November 22, 2025 • 38 mins
In this classic, four families come together for the holidays and drama ensues in the 2000s Thanksgiving movie What's Cooking?
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Speaker 1 (00:05):
Hey, this is Anny and Samantha.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
What kind of stuff? I never told you a pfictureve
I heard you? And as we record this, we are
heading into the holidays. If you celebrate, hope all as well.
Hope if thanks Okay, But I think this was pretty recent.
(00:30):
We actually did a Thanksgiving movie, Oh yeah, What's Cooking?
Because we were discussing how there aren't that many Thanksgiving movies.
One of them that we talked about I still want
to watch one day, and I'm debating on whether I
want to save it for this segment or just watch
(00:53):
it on my own.
Speaker 1 (00:55):
Is it a horror movie?
Speaker 2 (00:57):
No, I've seen that one, though I've actually seen both
of the big ones. Oh but yeah, No, I want
to see the one where, oh gosh, I would recognize
the actress if you said her name, but where they
like go to her small apartment and have the Thanksgiving
(01:19):
I just feel like I would connect with that in
a way of especially since my car hasn't been working,
my mom's been staying at my place when she visits,
and my apartment's like it's not small, small, but it's
on small side for two people, right, And so if
I were to have a holiday Thanksgiving celebration with her here.
It would be especially because my oven doesn't really work.
(01:42):
It would be interesting. It does work, it's just I
have to keep an eye on it.
Speaker 1 (01:48):
Tell me new things every time about your apartment. But
I'm like, what anyway going on?
Speaker 2 (01:54):
I just have to keep an eye on it, that's all.
And you know the holidays brings this stuff out. But
I thought we could bring this this episode back, so
please enjoy. Hey, this is Anny and Samantha and welcome
to Stephane. Never told your production of I Heart Radio.
Speaker 1 (02:25):
And you know what, I feel like this is starting
to be a tradition around the holidays. I think where
I need to do a throwback And this one went
to the two thousands. The ots literally zero zero looking
at the old days, and I guess what we used
to think about the holidays or this movie specifically, maybe
what the person from the UK you may think of
(02:47):
as a US Thanksgiving. I'm gonna put the big question
to Mark there, which is funny because I have a
good friend who moved from Georgia to the UK and
she hosts a Thanksgiving there every year and the people
they love it, her friends, her UK friends love it
and look forward to it every year, even though that's
(03:07):
not a thing that they do, which I thought was
quite funny. But yeah, so we're talking about the movie
What's Cooking, which doesn't have a great rating. Annie, I
noticed that when I was like, oh yeah, I was like,
fifty eight percent Rotten Tomatoes. Maybe it's because it's so
old and Ron Tomatoes wasn't around at that point right.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
Now, I actually don't know.
Speaker 1 (03:31):
I thought it was a newer thing, newer. I say
that loosely.
Speaker 2 (03:35):
I will say that you suggested four movies, right because
we were looking for like Thanksgiving movies, and I watched
the trailer for all of them, and all of them
I was actually like, I kind of do want to
watch this? And I looked up all of their percentages
and all of them were pretty good. But I didn't
look at Rot Tomatoes, so I don't know, but all
(03:56):
of them were pretty.
Speaker 1 (03:57):
Good, like the question pretty good ish And yeah, So
this movie that I gave you a long list of,
I was like, this looks pretty you know, on point
with what we would would look at in time was
directed by Grinder Chada, who also wrote and directed Of
Course My All Time one of my all time favorites
(04:18):
which we've talked about before, which we featured Bend It
like Beckham, as well as a bigger throwback for me
Bride and Prejudice, which came I think after this one though,
because I didn't watch it until I was in college.
I was really into Bollywood for a while and Bride
and Prejudice it hit. There's so many lines I can't
even remember it like I loved it. But Chata has
(04:39):
helped also helped to write this along with Paul Mayatta Burgess.
Sorry if I said that wrong. Who is the husband?
I didn't realize they were married and also co wrote
Bend It like Beckham, so he is American, so maybe
his perspective also helped. But I found that interesting that
this is who did this. The movie revolves around four
(05:02):
diverse as it has written in many reviews, diverse families
all coming to celebrate Thanksgiving and the many family interactions
that that involves. We have Joan Chen as the matriarch
of the Nunn family, who uh trend is her name
is a Vitnamese family who lives with her husband Douck,
(05:24):
grandma and Grandpa, and children Jimmy who's the oldest, Jenny,
Gary and Joey, which I think maybe most of them
are not Vietnamese. They range like Joan Chin is Chinese.
Apparently Jimmy, who is played I forgot who played by
is Korean. I was like, huh, they couldn't find Okay,
it's okay, it's okay, it's okay. Moving on, and then
(05:47):
we have the Selig family, a Jewish family with Ruth
played by Laine Kazan who you may know her from
My Fat, My Big Fat Greek Wedding. Which have we
done that one?
Speaker 2 (05:57):
No, we haven't haven't seen that movie.
Speaker 1 (06:00):
We're coming back to that. We haven't done this. Oh okay,
everybody put that in your calendar because it is coming
with her husband, herbie daughter Rachel played by Kiara Sedgwick,
her girlfriend Carla played by Juliana Markaalie, and her two
(06:20):
sons with the and uncle joining the dinner and as
per Momos things, Yeah, it's played by sis HETERONORDI of people,
and I don't know is Kia Sedgwick? It doesn't matter.
But I don't think they're like when we talk about
the layers of who plays what, you're like, they really
didn't care about accuracy in the I don't think I
(06:44):
say this, but you know.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
Then we have the via the family Latino family led
by the mother Elizabeth played by Mercedes Role with her
children Tony and Gina, and her mother and siblings all
added in the mix, and then also added to the
chaos as the ex husband Javier and the new boyfriend Daniel.
And then we have the Williams family headed by Alfred
(07:05):
Witard who plays Audrey, with her husband Ronald and her
son Michael, with the mother in law Grace and her
youngest child, and joining them is a white couple who
works with Ronald at the Governor's office.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
Right, Okay, now that we somewhat introduce the families, let's
talk about the plot. So, as we said, the movie
follows four families who are coming together to eat and
continue with their holiday traditions. We get to see the
lives that are somewhat intertwined as they all live in
la and are all neighbors, which I didn't figure out
(07:41):
till much later. I was like, oh, what I had
that moment. They are all bustling about making them their
way through grocery stores, phone calls, and traveling to get
to the actual festivities. We're going to start with the
different families and what they're doing. So the Nwinn family,
who own a local video rental store. What a throwback, right,
(08:01):
all the vhs and the clear plastic holders. I remember those. Okay,
that was before Blockbuster covered them all up or had
the black black cases. Because sometimes they're like, is it
the actual movie anyway? Uh. They're coming together to make
their meal, a mix of Vietnamese cuisine with American cuisine,
a turkey with all the good Asian spices, basil roles
(08:24):
which looked really good by the way spring rolls, and
so much more on the table. Unfortunately, they find out
that the oldest Jimmy can't come due to school, but
it turns out it's a lie, as he wants to
go with his new girlfriend to her family celebration. More
on that in a minute. He is a stable part
of their family, someone they rely on not only as
the college student, but as the oldest brother. Uh. The
(08:47):
parents ask him to help and to talk with the
younger siblings as well. And by the way, the other
son has recently gotten into trouble at school and has
been suspended. All the while the young daughter has been
to distracted by boys and makeup. They accuse of her
being trampy, I guess is the best word, because they
call her different things throughout. Soon we have a big
(09:09):
twist and find out that the Sun has a gun
under his bed, which his sister finds and immediately panics,
taking it with her to the video store. After a
whole mess where the parents discovered that Jenny has a
white boyfriend and maybe having sex insert earlier discovery of
condoms in her pockets, she confronts the brother Gary, who
says he's only holding it for a friend who was
(09:31):
recently jumped. And y'all the acting in this part was something.
Speaker 2 (09:37):
It was and I have a funny story about it later.
