All Episodes

July 25, 2019 99 mins

Caitlin Durante, Jamie Loftus, and special guest Caitlin Gill get together and form a club that revolves around discussing The First Wives Club.

(This episode contains spoilers)

For Bechdel bonuses, sign up for our Patreon at patreon.com/bechdelcast.

Follow @ROBOTCAITLIN on Twitter.  While you're there, you should also follow @BechdelCast, @caitlindurante and @jamieloftusHELP

Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mark as Played
Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
On the beck Dol Cast, the questions asked if movies
have women in them, are all their discussions just boyfriends
and husbands, or do they have individualism? The patriarchy? Zef
in best start changing it with the Bechdel Cast. Hello,
and welcome to the Bechdel Cast. My name is Caitlin Toronte.
My name Jamie Loveday, and we are here to talk

(00:23):
about the representation of women in movies. That's what our
podcast is about. Hey, Caitlin, what Jamie? In case you
haven't gleaned it in the past three years, but I
didn't give you a a reference point for what I
need it. I just every once in a while, just
a jolt of adrenaline to the system. The Bechdel test

(00:44):
is never heard of it. I well, then start leaving
your one star reviews now, just kidding, Please don't. Only
m r as do that, and they're very good at it. Uh.
The Bechtel test is a media metric invented by cartoonist
Alison Actel, sometimes also called the Bechtel Wallace test, in
which there has to be a scene in a piece

(01:05):
of media where two female identifying characters with names talk
to each other for about something other than a man
for more than two lines of dialogue. Wow, I can't believe.
I've never heard of this test before. I was holding
in a burp, literally that whole sentence, and I feel
like if you rewind fifteen seconds you'll hear it. You've
been burping a lot recently. I've gone full Durst, I

(01:27):
really have. I don't know what's going on. I'm just
burping and telling lies. I can't stop. Well, I think
that burp conversation passed the Becktel tests, so we're after
a good start. Thank you. I mean I did mention er.
I mean I I think of Robert Durst as kind
of a genderless He's more of an idea than a man.

(01:48):
I think. Um so it does pass. If we are
saying that Robert Turst is an ideology, well he's sort
of like a cloud of gas. I see him much
like a burp. There you go, there you go, And
that's why he's so susceptible to them. I'm glad we
unpacked that. Um So, Yeah, this is the Bechdel cast. Uh.

(02:08):
We are. We are covering a much requested today. We've
been getting this request since we started. The damn cast
took us about three years, but we we got there.
We got there. Today we're covering the First Wives Club
and here to join us in our conversation a hilarious
comedian whose album called Major comes out on August sewod

(02:29):
and you also may remember her from our Butch Cassidy
and the Sundance Kid episode and our episode on the notebook.
It's Caitlin Guilt. That's mel It's it's nice to be here.
If you heard a strange sound in your audio, unless
that's neatly clipped, it was my dog licking my nose
a minute ago. Major. Margaret hot lives so Lin the
titular dog from my album. Yes, and what a cuteie

(02:54):
she really is. She's really thriving today. I saw do
some tricks anyone. Well, not to brag. She's easy to
distract with a treat and that that really begs compliance.
It works. It just works. Tiny piece of meat and
she'll do whatever I need, which is good because I
forgot her leash. What a terrible dog owner. It's a
key thing. You need to take your dog out of

(03:15):
the house. Evidence about it though that I'm like, I
guess this is just the dynamic. I do leave her
rough Alice as much as I can, because she's honestly better.
She's a strong independent woman. She is a strong independent woman.
She knows what she wants and what she wants us
to know where I am and if she's attached to
a leash, she knows, so the off leash nous it
makes her pull to attention. Is this podcast about my dog?

(03:38):
Because unless you stop me now, it is about to
be apologize my dog. My dog is a woman hater. Yes,
the one time he was allowed in this podcast studio,
he shoot through one of the audio cables and d
platform the left once again. Oh my god, that is hilarious.
I have to I really need to meet this guy.

(03:59):
I only on through Instagram and I am he's he's
a red deal. I'll get bit I'm in. Didn't he
also ship and piss on the floor the last time
he was here? He did ship and piss and truth
or an audio cable and and but he did the
day he was here, the day Alfred Molina was here,
and he behaved until literally the second offered Mollina left

(04:21):
and then he shipped and pissed again. Honestly, wasn't everybody
shopping and pissing. Though as soon as alf from Lena left,
it just everybody's body evacuated. He was just doing what
we were all thinking. That's true. So the First Wives Club?
What is your history with your relationship with the movie?
I saw it in the theaters with my mom, who
is herself a first wife. So it goes way back,

(04:45):
goes way back. It's fun to revisit with fresh eyes. Certainly, Jamie,
what about you, I'd never seen this movie. I feel
like this movie kind of made like has become more
popular again in the past even year or so. I
remember that Ariana Grande did a bunch of First Wives

(05:06):
Club like homage with her last album. There's like moments
in her video where she and her too I think
producers or they're singing on the track and they're all
wearing the white check gets in the whole bit, and
I don't know. I was excited to see it, and man,
I really enjoyed it. What a romp? What a wrong?
I'm a fan. It really was. And it starts off
in such a dark place that you're like, where what

(05:30):
and then it just becomes a romp so quickly. One
of my favorite things in movies just period is what
actor did the most with their one day on set,
because there is no question that Stocker Channing was on
that set uh day singular day, and with that day

(05:52):
to rise to the occasion in the moment. You don't
have the full month to shoot, you ain't hanging around
with the ladies the whole time. You're in your out.
I bet it was months apart from the other three
ladies were doing the filming, had nothing to do, totally
different team, like director on the phone from actually New
York because this was in l A. It was just
an incredible I love spotting those performances. I mean turned

(06:13):
to scream if you really need the entry level understanding
of the value of having a star on set one day,
Drew Barry more twist with having her and it's sleeve
Schreiber and scream three. I forget he doesn't scream too,
But it's so good when you have someone brilliant on
set for one day. What they turned out one of

(06:33):
the best scenes of the movie. It really is the gravitas,
the sadness the folks. She dies by suicide and that
is the wild in sighting incident and perhaps confusing to
say what ensues is a romp, but it's simply the truth.
It is true. Yeah, alright, what's your history? Cabin. I
hadn't seen this movie for the first time until about

