The Haunted Mansion (2003) with Akilah Hughes

Real estate agents Jamie, Caitlin, and special guest Akilah Hughes visit a spooky house and discuss Disney's The Haunted Mansion (2003).

(This episode contains spoilers)

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
On the Bechde Cast, the questions ask if movies have
women in them, are all their discussions just boyfriends and husbands,
or do they have individualism? It's the patriarchy, zephim fast
start changing it with the Bechdel Cast.

Speaker 2 (00:16):
Hey, Jamie, Hey Caitlin, do you want to talk about
the Haunted Mansion two thousand and three with me? It'll
only take twenty minutes tops.

Speaker 1 (00:24):
Ooo.

Speaker 3 (00:25):
I wonder if you're a dad that likes to work
too much? The scariest thing of all, someone who loves
working in real estate. It's terrifying.

Speaker 2 (00:37):
And whose wife? My wife?

Speaker 3 (00:40):
My wife?

Speaker 2 (00:41):
Why his wife.

Speaker 3 (00:42):
Seems like she could really take her leave real estate.

Speaker 2 (00:46):
Yeah, she is my partner, my business partner. But also
you never see her doing her job.

Speaker 3 (00:51):
TIHI giha. Yeah, sure I'm in. Let's do it.

Speaker 2 (00:56):
Awesome. Hello. I'm Caitlin Durante.

Speaker 3 (01:01):
I'm Jamie Loftus, and you're listening to the Bechdel Cast,
a show where we take your favorite movies and look
at them with an intersectional feminist lens. Even if they're
eighty three minutes long. This movie is.

Speaker 2 (01:15):
Really wonderfully short.

Speaker 3 (01:17):
Ugh, it really made me feel amazing. Yeah, we're covering
a couple of movies from the early two thousands coming up,
and I just was like, Wow, there was a time
where where children's movies were aching to be ninety minutes
and not like circling the two and a half hour mark.
Just great stuff. We're talking about The Haunted Mansion two
thousand and three, starring Eddie Murphy, and I say it

(01:38):
who it's starring, because I feel like I think he's
actually credited before the title of the movie, which is
very movie star behavior.

Speaker 4 (01:45):
I love it.

Speaker 2 (01:45):
Yeah, Eddie Murphy's Haunted Mansion.

Speaker 3 (01:48):
Basically, that's how I thought of it when I was like,
it's and by the end of the movie spoiler alert,
it is Eddie Murphy's Haunted Mansion. He's got the ded he.

Speaker 2 (01:56):
Does own it. Yeah.

Speaker 3 (01:57):
Yeah, Well, first we to tell people what the show is.
We use so we're an intersectional feminist podcast. We use
the Bechdel Test as a jumping off point for discussing
Eddie Murphy's Haunted Mansion. But Caitlin, what is the Bechdel Test?

Speaker 2 (02:14):
Well, gee whiz, I'll tell you. It is a media
metric created by queer cartoonist Alison Bechdel often called the
Bechdel Wallace test, which has many different versions, but the
one that we use requires that two characters of a
marginalized gender. They must have names, they must speak to
each other, and their conversation has to be about something

(02:36):
other than a man. Ideally, for us, it's also a
narratively substantial conversation and not just like throw away dialogue.

Speaker 3 (02:46):
And yeah, I guess we'll just get into it, but
first we have an incredible returning guest returning for I
love just when a guest has a wide swath of
movies they want to cover because you've hurt this guest
on many shows, including her own show. But for our purposes,
we did Center Stage and now we're doing Eddie Murphy's

(03:07):
Haunted Mansion. I mean the early two thousands gave and
they took away, really did.

Speaker 2 (03:13):
It's incredible, and our guest, of course, is writer, comedian
and podcaster Akila hughes Hi.

Speaker 4 (03:19):
Thank you for having me back. We survived the pandemic
mostly intact. If you want to call the survivor.

Speaker 3 (03:27):
We're all rocky back and forth.

Speaker 4 (03:29):
Yeah, we were always in the womb.

Speaker 3 (03:31):
Great, welcome back, Aquila.

Speaker 2 (03:36):
Now, if memory serves, I was like, we have to
do the Haunted Mansion because the new one is coming out,
and you and I had been talking on Instagram and
I was like, wait a minute, here's this movie we
want to do. Do you want to be the guest?
So I basically forced you to do this, and I'm
so sorry, but also you're welcome.

Speaker 4 (03:55):
Yeah, thank you so much.

Speaker 3 (03:58):
So what is your.

Speaker 2 (03:59):
Relationship with the Haunted Mansion parentheses Eddie Murphy?

Speaker 4 (04:04):
Well, I love Eddie Murphy, gotta say, you know, just
a real king of comedy. I would say that, like
most Eddie Murphy fans, really centering on like early nineties,
late eighties, Eddie Murphy was really my sweet spot. I
did fall off. You know. I believe this is in
the same era as Norbit, and I haven't seen Norbit either,

(04:27):
so you know that gives you a Since I was
more of the nutty professor.

Speaker 3 (04:34):
I wonder if this show will last long enough that
we would cover Norbit someday. God, that's how you know.
It's like, what do I think that we've run our course?
If we're like.

Speaker 4 (04:50):
The good movies worth talking about? Sure, And so I
would say that I'm more of a fan of Eddie
Murphy than I am of the Haunted Mansion. I did
work at Disney in like two thousand and eight and
then again in like twenty ten, So like, I love
the idea of the Haunted Mansion as like a person
who worked there. It was the only job that in

(05:11):
Tower of Terror where you weren't forced to smile, So
like I had a lot of reverence for those people.
They didn't have to do a fake bullshit all day
like the rest of us. And so I am like
excited by the concept. But this was my first watch.
You know, I clearly wasn't interested back when it came out.
It also was like around the time where it was

(05:33):
before Disney was like in Marvel, so it's like it
was kind of like they were just doing rides as movies.
Like I believe Parts of the Caribbean was in that
era as well, the same year. Yeah, one of them
we think about sometimes. It has like a soundtrack that's memorable.

Speaker 3 (05:49):
The other is Eddie Murphy's and they wasn't didn't. The
Country Bears also come out very close to this. I
think they were just throwing shit. They were throwing ip
at the wall and then like Pirates of the Caribbean
was like the standout. Wait, maybe I think the Country
Bears was, oh too, don't ask me why I know that.
That's I don't know. Some like cousins like names love. Yeah, okay,

(06:12):
two thousand and two, I was right about that.

Speaker 4 (06:14):
Yeah, Like this was like clearly early Eiger strategy. They're
just like, why don't we use all this crap from
the park that no one thinks about regularly?

Speaker 3 (06:23):
Yeah? Well, and they're still doing it. Like the Jungle
Cruise movie came out last year.

Speaker 2 (06:28):
I saw it.

Speaker 4 (06:29):
Can't wait for a matterhorn? Is that a.

Speaker 2 (06:36):
Not yet?

Speaker 5 (06:37):
Ye?

Speaker 3 (06:38):
Give it a couple of years, wait for it.

Speaker 4 (06:40):
For AI to do it's thing.

Speaker 3 (06:42):
And I feel like at this point, because there's we well,
I mean, this is like not a new point to
make it all, but just because of like how aggressively
ip ish movies are currently and it's like whatever, I
took the Barbie pill wholesale. But I was reading this
morning about how hell is like getting the wrong idea
and they're like, yeah, so we actually have this. What

(07:05):
was it there? It was jj Abrams is making a
Hot Wheels movie, which I wish I was joking.

Speaker 4 (07:11):
Stop that, And then that's enough, there was no floor
to be had. The movie Cars exists?

Speaker 2 (07:19):
Oh my gosh. Also that Grand Turismo or whatever Tarismo
movie that's coming out. Why that thing?

Speaker 3 (07:25):
Vin Diesel's doing rock Em Sockham Robot.

Speaker 2 (07:30):
Where's the Hungry Hungry Hippos? The Where's the Polly Pocket movie?

Speaker 3 (07:35):
Daniel Kley is doing Barney the Darney Store in an
A twenty four type film that is heavily inspired by
the work of Charlie Kaufman. I was like, enough, yeah,
but I will see I will see it. Well I
see it yet?

Speaker 4 (07:47):
Yeah, Well I suffer this of course.

Speaker 3 (07:48):
But I shouldn't have to. I shouldn't have to see it.

Speaker 4 (07:52):
I didn't want to think about it, but you know,
I will see it.

Speaker 3 (07:55):
That sentence I was just I don't know. At that point.
It was like Monday morning and I read that sentence.
I was like mad lib, absolute mad lib. But yeah,
I will I will see it.

Speaker 2 (08:06):
We can't help ourselves, Jamie. What is your relationship with
the Haunted Mansion? Oh?

Speaker 3 (08:11):
I loved this movie so much. I thought this was cinema.
I thought this was great. I definitely came into Eddie
Murphy and his like firmly in his Kids Era and
then worked my way backwards later. I just feels like
it's impossible to not be a fan of Eddie Murphy.
I know we've talked about him on other episodes, We've

(08:32):
covered a lot of his movies and alert.

Speaker 4 (08:36):
I know how you go from Donkey to this. I'm sorry,
I'm jumping. I'm jumping at his you don't have enough money,
Eddie anyway, I don't know.

Speaker 3 (08:47):
I mean, I know we've talked about Eddie Murphy's like
personal life in the patches. We're not gonna get into
that today. Today we're talking about he's firmly in his
children's entertainment bag. He's making a shitload of money. I
think that my first Eddie Murphy movie would have been, well,
this isn't an Eddie Murphy movie. But he's in Mulan, right,
and he's firmly in Mulan. My first clear memory of

(09:09):
seeing a movie was Eddie Murphy. Doctor Doolittle. Yeah, he's
like I think, I mean, I guess he's the only doctor.

Speaker 6 (09:15):
No.

Speaker 3 (09:15):
I did see Robert Downey Junior Doctor Doolittle.

Speaker 4 (09:19):
Ive, how did they already reboot that?

Speaker 3 (09:21):
I was the only one that was I was, I
was only I was like on mushrooms and it was still.
It was just a disaster. Eddie Murphy is is Doctor Doolittle.
I remember that really clearly because my cousins and I
all went and they were passing me Starburst and they
were telling me remember this story, yeah, and I was.

(09:42):
I assumed that my cousins were unwrapping candy for me
for some reason because I was little, and I was
just eating Starburst rappers the whole movie. And then at
the end, I was like, I feel sick and full
of paper. And that's my first movie memory.