So moving on to the Avilla family, A part of
the connectedness of the plot is Gina, daughter to Elizabeth,
is dating Jimmy, the oldest of the Wynn family, and
is bringing him home for dinner. Before the dinner, however,
we discover that she's got a new boyfriend. New boyfriend, Yeah,
(10:02):
the mom has a new boyfriend. Tony and his wife
run into his father at the grocery store, where he
awkwardly invites him to dinner. The dad is like, well,
I have nowhere to go, and Tony's like, all right,
come on. After talking with his mother, he tries to
uninvite him. He says he left a message because the
(10:24):
dad had had Javier had had an affair with the
mom the matrix cousin and left them. But you know whatever,
and Jimmy arrive and everyone seems to warm up to Jimmy.
After some awkward racist moments of talking about Bruce Lee
and Jackie Chan, Elizabeth lets Gina know that the new boyfriend,
(10:47):
Daniel would be stopping by for dessert, which Gina has
mixed feelings about. As they all sit together, Javier the
father shows up with very little remorse and tries to
win back Elizabe. Then Daniel shows up and the whole
thing is even more awkward. They sit at opposite the table.
After a bit of back and forth, Javier leaves after
(11:10):
Elizabeth lets him know she doesn't want to take him
back and also, yes, the grandmother was amazing. She was
very like, why are you here? To get out of here?
Speaker 1 (11:21):
She loved her defending the whole It was definitely a
whole women versus men guy. In this scene where the
women were taking up for her. The mother be like, hey,
while the men were like, but but but yes.
Speaker 2 (11:34):
That's when I because I texted you and I was like,
I feel like all these holiday movies are telling me
men are terrible. It was that scene where I was like, this.
Speaker 1 (11:41):
Is there's several there's several scenes were like, yeah, men
are the worst, So let's just put that out there.
Then we had the Williams family. Dear Audrey is scrambling
trying to make the perfect Thanksgiving Day dinner. Her husband
is currently at work where he works for the governor
of California. We see the governor at an event where
(12:02):
he is questioned about his policies concerning the quote underprivileged.
As he is about to leave, he is splashed with
white paint, with one of the attackers being Ronald and
Audrey's son Michael. And as Audrey is preparing dinner, she
is watched and quote assistance upon that end quotes by
her mother in law, who is portrayed as the typical
(12:26):
mother in law in this the nagging woman, which you
know you gotta have one, I guess. The work couple
who are friends arrives with their daughter's slash step daughter,
who has a lot of attitude and is similarly dressed
to the craft cast. I appreciated that a may amo
dark and during their dinner, the turkey ends up falling
through the table, causing Audrey quite a bit of stress.
(12:48):
But we have them rallying together to fix it and
it still looks quite delicious. They're eating green beans off
the floor, so they's seem fine. The son, Michael, shows
up to all of their surprise, and it turns out
the relationship between the father's son is strained, which has
caused a lot of problems for the entire family. He
debates about school and politics arise with an explosive remark
(13:12):
from the son about the father's affair with a woman
in the office. Audrey runs into the kitchen to eat
dessert as Michael tries to apologize. The mother in law
chastises Ronald but insists they need to stay together and
fix it.
Speaker 2 (13:25):
Okay, I've seen this also. I really appreciated her aggressive
eating of the pie.
Speaker 1 (13:30):
Yes, she was so upset that all she was just
couldn't do. It's just I got to get a dessert.
Speaker 2 (13:36):
I understand that feelings I do too, So then we
move on to the Selog family. Rachel arrives with her
girlfriend Carla and already there being mistaken us sisters, so
they enter the house together in battle mode like they've
clearly kind of knew this was probably gonna happen. The
parents accept their relationship, they still have a hard time
(13:59):
with it. In a conversation between the parents, we see
the mother crime because she thinks her daughter won't be
able to have a happy family. Meanwhile, we see Rachel
and Carla in their twin beds that they have pushed together,
talking about the family and how to deal with everything.
The following day, as they help the mother put together
the dinner, Carla tries her best to get to know
(14:20):
them and even endures a whole speech about the jacuzzi
from Rachel's father about how much he loves it and
the temperature and very minor temperature differences. Carla and her
mother have a good relationship from what we witness, and
Rachel seems to like her a lot as well, which
seems to bring some feelings out in her mom. Later
(14:42):
we find out that the aunt and uncle are a
joining and the parents have requested that Rachel and Carla
not mention that they are in a relationship together As
a family gathers. Talks of politics and how Elia's changed
come up, and it gets really tense as the conversation
gets more heated. But at the height of the conversation,
(15:03):
Rachel makes an announcement that she is pregnant, and confusion
and shock ensues, the mother and father trying to figure
out how this happened and advertedly outing them, which soon
leads to the outing of her brother, who was the
sperm doner.
Speaker 1 (15:17):
Right. I did appreciate the other brother who his women
and his wife and the kids come. I did appreciate
that they were very supportive, but also the fact that
they also were getting some shit as the ant and
uncle were like, when's the third baby coming? Oh my god, No,
it was quite nice. I was like, oh, everybody gets it.
Everybody gets it. As all the dinners are coming to
(15:40):
an end, we go back to see the Wynn family,
whose turkey was burned so they had to order KFC,
which I thought was delightful, and apparently the youngest did too,
he was very excited about this chicken. During the mil
Gary's friends show up, which worries Ginny, who announces that
Gary was hiding a gun and just lays it on
the table because why not. After a lot of arguing,
(16:01):
the youngest and they leave the table. The youngest comes out,
who was very excited about chicken, sees the gun, grabs
it and plays with it, and it goes off. After
a very intense moment of like this is a thirteen
movies kill the youngest child off. I had that debate
back and forth of like what the hell and realizing
this is quickly turning into an after school special that
(16:21):
I've seen before.
Speaker 2 (16:22):
I feel like.
Speaker 1 (16:24):
We soon find out that the families all live caddy
corner to each other. Literally, each one of it lives
on a corner that faces one another, which is hilarious,
like how would they not known each other?
Speaker 2 (16:33):
How?
Speaker 1 (16:35):
There's so many questions I had, but I just looked it.
But that the gun had gone off and everybody heard it. Jimmy,
realizing that it came from his house, runs to the
home again he had lied that he's not coming home.
A lot more confusion, we find out that everyone is
safe and the gun has shot out the window. At
this point, Jimmy introduces everyone to his his family, to
(16:56):
his girlfriend Gina, who again lives across the way, who
was accepted into the family. They're like, oh, she looks Vietnamese.
Welcome to the family. And then we have Ronald who
talks to Michael about the future and his own experiences
about how it's hard not having an education and being
a black person in the community and what that looks
(17:17):
like blah blah blah. And then we have the Sea
leagues who are all a bit confused but more distracted
by the recent gunshot. And then the Avelis continue on
with their dessert like it's just yay in the story
Happy Holiday.
Speaker 2 (17:41):
So can I tell you I watched this last night
and I had to watch it with ads, so it
was taking longer than I thought. And one of my
good friends came over for like the final i'd say
ten minutes because we were going to go see the
new Thanksgiving movie, which I did see night, and I
didn't know this gun thing was gonna happen. And my
(18:02):
poor friend shows up for the last ten minutes of
this movie and it was like, what are you watching?
Like I don't know understand, but it was so funny
because I couldn't have anticipated this, and that's the only
part she saw. Then we went to go see this
(18:22):
other movie.
Speaker 1 (18:23):
In that was a shakraa.
Speaker 2 (18:25):
I'm sure it was quite a day.
Speaker 1 (18:26):
That's funny. Yeah, the entire setup was odd. It's an
hour and forty five fifty minutes long. I think it
is your tip. It is on not not a sponsor
Amazon Prime with ads. I also, I have never seen
this movie either. I just picked. We were like, we
need to do a Thanksgiving Day movie. Let's be silly
watch this. And this has four matriarchs. I honestly thought
(18:48):
they all came together. That's what I had envisioned, and
then it turned out none of that was happening.
Speaker 2 (18:53):
Was like, okay, okay.
Speaker 1 (18:54):
I feel like the most diverse of the two would
have been the Avila's and the Winds doing their things.
So like, oh at Lista's cold, Okay, okay, cool, cool
to have an Asian family as part of the star as.
In fact, Joan Chen was kind of uh named as
if she was the star of the show, which is
not true because she's she's barely in it compared to
(19:17):
the rest of them. But I digress. So there's a
lot again. Finding out that it was bended, like Beckham
creators really threw me off because like they really wanted
to tell an American story that's interesting. About Thanksgiving, that's interesting.