(06:55):
a year ago because it's one of those movies that
I knew we had gotten a lot of request for
and I figured we would do it some day, so
I was like, maybe I'll just check it out early.
You know, it's familiar out loud. Yeah, So I watched
it that one time about a year ago, and it
was like, this certainly is a romp, and uh, I don't.
I don't know why I hadn't seen it before. I

(07:17):
guess I ten when it came out, so you know,
I wasn't necessarily the target demographic. But are you the
child of a first wife? No? My mom is uh yeah, no,
there's no easy I've realized as I asked that question,
because I'll tell you whatever you want to know about
my family and it's horrible, but I do realize that
other people don't as often, so as that question tumbled

(07:38):
out of my mouth. So tell me about your parental
marital they are married, should they be open questions? What's up? Gloria?
She listens to the podcast anyway my mom as I mean,
I guess she she is a first wife. But also
it was, I mean, she's a first wife, but there

(07:58):
hasn't been a second one yet. But she's no longer
a wife. That's a first wife. She's a first wife.
She's a first wife. And uh, she's she's I would say,
she's medium, bitter about it. Yeah, pretty healthy, It wasn't
it was, she's not. I don't think she's in the
club quite. We're in sour Orange territory, not to full women. No, yeah, yeah,
they talk the friends. Yeah, So should I just dive

(08:21):
into the recap and then we'll go from there. Let's
do it alright. So we open in nineteen sixty nine.
There are four best friends who are graduating from college.
They are you a soundtrack here, like a little like.
But I can't get my mouth guitar to work with
a sixties sound. I can't, I can't. I don't have

(08:41):
it my all along the watch Tower isn't isn't playing
right now? I was about to come in with some
Austin Powers music, but that's all sudden. It's really hard
with your mouth. Does it turns out all right? So
the friends are Cynthia, Annie, Alice, and Brenda, and then

(09:05):
we cut to the nineties and that's the end of
the beginning. Just like the Right this is this movie
is basically Austin Powers basically. Yes. So we're now in
the nineties and Cynthia is distraught and it's implied that

(09:26):
she dies by suicide. Then we cut to Annie. That's
Diane Keaton's character. She has been reconnecting with her husband Aaron,
who she's separated from, which makes her daughter Chris disappointed
because she hates her dad. Can relate personally see comments

(09:46):
that they made five minutes ago. And Diane Keaton is
really Diane Keaton. Actually where her name is Annie again?
Annie Hall? Oh my god, Yeah, I'm like laid on
thick white on. Yeah. I do think she has to
be named either Annie or Diana or she won't turn around.
She's like, won't her name was supposed to be. Couldn't

(10:10):
get her engaged. She's brilliant, she's so good at she's
really I do like to think of her as an
inattentive cat like creature. You're just like she's like, oh,
I'm not entirely sure she's from the same plane. She's
one of those are this where I'm like, you are
a vessel for an energy from far beyond. But it
is the most nervous energy I've ever seen to try

(10:33):
to communicate with with humans on the planet Earth. It's incredible.
This is a great part for her, though. She screams
like seven times and each one is perfect, and I
feel like it starts early. I think screaming happens really early.
It's too early, right, such a thing. Then we see
Elise Goldie Hawn's character. She is an actress who is

(10:59):
obsessed with trying to look young so that she can
keep getting cast in Hollywood movies. Uh. And then we
see Brenda bet Midler's character. She has a son who's
about to have a bar mitzvah. She's neatly summarized as
a Brenda. She's a Brenda. Yeah, she's a Brenda. And
then they all find out about their friend Cynthia's suicide

(11:22):
and the presumed motivation behind it, which was that Cynthia's
ex husband this like successful Wall Street dude just remarried
a younger woman. So Annie, Alice, and Brenda all reconnect
at Cynthia's funeral. So then they all get lunch together,
and Elice and Brenda talk about how both of their
husbands left them for younger women, and then Annie is

(11:45):
ill like, well, I'm still married, but we are separated.
And then they keep hanging out. They're getting more and
more drunk, and they're lamenting about how we're in full
on boogie white lady unche We're on top shelf daytime drunk.
This is it's very specific. It's no way it's past

(12:06):
two pm. At the height of this scene. It does
look like they're closing the restaurant, but it looks like
they're closing the restaurant for lunch to dinner service. And
it's very right out for that many glasses on the table,
and they're just, you know, lamenting about how everyone sees
them as being too old and stuff like that. So

(12:27):
and Diane Keaton's mom keeps insulting her for this reason.
Oh no spring Chicken, Diane. And that actress, I forget
her name, but she's so good. She's like, oh eileenckt.
Diane Keaton's mom is terrific from beginning to end. And
she's one of those perfect old ladies whose lips are
just lipstick, Like I'm not sure there's anything under theneath.

(12:51):
It's a perfect flesh tone, but she's painted on this
majestic mouth. She's incredible. She's every scene she steals it
so and she's been trying to make some personal progress
in therapy. Alice is in the middle of divorce proceedings
from Victor Garber, and then she later finds out that
she's being considered for a mother role in a movie.

(13:14):
This is around the point where I realized that Goldie
Hans character is basically just Jenna Moroney. When she freaks
out about being about auditioning to be a mother, You're like,
this character is genera Moroney toned down a little right.
She used to be married to Victor Garber a k
A our king are the hero of Titanic really which

(13:35):
and this really made us to realize, as we just
discussed that Victor Garber more often than not plays a villain,
which is crazy because his best and most prominent role
as being a little Sweetie Bias who who wanted there
to be enough lifeboats but was over rule and then
he because that happens, he sacrifices his hot doesn't make

(13:56):
him abilla that he wasn't strong enough to get more
lifeboats on the biggest boat like that. He was a
complicit bastard and I'm glad he's dead, weak knead. Okay, anyway, so, um,
you know, we're seeing all these women in their normal worlds.
And we see Brenda and she confronts her ex husband

(14:18):
in a store, being like, I need money, you suck
morty and then his new wife Shelly. His new wife
Shelley played by Sarah Jessica Parker shows up and then
they they boughty shame each other for a while. Oh
my gosh, I mean this movie has thanks all women

(14:40):
under thirty five are completely brain dead. I think it's
a fun fantasy. No, like I've I don't even I
don't hate it. But it really is a rule with
no exception. Yeah, and unless you're a lesbian lesbian, a
college educated lesbian is the exception to the rule. Always, always,

(15:00):
in every case. And then and his husband asks her
to dinner and she assumes that it's because he's decided
to recommit to their marriage, but actual kind of issues
and over that thing about me poisoning his food. That's okay,
she slipped that in there, and that was a weird
throw a joke. It's perfect. You're like, it's got to

(15:23):
come back, right, and that just doesn't well. She spends
the whole time just being like his commitment issues, you know,
his fear of of connection and you know, yeah, maybe
he got over those, but honey, the fear that you
were poisoning his food, he's not coming, He's not. That's
on the other side. Maybe he's a prequel to the
phantom thread, just sandom thread. Maybe that's he was into.

