --> 0:19:23.560 I love it. I mean, I have such a soft 0:19:23.600 --> 0:19:26.440 spot for character actors, and Ed Harris has been sidelined 0:19:26.440 --> 0:19:29.840 his entire life and I love him. But he, I mean, 0:19:30.200 --> 0:19:32.440 there's only so much you can do. He screams at 0:19:32.480 --> 0:19:35.560 his wife's grape. He says, I miss you so much. 0:19:36.119 --> 0:19:40.560 Everyone screams. Movie. Michael Bay's directing style is more screaming, 0:19:40.560 --> 0:19:44.320 Please scream louder, like, yeah, it's a lot. Hey, the 0:19:44.400 --> 0:19:46.359 rain is really loud. Imagine she can't hear you through 0:19:46.400 --> 0:19:49.600 the rain, Ed, you're screaming at her ghost Dad, You're 0:19:49.680 --> 0:19:53.720 dumb bitch, right, like you know he's like just screaming profanity. 0:19:53.800 --> 0:19:56.640 Is that everyone at all times, and so no one, 0:19:56.840 --> 0:20:00.680 no single actor, could be held accountable for whatever atrocities 0:20:00.720 --> 0:20:04.080 take places in the movie. Okay, so it hare's his 0:20:04.200 --> 0:20:07.760 character Um. In response to the injustices that he feels 0:20:07.960 --> 0:20:11.240 has been directed at him, he takes a bunch of people, 0:20:11.359 --> 0:20:15.719 like tourists hostage in Alcatraz. So eight one tourists are 0:20:15.760 --> 0:20:18.679 taking hostage. It's the most diverse group of people we 0:20:18.720 --> 0:20:21.879 see in the entire movie, where there's a lot of 0:20:22.280 --> 0:20:25.040 there's young people, there's old people, there's black people, there's 0:20:25.080 --> 0:20:29.040 Hispanic people. There's all sorts of people we'd never see, 0:20:29.160 --> 0:20:31.439 never check in with them. Yeah, I don't need to. 0:20:31.480 --> 0:20:34.720 Except for the crying father white hostage death exactly, we 0:20:34.760 --> 0:20:37.480 see a series of racist caricatures. We see a crying 0:20:37.480 --> 0:20:41.440 white hostage and then we basically forget that the most 0:20:41.440 --> 0:20:45.480 diverse seen just reinforces the crazy stereotypes because one cell 0:20:45.720 --> 0:20:49.360 is like the clueless elderly Asian people and like the 0:20:49.480 --> 0:20:52.600 angry black dude who's like, man, this is a tour 0:20:53.119 --> 0:20:55.439 and then they go to like, Okay, well so we 0:20:55.480 --> 0:20:57.560 have angry black man. Now let's go to sassy black 0:20:57.600 --> 0:21:03.639 woman and gun. Yeah, it's like and then this film, 0:21:03.680 --> 0:21:05.480 like you know, that's why I says like peak nineties 0:21:05.480 --> 0:21:08.760 of sort of like this completely. You know, this was normal, 0:21:09.080 --> 0:21:11.399 and it's almost like like you could tell people almost 0:21:11.400 --> 0:21:12.600 had to write these like and then you know we're 0:21:12.600 --> 0:21:14.600 gonna have to have like a sassy black woman say 0:21:14.640 --> 0:21:17.040 something here, you know what I mean. It was like, yeah, 0:21:17.080 --> 0:21:18.879 this movie has all of the great tropes in it. 0:21:18.960 --> 0:21:22.520 Oh and then like the character who is coated as gay, 0:21:22.600 --> 0:21:26.640 the stylist who comes in shot. We'll get we'll get 0:21:26.680 --> 0:21:30.760 to that. But you can't. You can't just bring in 0:21:30.760 --> 0:21:34.680 a stereotype for two minutes and then discard the character forever. 0:21:35.200 --> 0:21:42.960