And of course we did have a couple of conversations
about like, you know, the goth girl talking about how,
(19:38):
you know, millions of Native Americans first indigenous people were
murdered and killed my disease. I was like, okay, hey,
lids say, I guess they added that in there. Uh
did love the fact that she during their like we're
playing house, She's like, I'm going to be the alcoholics.
The mother cult worship based up mother and because we're like, uh, okay, okay,
(20:01):
Google and the grandma was too. So there's a lot
to that in that level. But yeah, there were several themes,
and I think there was more like, oh yeah, I
get this. So obviously the very top is the holidays
and families togetherness and Jimmy lying about going home and
why he couldn't come home. I may have done that
like as of like three years ago, to be honest,
(20:25):
not for a mate, but like just because.
Speaker 2 (20:30):
Oh yeah, I mean they definitely it was kind of
shocking how accurately I felt they captured the vibe of
the drama of families during this time of like the
politics of it, of the like, ugh, I don't want
to deal with this person of the asking you like
(20:51):
if you're single, when you're gonna have kids, like all
of those like things we dread and may lie about
to get out of and feel guilty about lying about
to get out of, and then like visiting another partner's
family and yes, being on the outliers there.
Speaker 1 (21:10):
Right, I loved of course, like at least they had
LGBTQ representation and it was sweet, very nice kind of
representation where they're supportive and not trying to be over
the top. Of course, the partner is the one that's like,
don't say anything, don't argue with your dad about the politics,
thing about the immigrations and all the all the things,
which I was like, oh, there it comes. But of
(21:32):
course inevitably that's the conversation. You know. I've talked about
the fact that I get scared of going because that's
going to come up, and typically it gets worse. It
hasn't been as bad when it's been at its worst,
like the Trump administration. My brother did the only thing,
which is like, I'm going to buy you a Maga hat,
and I kind of just stared at him. I was like,
I don't care, and we didn't say anything else, of course,
(21:55):
like we said, like, I've already had my arguments with
my mom and it was so bad, and my mom
was I think, begged everyone not to say anything. But
apparently political conversations happen when I'm not around. Yeah, because
my niece have had to had to deal with that,
I'm like, oh, bless her heart. But yeah, that's one
of the big I hate. I hate it so much.
I will say as much as like I love, I'd
(22:17):
rather go to my partner's family m any day, all
day because we're all very similar. The father does play
news constantly to the fiend, and I'm like, I'm gonna
lose it. I'm gonna lose it. Yeah, I'm gonna lose it.
But it's not because necessarily that he's arguing with anybody,
because everybody pretty much agrees right on all the stances there.
(22:39):
But it's just like I still don't want to hear it,
even if it is things that I more agree with,
I don't want to hear it.
Speaker 2 (22:45):
Yeah. That's that's kind of me with my older brother,
because my brothers are both very very like all day
listening to the stuff like that, and I do agree
with most of it. I don't agree with some of it,
but but it it is like I will literally go
home because they're both like night owls. It'll be four
(23:07):
am and I'm just listening to something about Donald Trump,
and I'm like, I just want to sleep. Please please
turn this off because now and now my heart is
beating really fast.
Speaker 1 (23:21):
Oh no, yeah, politics, bad hearing news even warse right.
I think that's the one thing that they were missing.
They need to add that. Now. If they did a
remake of this, they'd add that the one uncle that
sleeps in the couch that he listens to the news time.
Another thing which we've talked about as a full episode,
women preparing the dinner. It was only the women the
(23:44):
entire time. Jimmy, Dear Jimmy, and I think this is
being the oldest child comes in to play, came in
and helped, and I was like, that's super cute like that,
and they were all like bragging about how he's so
great and doing this. But then like the brother Tony
was like, can you give me a beer? Hunt to
the wife, and I'm like, I'll punch you in the throat.
But we know that's the thing.
Speaker 2 (24:04):
Yeah, that was definitely assumption that that stuck out to
me was like, as someone who does do this, it's
so frustrating sometimes it's just like a lot of work.
I don't think, because I did love that they showed
the making of the like tamal is and the making
of the spring rolls and like kind of it was
(24:26):
more communal than I'm used to, And so I don't
say there's necessarily anything wrong with that, because I do
think there is something like a sort of bonding that
happens over that. But I don't I hate the like
assumption you'll do it, and the like not caring, like
not being at least somewhat like this took a lot
(24:46):
of work. I had to plan all of this, I
had to do all of this right now. The turkeys
on the floor.
Speaker 1 (24:54):
Like yeah. And the person during that Williams dinner was
the friend the white wol and being the one that's like,
this is so looks amazing, you did so amazing. She
was the only one really complimenting the entire thing to
the level it should be complimented. But it does remind
me like my own home. We do come together because
most of the children are grown uh, and they help
(25:15):
with the food.
Speaker 2 (25:16):
I do not.
Speaker 1 (25:16):
I'm the one who brings like the rolls and the
dessert and the the cokes and the drinks. Rather, yes,
I'm very suddent the cokes. We recently my partner has
proved himself as a cook, so it has now become
a part of that too. And the last time we went,
he went and helped in the kitchen and whatever. I
was helping too, like we were both in there, but
they were just like kind of like Jimmy, They're like, whoa, yeah,
(25:39):
what are you doing in here?
Speaker 2 (25:40):
Are you?
Speaker 1 (25:41):
You want to help? Like to that level, and all
was like, yeah, yeah, I guess I got a good
And then moving on the matriarchy. Obviously the overlaying the
plot of the entire thing, whether they're steering the conversation,
they're steering the mood, they're steering the dinner, and or
disappoint however you want to look at it.
Speaker 2 (26:01):
They were.
Speaker 1 (26:01):
They were the main focus of the entire thing. We
had men coming in trying to be men, but the
women pretty much, whether it was the grandma too, so
the wind family, it was the grandma, like the grandpa
was sitting there watching Pamaway and orson which I did appreciate. Yeah, yes,
as a whole throwback, but like, you know, the grandma
(26:23):
wasn't there comforting the kids, helping with the dinner, making
sure everybody was okay, Like she was a big part
of that too.
Speaker 2 (26:29):
M m. Yeah, yeah, it definitely was kind of you
had the the woman leading the family on this day
and trying to bring the family together. It was interesting
to me because I feel like my family dynamics are
very different. Like maybe actually, maybe it's just me. I
(26:50):
can't imagine telling my mom I wasn't coming home for
the holidays. I did it once. I did it once,
and I made a meal for her to tell her
that I wasn't like a fancy.
Speaker 1 (27:05):
Meal of a different dynamic because you are a smaller family. Yeah,
so then that makes a little bit of a difference.
But yeah, that's still like a different part for you too. Yeah,
I was thinking too. With like the Villa family, she
makes everything. She might not be the loud one that
takes over the conversation, but she quietly maintains so She's
still welcoming to Hobby even though she was like, I
(27:27):
don't want him here, right, She didn't ask for permission
for Daniel to be there, but Daniel showed up and
she made she be like you're ready, like doing all
those things. She was ridiculously reserved for that situation.
Speaker 2 (27:39):
To me, oh, I was outraged. I was outraged on
her behalf. I was like, these dudes suck in your life?
Speaker 1 (27:48):
Are these men? Why? For the williams Audrey was completely
by herself with the in law hosting the in law
as well, which has been a big conversation. There was
a reason video and techtok where a dude was like,
I'm bringing to my mom. She's like, no, you're not
her grandma. He's like, no, you're not unless you're willing
to take care of her because if not, I'm going
to be the one taking care of her. On top
of so we are not agreed, like there are so
(28:10):
many He's like, I'm men at this house. She's like, no,
I'm taking care of this house. So but this level
like who's taking care of whom and who responsibility and
who it always falls on no matter what, Maybe the
conversation not that, like it's a taxing thing to have
to double women. And then if you're like opposition and
it feels like you're competing with each other, which that's
what this felt like. It could become a problem, which
(28:32):
of course.
Speaker 2 (28:32):
Yeah, I've said this before in my family, and I
feel like a lot of families. My mom would cook
the whole thing and then a man, not always my dad,
(28:54):
a man would come in and he would cut the turkey.
And it would be like, look at what he's done
in one year. Literally that man cut his hand and
bled all in the turkey. So now my mom does it.
She does it fine, like it's just annoying, Like I'm
not saying she should have to do it, but I
hate that, Like I shall come in after you've cooked
(29:15):
all this thing, and I will present.