(15:45):
The doesn't the most brilliant advertising after it was actually dangerous,
it was sexy. She assumes we're going to get back together,
but instead he knows is that he wants a divorce.
And then Annie's therapist has sex with her, which is
the meanest thing anyone can take. The rope. Yeah, I'm

(16:06):
the hotel room. I'm sorry that's happy to you and
talking over that, but I did want to point out
that there's one room per robe, per hotel room, and
he's wearing it. Do your meanest thing someone can do
immediately before saying I've been cheating on you for three
months is have sex with you and then just be
like just one of one last taste and then like anyways,

(16:29):
I will him for eating you out as implied, but
I'm not happy about the circumstances birthday, Caitlin. Yeah, he
don't you at least that, but I still think. Yeah.
So she finds out that he's been cheating on her
with her therapist, Dr. Leslie Rosen played by Marcia gay
Harden because she walks in and it sounds like a

(16:50):
wondering podcast. The gals get together again and they're, you know,
all furious that their ex husbands have taken them for
granted and never appreciated all they did for them. So
the women form the First Wives Club, that's the name
of the movie. Here's where it gets wild. Did I

(17:12):
think going into this movie they would get office space?
Did I think that they would make an LLC for
the First Wives Club and a super clip party logo? Oh?
I loved the full door like Nickelodeon style logo they
there at the end. There was That was when I
was like, Wow, that's a huge office they've got. And

(17:33):
they hired in the Goldie Home just own. Yes, there
is the privilege. The youth of privilege of this movie
is wild. Uh. But then at the end, the husbands
are making out checks to the First Wives Club, which
means they've incorporated in some way, it's on their taxes. Wild, yes,

(17:53):
very wild. So they formed this club and they come
up with a plan to sabotage their ex husband's lives
and relationships. So that's their new full time job. I
love it and I love it. They're also just like
I feel like, it's rare to find a movie quite this,
like empoweringly petty. It's just like a full on fantasy, Like, yeah,

(18:18):
we all wish we had limitless money for our various
revenge projects. The money comes from the revenge. What a beautiful,
built in in real pinedom energy going on. I expect
for getting into it right, but oh yeah, we're getting
We're getting a Goldie's plan. I think Goldie plan is
my favorite plan. I love. I just love which. I

(18:38):
love it. I love it. So first they ask Annie's
daughter Chris, the sensible lesbian who's under three five, to
get information resumably hard to tell with the lesbian um,
to get information on Annie's ex husband Aaron, and then
at least starts repossessing and selling all the stuff that

(18:59):
she and her ex husband Bill Victor Garber acquired together
as a married couple, much to his dismay. And then
Brenda gets a tip that her ex husband, Morty, started
his business by selling stolen goods. So they've all got
these separate plans to seek revenge or as they keep
calling it, justice on their ex husbands, and they need

(19:21):
the stolen They need the books to prove that, uh,
you know, Morty is a crook. So they need a
way to get into his new condo or house or whatever.
So they orchestrate this like interior decorating Cohn to get
this high society lady Ganilla Goldberg played by Maggie Smith,

(19:43):
perfect to the fourth generation scammer. She's great. She's trying
to convince Sarah Jessica Parker's character to hire this guy
Duarto Felice. He was an interior decorator that Brenda works for.
They like do this whole heist thing, and they sneak
in to get the documents Hi Jinks and Soothe there's

(20:05):
like a scaffold. Oh my god. At two of my
favorite bits of physical comedy just period ever. First, and
definitely the more minor of the two is so the
office that they're trying to get the papers from its
upstairs which means that they've got to send a staircase
and safety first. They all reach for the banister, but

(20:28):
because it's an artecho home, the banister is not sturdily
affixed to the staircase itself. It's hanging from wire from
the ceiling, so it just goes everywhere, and you watch,
like collectively a hundred and twenty years almost just tumble
off the stairs. It is the best. It's all three
of them are so like perfectly cats, and they're both

(20:51):
they're all like really good with physical comedy. They're all screamers.
I just love it. We are also in this bit
of physical comedy that come right after the staircase is
preceded by the best Diane Keaton scream in the movie,
where she peeks over the edge of the building and
then responds with her entire body, like her whole body
makes nice like glasses flip off and then like come

(21:13):
back down, and then Cony hans like, I can do this.
I do all my own stunts. She's already over, she's
already in, no problem, and they have to get down
in the window washer thing, and every second of that.
So it's so good. It's everything you need to happen.

(21:35):
They fall right into the window of the people that
they're trying to run from. Morty and Shelley and Bronson
been shot. However, you say his name is just leading
them around the apartment, whipping them around so they don't
see them. And then in a floor below, of course,
a couple is trying to make sweet lovely to be interrupted.
The ladies huge fans. The call to at least you

(21:56):
look great is that? I mean, they established it because
he has fans. It at least gets told she looks great.
I mean, when Chris gets pulled in it's in a
lesbian bar. I'd love to put a put a button
in that. But yeah, man, them stopping in front of
the sex having couple was just terrific. You look great,

(22:17):
but I can't hear. I can't hear you look great.
And there the two of them to get the husband
and the wife so good. Oh my god, it's so fun.
But they have the documents they need now, so they
have Yeah, they had the document saying Diane Katon on
that old ass computer trying to hack where are the

(22:38):
tax improom? I was like, damn, can you don't know
how to use a computer. It also didn't look like
a burning It looked like something they built in paint,
and then just told her to click around in the
paint menu like real careful. Meanwhile, Chris and his daughter
is like, hey, mom, you should get back into the
advertising business. So to raise money to start it, nous