Speaker 2 (09:58):
Beautiful God.

Speaker 3 (10:01):
And then by three, Yeah, he's had he's shreked out,
He's got the Shrek yacht, but he hasn't had enough.
And three might be my peak Eddie Murphy year because
he's in Haunted Mansion and Daddy Daycare this year, and
I was obsessed with Daddy Daycare. It's Eddie Murphy and

(10:22):
Steve zon Witch of Stuart Little theme of Yeah, Snowball's
best friend in Stuart Little. He capitalized on his success
from Stuart Little to be Eddie Murphy's friend in Daddy Daycare.
Regina King plays his wife, and it inspired Kaylee and

(10:43):
I started to texting you about this the other day
because I was like, oh, wow, there is like a
whole subgenre of movies that's just men taking care of children,
and how weird is that?

Speaker 2 (10:53):
Yeah? Yeah, we were thinking about a Matreon theme, So Matrons,
if you're interested in that, let us know.

Speaker 3 (11:00):
Stir Mom, three men and a baby, and then the
peak of cinema, Daddy Takecare. Anyways, I was I definitely
saw this movie in theaters. I definitely. I remember being
really scared of it, especially the zombie part, and I
was surprised that the reviews of this movie were not
I know, it wasn't like a huge success, but I
was surprised that they weren't positive. And I thought it

(11:20):
was very weird that all of the reviews were like,
it wasn't scary enough, and you're like, well, are you seven,
because it doesn't seem like you really are allowed to
say what's scary? You're you're a grown man, of course
you weren't scared.

Speaker 4 (11:32):
Yeah, hopefully like you.

Speaker 3 (11:37):
I'd be great to read a Roger Ebert. It's like
I was pissing myself at Eddie Murphy's Haunting Man. Anyway,
I loved it and then watching it back, goes like, huh,
what's this? Where's the plot? Yeah, this is really a

(11:57):
very thin movie. Plot was I'm not a lot going
on Caitlinious Street with Eddie Murphy's Haunted Mansion.

Speaker 2 (12:06):
I had never seen it until a few days ago.
I had never ridden the ride at Disneyland. Also, until
about probably a month ago, I am now firmly a
Disney adult. I'm so sorry, everybody. Do have a pass
during a strike? I know I'm crossing the picket line.

Speaker 4 (12:23):
The parks are struck, right.

Speaker 3 (12:26):
I actually had a question. I had a question about that.
I was like, can I go on the Minion's ride
or is that scabbing? And the answer I got was
We're not sure. And it's like, okay, yeah, I mean
it's kind of it's just like a haunted house. It's
a loosely themed haunted house.

Speaker 2 (12:42):
Well yeah. And so I was at the park and
we were approaching what I didn't realize was the ride,
and I was like, what is this plantation? Ass looking?
How why is this here? And my friends were like,
that's the Haunted Mansion. That's the ride we're about to
go on, and I was like, oh okay, and then

(13:03):
I rode the ride and the whole like elevator thing,
and I was like, oh my god, spooky. And you know,
it's a pretty underwhelming ride to me as far as
like thrills go. The production design is pretty cool, I suppose,
but you.

Speaker 3 (13:18):
Know it's again it's for seven year olds, and so
you're like, yeah, pretty scary. Yeah.

Speaker 4 (13:24):
I wasn't able to afford to go until I was
doing my internship there, so I have to tell you
how disappointing it was. The first day of training at Disney.
They just point out all the shit that's fake and
what's like, like they kill the magic for you. And
I was like, I've never been here one day. No,

(13:44):
They're like that's fake, and that's fake, and these are
the exits and if you if you get stuck on
the ride, you go through this room and this is
what happens. And I'm like, shut up.

Speaker 3 (13:52):
I know they have to do that, but it's like
you're especially if you're interning, You're like, I'm not even
getting paid for this.

Speaker 4 (13:58):
Marriage.

Speaker 3 (13:58):
It's just destroyed me. Oh my god.

Speaker 4 (14:02):
So I'm still a Disney adult. They couldn't kill it,
you know, but they tried.

Speaker 3 (14:06):
Yeah, I will say. I mean these like the theme park
movies in the like early two thousands were like hit
or miss. And I saw like a YouTube video that
from I think it was a Yahara as a heat video.
We'll link it if I'm correct about that. But just
like how like, not all of them are great. Some
of them the plot leaves something to be desired maybe,

(14:29):
but it was like great for like kids who couldn't
afford to go to Disneyland. It's like as close as
you could get for a while and kind of ends
up over selling it in a way that except maybe
The Country Bears, I haven't seen never a long time.
I feel like I saw that movie five times in
one weekend and then never again, like.

Speaker 4 (14:49):
I remember it, but it's more of a trauma.

Speaker 3 (14:52):
Yeah, but like the Haunted Mansion, I feel like is
the movie that feels because like I mean, I love
the First Pirates of the Caribbean movie, but that doesn't
have shit to do with the ride, Like this one
is like it's they're trying to deliver on the.

Speaker 2 (15:05):
Ride, like reverse engineer a plot based on the ride,
and you're like that, yeah, that's not how to write
a screenplay, but.

Speaker 4 (15:13):
It's how someoney gave them the money and they were like,
you're gonna have a script by this date. And the
guy the night before was like, fuckingna ride the ride again?

Speaker 3 (15:22):
Yeah, Like, can you imagine what a fucking nightmare Disney
Notes must have been like on this movie. They're like,
I don't know, you didn't have the scary guy with
the head. You're gonna have to write in a Walla
Shawn character. And you're like, oh my god. I mean
I was thrilled to see you know, Wallashan. I also
definitely did not know who Jennifer Tilly was the last
time I saw this movie fifteen years ago.

Speaker 2 (15:43):
Yeah, there you go. Anyway, So yeah, I saw the
movie for the first time very recently, and I was like, oh,
this is, I guess, more fun than I was expecting.
But then on my second watch, I was like, oh no,
this movie is not good.

Speaker 4 (15:58):
So wow, maybe you couldn't even finish it in one sitting,
like objectively, just to like pull back the curtain. We
were supposed to record this like four days ago. I
only watched half of it because I couldn't stomach anymore,
and then I forgot that I need to finish it
for the podcast, so we pushed and I really I
really had to bite down and.

Speaker 3 (16:20):
Just guys, I had a lovely time.

Speaker 4 (16:23):
My dog wanted to take a walk. Every time I
don't wanted to take a walk. I was like, now's
the time. No better time than in the middle of
this shit.

Speaker 3 (16:30):
Anyway, we before we get into it. So yeah, the
reason that we are originally covering this is because there
is a reboot of this roller coaster adaptation, because that's
just kind of where we're at in the world at
this time. Since that, since we sort of made that plan,

(16:51):
there is now a both a WGA strike and a
SAG strike, So this means a lot of things. We
talked about the WGA strike over on the Patreo on
and I'm hoping to expand that to talking about the
SAG strike. Aequila, are you double striking right now?

Speaker 4 (17:06):
I am? I am. And the worst thing is like
the optics for me, So my foot. I have a
foot surgery on Friday, so my picketing is like every
other day for like thirty minutes, and then my foot's
like ow and I just feel like, you know, there's
nothing else to post online right now but striking, And

(17:28):
I'm not, and so I feel bad. So that's just
my personal thing, but it is. It's a weird time
to be in either industry. I guess they're all the
same industry, but any part of it, especially in LA.
It's just like I already limit that I moved here
for a podcast job that then I did from home
for four hundred episodes year and now and now it's

(17:49):
like there's no work. So it's tough. It's a hard time.
I'm glad you all are still doing the podcast. I
feel like at least there's somewhere I can talk about
my love of entertainment because it's not on this picket.

Speaker 2 (18:00):
I mean, come back any time for any movie every week.

Speaker 3 (18:03):
And I guess we should be clear on the main
feed that the Bechel cast is not affected by the
WGA strike, because I just know there's so much confusion
about it, and there's also confusion for us, and so
like we have double and triple checked to make sure
that everything we're doing is above board. We'll continue to
do it because it is very confusing, especially if it's

(18:25):
your kind of first go round on a strike. But
one of the ways that this has affected the timing
of this episode coming out. So one of the big
elements of striking, or one of the elements is that
if you're a SAG after a member, you cannot promote
projects that you have coming out. And so there you

(18:46):
could see there are some preventative measures taken where they
pushed up the Barbie premiere, So that happened over a
week before the movie came out because it seemed like
there was going to be a strike. The Oppenheimer premiere
was canceled.

Speaker 2 (18:59):
I thought that it happened, but then the actors walked
off of it, like in the middle of the premiere.

Speaker 3 (19:04):
Multiple premiers that happened at one okay, and then another
one was canceled entirely got it, and then something in
the middle happened at the Haunted Mansion reboot premiere that
I just am like Disney is, I mean, everything's a
fucking mess. But like Bob Eiger or his I like
to call him Bobby Gere, my favorite indie musician, I

(19:29):
can't not see.

Speaker 2 (19:30):
It right there, Bob.

Speaker 3 (19:33):
Has I mean, Bob has been fucking up monumentally friends
yelling at him as she should. All that to say,
they did not cancel even though none of their actors
can come, and it is primarily a like celebrity reboot movie.
It's starring Lakeith Stanfeld, Tiffany Hattish, Dandy DeVito. I mean,
it's all really really famous people Jamie Lee, Curtis and

(19:55):
Wis and none of them can come. And Bobi Gare says,
know we're doing it, and instead of anyone in the
movie who are now barred from attending, he brings in
costumed villain characters from Disneyland.

Speaker 4 (20:11):
Yeah, they didn't add Disneyland. They literally have Mickey and
Vinnie in like purple Halloween costumes.

Speaker 3 (20:18):
Kuela Deville is walking the premier carpet, Maleficent walking the
PREMI scab Maleficent, And I'm like, I guess all these
people would be scabs. Mickey and Minnie definitely scabs, true,
but like but it's just like, I mean, first of all,
wild they didn't cancel it. Second of all, decided to

(20:39):
have their most evil characters walked without This movie is
just like so wildly toned, and so they kind of
left the director of the movie, Believe Justin Simeon, he's
kind of left on his own and he's basically only
asked questions of like, well, how do you how do

(21:00):
you feel about all that ship? Boby Garret is talking
and he's kind of like not great. It just like
it was a it was a mess. And these are
the times that the Haunted Mansion reboot reboot is coming
into it.

Speaker 5 (21:18):
I say, a haunted franchise.