Speaker 1 (29:16):
Them, right, I will to what I provided.
Speaker 2 (29:19):
Yes, she's just capable of doing it without bleeding.
Speaker 1 (29:25):
That's funny, I'll say, I don't think you've ever had that.
It's always been sliced, ready to go, like that's never
been a ceremony, like if the ceremonies us coming around,
which the whole prayer sequence was quite funny too, yes,
but like still having the whole prayer around the table,
like that's what happened, but everything's ready to go, like
there's no ceremony to cutting the turkey. So I found
that I alsought that was just a movie thing and
last people actually did that.
Speaker 2 (29:47):
No, in a different podcast, but it dates back to
like the eighteen hundreds and man being like, look, I
can provide for my family.
Speaker 1 (29:55):
I cut things. Which speaking of yeah, part of the
theme again is men's suck, especially barely during the holidays.
And I say this was again as my partner, he
is great, like he as in fact, I'm like, yeah,
my parents never expected me. My mother never expected me
to cook. She just expected me to bring like additional
things and help. Like now that like he's on board.
(30:17):
She's like, okay, yeah he can bring this food. I
was like, wait, what you never asked me? What is this?
I mean in the end, it's fine. I'm a little
low key offended, but not over the top offended, but like, yeah,
that men suck in general. The cheating that was just
thrown out there like it was just no big deal,
Like what the hell?
Speaker 2 (30:36):
Yeah, like several instances now we're not talking about wood,
we're talking about molds.
Speaker 1 (30:43):
A couple a couple of instances, yes, but yes we
have that. And then we have Javier who thinks he
could just come back in. He's like, I made a mistake.
It was just a flip. It was not a big deal.
Speaker 2 (30:55):
Yeah, and then like him getting mad and then the
son Tony, but like he's a kid, I will give
him a little leeway. I'm sure it wasn't easy, but
also like he was trying to guilt his mom, like
we're ruining this holiday.
Speaker 1 (31:09):
I mean he just come back to apologize. And I
wonder if they just didn't understand the theme of it,
and so came to the end like is it supposed
to be? Like this is this how you're supposed to act?
Because like the men went after Hobby to bring him back,
all the women were like nah.
Speaker 2 (31:22):
Bye, yeah, all the women. They literally have a scene
where all the women are on one side and all
the men.
Speaker 1 (31:33):
But yeah, Like it literally was that to the point
that even Tony, who we talk about, the kid who
invited the dad, uh, was like getting from his wife
because his wife was mad at him for doing all that.
She's like, hmmm, when do you do it?
Speaker 2 (31:46):
No, You're not even gonna ask her or tell her
he's coming.
Speaker 1 (31:52):
Like the entire time, I was like, well, you know what,
I like that they banned together for the mother because yeah, yes,
the ladies they got it again.
Speaker 2 (32:02):
If they had ended up together, I was gonna be so.
I think there was a moment where you're like, oh wait,
oh no, but she's.
Speaker 1 (32:09):
Sur passive like that Jimmy, seemingly even though she's not.
It was all but I think it was just also
that that sound like strength, the quiet strength that just
like hmm, I'm not even gonna play into this to
be dramatic about it. Let's just move on, like this
is how little it's being to me, And then we
have I guess the LGBTQ. I don't know if like
(32:30):
it was a sidemark or supposed to be diversity.
Speaker 2 (32:40):
It was interesting because it's weird when you watch something
from like the two thousands and you feel that we've
come so far since, and we have, but it's also
strange that I'm like, this could very well easily still happen.
It was like very strange thing where I felt like
(33:04):
they were trying to be It's like they tried they
did a search on all of the problems you could
have at Thanksgiving, and they were like, okay, one is
this queer aspect, so let's put that in there, which
is true. It just felt very it felt very dated
(33:25):
and also relevant, if that makes right right.
Speaker 1 (33:29):
Yeah, I mean it absolutely did. Between like the having
the child and then being like that's okay, people do
that nowadays, mom Like that. That being said, that was
hilarious to me. To the discovery that it was the
brother who did them, the brother cousin. I don't know
what he was. I thought it was the brother, but
then maybe I mixed that one up. I was a
donor and then he was gay, like they out him
(33:51):
as well.
Speaker 2 (33:51):
It's like, well damn, yeah, they definitely outed them very.
Speaker 1 (33:55):
Quickly, like the's on the edge about whether or not.
And then the fact that she's having a baby instead
of being happy, just being confused. I was like, what's okay?
Speaker 2 (34:05):
But okay, baby was a surprise. I was not expecting
the baby to come up.
Speaker 1 (34:11):
The gunpit was a surprise. It was quite a bit
of surprises. I have to wonder because it's not way
off again though it still does I'm like, yeah, she's
a UK based person doing this movie. I wonder, like
what I really want to sit down, whether it'd be
like why why thanksci me? Why for families? Why these
(34:35):
things in LA specifically like can we because it's like
she's not completely she's not wrong, as in fact, I
know a lot of Asian games were pretty are pretty rampant,
were pretty ramped in LA. A lot of things were happening,
so it wasn't way off. And then as well as
the fact like they are culturally appropriating a lot of
(35:00):
things as well. I was like, okay at the beginning,
saying with a kid having the conversation in the mirror,
trying to be quote unquote tough, say I'm putting quote
my own quotes around it, but like it had memorials
like so I can't tell if this is inflated in
the ideas of what she thinks of LA or if
(35:20):
it's too on points. But there's also two thousands and
I was like graduating high school, going to college, so
I had a completely different world in Georgia.
Speaker 2 (35:31):
The butterfly pins, oh my gosh, there were butterfly clips
in this movie. I also say, like it was interesting
to see the with the son Michael and his dad Ronald,
when Michael outs his dad for cheating. Yeah, I think, like,
(35:51):
I think that's an interesting thing that happens a lot
in these family gatherings too, where you're trying to as
a family hold it together and maybe keep these things secret,
and then they come out and like who decides when
it comes out? And then when the mother in law
was like, oh, you have to stay together like those,
I have seen all of this. I have seen all
(36:13):
of this, and it's just interesting. I feel like a
lot of times we all have those, you know. I
think I read a joke about this the other day,
like it's not Thanksgiving unless one person refuses to come,
Like we have these these dramas in our family, and
these just just unresolved, unresolved things, and then you come
(36:38):
together for a holiday and you're trying to make it
look like you're a good family, good family, a perfect family,
like nothing is wrong, but something is clearly wrong right,
Like you're not talking about you're not being honest with
each other right.
Speaker 1 (36:51):
And then there was a whole bit with that little
Williams family. I was like, why is that why dude
butting in about his son? He needs to shut up,
Like I was getting annoyed with that. You want to
pick a fight at someone else's house? Yeah, that was
like even if he was wrong, I had been like,
excuse me, this is not this is family business. You
(37:12):
need to shut it right. I can't take that. Not
a lie. Yeah, so there you go. What a roller coaster,
A very succinct but very displaced. Like both of those
things happened in these movies.
Speaker 2 (37:28):
Yes, in this movie Weather, it was not what I
was expecting. And hats off to my friend who's the
last ten minutes? Are they okay? Yes? I did get
a text for her this morning that was like, I
had very weird dreams and I blame you, And I
was like, between the two things, will take that. I
(37:49):
think that's fair. I don't think I'm going to watch
some of those others you suggested. I'm curious.
Speaker 1 (37:55):
I don't have watched any of them. I had anest
to you, I feel and I'm gonna have to go
back to because.
Speaker 2 (38:03):
So interesting.
Speaker 1 (38:04):
There was a Holly Hunter movie. There's a Katie Holmes
movie and I can't remember it.
Speaker 2 (38:08):
Yeah. Yeah, well, listeners, If you have any thoughts about this,
are those movies any other movies? You can write to
us our emails Stephanie and mom Stuff at iHeartMedia dot com.
You can find us on Twitter at mom Stuff podcast,
or on Instagram and TikTok at stuff I Never Told You.
We have a tea public store and we have a book.
You can get it wherever you get your books. Thanks
(38:30):
as always too, our super producer Christina, our executive producer Maya,
and your contributor Joey. Thank you, Thanks to you for listening.
Stuff I Never Told You is production by Heart Radio.