(23:00):
Elise sells Annie all the assets that she repossessed from
Victor Garber and her marriage, and then Annie sells them
at an auction, which Sarah Jessica Parker's character is at
buying everything, well, buying the wrong thing, because Professor McGonagall
is like, buy all the wrong things and spend all

(23:20):
your like she's she's being a stranger and Professor McGonagall
telling her what to do. On either side, I just
wrote I just wrote down Lacy's name during that because
I was like, she's a true scam goddess. Yes, connecting
the dots Galaxy brand style. So the wheels are in motion.
But Annie is trying to, like, you know, dig into

(23:45):
Elise's ex husband's Victor Garber's kind of deal and passed
but can't find anything bad on him, which upsets Elise,
and she's drunk and she's saying some nasty things and
Brenda fights back and shame things start to fall apart
in the First Wives Club, but then they realize, hey,
we shouldn't be fighting each other, we should be fighting

(24:08):
the patriarchy, so they refocus their anger back towards their
ex husband's and then Brenda extorts Morty, basically puts herself
in control of his like electronics business, saying like, I'm
going to take everything or I will wrat you out
for your criminal activity. And then Annie takes the money

(24:29):
that she earned from the auction and buys her ex
husband's advertising agency out from under him. Um and then
at Lice goes to Victor Garber, her ex husband, and says, hey,
that new girlfriend of yours, that actress lady, she is sixteen,
and he's like yeah, So then they're had to have
been a better beat there there. But my favorite part

(24:53):
of my favorite um like payoff of the three is
Bet Middler full on kidnapping her husband and he she says,
this is a kidnapping. He comes to he's in a
meat locker and he's confronted with his tax crimes, and
you're like, this is this is what I wanted, and
this is the revenge I was seeking I do also
love whenever Goldie Hahn is like, yeah, like your lawyer suggested,

(25:18):
we liquefied the assets. Here's your half, and it's a
fifty cents. She's sold all that stuff to Diane Keating's
character for a dollar. Oh, it's so good. Yeah, and
then it's just good. Okay. So they all have their
ex husbands meet them at their official office of the
First Wives Club and they're like, okay, we have you here,

(25:41):
and now you have to pay, and they make their
ex husbands fund a crisis center for women that they
name after their friend Cynthia. And then they throw a
big party, and the voiceover narration that Diane Keaton is
giving she's talking about how Brendan Morty they're probably going
to get back together, how at Lease is in a

(26:03):
new hit stage play. She's dating an actor in the play,
and that Aaron, her ex husband, was like, I'm ready
to get back together, and then she tells him to
drop dead. And then they after the party, they're all
wearing white business suits and then they start to sing
and dance, and then the dancing continues onto the street.

(26:26):
It's it is inspired. I honestly do cherish that scene
I never had context for like what that comes at
the end of and you're just like, oh, it just
fits perfect. We've got to take a quick break and
then we'll come right back. Let's discuss. Oh my gosh,

(26:50):
there's so much. I mean, I think a good jumping
off point is just to say, right off the bat,
uh that for all those movies and strengths, it is
about upper class. This is like the movie. Yes, it's
insane to the point where I'm I was curious about
like the historical context of this movie, and I didn't

(27:12):
do a deep dive on it. But this movie comes
out which is a big moment for Hillary Clinton, and
I feel like you can kind of feel it in
this movie. Uh. This is pre Monica Lewinsky that all
HiT's the fan, but I feel like the uh, there
there are some Hillary Clinton vibes I felt throughout this movie. Uh,

(27:36):
and not even in like a negative way, but like
you do feel that that like white feminist vibe through
this movie and also almost as like a predictor of
of where things go from there a deep hatred of
younger women permeate the movie. But just so, I mean,
right after bed, we recognize this is a movie that

(27:57):
comes from the most privileged place a woman come from. Indeed, yes,
if I had just seen this now, I couldn't connect
because I can't. I don't care about rich people or
any of their problems. So sorry, if you're rich and
you're listening, and there's a lot of media with great
performances and brilliant characters, and the stakes to me are
just also false because they're rich. And I think because

(28:19):
I saw this early on, it helped, so I had
a connection to it. I think actually, in a few ways,
this movie gave me an unrealistic picture of the world
because I just sort of accepted that, like, yeah, you know,
you'll have one rich friend. One of your friends will
Mary a banker. It's not weird to know someone famous,
and like, you know, you'll be fine. Brenda's character is

(28:40):
the one that you know, my family is the most
like an apartment. God, when goldiehun steps into Brenda's apartment
for the first time, so fucking good. I've never been
to your apartment. It's so real. I love the way,
in the condescending way that from rich people describe normal people,
but the way they sert like that's exactly what that

(29:01):
Brenda is there to wear bad skirts and like, you know,
the end is that her ex is still rich, so
she'll be fine. Yeah, And I think, you know, this
was a simpler, more complicated time where this was like
a bold picture for women. And I'm really glad that
it looks stated in the ways that it does right

(29:21):
because that just means that there's been progress, right, So
there there is, Like I'm I'm glad this movie exists.
I think it's definitely a step in the right direction
that you know, misfires in some ways, uh and plenty
of which we'll talk about, but like it is, this
was like a huge surprise of a hit of a movie,
which I think also just speaks to like how few

(29:42):
movies are made for women, specifically like older women. There's
a huge market for this ship. We've this had a
thirty million dollar budget and made back one million dollars.
It was a huge, huge, huge hit. And it's wild
that there's not First Wives Club to Second Wives Club,
but for something that grows so much and not get
pulled back. Although I think I just spoke a remake

(30:04):
into existence. My apologies, universe, let's all write it. Let's
get it right on it. I would push gently back
against the idea that this movie deeply hates younger women
because all of these stars were younger stars, like, these
aren't women who became famous at this is them reflecting back.