Speaker 4 (21:21):
Wow, it seems like just deeply haunted.

Speaker 3 (21:27):
Also just like he's such a good director. I know,
I know, but it's like dud. Anyways, I just I
need to close the tab that I have open in
front of me because it's a Guardian article that says
the Hot Wheels movie will be emotional, grounded and gritty.
But why, I'm why. Indeed, it's a fair question to ask. Uh,

(21:52):
they're not going to outperform Lightning mc queen, but I
guess they're.

Speaker 5 (21:55):
Gonna try, damn well.

Speaker 3 (21:58):
In the only card. Well, let's talk about Eddie Murphy's
Haunted Mansion.

Speaker 2 (22:01):
Yes, let's take a quick break first, and then we
will come right back. Okay, here's the recap for Haunted
Mansion starring Eddie Murphy two thousand and three.

Speaker 3 (22:17):
Don't think it'll be long.

Speaker 2 (22:19):
Yeah, it's only eighty four minutes long the movie. Okay,
so we open on a flashback of an old timey
masquerade ball in a huge mansion. Is it about to
be haunted? Maybe? During the ball, a woman dies via
drinking poison, followed by a man hanging himself, which they

(22:45):
show on screen, which I was surprised about for it
like movie.

Speaker 3 (22:49):
Movie that happening during like because usually I will I
will sometimes fast forward the opening credits, and then I
was like, oh, oh, I can.

Speaker 2 (22:59):
There's like things are happening.

Speaker 3 (23:01):
I was. I was surprised. I was like, whoof, they
are really getting into it right away, because I think
that when you see that really gruesome image, it's also
telling you who the director of photography is.

Speaker 2 (23:13):
This is like very bizarre.

Speaker 3 (23:16):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (23:16):
So then we cut to the present where a boy
rides up on his bike to the mansion. He's like
a paper delivery boy, I think, and something that appears
to be a ghost wooshes at him and scares him away,
and he drops a bunch of flyers for Evers and
Ever's real estate, which is very similar to me to

(23:39):
the opening of.

Speaker 3 (23:40):
Casper Yes, except it introduces so many questions, including did
Eddie Murphy hire this random kid to advertise his real.

Speaker 5 (23:50):
Estate on a bike door to door.

Speaker 3 (23:55):
How would he answer any follow up questions about real estate?
We don't know.

Speaker 2 (24:00):
Then we cut to Jim Evers. That's Eddie Murphy. He's
a real estate agent and he's selling real quick.

Speaker 4 (24:07):
Have you ever met a black guy named Jim?

Speaker 2 (24:10):
No, definitely not.

Speaker 3 (24:12):
I don't think.

Speaker 4 (24:12):
When I found out that was his name, I was like,
they recast last minute. They were like, let's just get
it to Eddie Murphy.

Speaker 3 (24:23):
Eddie Murphy truly is I mean, this is true. I
guess of a couple Eddie Murphy kids movies, but like
he is like, this movie's saving grace, this movie is.

Speaker 2 (24:34):
I think that's why I thought I liked it the
first time. I was like, Murphy, he has so much charisma, Yeah,
not enough, He's it.

Speaker 3 (24:43):
Is really a testament to how Eddie Murphy can sell
nothing like yeah sorry continued.

Speaker 2 (24:51):
Okay, So we've got a black guy named Jim who
is a real estate agent. He's selling houses, he's closing deals.
He's really good at his job, but he's neglecting his wife,
Sarah played by Marsha Thomason, and their kids, Michael and Megan.
He's late for the anniversary dinner with his wife. He's

(25:13):
missing his kids soccer games and stuff like that. So
he's like, fine, I'll take the weekend off and we'll
go on a family trip to the lake.

Speaker 3 (25:23):
I was really frustrated for his wife. Well, I'm frustrated
for Sarah. Basically the entire movie thinks don't improve for
her meaningfully at any time. But when when he comes
home with a watch, yeah, I was upset with him. Yeah,
but then you're like, it's Eddie Murphy. I can't stay mad.

Speaker 2 (25:44):
I know that's how he gets.

Speaker 4 (25:46):
You'll make it up.

Speaker 3 (25:47):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (25:49):
So before the family goes on this trip, Sarah answers
a phone call from someone who wants her to sell
a house because she's also a real estate agent. Not
that you would know, because not that we ever see
her doing her job, like we mentioned before.

Speaker 3 (26:06):
Well you see her considering doing her job writing a
fun call.

Speaker 4 (26:10):
She's been in houses.

Speaker 3 (26:13):
Yeah, yeah, I come down pro Sarah on this because
we know this is like classic whatever, like crummy kids
movie writing, where you're like, dad's working too hard. It's
all these gendered stereotypes. But I'm like, no, Sarah is
in a union and she is just simply saying I
don't work outside of these hours. I don't. It's Friday

(26:35):
at seven pm. I'm not setting up a viewing. True,
and that's a fair boundary as a professional. That's how
I feel. Because we only see her on the weekend.
Maybe she's nine am on Monday. She's fucking at it.

Speaker 2 (26:48):
Sure, I mean, yeah, It's not her fault that we
don't see her doing her job. It's the movie's fault.

Speaker 4 (26:53):
They could have made the movie longer.

Speaker 3 (26:55):
I at least let I have a feeling if we
see Sarah on Tuesday, we would get a very different
Sarah for sure.

Speaker 2 (27:04):
Where's the sequel anyway? Uh?

Speaker 3 (27:07):
Well it's.

Speaker 2 (27:10):
Yeah, it just had its awesome premiere. Okay. So so Jim,
he interrupts this phone call and he's like, wow, I
know that address. That house is huge, let's go. So
on the way to the family trip, Jim insists on
taking everyone to this big mansion to discuss putting the

(27:31):
house up for sale. They arrive, it's spooky. It looks abandoned.
There's a huge cemetery outside. It's almost as if it's
a haunted mansion. Then it starts pouring rain, so the
family hurries inside, where they meet a butler named Ramsley
play by Terrence Stamp. And did anyone know who Terence

(27:53):
Stamp was? I guess he won an oscar once. Oh,
I recognize him from another Eddie Murphy movie, one of
my favorites, Bowfinger.

Speaker 3 (28:01):
Oh oh okay, what a career?

Speaker 1 (28:04):
Well?

Speaker 4 (28:04):
Also, real quick the rain had it not rain?

Speaker 5 (28:08):
Like?

Speaker 4 (28:08):
Are we to believe that the mansion controls the weather?
Because if that didn't rain, they could have left exactly.
But I guess the mansion also has its own climate.

Speaker 3 (28:17):
I believe, And we're in are we canonically in I
know this movie was shot in New Orleans? But are
we canonically in New Orleans?

Speaker 2 (28:25):
They so Jim drives a BMW. We see the license plate.
I'm pretty sure it says Louisiana. So it's like assumed.

Speaker 3 (28:34):
I think I read that the bridge that they pullar
alert they get out of on mansion when they're driving away,
that's like a bridge in the New Orleans area. But
it seems like this like big, like Antebellum Mansion. I
have so many questions about the internal logic of this movie,
including just a lot of I just have a lot
of questions about Terrence Stamp's character it really seems like

(28:57):
he has consistently not had a plan for like one
hundred and fifty years. He's had so long to get
a cohesive plan together. Well, I alive and dead, and
he just never tests.

Speaker 2 (29:09):
I'm prepared to make the argument that this movie has
basically the same exact plot as a recent Matreon episode
What A Girl Wants Whoa because both movies involve a
rich guy who lives in a big house, who is
with a woman who the rich guy's butler does not
approve of, so the butler sends the woman away slash

(29:33):
murders her spoiler alert, which begs the question in both cases,
why is a butler so concerned about who the rich
guy marries? Like how does this? I guess maybe that
affects his job status, But if I'm a working class
person working for a rich piece of shit, I don't

(29:54):
give a shit about his personal life. Like I don't why,
I don't know. Anyway, they're the same movie, and it's
you're scringing it.

Speaker 4 (30:01):
He's like trying to like make him see the air
of his ways. He's like, no, she's ruining that.

Speaker 3 (30:07):
They should do we should do a whole episode on
butler logic. It is really confusing, yeah, because I feel
like it's always just like a one sentence explanation and
it's like I made a promise to your father and
you're like what and.

Speaker 4 (30:20):
The whole Batman philosophy y yeah, oh yeah, I'm like,
is your dad still paying you? Like you can go.

Speaker 3 (30:28):
Like no offense he died, like you don't need to
work here?

Speaker 4 (30:32):
Yeah, and when I die, what's your plan? You just
gonna have a family of butlers that are indentured.

Speaker 2 (30:39):
Like well, like I think we talked about this on
the Beauty and the Beast episode where it's like, why
are these servants who have had their life absolutely taken
away and destroyed because of their like loyalty to their boss. No.

Speaker 4 (30:56):
Yeah, but they're deeply invested in him becoming a better person.

Speaker 3 (30:59):
They may made a promise or something. It's like Terrence
Stamps thing is like I'm just gonna lie to him
until I don't feel bad about killing a lady like
yeah's disaster.

Speaker 4 (31:11):
Yeah, like quitting never entered the possibility. No, like another
butler job.

Speaker 3 (31:16):
M M.

Speaker 4 (31:19):
I like this fucking half, I'll say it.

Speaker 2 (31:22):
Yeah, it's very bizarre. Anyway, So Ramsley the butler is creepy,
and when the whole family shows up, he's like, ooh,
we were not expecting others. We just wanted Sarah to come.
And we're like, what's going on with that? Uh? And
then the family meets the owner of the house, Edward
Gracie played by Nathaniel Parker, and his sideburns and his sideburns.

(31:47):
He's paying extra attention to Sarah as well, and we're
like hmmm. And then Edward's also like, hey, do you
guys believe in ghosts? And everyone's like ti he what.

Speaker 3 (32:00):
Then there's a really funny I think that it was
that line or there was some line that the butler
says that sounded like a just like ai garbled version
of that line from Pirates of the Caribbean of like,
do you believe in ghost stories? Because you're in one?
And sorry the did you do? With the accent?

Speaker 2 (32:20):
Yes, your best start believing in ghost stories.

Speaker 3 (32:23):
You're in one, And like the high manchuscript just doesn't
really have that juice because the butler's like, hey, do
you believe in ghosts? Because maybe there's one over there.

Speaker 4 (32:36):
They'll talk about ghosts to sell your house next time.