For more podcasts on my heart Radio, you can check
out the heart Radio app, Apple Podcast wherever you listen
to your favorite shows.
Hey, this is Anny and Samantha.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
What kind of stuff? I never told you a pfictureve
I heard you? And as we record this, we are
heading into the holidays. If you celebrate, hope all as well.
Hope if thanks Okay, But I think this was pretty recent.
(00:30):
We actually did a Thanksgiving movie, Oh yeah, What's Cooking?
Because we were discussing how there aren't that many Thanksgiving movies.
One of them that we talked about I still want
to watch one day, and I'm debating on whether I
want to save it for this segment or just watch
(00:53):
it on my own.
Speaker 1 (00:55):
Is it a horror movie?
Speaker 2 (00:57):
No, I've seen that one, though I've actually seen both
of the big ones. Oh but yeah, No, I want
to see the one where, oh gosh, I would recognize
the actress if you said her name, but where they
like go to her small apartment and have the Thanksgiving
(01:19):
I just feel like I would connect with that in
a way of especially since my car hasn't been working,
my mom's been staying at my place when she visits,
and my apartment's like it's not small, small, but it's
on small side for two people, right, And so if
I were to have a holiday Thanksgiving celebration with her here.
It would be especially because my oven doesn't really work.
(01:42):
It would be interesting. It does work, it's just I
have to keep an eye on it.
Speaker 1 (01:48):
Tell me new things every time about your apartment. But
I'm like, what anyway going on?
Speaker 2 (01:54):
I just have to keep an eye on it, that's all.
And you know the holidays brings this stuff out. But
I thought we could bring this this episode back, so
please enjoy. Hey, this is Anny and Samantha and welcome
to Stephane. Never told your production of I Heart Radio.
Speaker 1 (02:25):
And you know what, I feel like this is starting
to be a tradition around the holidays. I think where
I need to do a throwback And this one went
to the two thousands. The ots literally zero zero looking
at the old days, and I guess what we used
to think about the holidays or this movie specifically, maybe
what the person from the UK you may think of
(02:47):
as a US Thanksgiving. I'm gonna put the big question
to Mark there, which is funny because I have a
good friend who moved from Georgia to the UK and
she hosts a Thanksgiving there every year and the people
they love it, her friends, her UK friends love it
and look forward to it every year, even though that's
(03:07):
not a thing that they do, which I thought was
quite funny. But yeah, so we're talking about the movie
What's Cooking, which doesn't have a great rating. Annie, I
noticed that when I was like, oh yeah, I was like,
fifty eight percent Rotten Tomatoes. Maybe it's because it's so
old and Ron Tomatoes wasn't around at that point right.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
Now, I actually don't know.
Speaker 1 (03:31):
I thought it was a newer thing, newer. I say
that loosely.
Speaker 2 (03:35):
I will say that you suggested four movies, right because
we were looking for like Thanksgiving movies, and I watched
the trailer for all of them, and all of them
I was actually like, I kind of do want to
watch this? And I looked up all of their percentages
and all of them were pretty good. But I didn't
look at Rot Tomatoes, so I don't know, but all
(03:56):
of them were pretty.
Speaker 1 (03:57):
Good, like the question pretty good ish And yeah, So
this movie that I gave you a long list of,
I was like, this looks pretty you know, on point
with what we would would look at in time was
directed by Grinder Chada, who also wrote and directed Of
Course My All Time one of my all time favorites
(04:18):
which we've talked about before, which we featured Bend It
like Beckham, as well as a bigger throwback for me
Bride and Prejudice, which came I think after this one though,
because I didn't watch it until I was in college.
I was really into Bollywood for a while and Bride
and Prejudice it hit. There's so many lines I can't
even remember it like I loved it. But Chata has
(04:39):
helped also helped to write this along with Paul Mayatta Burgess.
Sorry if I said that wrong. Who is the husband?
I didn't realize they were married and also co wrote
Bend It like Beckham, so he is American, so maybe
his perspective also helped. But I found that interesting that
this is who did this. The movie revolves around four
(05:02):
diverse as it has written in many reviews, diverse families
all coming to celebrate Thanksgiving and the many family interactions
that that involves. We have Joan Chen as the matriarch
of the Nunn family, who uh trend is her name
is a Vitnamese family who lives with her husband Douck,
(05:24):
grandma and Grandpa, and children Jimmy who's the oldest, Jenny,
Gary and Joey, which I think maybe most of them
are not Vietnamese. They range like Joan Chin is Chinese.
Apparently Jimmy, who is played I forgot who played by
is Korean. I was like, huh, they couldn't find Okay,
it's okay, it's okay, it's okay. Moving on, and then
(05:47):
we have the Selig family, a Jewish family with Ruth
played by Laine Kazan who you may know her from
My Fat, My Big Fat Greek Wedding. Which have we
done that one?
Speaker 2 (05:57):
No, we haven't haven't seen that movie.
Speaker 1 (06:00):
We're coming back to that. We haven't done this. Oh okay,
everybody put that in your calendar because it is coming
with her husband, herbie daughter Rachel played by Kiara Sedgwick,
her girlfriend Carla played by Juliana Markaalie, and her two
(06:20):
sons with the and uncle joining the dinner and as
per Momos things, Yeah, it's played by sis HETERONORDI of people,
and I don't know is Kia Sedgwick? It doesn't matter.
But I don't think they're like when we talk about
the layers of who plays what, you're like, they really
didn't care about accuracy in the I don't think I
(06:44):
say this, but you know.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
Then we have the via the family Latino family led
by the mother Elizabeth played by Mercedes Role with her
children Tony and Gina, and her mother and siblings all
added in the mix, and then also added to the
chaos as the ex husband Javier and the new boyfriend Daniel.
And then we have the Williams family headed by Alfred
(07:05):
Witard who plays Audrey, with her husband Ronald and her
son Michael, with the mother in law Grace and her
youngest child, and joining them is a white couple who
works with Ronald at the Governor's office.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
Right, Okay, now that we somewhat introduce the families, let's
talk about the plot. So, as we said, the movie
follows four families who are coming together to eat and
continue with their holiday traditions. We get to see the
lives that are somewhat intertwined as they all live in
la and are all neighbors, which I didn't figure out
(07:41):
till much later. I was like, oh, what I had
that moment. They are all bustling about making them their
way through grocery stores, phone calls, and traveling to get
to the actual festivities. We're going to start with the
different families and what they're doing. So the Nwinn family,
who own a local video rental store. What a throwback, right,
(08:01):
all the vhs and the clear plastic holders. I remember those. Okay,
that was before Blockbuster covered them all up or had
the black black cases. Because sometimes they're like, is it
the actual movie anyway? Uh. They're coming together to make
their meal, a mix of Vietnamese cuisine with American cuisine,
a turkey with all the good Asian spices, basil roles
(08:24):
which looked really good by the way spring rolls, and
so much more on the table. Unfortunately, they find out
that the oldest Jimmy can't come due to school, but
it turns out it's a lie, as he wants to
go with his new girlfriend to her family celebration. More
on that in a minute. He is a stable part
of their family, someone they rely on not only as
the college student, but as the oldest brother. Uh. The
(08:47):
parents ask him to help and to talk with the
younger siblings as well. And by the way, the other
son has recently gotten into trouble at school and has
been suspended. All the while the young daughter has been
to distracted by boys and makeup. They accuse of her
being trampy, I guess is the best word, because they
call her different things throughout. Soon we have a big
(09:09):
twist and find out that the Sun has a gun
under his bed, which his sister finds and immediately panics,
taking it with her to the video store. After a
whole mess where the parents discovered that Jenny has a
white boyfriend and maybe having sex insert earlier discovery of
condoms in her pockets, she confronts the brother Gary, who
says he's only holding it for a friend who was
(09:31):
recently jumped. And y'all the acting in this part was something.
Speaker 2 (09:37):
It was and I have a funny story about it later.
So moving on to the Avilla family, A part of
the connectedness of the plot is Gina, daughter to Elizabeth,
is dating Jimmy, the oldest of the Wynn family, and
is bringing him home for dinner. Before the dinner, however,
we discover that she's got a new boyfriend. New boyfriend, Yeah,
(10:02):
the mom has a new boyfriend. Tony and his wife
run into his father at the grocery store, where he
awkwardly invites him to dinner. The dad is like, well,
I have nowhere to go, and Tony's like, all right,
come on. After talking with his mother, he tries to
uninvite him. He says he left a message because the
(10:24):
dad had had Javier had had an affair with the
mom the matrix cousin and left them. But you know whatever,
and Jimmy arrive and everyone seems to warm up to Jimmy.