(30:24):
You know, some of them were famous as teens. Some
of them would have been that sixteen year old who
might have sued a director like not you know what,
you know what I'm saying, Uh yeah, I think it's
looking backwards. I think it's a commentary on how we
being the Hollywood or the media or people feel about
older women. That total it's a reflection back, because there's

(30:45):
no way to me that Goldie Hawn reflecting on being
an aging actress. I don't think she hates her younger
I don't think Bett hates her younger self. I do
think there's a weird empty target for just those like
the idea of young women who sleep with older married guy.
It's just sort of this amorphous blob in the movie
and they only take shape twice and they are both

(31:06):
total idiot ditzes. That's what That's what I'm more criticizing.
I don't think it has anything to do with the
actresses or anything like that, but the way that the
younger characters are written are to be vapid, absolutely stupid
and will fall for anything. Is Shelly stupid or is
she the smartest one in the More? She's definitely not

(31:27):
the smartest one in the movie. She's I think, smarter
than the most of the guys in the movie. She's
smarter than Victor Garber Is. She's smarter than most of
the ladies. I think she's got a number. I think
she's reading the world, and I mean she's taking a
cynical perspective from it. Her character is obviously in airhead.
She says duh and snaps her gump, but I think
in acts an act and she like the scene where

(31:48):
she and more Doy have a fight and she just
flips her hair, turns around and gets him to unzipped
her dress, is like, wow, your tool belt is full
and you know how to use how do you every tool?
And it I mean compliments. Sure, I mean Shelly is
a total idiot. Wait, no, Shelly's the Sarah Jessica Parker,

(32:09):
who's the Elizabeth. But let's face who was canonically sixteen,
So I guess we can't even really like I mean,
she was that a lie? I think that that was
like her birth certificate, but they were trying to make
something up on him, right, Oh, I don't know. I
feel like that when we watch I grew confused about
Okay yeah. Yeah. To me, it's more of a main

(32:32):
women were focusing on just resent that their former husbands
have all left them for younger women, because you know,
these are shitty men who value youth over anything else
than a woman. So I just understand it's the writing misfires,
and it's like kind of needlessly piling on other women

(32:54):
to make the character younger characters over the top materialistic
and stupid. It. I mean, in the nineties, sluts were
still sluts, right, I mean, which this movie makes very
There's a lot there would not have been an opportunity
in that time to like make those fully fledged characters
because they're man steelers and that's well yeah, and that's
like such a stock character where it's like I was
thinking back to like the new and also the new

(33:17):
wife is a stock character, like the younger woman that like,
I mean, I'm thinking marriage trap. Yeah, Meredith from the
Parent Trap is like peak villainous new wife that is
like trying to and it's It's like, I understand where
that sound of step more that you call them by

(33:42):
their whole first name caphones never came and there's never
any even though that nickname is longer. But yeah, I
mean there's a lot of things about this movie that
is like because this is a feminist text, but it
is like a very nineties feminism, a very white feminism text,

(34:07):
because you know, there's still a whole lot of body
shaming across the whole spectrum of like body shape and size,
mental health and suicide are not really addressed responsibly. I
would say there's there's quite a bit of slut shaming.
The only women in this movie who are people of color, well,
they're hardly I need to begin with. And if there are,
they are in either service roles or extras in the

(34:31):
background who don't get any lines or significance. I mean,
pretty much the gamut of uh nineties go to thoughtless
mistakes are definitely made. But one one moment, if we can,
I mean, you just named basically all of our talking points,
so I'm gonna choose one. The ways that bodies are

(34:54):
treated in this movie. I think that there's some good
moments and there's some some shitty moments. A good moment
I thought was towards the end when they have this blowout,
like ten minute long argument. It's like Bette Midler and
Goldi Hunter especially great in this scene, and Goldie Hunt
keeps on poking at Bette Midler about like not looking

(35:16):
the way that she wants her to look and having
like a body that isn't a size to like Hollywood body,
and Bette Midler snaps at her and gets really angry
and throws a golden globe, which and you don't usually
get to see, like the person who is being talked
down to by the quote unquote hottie get a chance

(35:38):
to respond and respond with anger, and like you get
that like cool Catharsis and like that. I thought, like
I didn't expect that to happen because they are like
subtly and unsubtly piling on to Bette Midler's appearance and
the way she's styled in all this throughout the movie.
And then but then she gets to throw a fucking
golden globe about it, and it's like leaving the funk alone.

(36:00):
And like I that I liked that that was cool.
That's either right before or right after a Lae says
to Brenda, what did you ever win a pie eating contest?
So it's yeah, no wonder Brenda. That's when you throw
a golden glove. And then then Goldie goes, that's old

(36:23):
Cloe and it hits a picture of Goldie home. It does,
and when Goldiehunk goes to clean it up, the picture
is like a portrait of her laying and smoking and
it's just Goldie hands standing there and get like the
same standing pose with cigarette. It's so good, literally, such
a perfect shot. One perfect shot. Twitter get right on
that because it is too good. It's it's I I like,

(36:44):
there were a lot of moments in that argument that
I thought were like really cool and cathartic and not
what you normally get to see. And also, in spite
of the fact that this movie is coming from a
big place of privilege, all these actresses are fifty and
over when this movie comes out, which is extremely irregular,
especially for a movie to be made like this and
also to be this successful. And granted, I mean, they

(37:08):
go to like some big names to make that happen,
but they're all over fifty and they're presented for the
most part as very sexually viable characters with agency, access
to grind, etcetera. And and that is cool. You don't
get that a lot. It is cool. I do think
also that the conversation about bodies in this movie can't

(37:29):
be pulled out of the context of the nineties in
which it lives. Oh the nineties, like the world positive
next time, like just the worst of the like bones
being super fashionable time where I mean Sarah just Jessica Parker.
It looks like it's just painful. It's funny. When Jason

(37:50):
Mowanna had his like Dad Bob picture get made fun
of recently and uh it was believe it was a
female director came to his defense and was just like,
actually having apps for a movie is like terribly unhealthy.
Like what it actually takes is this like deprivation diet
and it's not it's not good. And actors will ask
if they have to do abs and like they should

(38:11):
get paid more because it's horrible. And I feel like
there's a conversation that didn't happen about what women had
to do to be Sarah Jessica Parker in that movie,
Like it's why I like, I think shared Sarah Jessica
Parker is too smart to play a character that's stupid
without knowing the kind of stupid she was was a
little bit smart, Like there's a she's just not allowed