Speaker 2 (32:38):
Next time, Jim is very unphased, similarly unphased when he
sees actual ghosts. He's just like, interesting, it's all about
the sale.

Speaker 3 (32:51):
He's like, all right, there's ghosts.

Speaker 2 (32:53):
Yeah. So then Ramsley is like, by the way, the
storm has flooded the road, so you guys have to
stay here tonight. And the family's like okay, So they
go to their rooms. Sarah is upset about missing the
family trip to the lake, and then Ramsley comes to
fetch Jim because Edward wants a private word with him.

(33:18):
And as Jim is waiting for Edward in his rich
person room, his study or something like that, Jim finds
a secret passageway and he goes inside and gets trapped. Meanwhile,
in the kid's room, a ghost ball appears and it

(33:39):
wants Megan and Michael.

Speaker 3 (33:41):
Bless these kids' hearts. They are not looking at the
same tennis ball and this shot no really, that's on
Rob Minkoff. Oh my god, who directed Stuart Little Synchronicity.

Speaker 2 (33:59):
Wow?

Speaker 3 (34:00):
Oh, this guy loves to direct a mediocre kids movie.
He loves it.

Speaker 4 (34:05):
Good for him specialty.

Speaker 3 (34:07):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (34:07):
Yeah, So anyway, the ghost ball wants Megan and Michael
to follow it. So they do. Meanwhile, Sarah is like,
where's my husband? And she goes looking for him, but
instead she finds Edward and he starts to tell Sarah
about a woman named Elizabeth, because every live action Disney

(34:31):
movie from two thousand and three has to have a
character named Elizabeth.

Speaker 3 (34:36):
Yeah, and she's got to be she's got to be
in the thick of it, like she's a main character.

Speaker 2 (34:44):
Cut to Jim as he's finding his way out of
the secret passage and into a hallway with scary art
and bulging doors things that are basically direct, right, yeah,
direct references to the bride. There's a scary mirror that
makes him look like a corpse, and he's like.

Speaker 4 (35:04):
And at no point, though, is he like, oh, I
can't sell a house with a door like that. That
mirror's gotta get out, Like he's still thinking about something
the house, but never commenting, like he didn't ask anyone
the square footage. How much do you really care about
selling that?

Speaker 3 (35:20):
I really this this part, like these sequences are so
because at the time, like if you hadn't been on
the Haunted Mansion ride, you're just like, WHOA, this is
so weird. But it was like I don't know this.
I feel like Eddie Murphy all but turns to camera
and is like, and if you like this, you're gonna
love this amazing attraction its you like because it's just

(35:41):
like the ride for some sequences.

Speaker 4 (35:43):
I'm not mad at walking for a long time. Yea,
now the.

Speaker 2 (35:48):
Left exactly smooth. Okay, so Eddie Murphy is like looking
at all these spooky things. Then meanwhile, the kids are
still following the ghost ball, which leads them to an
old painting of a woman that looks exactly like their mom.
And right then a couple of servants show up, Ezra

(36:10):
and Emma. According to IMDb, although I don't think we
really ever learned their names.

Speaker 3 (36:15):
I was like Wallis Sean and that lady.

Speaker 4 (36:18):
Cookies is what I was referring to the cookie servants.

Speaker 3 (36:22):
Yes, yes, they are the cookie.

Speaker 4 (36:27):
Every mansion has two cookie people.

Speaker 3 (36:30):
Yes, You're like, wow, that's a really robust staff they.

Speaker 4 (36:33):
Had, because what was his job. It's like she seems
really like she made the cookies. He's just there to
be like.

Speaker 2 (36:38):
No, right, he's not the butler. Ramsley's the butler.

Speaker 3 (36:42):
So they say he's a bumbling footman. Okay, so that's
his job. He's a bumbling foot he's he's like he's
like in any.

Speaker 6 (36:53):
Yeah, so yes, it's Wallace Sean and an actor named
Dina Spyby Waters and yeah it's true.

Speaker 3 (37:05):
That's a haunted house name.

Speaker 2 (37:07):
Yeah, and they help the kids hide from Ramsley.

Speaker 4 (37:13):
Uh.

Speaker 2 (37:13):
Then back in Eddie murphy Land, he finds a room
with a crystal ball and inside is this like fortune
teller lady named Madam.

Speaker 3 (37:24):
Leota Jennifer Tilly, who I just love that they put
Jennifer Tilly's head in a ball for a whole movie.
I think that that's who Jamie Lee Curtis is playing
in the new one.

Speaker 5 (37:34):
Oh that's that tracks.

Speaker 3 (37:36):
Oh good work if you can get it, I guess.

Speaker 2 (37:38):
Right, although Tiffany Hattish is also in like fortune Teller Garb,
at least from what I've noticed of like the promo stuff.
So yeah, I know, no idea anyway, Madam Liota.

Speaker 4 (37:53):
In twenty years when we do the podcast about that.

Speaker 2 (37:56):
I will know, Yes, we'll clarify then. So Madam Leota,
who I'm like, is that Ray Liota's mom wife? I
don't know, Yeah, it's his mom. He's he's to show
business nepotism too.

Speaker 3 (38:15):
It's the crystal ball.

Speaker 2 (38:20):
She is talking about how Jim needs to lift the
curse and release all the trapped spirits, and he's like
freaking out. He runs away, Yes, for sure, he runs away,
and he bumps into his kids and the cookie servants,
who are ghosts by the way, But again no one

(38:42):
in the family reacts.

Speaker 3 (38:44):
To I kind of love that this whole family is
just like super underwhelmed by the ghosts, like we're we're
actually kind of the youngest Michael is I think made
out to seem like what he has to overcome is fear,
and I was like, I think that we should I'll
be more afraid. I think we should all be matching
Michael's energy. But I like I like the kid characters,

(39:06):
like they weren't you know, they're written, but I liked them,
especially because just the daughter is just like not afraid
of anything. She's just like, it's a ghost ball, let's
fall away. And then when like ghost Wallace Shawn turns up,
she's like, hi, because.

Speaker 2 (39:23):
I would like a cookie.

Speaker 4 (39:24):
He's great, Yeah, exactly, Please introduce yourself to this the
two children in the room.

Speaker 3 (39:30):
Is it logical? No, But I would like to navigate
the world that way.

Speaker 4 (39:35):
I wish all their seeds are just them screaming, like
like they're just like no plot for them except for
horrifying their hair turns white, I will even.

Speaker 3 (39:46):
Michael's like a little unfazed.

Speaker 4 (39:50):
And just collapses.

Speaker 2 (39:51):
You're like, okay, because like Michael is really only afraid
of spiders.

Speaker 3 (39:55):
It seems, yeah, which I thought was really I guess
that the actor who played it, Mark John Jeffries. Three names.
That's how you know you're working with a child actor.
To child actors and serial killers, that's the three name
way Mark John Jeffries. I guess he was a fan
of Ron Weasley and so he asked to have the

(40:17):
fear of spiders added because Ron Weasley was afraid of spiders.
Isn't that sweet? That's cute?

Speaker 5 (40:23):
Do we believe that.

Speaker 3 (40:25):
Or was that just an adult child actor? That was
my idea.

Speaker 4 (40:28):
Yeah, I came up with the spider thing, and it's
like it was in one scene. They never follow up
and there's no spiders in the haunted mansion.

Speaker 2 (40:37):
Weird, Well, there is spiders in the crypt later, so
it does kind of payoff.

Speaker 4 (40:41):
Yeah, that's true. He has to get over that one like,
you're right, you're right. I forgot that part. That was
the part I memory hold. I was clawing for the
credits in.

Speaker 3 (40:49):
The Yeah, the last stretch of this movie. I was
terrified as a kid, but as an adult it's like
it's like the last ten minutes drags.

Speaker 2 (40:59):
Yes, yeah, anyway, so we cut back to Edward telling
Sarah about this mysterious woman, Elizabeth. He says that his grandfather,
but it's actually him because guess what, he's also a ghost.
Although Sarah does not yet know this that basically Edward
and Elizabeth were in love, but they were from different

(41:23):
worlds and couldn't be together interested to discuss what they
might mean by that, And so she died by suicide,
and then the man unable to bear it also took
his own life. So that's what we see in that
opening sequence, like the credit sequence, and then Edward's like yes,
and now this man's soul haunts the house waiting for

(41:47):
her to return.

Speaker 3 (41:48):
And Sarah's still like huh interesting?

Speaker 2 (41:51):
Interesting?

Speaker 4 (41:52):
Also like why is it never like clear why like her,
her ghost isn't haunting the mansion too?

Speaker 2 (41:58):
Well, because she's the ghost ball. I don't know why
she can't take a more human form, she's the gust
because that would make too much sense for this movie.

Speaker 4 (42:11):
Yeah, maybe she would have run into the woman who
looks just like her, who's barely a realistication, but like,
hey are you my? Are we related at all?

Speaker 3 (42:21):
Ghostball Lady has more personality than Sarah's given unfortunately.

Speaker 4 (42:27):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (42:27):
True, sad but true.

Speaker 4 (42:29):
Yeah, she was cursed with being Eddie Murphy's wife in
a movie because I looked at a lot of his
movies and very few do the women ever get to
act at anything majoring in like some have broken out,
but mostly it's a lot of just beautiful women who fade.

Speaker 2 (42:44):
It sucks tol. Yeah, yeah, but I guess the directors
of these movies are like, well, we've got Eddie Murphy,
so his partner doesn't need to have a personality, like
he's gonna do all the heavy lifting. And it's like yeah, no, And.

Speaker 3 (42:58):
I wonder how by design, because it's like occasionally you
get someone with a really really famous actor like Eddie Murphy,
and then you can like launch someone's career off of
like playing Eddie Murphy's his wife in a movie. If
you're if you receive a character right performed.

Speaker 4 (43:16):
If anyone notices you in the film, right.

Speaker 3 (43:19):
Right, So it's I mean, who knows. I'm not familiar
with this actor's work.

Speaker 4 (43:25):
I went to IMDb. It was pretty much nothing after that.

Speaker 3 (43:28):
It's like she played a lot of lawyers.

Speaker 4 (43:30):
The kids played kids and things for a while, which
was cool.

Speaker 3 (43:33):
Yeah, yeah, and then they I think, you know, I
think that they stopped working as actors, which is the
right decision. You know that's probably now, especially now.

Speaker 4 (43:42):
Yeah, get into Crypto kids, even.

Speaker 3 (43:46):
The crypto from crypt to Crypto from Oh, that's a
gnarly I bet I bet that exists.