After some awkward racist moments of talking about Bruce Lee
and Jackie Chan, Elizabeth lets Gina know that the new boyfriend,
(10:47):
Daniel would be stopping by for dessert, which Gina has
mixed feelings about. As they all sit together, Javier the
father shows up with very little remorse and tries to
win back Elizabe. Then Daniel shows up and the whole
thing is even more awkward. They sit at opposite the table.
After a bit of back and forth, Javier leaves after
(11:10):
Elizabeth lets him know she doesn't want to take him
back and also, yes, the grandmother was amazing. She was
very like, why are you here? To get out of here?
Speaker 1 (11:21):
She loved her defending the whole It was definitely a
whole women versus men guy. In this scene where the
women were taking up for her. The mother be like, hey,
while the men were like, but but but yes.
Speaker 2 (11:34):
That's when I because I texted you and I was like,
I feel like all these holiday movies are telling me
men are terrible. It was that scene where I was like, this.
Speaker 1 (11:41):
Is there's several there's several scenes were like, yeah, men
are the worst, So let's just put that out there.
Then we had the Williams family. Dear Audrey is scrambling
trying to make the perfect Thanksgiving Day dinner. Her husband
is currently at work where he works for the governor
of California. We see the governor at an event where
(12:02):
he is questioned about his policies concerning the quote underprivileged.
As he is about to leave, he is splashed with
white paint, with one of the attackers being Ronald and
Audrey's son Michael. And as Audrey is preparing dinner, she
is watched and quote assistance upon that end quotes by
her mother in law, who is portrayed as the typical
(12:26):
mother in law in this the nagging woman, which you
know you gotta have one, I guess. The work couple
who are friends arrives with their daughter's slash step daughter,
who has a lot of attitude and is similarly dressed
to the craft cast. I appreciated that a may amo
dark and during their dinner, the turkey ends up falling
through the table, causing Audrey quite a bit of stress.
(12:48):
But we have them rallying together to fix it and
it still looks quite delicious. They're eating green beans off
the floor, so they's seem fine. The son, Michael, shows
up to all of their surprise, and it turns out
the relationship between the father's son is strained, which has
caused a lot of problems for the entire family. He
debates about school and politics arise with an explosive remark
(13:12):
from the son about the father's affair with a woman
in the office. Audrey runs into the kitchen to eat
dessert as Michael tries to apologize. The mother in law
chastises Ronald but insists they need to stay together and
fix it.
Speaker 2 (13:25):
Okay, I've seen this also. I really appreciated her aggressive
eating of the pie.
Speaker 1 (13:30):
Yes, she was so upset that all she was just
couldn't do. It's just I got to get a dessert.
Speaker 2 (13:36):
I understand that feelings I do too, So then we
move on to the Selog family. Rachel arrives with her
girlfriend Carla and already there being mistaken us sisters, so
they enter the house together in battle mode like they've
clearly kind of knew this was probably gonna happen. The
parents accept their relationship, they still have a hard time
(13:59):
with it. In a conversation between the parents, we see
the mother crime because she thinks her daughter won't be
able to have a happy family. Meanwhile, we see Rachel
and Carla in their twin beds that they have pushed together,
talking about the family and how to deal with everything.
The following day, as they help the mother put together
the dinner, Carla tries her best to get to know
(14:20):
them and even endures a whole speech about the jacuzzi
from Rachel's father about how much he loves it and
the temperature and very minor temperature differences. Carla and her
mother have a good relationship from what we witness, and
Rachel seems to like her a lot as well, which
seems to bring some feelings out in her mom. Later
(14:42):
we find out that the aunt and uncle are a
joining and the parents have requested that Rachel and Carla
not mention that they are in a relationship together As
a family gathers. Talks of politics and how Elia's changed
come up, and it gets really tense as the conversation
gets more heated. But at the height of the conversation,
(15:03):
Rachel makes an announcement that she is pregnant, and confusion
and shock ensues, the mother and father trying to figure
out how this happened and advertedly outing them, which soon
leads to the outing of her brother, who was the
sperm doner.
Speaker 1 (15:17):
Right. I did appreciate the other brother who his women
and his wife and the kids come. I did appreciate
that they were very supportive, but also the fact that
they also were getting some shit as the ant and
uncle were like, when's the third baby coming? Oh my god, No,
it was quite nice. I was like, oh, everybody gets it.
Everybody gets it. As all the dinners are coming to
(15:40):
an end, we go back to see the Wynn family,
whose turkey was burned so they had to order KFC,
which I thought was delightful, and apparently the youngest did too,
he was very excited about this chicken. During the mil
Gary's friends show up, which worries Ginny, who announces that
Gary was hiding a gun and just lays it on
the table because why not. After a lot of arguing,
(16:01):
the youngest and they leave the table. The youngest comes out,
who was very excited about chicken, sees the gun, grabs
it and plays with it, and it goes off. After
a very intense moment of like this is a thirteen
movies kill the youngest child off. I had that debate
back and forth of like what the hell and realizing
this is quickly turning into an after school special that
(16:21):
I've seen before.
Speaker 2 (16:22):
I feel like.
Speaker 1 (16:24):
We soon find out that the families all live caddy
corner to each other. Literally, each one of it lives
on a corner that faces one another, which is hilarious,
like how would they not known each other?
Speaker 2 (16:33):
How?
Speaker 1 (16:35):
There's so many questions I had, but I just looked it.
But that the gun had gone off and everybody heard it. Jimmy,
realizing that it came from his house, runs to the
home again he had lied that he's not coming home.
A lot more confusion, we find out that everyone is
safe and the gun has shot out the window. At
this point, Jimmy introduces everyone to his his family, to
(16:56):
his girlfriend Gina, who again lives across the way, who
was accepted into the family. They're like, oh, she looks Vietnamese.
Welcome to the family. And then we have Ronald who
talks to Michael about the future and his own experiences
about how it's hard not having an education and being
a black person in the community and what that looks
(17:17):
like blah blah blah. And then we have the Sea
leagues who are all a bit confused but more distracted
by the recent gunshot. And then the Avelis continue on
with their dessert like it's just yay in the story
Happy Holiday.
Speaker 2 (17:41):
So can I tell you I watched this last night
and I had to watch it with ads, so it
was taking longer than I thought. And one of my
good friends came over for like the final i'd say
ten minutes because we were going to go see the
new Thanksgiving movie, which I did see night, and I
didn't know this gun thing was gonna happen. And my
(18:02):
poor friend shows up for the last ten minutes of
this movie and it was like, what are you watching?
Like I don't know understand, but it was so funny
because I couldn't have anticipated this, and that's the only
part she saw. Then we went to go see this
(18:22):
other movie.
Speaker 1 (18:23):
In that was a shakraa.
Speaker 2 (18:25):
I'm sure it was quite a day.
Speaker 1 (18:26):
That's funny. Yeah, the entire setup was odd. It's an
hour and forty five fifty minutes long. I think it
is your tip. It is on not not a sponsor
Amazon Prime with ads. I also, I have never seen
this movie either. I just picked. We were like, we
need to do a Thanksgiving Day movie. Let's be silly
watch this. And this has four matriarchs. I honestly thought
(18:48):
they all came together. That's what I had envisioned, and
then it turned out none of that was happening.
Speaker 2 (18:53):
Was like, okay, okay.
Speaker 1 (18:54):
I feel like the most diverse of the two would
have been the Avila's and the Winds doing their things.
So like, oh at Lista's cold, Okay, okay, cool, cool
to have an Asian family as part of the star as.
In fact, Joan Chen was kind of uh named as
if she was the star of the show, which is
not true because she's she's barely in it compared to
(19:17):
the rest of them. But I digress. So there's a
lot again. Finding out that it was bended, like Beckham
creators really threw me off because like they really wanted
to tell an American story that's interesting. About Thanksgiving, that's interesting.