(38:32):
to be anything but a puff of air. And I
wonder what her first Wive Club movie would be if
you got to see her later. You know, because you're
trapped in whatever youth says you have to be in
some ways, like flashing back to the sixties and sixty nine,
graduating from college, you were away, and you know, Sarah
Jessica Parker's character and her herself, we're just trying to

(38:53):
be away in the fucking nineties. She's so small in
this movie, and it gets commented on because that Midler's characters,
so something like, oh, look at you. The bulimia has
certainly paid off. So she's body shaming her for her tininess.
And then Sara Jessica Parker comes right back with some
like fat shame in comments directed that Midler's characters. So

(39:17):
it's it's almost like women can't please anybody, including each other, too, right,
I think, I genuinely think if this movie got rebooted,
which I hope it doesn't please just pretty so uh,
an original story. But if this movie was updated, I
would be very surprised if the first wives and second
wives didn't end up speaking to each other and finding
common ground. And then I mean, it would be cooler

(39:39):
if the second wives were brought in on it and
they could just you know, be six deep when they
when they you know, spike on the on the guys,
because these guys get punished every way, but morally, that's
that's the other moment where it's like so so wide
privilege me that you're like, whoa, there's like the cretenza,

(40:00):
some really nice sculptures, Like there's an argument for I'm
pretty sure all three husbands to be or maybe not
maybe not Diane Keaton's husband, but at least two of
the husbands could be put in jail. But that is
not even really a reference. Says like, well, there's no
way that's going to happen. But one is a literal
child molester, like one is a child molester, one is

(40:23):
like has been like committing fraud and stealing, and they're like, well,
we're just gonna you're just gonna have to pay me
off for this. I mean, you're not going to go
to jail, you're a wealthy white business owner. But to
be fair, I think it is like wherever you are
if you don't send your paycheck to prison. Like the
funked up thing about the trajectory of this movie is
that these women's fate is still tied all to their
ex husband's. Uh and so Marty going to jail doesn't

(40:46):
help Morty going to jail doesn't help Bette Midler, right,
so yeah, she needs him around to write to her LLC.
The first Wives Club that blows my mind is now
I understand what you have to do to be have
a check filled out to like something that isn't your name. Yes,
it takes a lot of work. It had to have
gotten someone. Yeah, I mean, come on, they all have accounts,

(41:09):
They've got accountants. It's true. There's a movie Home Alone,
A shortlist of other movies made me think that you
live in big houses when you grow up, like you
just like have money, you just like have upper middle class.
There's all of the brat pack movie not yeah, the
brat pack movies, like you just have stuff, you know,

(41:30):
it's normal, and look at us now it's accurate. We
all have totally so many medio apartments and cars kind
of yeah, I don't have a car there there, yeah,
there is. I mean I feel like in this just place,
every like rom com or any genre adjacent is just
like at cheapest, like upper middle class. But these women

(41:51):
are low superpot I think they're they're like a Bette
Middler's poor. But then you're like, no, she's not. They're
all living in New York and she has like ah,
like it's everyone's fine. She has money to pay for
her the band that he wanted at her son's bar,
Miss Fun. That was the only thing Morty was willing
to pay for that. Yeah, a little guilt boy, that

(42:15):
Sun character did. I put a lot of myself in
him upon first viewing. Gosh, it is hard. The whole
scene where it's like you two won't even talk to
each other like been there, buddy, like just so like
and at the end it is it is a cruelty.
The last scene in that movie should be edited out

(42:35):
for children of divorce. If you are like the Morty
and they get back together dancing and their son is
like watching from across the dance floor. That is so
fucked up. Just like sitting next to my mom in
the theater, just like, ain't gonna happen, kid there, and
my mom doesn't sound like that she's the best there.

(42:56):
I mean, I'm on board. Yeah. And to continue the
body shaming talk, the other uh major besides kind of
the body shaming it takes place towards Bett Midler is
the body shaming it takes place towards Goldie Han, where
again I feel like we get a very nineties treatment
of like attitude towards plastic surgery, where Goldie Han's character

(43:18):
for the most part is like fuck you, I'm doing
you know, it takes takes the I think the even
referenced Share because Share was like one of the only
people who would admit to having plastic surgery and was
like really into it and teld people to funk off
Shares the best um. But Goldie Hans character is like
she'll be dodgy about it and then she'll be like, Okay,
so yes, I've had work done in blah blah blah,

(43:40):
it's for my job blah blah blah because and you can't.
I mean, it's it's like, especially for where her character's
arc is, she is trying to remain relevant in a
in a business that it kills older women. Uh, and
so it makes sense and uh. Diane Keaton's character is like, oh,
I don't know, you're getting stitched up in fun. You know,

(44:01):
it's treated as very a key or like taboo or
just like the way it's treated. And then her doctor
is like, if I put any more collagen in your lips,
you'll look like you like put your mouth on the
pool drain. But really, I mean there are some body
horror elements introduced with the plastic surgery. I don't really
mind it when the doctor says it, because that's his

(44:23):
job to advise on plastic surgery. But but the the
way that the other first Wives treated, at least at
first is like is literally I mean again, product of
its time. That's how my mom would have talked about
plastic surgery. That's exactly it. It's why I think that
movie is self aware, Like it's having a conversation we

(44:43):
have about plastic surgery, but it's having with the people
who are experiencing it. We're not standing in the grocery
store looking at a magazine and being like tisk tisk.
We get that scene, but then we get the pushback
the follow through. GOLDI Han gets to talk to you.
She's not on the magazine cover. She's at the table,
and she gets to tell you that she did this
not because of your tisskiss at the grocery pile, but

(45:05):
because you won't look at the magazine cover unless she
does this, she says, and that middlers saying, you call
me fat, but you ask for the whole world to
be this crazy skinny. Like both of those are reflections
of conversations we have and I see I saw it then,
like none of it feels punching down to me, aside
from the privileged whitness. I felt differently about the body

(45:27):
shaming parts because I feel like all of these actresses
are under the lens and have been for so long
that it's active commentary across the board. I mean, I
think the dudes do a really good job of letting
the ladies have this movie. They're kind of just vessels,
but every lady is sort of a comment on how
Hollywood treats women, down to the women of color who

(45:49):
are only in service roles. I think there's a self
awareness in this film that's like there are anything credit
for But I see what you're saying. But I do
think the movie is aware of that, Like in nine
they weren't going to make this movie without four white
women who were married to white men. So and they