Speaker 4 (43:56):
That his back pocket, he's.

Speaker 3 (43:57):
Gonna hit those kids. There's I sorry, this is a
fun because I was looking for behind the scenes information
on this movie, because I was trying to figure out
what was this movie? Like, speaking back to what you
were saying earlier, Aquila, I was like, was this movie
written for Eddie Murphy? Like I could. It's just really
hard to find out any significant pre production information about

(44:17):
this movie. And you find the same five fun facts
over and over and over, including this one I've seen
a million times now. This was the first film to
air on the Disney Channel to contain any profanity beside
hell or dam. It also contained the phrase big ass termites.
I've seen this fun fact a million times and I
can't figure out if the movie was written or Eddie

(44:39):
Murphy or not.

Speaker 4 (44:40):
Anyways, interesting, it must have been, right, like in the
way that I imagine John Gole Cruise was written for The.

Speaker 3 (44:46):
Rock, right, yeah, right like, because otherwise there's no reason
for this movie to exist if if Eddie Murphy isn't
in it. Unfortunately, Yeah, with all due respect to while
as Sean.

Speaker 2 (44:59):
Okay, So, meanwhile, Madame Leota is giving this same information
about Edward and Elizabeth to Jim and his kids, and
she tells them that in order to break the curse
and rescue Sarah, they must enter the tomb under the
Great Dead Oak and find a crypt wherein lies a

(45:22):
key that will reveal the truth.

Speaker 3 (45:25):
So and we're like, uh huh huh okay.

Speaker 2 (45:28):
Interesting.

Speaker 3 (45:29):
It reminds me of when ros do it Bekator gets
directions on how to get to Jack in the boat,
where you're just like it's a lot of steps and
you'll come to it, like.

Speaker 4 (45:44):
I'm just gonna start yelling Jack and he's.

Speaker 3 (45:46):
Gonna I'm gonna get about three steps deep, and then
I'm coming.

Speaker 4 (45:52):
Back to you, and I'm gonna be like what was
after the hallway?

Speaker 2 (45:57):
Okay, I made it this far? Did I make the
wrong turn?

Speaker 4 (46:00):
I just want to can talk to you in the hallways?

Speaker 3 (46:02):
Him problem, maybe a man.

Speaker 4 (46:05):
That says you are here.

Speaker 2 (46:09):
So the two cookie ghosts take Jim and the kids
outside to the cemetery, where they see hundreds of other
ghosts whose souls are all trapped there because of this curse.
And they find the tomb and Jim goes inside. It's
very Phantom of the Opera vibes down there. Yes, his

(46:31):
daughter Megan comes along, and then little Michael, who is
afraid of everything, gets left outside in a cemetery, which
is like, he's fine.

Speaker 3 (46:41):
Yeah, well, I guess Eddie Murphy tries to prevent it
from happening, but not very hard.

Speaker 2 (46:47):
Not very hard, and then his sister just abandons him.

Speaker 3 (46:51):
He's just like, all right, well, I guess I would
have ditched my youngest child as well.

Speaker 4 (46:56):
He's like wife first, then maybe the crying little boy.

Speaker 3 (47:02):
Is it feminism to not care if your son lives
or dies? Sound top in the cotton.

Speaker 2 (47:11):
Oh, poor little Michael. Okay, So Jim and his daughter
Megan find the crypt and inside is a Skellington holding
a key, and Jim grabs it, but a bunch of
other Skellingtons come to life and start chasing them. Jim
drops the key at one point Megan has to go
find it underwater. Yeah, Titanic vibes Titanic. Exactly how many

(47:38):
more Titanic parallels can there be? I wonder? Then they
get trapped inside the tomb, this Skellingtons are chasing them,
blah blah blah. And then this is when Michael has
to face his fear of spiders and he saves his
dad and his sister.

Speaker 3 (47:54):
I thought it was nice. It's the most basic thing
that could possibly happen. But I'm glad. But not every
movie makes it that feel.

Speaker 5 (48:00):
It happens.

Speaker 3 (48:03):
Michael's one thing. Let's let him do is one thing. Yeah,
And then Eddie Murphy's like, it's okay to be scared sometimes,
and I'm like, well, okay, but like he's at the
Haunted Mansion, like obviously he's scared.

Speaker 4 (48:17):
Yeah, this isn't a weird place to have an emotions.

Speaker 3 (48:22):
Like, don't be scared?

Speaker 4 (48:25):
Like every week they end up in a shitty house
where like the mom's got to be married to some
dead guy. It's a really crazy.

Speaker 3 (48:31):
This again, it takes Sarah so long to catch on
and I'm just like, Sarah, look at his outfit.

Speaker 2 (48:41):
I hate how oblivious she's written to be. It's ridiculous.
So then they take the Skellington key to Madam Leota,
who says that they have to use it to open
a trunk, which Jim does, and inside there is an
old letter from Elizabeth to her beloved mister Gracie, saying

(49:02):
that she will marry him, and they're like, wait a minute.
She didn't take her own life. She wanted to be
with him, so someone else must have murdered her and
given mister Gracie the wrong letter. And it turns out
that it was Ramsley the Butler, which you know you
could have seen coming, especially if you'd already seen what

(49:22):
a girl wants and.

Speaker 3 (49:24):
They but then you're just like what and what he
does from there is even more confusing, yes, because he
opens a portal to Hell, which is something he can.

Speaker 5 (49:38):
Do, but he won't just go there.

Speaker 3 (49:41):
But then he's he just like shoots himself in the
foot so spectacularly because he's like, let me open a
portal to Hell. Who is the only person in this
room that belongs in Hell? Oh?

Speaker 1 (49:52):
Me?

Speaker 2 (49:53):
And then he just he gets dragged to Hell.

Speaker 6 (49:56):
He's like he d yeah.

Speaker 2 (50:00):
Well, it's also confusing because so he's the reason, so
maybe it's not. He's the reason that the curse happened
to begin with because of this whole secret murder and
him secretly keeping the lovers apart, and now he's the
one trying to, I guess, rectify his mistake, but he
never really acknowledges that this was his fault to begin with,

(50:20):
and he sort of acts like, thanks to me, this
curse will be lifted because I'm finding this Sarah woman
who I'm going to convince Edward is his long lost
lover and it's going to be great and blah blah,
and it's just like, but you're the reason this happened
to begin with. I don't know anyway, we don't know.
Ramsley did not want the lovers to be together for reasons,

(50:44):
reasons of years. They've had so many years to talk
about this. So the whole thing was that he he
made Edward Gracie believe that Elizabeth didn't want to be
with him, and then Ramseley poisoned her and it caused

(51:07):
the whole curse. So yeah, Ramseley is now trying to
undo it by having Edward and Sarah get together. But
an a live person can't marry a dead ghost. So Ramseley'
is like, oh, sorry, Jim, but I'm gonna have to
kill your his wife. And then Ramseley traps the kids
in a trunk and throws Jim out of the house. Meanwhile,

(51:30):
this is when Sarah is all like, hah, what's happening,
because again it takes her so long to understand that,
like Ramseley's orchestrating this whole thing where he's trying to
get Edward to marry Sarah and convince Sarah to go
along with this plan, and he's like, if you don't
marry Edward, I'm going to kill your children. So Sarah

(51:52):
puts on Elizabeth's wedding dress and is about to go
through with marrying Edward. Outside, Jim is trying to get
back into the house but he can't and he gives up,
and Madame Leota rolls up in her crystal ball and
she's like, you have to keep trying so then he
drives his BMW into the house, which works for some reason.

(52:16):
He saves his kids and then stops the wedding just
as Sarah drinks poisoned wine and he's like, by the way, Edward,
the truth is that Ramsley killed your beloved Elizabeth, and
here's the letter to prove it. And then this is
when Ramsley is like, damn you all to hell, and

(52:38):
then a fire demon comes out of the ground and
drags him to hell.

Speaker 3 (52:43):
Like what did he think would happen? Oh?

Speaker 4 (52:45):
Wow, this is the first time he's opening it movie.

Speaker 3 (52:48):
He's almost over.

Speaker 4 (52:50):
Yeah, He's like, all right, last effort, right doesn't work.

Speaker 2 (52:56):
Sarah starts dying because of the poison, and then the
ghost Orb who was Elizabeth all along, shows back up,
goes inside of Sarah and uses her physical form to
kiss Edward. Okay, we'll talk about that, and she's like, babe,
let's go to heaven. By the way, Eddie Murphy, thanks

(53:18):
for releasing me. And he's like, no problem. And then
Sarah comes back to life and Edward gives Jim the
deed to the house and all the spirits ascend to heaven,
and then the movie ends with the Evers family driving off.
Madam Leota in her crystal ball is with them and

(53:41):
they are now presumably headed to their family trip to
the lake.

Speaker 3 (53:46):
The end.

Speaker 4 (53:47):
Yeah, yeah, beautiful, we love it.

Speaker 2 (53:51):
Let's take another quick break and we'll come back to
discuss and we're back.

Speaker 3 (54:03):
Uh yeah, where shall we start? Where would everyone likes
to start?

Speaker 5 (54:10):
My deep size, let's just say that sucks?

Speaker 2 (54:15):
Should we talk about Sarah?

Speaker 3 (54:17):
Yeah?

Speaker 4 (54:18):
I definitely think that there's like so much to say.

Speaker 2 (54:21):
Yes, well, we've already mentioned that she and her husband
have the same job, although we never see her doing
her job. Really, there's a scene where she's on the
phone with Ramsley and she's like, no, my husband and
I work as a team. But again you never see

(54:42):
that because you only ever see Jim working solo.

Speaker 4 (54:45):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (54:46):
Yeah, it feels like a very like early two thousands
like way of being like, well, you can't say that
we're not you know, like being equitable to women, because
you know what.

Speaker 4 (54:59):
She's in it.

Speaker 3 (55:00):
But it's like she only acts as like a wife
and mother. She never acts like her job is not Yeah,
I mean the movie can't happen without Eddie Murphy's job.

Speaker 2 (55:10):
But like you can't say the same for her, definitely. Yeah,
And then on top of that, she's presented as being
like a nagging wife, the way that so many like
woman and wife characters are portrayed in movies, where what's
usually actually happening is that they are expressing a desire
for their partner to be an active participant in the

(55:33):
relationship and in the household. They're expressing a desire for
affection and emotional availability from their partner. They're expressing a
desire to establish boundaries in the relationship, you know, things
like that. But this is is like, why my wife

(55:54):
won't stop nagging me?