And of course we did have a couple of conversations
about like, you know, the goth girl talking about how,
(19:38):
you know, millions of Native Americans first indigenous people were
murdered and killed my disease. I was like, okay, hey,
lids say, I guess they added that in there. Uh
did love the fact that she during their like we're
playing house, She's like, I'm going to be the alcoholics.
The mother cult worship based up mother and because we're like, uh, okay, okay,
(20:01):
Google and the grandma was too. So there's a lot
to that in that level. But yeah, there were several themes,
and I think there was more like, oh yeah, I
get this. So obviously the very top is the holidays
and families togetherness and Jimmy lying about going home and
why he couldn't come home. I may have done that
like as of like three years ago, to be honest,
(20:25):
not for a mate, but like just because.
Speaker 2 (20:30):
Oh yeah, I mean they definitely it was kind of
shocking how accurately I felt they captured the vibe of
the drama of families during this time of like the
politics of it, of the like, ugh, I don't want
to deal with this person of the asking you like
(20:51):
if you're single, when you're gonna have kids, like all
of those like things we dread and may lie about
to get out of and feel guilty about lying about
to get out of, and then like visiting another partner's
family and yes, being on the outliers there.
Speaker 1 (21:10):
Right, I loved of course, like at least they had
LGBTQ representation and it was sweet, very nice kind of
representation where they're supportive and not trying to be over
the top. Of course, the partner is the one that's like,
don't say anything, don't argue with your dad about the politics,
thing about the immigrations and all the all the things,
which I was like, oh, there it comes. But of
(21:32):
course inevitably that's the conversation. You know. I've talked about
the fact that I get scared of going because that's
going to come up, and typically it gets worse. It
hasn't been as bad when it's been at its worst,
like the Trump administration. My brother did the only thing,
which is like, I'm going to buy you a Maga hat,
and I kind of just stared at him. I was like,
I don't care, and we didn't say anything else, of course,
(21:55):
like we said, like, I've already had my arguments with
my mom and it was so bad, and my mom
was I think, begged everyone not to say anything. But
apparently political conversations happen when I'm not around. Yeah, because
my niece have had to had to deal with that,
I'm like, oh, bless her heart. But yeah, that's one
of the big I hate. I hate it so much.
I will say as much as like I love, I'd
(22:17):
rather go to my partner's family m any day, all
day because we're all very similar. The father does play
news constantly to the fiend, and I'm like, I'm gonna
lose it. I'm gonna lose it. Yeah, I'm gonna lose it.
But it's not because necessarily that he's arguing with anybody,
because everybody pretty much agrees right on all the stances there.
(22:39):
But it's just like I still don't want to hear it,
even if it is things that I more agree with,
I don't want to hear it.
Speaker 2 (22:45):
Yeah. That's that's kind of me with my older brother,
because my brothers are both very very like all day
listening to the stuff like that, and I do agree
with most of it. I don't agree with some of it,
but but it it is like I will literally go
home because they're both like night owls. It'll be four
(23:07):
am and I'm just listening to something about Donald Trump,
and I'm like, I just want to sleep. Please please
turn this off because now and now my heart is
beating really fast.
Speaker 1 (23:21):
Oh no, yeah, politics, bad hearing news even warse right.
I think that's the one thing that they were missing.
They need to add that. Now. If they did a
remake of this, they'd add that the one uncle that
sleeps in the couch that he listens to the news time.
Another thing which we've talked about as a full episode,
women preparing the dinner. It was only the women the
(23:44):
entire time. Jimmy, Dear Jimmy, and I think this is
being the oldest child comes in to play, came in
and helped, and I was like, that's super cute like that,
and they were all like bragging about how he's so
great and doing this. But then like the brother Tony
was like, can you give me a beer? Hunt to
the wife, and I'm like, I'll punch you in the throat.
But we know that's the thing.
Speaker 2 (24:04):
Yeah, that was definitely assumption that that stuck out to
me was like, as someone who does do this, it's
so frustrating sometimes it's just like a lot of work.
I don't think, because I did love that they showed
the making of the like tamal is and the making
of the spring rolls and like kind of it was
(24:26):
more communal than I'm used to, And so I don't
say there's necessarily anything wrong with that, because I do
think there is something like a sort of bonding that
happens over that. But I don't I hate the like
assumption you'll do it, and the like not caring, like
not being at least somewhat like this took a lot
(24:46):
of work. I had to plan all of this, I
had to do all of this right now. The turkeys
on the floor.
Speaker 1 (24:54):
Like yeah. And the person during that Williams dinner was
the friend the white wol and being the one that's like,
this is so looks amazing, you did so amazing. She
was the only one really complimenting the entire thing to
the level it should be complimented. But it does remind
me like my own home. We do come together because
most of the children are grown uh, and they help
(25:15):
with the food.
Speaker 2 (25:16):
I do not.
Speaker 1 (25:16):
I'm the one who brings like the rolls and the
dessert and the the cokes and the drinks. Rather, yes,
I'm very suddent the cokes. We recently my partner has
proved himself as a cook, so it has now become
a part of that too. And the last time we went,
he went and helped in the kitchen and whatever. I
was helping too, like we were both in there, but
they were just like kind of like Jimmy, They're like, whoa, yeah,
(25:39):
what are you doing in here?
Speaker 2 (25:40):
Are you?
Speaker 1 (25:41):
You want to help? Like to that level, and all
was like, yeah, yeah, I guess I got a good
And then moving on the matriarchy. Obviously the overlaying the
plot of the entire thing, whether they're steering the conversation,
they're steering the mood, they're steering the dinner, and or
disappoint however you want to look at it.
Speaker 2 (26:01):
They were.
Speaker 1 (26:01):
They were the main focus of the entire thing. We
had men coming in trying to be men, but the
women pretty much, whether it was the grandma too, so
the wind family, it was the grandma, like the grandpa
was sitting there watching Pamaway and orson which I did appreciate. Yeah, yes,
as a whole throwback, but like, you know, the grandma
(26:23):
wasn't there comforting the kids, helping with the dinner, making
sure everybody was okay, Like she was a big part
of that too.
Speaker 2 (26:29):
M m. Yeah, yeah, it definitely was kind of you
had the the woman leading the family on this day
and trying to bring the family together. It was interesting
to me because I feel like my family dynamics are
very different. Like maybe actually, maybe it's just me. I
(26:50):
can't imagine telling my mom I wasn't coming home for
the holidays. I did it once. I did it once,
and I made a meal for her to tell her
that I wasn't like a fancy.
Speaker 1 (27:05):
Meal of a different dynamic because you are a smaller family. Yeah,
so then that makes a little bit of a difference.
But yeah, that's still like a different part for you too. Yeah,
I was thinking too. With like the Villa family, she
makes everything. She might not be the loud one that
takes over the conversation, but she quietly maintains so She's
still welcoming to Hobby even though she was like, I
(27:27):
don't want him here, right, She didn't ask for permission
for Daniel to be there, but Daniel showed up and
she made she be like you're ready, like doing all
those things. She was ridiculously reserved for that situation.
Speaker 2 (27:39):
To me, oh, I was outraged. I was outraged on
her behalf. I was like, these dudes suck in your life?
Speaker 1 (27:48):
Are these men? Why? For the williams Audrey was completely
by herself with the in law hosting the in law
as well, which has been a big conversation. There was
a reason video and techtok where a dude was like,
I'm bringing to my mom. She's like, no, you're not
her grandma. He's like, no, you're not unless you're willing
to take care of her because if not, I'm going
to be the one taking care of her. On top
of so we are not agreed, like there are so
(28:10):
many He's like, I'm men at this house. She's like, no,
I'm taking care of this house. So but this level
like who's taking care of whom and who responsibility and
who it always falls on no matter what, Maybe the
conversation not that, like it's a taxing thing to have
to double women. And then if you're like opposition and
it feels like you're competing with each other, which that's
what this felt like. It could become a problem, which
(28:32):
of course.
Speaker 2 (28:32):
Yeah, I've said this before in my family, and I
feel like a lot of families. My mom would cook
the whole thing and then a man, not always my dad,
(28:54):
a man would come in and he would cut the turkey.
And it would be like, look at what he's done
in one year. Literally that man cut his hand and
bled all in the turkey. So now my mom does it.
She does it fine, like it's just annoying, Like I'm
not saying she should have to do it, but I
hate that, Like I shall come in after you've cooked
(29:15):
all this thing, and I will present.