(46:12):
weren't gonna make it without a beautiful star in Goldie
Hans part. And they weren't going to make it without
a huge name in Bette Midler's part. Like the same
constraints that the movie talks about are applied to the movie.
Like I mean, like Goldie Hans line where she's like,
there are only three ages for women in Hollywood, Babe

(46:32):
district attorney and driving misstays, yes, that's great. Yeah, and
she's right, and she's right, and those rules still applied today. Yeah,
the movie I think did the best it's could to
flip over conventions. Asking it to do all of them
is a lot in nine six, but maybe we can
observe like what it did try to comment not we
but like watching it again, I did feel like some

(46:55):
of it is commentary and some of it is oversight.
I think you're right they could have actors of color.
I think they casted really white. I think I mean
it's like, and we're not coming from a place of
like this is wrong, this is wrong, this is wrong.
It's it's more of I think we're coming from a
place of like this is present, is a commented upon
or not? And I think with the body shaming, some

(47:16):
of it is commented upon and some of it isn't.
And it's for jokes. It's cheap. There's a lot of
cheap jokes, and some of them are stronger than others,
but the ones that are less strong certainly don't carry
the whole social commentary angle that I feel is present
some of it, Like right, I mean, I think that
the Bette Miller stuff is great because there is a
payoff and she gets to respond and the same the
same thing, like you're saying, for the way that people

(47:38):
are kind of snipping at Goldie Han for being plastic
and having a lot of work done, and like she
gets the opportunity to respond and and just like explain
and we understand where she's coming from. And then there's
a few examples where I feel like that it excuse
cheap and it doesn't happen for sure. Yeah, I agree,
Let's take another quick break and then we'll come right
back for more discussion. And we're back what next. One

(48:06):
thing that I thought was also like something that I
hadn't really heard discussed in a movie before. Was like
one of the commonalities of all four of these women
and including Cynthia, is that their husbands became so successful
because of the support or some other driving force of
their wives. I think that is not something that ever

(48:26):
really gets discussed and probably like one of the big
strengths of this movie, where like it's uh stated that
Cynthia's husband became this big successful guy because of her connections.
Uh Annie was the one taking care of their daughter
and taking care of everything at home and super providing

(48:47):
for her husband while he was building his ad agency.
Brenda was working the counter at Morty's stores and doing
all the on the ground stuff. And Alice was the
one who was originally gave her like a screen partner
and and in all of his opportunities in Hollywood, and
then he immediately became a dickhead and ditch. And she's like,

(49:07):
I taught you everything you know about films. That's so cool.
I I like, I love that they get the chance
to like air their grievances about it because it's like, yeah,
that's fucking horrible, and it happens all the time, all
the time. Yeah, And it's and it's the movie we
don't it's the characters we don't make movies about. Every
movie is about a dude who did an amazing thing.

(49:28):
And there's like a wife character way in the back.
She's ever supportive or annoying exactly. And this is you know,
pulling those wives, those characters out of other films and
throwing them all together, which I love. Yeah, like form
a club they do. There's such a dark, sad streak
in the bet Midler storyline about her uncle. Carmine is

(49:51):
this Italian dude with connections, things that fall off the
back of trucks, access to meat lockers and such, and he,
along with Brenda's father, organized stuff to fall off trucks
for Morty's first stores so that they could get their start.
And then Carmine is so mad at Morty. You know,
what a shame. He's a dog. He treats you this way,
What a shame, and then just tells her to look

(50:13):
at the books and goes away. Carmine has been there
the whole time she's been broke. Carmine would invest in
a husband. Carmine won't invest in her. I didn't even think.
And they don't even get It's not like Morty goes
and carmines like I got you, babe, don't even worry
about it. Your boy's taken care of, no problem. It's
that they have to get Morty and it's still Morty

(50:34):
gets the money Morety gives the money right, And that
crazy how Carmine isn't a feminist icon was looking out for,
but a fun character actor so good. I also love
that we We've talked about it a little bit, but
I love that big argument scene between everyone. Um, it's

(50:57):
like you get you get to see so many I
feel we are kind of in a phase of like
things are all generally moving in a good direction. I
feel like we are kind of stuck in this like
film moment where there's a lot of merry sewish friendships
and like I support you no matter what. Awesome and
and here we get a lot of conflict and like

(51:18):
they disagree with each other a lot in this huge
argument where it makes sense that they would have grievances
to air with each other after like twenty years of
not seeing each other, and then this traumatic thing happens
to everyone and then they start a weird small business
and like, of course they're going to have to go
back to sixty nine and like, you know, yell it out,
and it's it's really cool to see them like calling

(51:42):
each other out for all this different ship. And and
then also and then follow that by Sad Montage, Yes,
maybe it was going to happen to our weird small business.
And then I love to forgiving a catastrophizing everything's off,
the world is over everything. Yeah, she's falling apart, and

(52:03):
then she calls her mom, which makes for like a
really great arc with her and her mom where she's
like things were bad and then you called me. Her
mom was like really touched because previously, like Dan King
was like my therapist said, you're controlling and she is.
She is, Yeah, she super is and on such nice stationary.

(52:26):
Her mom character is great. But yeah, I really liked
that arc. And then going back to that argument scene.
I love to see women's rage expressed in a movie
because women aren't allowed to be angry. According to Society
read friend of the show past guest Saya Shamali's book
Rage Becomes Her about this very topic. But yeah, I

(52:48):
just I love I love women's rage. I think it's hurt,
like they listen to each other. They're angry, and they
have to take distance, halt hungry, angry, lonely, tire, and
don't make a decision or start a fight if you're
any one of those four things. But they have their fight,
they step away. And then it's Diane Keaton that takes
convincing because her neuroses pushes her to think that everything's over.
But the two women who were the maddest, who actually

(53:10):
expressed their anger, resolved the conflict and then brought it
back around a dian in this way that works, and
Goldiehon getting sober is a little easily handled. She looks
at a large bottle and she's like, it was like
the bottom of like Carlo Rossi wine, which is what
you look at sobers, the fully empty gallon of Carlo Rossi.