Speaker 4 (55:56):
I gave her a watch? Why is she still talking?

Speaker 1 (55:58):
Yeah?

Speaker 2 (55:58):
Why is she mad?

Speaker 3 (56:00):
I'm just I feel like but the subtext of that
is always like I'm just trying to provide for our family,
and it's like, well, theoretically she's doing the same fucking
job and is being a parent.

Speaker 4 (56:09):
And it's like I just don't get that. Like if
their partners, then they're both making the same right, Like,
it's like it's their company, it's their real estate business.
So like she's obviously aware of the fact that like
he's doing that job and saying you can do it.
Less we have enough, and I'm like a man. A
man doesn't want to hear work less. Then you hate

(56:30):
your family. Like the subtis here is in the real
version of this movie, they go to the house, all
the kids would get sucked into that tron. The wife
would get kidnapped a that guy and he'd bounce. He'd
be like, okay, like he got in the car. It
wasn't raining anymore.

Speaker 3 (56:44):
He could.

Speaker 2 (56:47):
Could have been a force majeure. Is that what that
movie is about? Anyway?

Speaker 4 (56:51):
Yeah, Like she's just so attractive. It's like such a bummer.
It's like that she should really leave it. Like that's
the whole time. You don't have to go through with
the marrying somebody to save these kids.

Speaker 3 (57:07):
It's like you and the kids are basically, you know,
doing your own thing anyways.

Speaker 2 (57:12):
Right, And then so like for the whole second half
of the movie, she's extremely damseled. Like we already mentioned,
she's characterized as being very oblivious and overly trusting because
like Edward is being so creepy, Ramsley is being so creepy,
she doesn't seem to notice. And it's just like in
real life, the world is an unsafe place for women,

(57:35):
particularly women of color. True, and so women have to
move about the world in a very specific way where
they are hyper aware of their surroundings. They sense danger
very well. Like and she's just like, dode do what
I mean.

Speaker 4 (57:51):
The fact that they're having a fight about their relationship
at the mansion to the point where she would be
alone in a room in a place where they have
to stay night and they don't know those people. I'm like,
I'd be like, get your ass in here, we're gonna
hash it out. Yeah, all night, push, I don't care
if some man wants to talk you, right.

Speaker 3 (58:09):
It's so bizarre. Yeah, I mean, I just feel like, yeah,
they don't write a character for her at all. We
get the set like in everything she does as Sarah
and then eventually as Elizabeth is to service the like
whoever the man in the scene is, because it's like
she's there at the beginning saying you need to spend
more time with your family. To set up Eddie Murphy's

(58:31):
conflict she has like she's got nothing, and then at
the end she comes out of the ghost orb to
resolve whatever his name Grimsbys. Edie believe the Bleep's conflict,
so she can kiss him, and then he can and
then they can die, Like you're just like this his

(58:52):
actors like double fucked in this movie. It sucks right.

Speaker 2 (58:56):
Her body is used so that a ghost can inhabit it,
so that the ghost man can kiss her. And I
was like why, Like I was asking that question that
we posed before, like why can't Elizabeth's ghost take a
more like corporeal form? Is that how you say that word?
And that like that's the form that can kiss Edward?

(59:21):
Like why does Sarah's unconscious body have to be used?
And then I remembered, oh, because Disney movies are obsessed
with men kissing unconscious women, because like a few moments
later you do see ghost Elizabeth in her like human
body form. Why couldn't Edward have kissed her?

Speaker 3 (59:41):
Then? Like, well, I think that the reason it is
is to set up the like Eddie Murphy or I
guess Jim whatever, the Eddie Murphy character joke where he's like,
oh no, this ghost is kissing my wife, Like that's
the joke that's being set up by the ghost possessing
his wife's unconscious body where he keeps I mean, and

(01:00:02):
he's Eddie Murphy out, Yeah, I can't take it from him.

Speaker 4 (01:00:04):
Yeah, but it's also like since we know that his
wife is not the ghost right, Like the ghost is confused,
why does he ever? Like once that is established to
the ghost guy, the other orbs should become a first.
I know, she doesn't have to be in the lookalike
body if they're not even related, there's no story.

Speaker 2 (01:00:27):
I don't know why this happens.

Speaker 4 (01:00:28):
It makes no sense at all. It's just like they
needed the actress to do something active at some point,
so they were like the ghost you, the ghost look
alike you from the eighteen hundreds is gonna kiss this
ghost white man and then they're gonna go off to heaven.
Why did it to be married to go to heaven?

Speaker 3 (01:00:47):
Oh yeah, I didn't even think of that, Like just
leave God does he? Movies are so like sometimes you
don't even realize the amount of like weird institutional thought.
That's it's like, well, of course you can't go to
heaven if you're living in sin, so you want to
get Christian married.

Speaker 4 (01:01:06):
And also like all the other people in the house, okay,
like the house gets cursed because they both killed themselves,
so why is everybody else even there? They didn't die
that night, they died in the house.

Speaker 2 (01:01:17):
Yeah, what is that about?

Speaker 3 (01:01:20):
Did they eventually die and then they just had to
stay there for plot reasons? Yeah, it's really, But then
there's like a whole thriving Yeah, because I guess they
do kind of act as if like a bomb went
off in the haunted mansion after these duths took place,
because everyone is still there from that night, including hundreds
of other ghosts. You're like, yeah, is this like Oppenheimer

(01:01:42):
like what happened? Like, yeah, why so many ghosts in
one place?

Speaker 1 (01:01:49):
Yeah?

Speaker 2 (01:01:49):
Did they all live there at once? That's a thousand
people is a lot to live, even in a huge mansion.

Speaker 4 (01:01:55):
And would you stay there if somebody like two people died,
you'd be like, I'm never going get me out of here.
Did I drink the poison? Like I'd make it about me?

Speaker 2 (01:02:04):
We're not sure. It's almost as if this movie was
based on a ride with no narrative and they just
had to make shuit up and none of it makes sense.

Speaker 3 (01:02:12):
Make sure every ghost and the ride was in the movie,
and don't question you.

Speaker 4 (01:02:16):
Yeah, exactly. They were like that weird puppety one from
the end between.

Speaker 2 (01:02:21):
You and my god, why are the singing busts? Why
do they have a whole scene to themselves.

Speaker 3 (01:02:26):
Because Caitlyn, they're on the ride part.

Speaker 4 (01:02:37):
I hear there was like that rumor that one of
the ghosts that are singing is like Walt Disney, But
that's just not true. It just looks like him.

Speaker 3 (01:02:44):
Oh, people are so goofy. They're like, well, if it
looks like they're extremely.

Speaker 4 (01:02:48):
Goozy, They're like, it's some other guys. Just like a
lot of people look like Walt Disney or something.

Speaker 3 (01:02:55):
Yeah, I know, white guys with mustaches. They're everywhere. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:03:00):
A couple other things I want to say about Sarah
is that she saves her kids by having a wedding
versus Jim saves the kids and his wife by you know,
crashing his car through a wall. He's fighting sentient suits
of armor. He's doing a bunch of like action stuff,
because men do action and women have weddings. Also, she

(01:03:27):
drinks the poison, which I'm pretty sure she knows, like
the wine is poisoned, and she knows this because Ramsley
puts the poison into the goblet right in front of her,
And I'm like this, why wouldn't she figure out a
way to like not drink it or any like.

Speaker 3 (01:03:44):
Because because women in this world see things and it
does not compute.

Speaker 4 (01:03:50):
Yeah, like also like no struggle drinking it like I
would have been.

Speaker 2 (01:03:53):
Like, and she's like young Yeng look Kbride Salyon. She
makes absolutely no active choices to get out of this
very dangerous situation she's in, which is like, you know,
classic damsel behavior. And then meanwhile, the man is making

(01:04:14):
active choices right and left and like figuring out how
like how to overcome the obstacles that he's in and
do this, and that she does nothing is very frustrating.

Speaker 4 (01:04:24):
Yes.

Speaker 2 (01:04:25):
Also I started on my second watch of the movie,
I cause on my first watch I noticed how often
Jim says my wife, and so I started tallying it,
and I feel like I missed a few times, but
I counted fourteen times where he's like my wife, my wife,
my wife.

Speaker 3 (01:04:44):
I also, ye, I think he says it more often
than Yeah, he beats Boorap by three whole years to
this amazing catchphrase, But I think he says it more
than he says her name, which is like.

Speaker 2 (01:04:58):
I also counted how many times Sarah says my husband
and unless I'm missing some I only counted four times. Huh,
so big difference.

Speaker 5 (01:05:08):
Well yeah, I feel like she said the kids' names
more frequently too.

Speaker 4 (01:05:12):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (01:05:13):
Well I also thought it was interesting. Okay, So contrasting
with Sarah, where it seems like adult women I guess
of which, Sarah is the only like character of importance
who's an adult woman in this movie because Cook, I
mean no disrespect to Cook Cookie Lady, but they're kind
of a package deal. Ye, But she's like the only
woman that even has something resembling an arc, even though

(01:05:35):
it's just in service to the two men. But and
then on the other hand, for some reason, the daughter
is like, I don't know, she has more to do
than her mom and has, you know, at least it's
a very like Disney Channel personality, where like I can
do anything, I'm not scared, I'm the big sister. But
it was like that worked for me. Fine. I liked

(01:05:57):
that she like and I think that more like it's
it's you know again, it's like there's not massive it's
like not earth shattering Oppenheim first dime plot developments, but like,
you know, it's nice to see the like the courageous,

(01:06:18):
like really smart kid, be the daughter that's always nice.
I liked when Eddie Murphy yelled at her for knowing Latin.

Speaker 4 (01:06:26):
Sure, yeah, yeah, you said it was a dead language.

Speaker 3 (01:06:30):
It's like, well, he's right, that's right. Like she does
motivated choices, like like she had a few, Like she
had more moments than I was expecting.

Speaker 2 (01:06:39):
For sure, she is given things to do. She remembers
the whatever clues that Madam Leota says. She goes into
the tomb to help her dad. She is the one
who finds the key that he dropped. Like she's doing things.
But it does take a while for her participation in

(01:07:00):
the story to feel significant because up until that point
there's a lot of focus on Michael, especially because like
this arc for him is being set up. Megan doesn't
really get an ARC, But I'm like, okay, that's fine,
because like she is given more to do and then
Michael gets an ARC. Like that feels like a pretty balanced,
like narrative characterization kind of thing. Yeah, but Michael's arc

(01:07:24):
is weird to me because so it's set up that
he's a scaredy cat and he's especially afraid of spiders
and his dad is like, you have to learn to
face your fears. You should never be afraid of anything,
which is very much like.