Speaker 1 (29:16):
Them, right, I will to what I provided.
Speaker 2 (29:19):
Yes, she's just capable of doing it without bleeding.
Speaker 1 (29:25):
That's funny, I'll say, I don't think you've ever had that.
It's always been sliced, ready to go, like that's never
been a ceremony, like if the ceremonies us coming around,
which the whole prayer sequence was quite funny too, yes,
but like still having the whole prayer around the table,
like that's what happened, but everything's ready to go, like
there's no ceremony to cutting the turkey. So I found
that I alsought that was just a movie thing and
last people actually did that.
Speaker 2 (29:47):
No, in a different podcast, but it dates back to
like the eighteen hundreds and man being like, look, I
can provide for my family.
Speaker 1 (29:55):
I cut things. Which speaking of yeah, part of the
theme again is men's suck, especially barely during the holidays.
And I say this was again as my partner, he
is great, like he as in fact, I'm like, yeah,
my parents never expected me. My mother never expected me
to cook. She just expected me to bring like additional
things and help. Like now that like he's on board.
(30:17):
She's like, okay, yeah he can bring this food. I
was like, wait, what you never asked me? What is this?
I mean in the end, it's fine. I'm a little
low key offended, but not over the top offended, but like, yeah,
that men suck in general. The cheating that was just
thrown out there like it was just no big deal,
Like what the hell?
Speaker 2 (30:36):
Yeah, like several instances now we're not talking about wood,
we're talking about molds.
Speaker 1 (30:43):
A couple a couple of instances, yes, but yes we
have that. And then we have Javier who thinks he
could just come back in. He's like, I made a mistake.
It was just a flip. It was not a big deal.
Speaker 2 (30:55):
Yeah, and then like him getting mad and then the
son Tony, but like he's a kid, I will give
him a little leeway. I'm sure it wasn't easy, but
also like he was trying to guilt his mom, like
we're ruining this holiday.
Speaker 1 (31:09):
I mean he just come back to apologize. And I
wonder if they just didn't understand the theme of it,
and so came to the end like is it supposed
to be? Like this is this how you're supposed to act?
Because like the men went after Hobby to bring him back,
all the women were like nah.
Speaker 2 (31:22):
Bye, yeah, all the women. They literally have a scene
where all the women are on one side and all
the men.
Speaker 1 (31:33):
But yeah, Like it literally was that to the point
that even Tony, who we talk about, the kid who
invited the dad, uh, was like getting from his wife
because his wife was mad at him for doing all that.
She's like, hmmm, when do you do it?
Speaker 2 (31:46):
No, You're not even gonna ask her or tell her
he's coming.
Speaker 1 (31:52):
Like the entire time, I was like, well, you know what,
I like that they banned together for the mother because yeah, yes,
the ladies they got it again.
Speaker 2 (32:02):
If they had ended up together, I was gonna be so.
I think there was a moment where you're like, oh wait,
oh no, but she's.
Speaker 1 (32:09):
Sur passive like that Jimmy, seemingly even though she's not.
It was all but I think it was just also
that that sound like strength, the quiet strength that just
like hmm, I'm not even gonna play into this to
be dramatic about it. Let's just move on, like this
is how little it's being to me, And then we
have I guess the LGBTQ. I don't know if like
(32:30):
it was a sidemark or supposed to be diversity.
Speaker 2 (32:40):
It was interesting because it's weird when you watch something
from like the two thousands and you feel that we've
come so far since, and we have, but it's also
strange that I'm like, this could very well easily still happen.
It was like very strange thing where I felt like
(33:04):
they were trying to be It's like they tried they
did a search on all of the problems you could
have at Thanksgiving, and they were like, okay, one is
this queer aspect, so let's put that in there, which
is true. It just felt very it felt very dated
(33:25):
and also relevant, if that makes right right.
Speaker 1 (33:29):
Yeah, I mean it absolutely did. Between like the having
the child and then being like that's okay, people do
that nowadays, mom Like that. That being said, that was
hilarious to me. To the discovery that it was the
brother who did them, the brother cousin. I don't know
what he was. I thought it was the brother, but
then maybe I mixed that one up. I was a
donor and then he was gay, like they out him
(33:51):
as well.
Speaker 2 (33:51):
It's like, well damn, yeah, they definitely outed them very.
Speaker 1 (33:55):
Quickly, like the's on the edge about whether or not.
And then the fact that she's having a baby instead
of being happy, just being confused. I was like, what's okay?
Speaker 2 (34:05):
But okay, baby was a surprise. I was not expecting
the baby to come up.
Speaker 1 (34:11):
The gunpit was a surprise. It was quite a bit
of surprises. I have to wonder because it's not way
off again though it still does I'm like, yeah, she's
a UK based person doing this movie. I wonder, like
what I really want to sit down, whether it'd be
like why why thanksci me? Why for families? Why these
(34:35):
things in LA specifically like can we because it's like
she's not completely she's not wrong, as in fact, I
know a lot of Asian games were pretty are pretty rampant,
were pretty ramped in LA. A lot of things were happening,
so it wasn't way off. And then as well as
the fact like they are culturally appropriating a lot of
(35:00):
things as well. I was like, okay at the beginning,
saying with a kid having the conversation in the mirror,
trying to be quote unquote tough, say I'm putting quote
my own quotes around it, but like it had memorials
like so I can't tell if this is inflated in
the ideas of what she thinks of LA or if
(35:20):
it's too on points. But there's also two thousands and
I was like graduating high school, going to college, so
I had a completely different world in Georgia.
Speaker 2 (35:31):
The butterfly pins, oh my gosh, there were butterfly clips
in this movie. I also say, like it was interesting
to see the with the son Michael and his dad Ronald,
when Michael outs his dad for cheating. Yeah, I think, like,
(35:51):
I think that's an interesting thing that happens a lot
in these family gatherings too, where you're trying to as
a family hold it together and maybe keep these things secret,
and then they come out and like who decides when
it comes out? And then when the mother in law
was like, oh, you have to stay together like those,
I have seen all of this. I have seen all
(36:13):
of this, and it's just interesting. I feel like a
lot of times we all have those, you know. I
think I read a joke about this the other day,
like it's not Thanksgiving unless one person refuses to come,
Like we have these these dramas in our family, and
these just just unresolved, unresolved things, and then you come
(36:38):
together for a holiday and you're trying to make it
look like you're a good family, good family, a perfect family,
like nothing is wrong, but something is clearly wrong right,
Like you're not talking about you're not being honest with
each other right.
Speaker 1 (36:51):
And then there was a whole bit with that little
Williams family. I was like, why is that why dude
butting in about his son? He needs to shut up,
Like I was getting annoyed with that. You want to
pick a fight at someone else's house? Yeah, that was
like even if he was wrong, I had been like,
excuse me, this is not this is family business. You
(37:12):
need to shut it right. I can't take that. Not
a lie. Yeah, so there you go. What a roller coaster,
A very succinct but very displaced. Like both of those
things happened in these movies.
Speaker 2 (37:28):
Yes, in this movie Weather, it was not what I
was expecting. And hats off to my friend who's the
last ten minutes? Are they okay? Yes? I did get
a text for her this morning that was like, I
had very weird dreams and I blame you, And I
was like, between the two things, will take that. I
(37:49):
think that's fair. I don't think I'm going to watch
some of those others you suggested. I'm curious.
Speaker 1 (37:55):
I don't have watched any of them. I had anest
to you, I feel and I'm gonna have to go
back to because.
Speaker 2 (38:03):
So interesting.
Speaker 1 (38:04):
There was a Holly Hunter movie. There's a Katie Holmes
movie and I can't remember it.
Speaker 2 (38:08):
Yeah. Yeah, well, listeners, If you have any thoughts about this,
are those movies any other movies? You can write to
us our emails Stephanie and mom Stuff at iHeartMedia dot com.
You can find us on Twitter at mom Stuff podcast,
or on Instagram and TikTok at stuff I Never Told You.
We have a tea public store and we have a book.
You can get it wherever you get your books. Thanks
(38:30):
as always too, our super producer Christina, our executive producer Maya,
and your contributor Joey. Thank you, Thanks to you for listening.
Stuff I Never Told You is production by Heart Radio.
For more podcasts on my heart Radio, you can check
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