Speaker 3 (01:07:36):
Well, and it was very and he directly ties it
into like it's time to be a man.

Speaker 4 (01:07:42):
Yeah they're ten, Yeah, exactly, go get a job at
the real estate firm that your mother.

Speaker 2 (01:07:48):
We need to be evers and evers and evers.

Speaker 3 (01:07:52):
I did forevers and evers. It's not the worst. It's
not the worst turnive phrase.

Speaker 4 (01:07:57):
It's so clever, pretty cute. It's the.

Speaker 2 (01:08:04):
Advice that fathers give their sons in movies is almost
always like the worst advice possible. It's always like, here's
how to be a man. And then he proceeds to
say the most toxic and reductive thing ever, and then.

Speaker 3 (01:08:18):
Ada turns out he was right.

Speaker 4 (01:08:20):
Yeah, and then Madame Leota also kind of has to
tell Eddie Murphy's character Jim to be a man because
he's like, she's like, don't give up, and then he's like, Okay,
I'll ram my car through the wall, which is like,
maybe take the car.

Speaker 3 (01:08:32):
It gets it's not really what she was asking for
a man.

Speaker 4 (01:08:37):
This is wrecking a car.

Speaker 2 (01:08:39):
So then so Michael's are culminates when he has to
like face his fear of spiders to like open the
door to let his dad and sister out of the tomb,
and Jim is being like, Hey, remember before when I
said that you shouldn't be afraid, Well, guess what, it's
okay to be afraid. I'm afraid right now. And I'm like,
I like that that what Jim is saying, and that

(01:09:03):
he's kind of going back on his toxic mindset about
like fear being for losers kind of thing. But I'm
also like, is Jim just saying this because you would
say anything to get out of being murdered by Skellington's like,
because they never have a final beat of that where

(01:09:23):
they like have a calm conversation when they're not in
danger in danger exactly. So I'm just like, how does
Jim actually feel about this? I feel like we never know,
so I don't know how to feel about that. But yeah,
but I do appreciate, like we were saying that. Megan,
even though she doesn't get an ARC like her brother does,

(01:09:44):
she does get to play a more active role in
the story, especially towards the end of the second act.

Speaker 3 (01:09:52):
Totally yeah, which is like, again that only that only
goes so far because the movie is like still not awesome,
but you're like, all right, maybe i'll take I'll take
what I can get.

Speaker 5 (01:10:01):
Something happened.

Speaker 4 (01:10:02):
Yeah, the whole time, I was just hoping that somebody
would like come and burn the house down, like just
put us out of our visity. Like, no one is
committed to being here except for the butler, and he's
dead already.

Speaker 2 (01:10:16):
Why so committed to it?

Speaker 4 (01:10:18):
I don't get it, Like did he get cursed to
stay there because the dude killed himself? Like I just
don't get, like, free yourself as a butler, you're a
butler in death.

Speaker 2 (01:10:27):
Yeah, I do not understand the logistics of the curse.
It must be like trapping them there physically.

Speaker 5 (01:10:33):
Yeah, I don't know.

Speaker 4 (01:10:35):
But they have cookies, so it's like not all that.

Speaker 2 (01:10:39):
This was actually fine.

Speaker 4 (01:10:40):
Yeah, and they don't really have to work because the
lady's dead. Now it's true, so kind of cookies and
sulking worse. It's better than my present. Honestly, they didn't
survive a pandemic.

Speaker 2 (01:10:59):
Yeah, they're not on strike, they don't have a union,
and they're not really working to begin with. Can we
talk about Madam Leota briefly. Sure. The main thing to
say here is that a word that is largely considered
a slur for Romani people is used to refer to

(01:11:20):
Madam Liota. We've talked about this situation a lot on
the podcast, and it.

Speaker 3 (01:11:24):
Still happens in movies now, which blows my mind. But yeah,
it still does happen.

Speaker 2 (01:11:31):
Yes, And then this character exists in the story in
the same way that Romani people are almost always characterized
in popular media, which is like, she's a fortune teller,
she's a mystic of some type, she speaks in riddles.
The Romani people in any given movie are almost never
like the protagonist of the movie. They were just like

(01:11:52):
a side character who's there to help or hinder the protagonist.
The protagonist is usually a white character. That is not
the case for this movie.

Speaker 1 (01:12:03):
But right.

Speaker 5 (01:12:07):
Now, you too can discriminate.

Speaker 2 (01:12:09):
And then they're often not played by Romani actors. Jennifer
Tilly almost nets not Romani.

Speaker 3 (01:12:16):
So yeah, and it doesn't seem like if I'm remembering correctly,
And Jamie Lee Curtis is in fact the actor who
plays Madame Leota in the new movie that has not
been improved in the interceding twenty years. Yeay, y, yeah, what.

(01:12:36):
I think that this was something when I was just
looking for kind of I don't know, I feel like
for every millennial movie, regardless of quality, really, there is
a number of essays about why it was important to
somebody or stuff like that. I was looking for people
who have been fans of this movie over time, like

(01:12:58):
what sort of keeps them coming back to Eddie Murphy's
Haunted mansion. And there were two reasons that I was
finding consistent. One was just like, it's a movie for kids,
and I think part of the reason it was reviewed
harshly was as if it were it was supposed to
be scary for adults. And to that, I say, grow up, like,

(01:13:18):
watch your own movie. Yeh, go watch the Baba Duck
like you're fine. And then there's also the fact that
this is one of the only children's children's movies period,
but also children's horror movies that features a black family,
which in two thousand and three was not happening anywhere.

Speaker 2 (01:13:37):
I would extend that even to just movies in general
that feature a black family. That is the type of
movie that a white family would generally occupy.

Speaker 5 (01:13:50):
That totally roll.

Speaker 4 (01:13:52):
It's like black Casper, right, right, I mean Casper made
more sense, it was better. But right, and that's not
the black people's that's just the movie, right.

Speaker 3 (01:14:02):
That's just yeah, the movie was written by a white
writer who uh yeah, like if.

Speaker 4 (01:14:07):
You would put black people in Casper, it would be
the same movie.

Speaker 3 (01:14:09):
Yeah, totally, only the ghosts were as interesting.

Speaker 4 (01:14:12):
Yeah, exactly or hot.

Speaker 2 (01:14:14):
Yeah, why aren't the ghosts hotter in Casper?

Speaker 4 (01:14:19):
I know there were really only one was trying to
date in.

Speaker 2 (01:14:23):
Show, but yeah, I mean so few Hollywood movies that
feature black people as the main characters allow them to
be in a story where they are dealing with the
same type of stuff that white people deal with in
movies all the time, such as like accidentally going to
a haunted house the way that white people and movies

(01:14:44):
go to haunted houses all the time. Yeah, that's like
one of the main reasons I wanted to cover this
because I was like, this is such a rare example
of and I think we talked about this maybe on
the episode on the movie US as like another rare
example of of and specifically like horror movie, but yeah,
of like a black family being allowed to deal with

(01:15:05):
the types of conflicts that we normally see white people
dealing with in movies.

Speaker 3 (01:15:10):
Yeah, and just being liberally I mean, and and there
was I mean, there was just a there's just a
movie dedicated to like exploring this trope of like, yeah,
it's I finally got to see it last week, and
it's so so much, so fun really funny. And I mean,
I think especially yeah, in the horror space, there's so

(01:15:31):
many racist tropes. And so even though you know, is
Eddie Murphy hat to mention a masterpiece?

Speaker 4 (01:15:39):
No, absolutely not.

Speaker 3 (01:15:40):
No, no one's asking no one's asking it to be
like the ride's.

Speaker 5 (01:15:44):
Not a masterpiece.

Speaker 4 (01:15:45):
It's doing justice to the ride. I also just like,
you know, maybe the way to update it is like
have the ghosts be black, Like I think that at
least for us, like the movie us, like the spooky thing,
the spooky element, the tethered's, they're like some of them
are black, Like that's kind of interesting. I do think
it's funny, like the conceit of a black family having

(01:16:05):
to deal with like these like eighteen hundreds white people
goes who are progressive and want to marry the black woman, right,
they had the right politics. Allegedly we don't want to
dive too deep into it, all right.

Speaker 3 (01:16:17):
And I'm like, I guess I'm glad that they didn't
like get deep into Yeah, can you imagine the century racism, But.

Speaker 4 (01:16:23):
The way that it's skirt the movie's bad, you know
it is it is like.

Speaker 3 (01:16:28):
Vaguefied to a wild degree that it's just like forbid different,
Like everything they're saying could also be applied to classism.
But because of like you're just like okay, okay, movie, fine,
all right whatever.

Speaker 4 (01:16:42):
Right, like all right, you tried it. I also think
like an important point and I think that like Eddie
Murphy does this more in his movies than most other
like major black movie stars who are men, is that
his spouse in the movies are almost always black women,
and so like to see a full fit family that
is like black love and black everybody is Like I

(01:17:03):
feel like that was still even today is very rare,
Like it's it's just like it's usually like a black
guy and his like hot latina wife, his hot white
wife and then the kids are you know, a light
skin color and then it's fine. But I think that
was at least interesting to watch for like more than
an hour was like, Wow, four black people, they really

(01:17:25):
all got paid, right.

Speaker 2 (01:17:26):
It almost feels like the trend, the current trend of
that is like we're progressive because look at us featuring
a mixed race couple. Isn't that exciting? Isn't that right? Subversive?

Speaker 4 (01:17:40):
It's very I mean, you know, maybe one day a
black woman will get a role that like is it
four lines and.

Speaker 2 (01:17:47):
That she actually has a character.

Speaker 1 (01:17:50):
Yeah, it was.

Speaker 4 (01:17:51):
It felt dated even then. I would think I didn't
see it then, but it's like, I, yeah, I guess
like they don't really make well, maybe they do. I
haven't watched a lot of kids movies since that era.
Like that was when I stopped. I was like, I'm
gonna I'm a teen, Yeah, and to like to see it.
It's just it felt very nineties, Like it felt like, oh,

(01:18:14):
this is a Jim Carrey movie. This is a there's
the premises this and there's no plot beyond that, and
the woman is no one. She's just disappointed by her husband.

Speaker 2 (01:18:25):
That's it, yeah for sure.

Speaker 4 (01:18:27):
So like and then maybe they get a divorce at
the lake, like she's like that shit sucked. You were
only there because you're greedy.

Speaker 3 (01:18:34):
I hope that She's like, I don't know if you're
paying attention, Jim, but they actually made the deed to
me specifically. And you're a bad husband and a bad father,
and you're Eddie Murphy, so you'll be financially fine.

Speaker 2 (01:18:49):
And my mother, you'll be in Shrek two and.

Speaker 3 (01:18:54):
Four and five if we're lucky, lucky please, Well they're
young and alive.

Speaker 2 (01:19:02):
But yeah, I just I appreciated that because again, white
people and white families in movies get to do anything,
and black characters are rarely afforded the same range of narratives,
the same genres, and so I appreciated that. This is
again a rare example of a movie that lets black

(01:19:26):
people get into spooky hijinks.

Speaker 3 (01:19:30):
In the haunted mansion, Yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:19:34):
Family vacation's gone wrong, people dealing with ghosts.

Speaker 4 (01:19:38):
They got to have a lake house. We never saw it,
but they had some sort of wealth going true.

Speaker 2 (01:19:43):
He drives a BMW.

Speaker 3 (01:19:45):
Well, one thing about Jim, ever's he's a closer.

Speaker 2 (01:19:48):
He's always be closing.

Speaker 3 (01:19:50):
He always be closing.

Speaker 2 (01:19:54):
What's that movie? The most boring movie I've ever seen?
Sorry McGuire, No Glengarry Glenn Cross.

Speaker 3 (01:20:01):
Oh yeah, it's always so frustrating when a movie's title
is more fun. It's more fun than the movie, right,
it's fun title. It sounds like it's about a fantasy
cartoon world, but it's not.

Speaker 5 (01:20:14):
Unfortunately, no, never let well does.

Speaker 3 (01:20:17):
Anyone else have anything to say about Eddie Murphy's Haunted
Mansion two thousand and three?

Speaker 4 (01:20:20):
Uh? I mean, I don't think it passes the Vechtel says,
I don't want to spoil is that one where we headed?

Speaker 2 (01:20:27):
Yes, we are indeed thause we're headed that way. I honestly,
you forgot to pay attention. If anything, it would be
Sarah talking to her daughter Megan, which I don't.

Speaker 4 (01:20:41):
Actually, it was always about the dad. I felt like, yeah,
I even thought maybe the scene where the Cookie Lady
is talking specifically to the girl about the cookies, but
it's not enough dialogue and they both they don't both
talk about the cookies. So I mean, maybe I'm wrong,
but I didn't get a sense.

Speaker 2 (01:21:00):
I think no.

Speaker 3 (01:21:01):
I think yeah, I think the only real shot at
that would have been I don't think it happens between
Meghan and her mom, and I think the only other
opportunity would be Meghan and Cookie.

Speaker 2 (01:21:10):
Lady or Madam Liota.

Speaker 4 (01:21:12):
I guess yeah, I don't know, but weren't they talking
They're probably talking about the dead guy.

Speaker 2 (01:21:18):
Well, she also only really talks to to Eddie Murphy.

Speaker 3 (01:21:23):
So I'm gonna say spiritually. Spiritually, it just doesn't we're
gonna We're gonna go with no. And if you want
to talk to us about a technicality, I don't think
we want to hear ye. I don't actually want to think.

Speaker 2 (01:21:37):
You can keep that to yourself forevers and evers.

Speaker 3 (01:21:41):
Now to the metric that matters.

Speaker 2 (01:21:44):
That's right, our nipple scale a scale of zero to
five nipples. Based on examining the movie through an intersectional
feminist lens, I would say, based on the general PISP
treatment of Sarah, her being characterized as being nagging even

(01:22:07):
though she's just like once a partner who is not
ruining their marriage. She is so oblivious to all the
creepy stuff going on around her. She isn't allowed to
make any active choices all that kind of stuff. I
do again, I do appreciate that this is a and

(01:22:31):
A it's a high budget movie, and it grossed a
decent amount at the box office. It's a ninety million
dollar budget grossed twice that at the box office. So
it's a movie that people want to go see that
features a black family that isn't explicitly about those characters
struggling with racism or issues related to systemic racism things

(01:22:55):
like that. It's just they go to a spooky house
and they have to deal with the cur that's happening there.
So I appreciate that. Even so, I feel like it
only gets like a one and a half all of
those things considered. Yeah, and I'll split my one and
a half nips between Sarah and Megan.

Speaker 3 (01:23:21):
Good for them, naked, use it, they need them. Yeah,
I guess I'll meet you at one and a half.
For all the reasons you described it, I mean, I
love I loved this movie when it came out for
reasons being that I was eight. That's for however old
I was when this came out, I don't remember, but there, Yeah,

(01:23:43):
I think that this is like, it's just like a
simple kids movie. I think that, yeah, it's important to
have black families represented in this genre outside of all
of the tropes that I think unfortunately kids may have
been familiar with going in seeing this movie. But as
far as giving the women in the story much to do.

(01:24:06):
It's either yeah, it's either Sarah is just left out
to dry the entire movie, and then the other women
in the story are just kind of giving Eddie Murphy
various clues. And I think Megan is the best written
woman in the movie. And wowie wow amazing worth mentioning

(01:24:26):
because you try to touch Oh God, jump scary. I
still had the Country Bears Wikipedia page up, and that
while this movie centers a black cast, I don't believe
that there are any black creatives involved, at least at
the highest level. And movie I feel like there's moments

(01:24:46):
where that shows. And also it's just I think important
to keep a movie in check and when they're doing
on screen representation and less than nothing off screen. One
and a half nipples. I showed this movie to a kid.
Why not? It's fun and I will give my nipples too.
I don't know. I don't know. Megan. The Bridge, Meghan

(01:25:11):
and the Bridge. I like the bridge at the end.
I've never been to New Orleans and it made me
want to go to see that bridge.

Speaker 2 (01:25:16):
Let's go.

Speaker 3 (01:25:17):
I googled the bridge. I google Hanta Midge Bridge.

Speaker 5 (01:25:20):
It's beautiful. I thought it was like, they're driving in
Hawaii or something. I don't know why I thought Hawaii.

Speaker 4 (01:25:25):
Oh because he had the Tiki's drinks at the beginning, Okay,
I was like, why is that in my head? Yeah,
this this bar is just like Hawaii, right, and he
believes them. So I'm gonna say, you know, one and
a half nipples feels fair. And it's not just because
I'm trying to be agreeable. I think that, like Meghan
deserves one, I'll give half to Madame Liota. She did

(01:25:49):
have some she had more dialogue, and even if it
was all in service of Eddie Murphy figuring out the
stupid dead people mystery, it was like at least three
pages worth of words.

Speaker 2 (01:26:02):
True.

Speaker 4 (01:26:03):
Yeah, everything you all said is correct. I think like
it's so important to have any representation, especially in horror,
especially for like kids horror. I just feel like I
always thought it was like white people had supernatural shit
when I was a little kidny Black people just couldn't
afford ghosts or something like. Now, I'm like, okay, so
if you're a realtor, you could go to the Haunted House.

(01:26:24):
You don't own the Haunted house, but at least we're
making progress. But the movie is just so unfortunately horrifically bad,
Like I cannot stress enough that, like, if you're watching it,
you're setting yourself up to I think, maybe entertain children
for the full almost ninety minutes. I think as a kid,
I would have been like, we can leave, like then,

(01:26:47):
Like I really had a low tolerance for movies where
nothing happens. But I think, you know, in service of
the ride, excellent, it's exactly the ride. There's some stuff
from the ride even that's not in it that I'm like, Wow,
they could have had like busts that follow you with
their eyes, that could have happened. But yeah, I don't know.

(01:27:07):
I just think that the movie was so bad, and like,
truly Sarah is such an afterthought, yeah, so much to
so that like I think the painting of her is
more impactful than the actual right.

Speaker 2 (01:27:21):
That reveal you're like, oh my gosh, wow.

Speaker 4 (01:27:24):
My god, someone really paint that. Did she get to
keep it? Like That's all I could think was, like,
that would be great if someone painted a picture of
me and I look that good in it, Like that's awesome.
So that's what the one it hast goes to. I
guess it could be Madame Leota, little Girl and a
little bit to whoever painted Sarah, they did a great job.

Speaker 2 (01:27:43):
Hell yea, Kila, thank you so much for joining us
once again.

Speaker 4 (01:27:47):
Thank you for having me. I love it here.

Speaker 2 (01:27:50):
It has been such a delight. Come back anytime. Come
back in twenty years for three when we're striking again.

Speaker 4 (01:28:00):
Yeah, we'll all be on that one tiny pinnacle that's
left of land on the earth, and we'll be doing
a podcast for the seven other people on the cumpound.

Speaker 2 (01:28:08):
Yes, we will all be on fire, but we'll have
to find some way to entertain ourselves, and that will
be by talking about Lakeith Stanfield's haunted mansion. Where can
people check you out on social media? Plug anything you're
able and willing to plug.

Speaker 4 (01:28:27):
Yeah, I feel like it's just such a hard time
to plug, so as you're on the picket lines. I
tend to be at Paramount, but it's too hot right now.
So there they got us elsewhere. But yeah, I'm always online.
Follow me on threads and it's also my Instagram handle,
And I'm not gonna plug Twitter anymore. I'm done, I'm done,

(01:28:51):
screw line, I'm over it. So mostly just there waiting
for the world to come back.

Speaker 2 (01:28:57):
And you can follow us on a guest Twitter, but
you don't have to, and also Instagram. Should we get
on threads, Jamie I barely.

Speaker 3 (01:29:06):
Not right. No, we're not gonna you will not be
finding us there. We refuse to assimilate today.

Speaker 4 (01:29:14):
Now we've been freed.

Speaker 3 (01:29:16):
Yeah, we're done. We're done.

Speaker 2 (01:29:18):
Yeah, go outside while the air is still breatheable, which
it barely is.

Speaker 4 (01:29:22):
A little bit.

Speaker 2 (01:29:23):
Anyway, you can. What you should do definitely is subscribe
to our Patreon a ka Patreon at patreon dot com
slash bectyl Cast, where you get two bonus episodes a month,
plus access to the entire back catalog of around one
hundred and fifty bonus episodes, all for five dollars a month.

Speaker 3 (01:29:45):
Amazing. And you can get our merch over at teapublic
dot com slash the Bechtel Cast. And with that, let's
load in the car and drive down the cool bridge
because we're going to Baby and we're bringing the annoying
statues with us. Bye ye bye bye bye.