(53:32):
That's the dark moment, but it is that should never
be empty. You should buy it and it should live
in your house. After your drink two glasses of it
and be like, no, I'm not doing this to myself.
But yeah, she just does get sober. She vacuums with
a hangover one time and it's like, you know what,
I'm putting it down too much. Yeah, they do glaze
over that. But as far as like as realistic as

(53:53):
a movie of the genre is ever going to get,
for like showing like a group of friends being mad
at each other, seeing like we never get to see
like what friend breakups are like because there's still no
societal rules for them other than just ghost in people.
And and then yeah, like seeing it come back together
and they takes some time and it's nice and you're like, oh,

(54:14):
this is so I liked it. It seems like all
the tension that it existed between them since the first
scene was aired out and resolved and felt healthy, it
does do the thing where like that's exactly the time
in a movie structure. Correct me if I'm wrong. I
don't know if anybody here's studied screenwriting, but if anybody has,

(54:36):
um it doesn't ring about But it's it's all too rosy.
And you've already seen seeds planted weed, seeds planted in
the garden that are going to have to get pulled out,
and it's satisfying to watch them grow because you see
it right from the beginning. And they get in a
fight right at the end of act too, and then
they do and it's perfect because it just this movie

(54:56):
is just a bunch of pretty little bows. Everything ties
up real nice. It happens, you know, it's great. I
think that scene pays off really really well. I really yeah,
that was like one of my favorite It's in the
performances to not just the lines. The tension is really
there between them until they blow it all up, and
then their friendship afterwards is sweeter and it's funny. The
golden middler throwing the golden globe, so throwing a golden

(55:20):
globe in response. It's it's incredible. I I really really
enjoyed that scene. Another thing about the Ark with Annie
and her mom. Um with Annie and her mom in
the beginning, and he's like, what if I find somebody else?
Like it's possible, because she's like, you know conte Diane Keaton, Yeah,
contemplate um contempded whether or not to like try to

(55:45):
make things work with her husband Aaron, And she's like, well,
you know, I don't know, what if I find someone else,
it's possible, And then her mom says, you're forty six,
you have a better chance of being slaughtered by a psychopath.
Same bad statistic from Sleepless in Seattle. Yeah, X that
they sleep Seattle say that the statistic is incorrect. Um, yeah,
another choice quote. And this is all presented as we

(56:08):
know that the mom is being too much, and it's
not presented as like what she's saying is correct. But
she also says, you're married, you're happy, you have a daughter.
You don't need self esteem, like Catherine, you need to
see the therapist, right, you need to go see Marcia
Gay Harden. By the way, there's like this really bizarre

(56:30):
like male gaze shot when we first see Marsha Harden's character,
where like the camera just like hovers on her like
pelvis for a while. There's thigh shot and then it
tilts up to her face. But it's like, okay, so
there was a male cinematographer on this movie. Anyway. It's
how you know from the first introduction of that psychiatrist

(56:51):
that that's who her husband is sucking. Yeah, Like, if
you're an adult watching that movie, it's like, oh, that's
who they're fucking. You just know I mean the lesbian
and now I mean and me Now is like, oh
those two should fun. But it didn't happen that way
now unfortunately not. I do hope again I'm giving this
movie so much credit because there's two ways that goes.

(57:13):
It's either like, get a lady with hot legs, like
we need her to look hot so we believe a
husband would sleep with her, or it's like a super
intentional shot of like, let's really lead that this lady
is fucking the husband that's also in therapy with her,
and who knows. This movie is kind of a coin toss.
That is, it's like you, it's sometimes you're just like
this could be commentary or this could be oversight, Like, yes,

(57:35):
it is definitely a mixed bag, and then I think
it is. I think it is mixed. It's super proud
of what it's making commentary on. Yeah, but it's hard.
It's one years later. It's kind of hard to pick
apart what which's intention is hard to identify sometimes. And
then the final arc of like the Mom Annie storyline
is Annie's mom at like the party, the celebratory party

(57:57):
at the end, just saying like you're not think any
younger or thinner, you know what? I think you need
absolutely nothing, and then Nanny's like, ah, so that was great.
It's cute. I also going back to the Marsia guy
Harden therapist. For a second. It was one of those
like I don't know the last time I felt this
in a movie where you get to see the quote

(58:20):
unquote like deceitful person. Well not even quote unquote from Marsha,
guy Harden, you should not be fucking your client. Yeah,
that's she was bad. But you see her get hit
in the face before you know that, and then lady,
you're like, oh, I guess I'm glad she got hit
in the face earlier. Like it was weird. I was like, oh,
I don't know the last time that, like the bad
thing happened to the villain before you knew you were

(58:42):
that they were the villain, and then you were like, well, good,
I've tried that wild. I do feel like Diane Keaton
was supposed to be the last to know. Yeah, we do.
Like you got her personality too, is she's she's you know,
put up a lot of walls and intentionally deluded her
self and in some regards, but you know who doesn't

(59:04):
do that in order to remain alive at time, I've
convince saying Keaton doesn't know she's on set and just
sort of follow her around, just like in both fingers. Yeah,
just like Nicholas Cage ladies. How about that Ivana Trump,
you're like nine nineties six honny, Okay, she's there as herself,

(59:25):
delivering the Familius line, don't get mad, get everything, which
she didn't get mad. She didn't get to do that.
You can't because Trump's dad put it on a trust
when he was three years old to earn interests as
a busy Yeah, it was just nice to be reminded
that we live in hell now watching this lovely movie
from twenty two years. Ivana Trump was a first wife,

(59:48):
but then also could have been a different kind of
first late first lady, but didn't happen that way. But
now out like broken facsimile of her. Yes, robots somehow
the lower model also Glorious Steinham is there playing herself.

(01:00:10):
What can you do? You know, there's a there's a
lot of like little nineties cameos. Yes, the movie too,
it's rich. Should we talk about Annie's daughter, Chris and
the sort of overall representation of queerness. Let's talk about Chris. Basically,
what I will say, I feel like in the nineties,
it's like coming out had to be like a thing,

(01:00:32):
like you know, you said, everybody down. It was like
the whole movie, And like with Chris, she just sort
of walks in and it's it's like so early. It's
the first time you meet her and she's coming out
to her mom, and she's just like, beat dups. I
loved it, eating plants on the wreck and in the
middle of like also being criticizing her mom, like she

(01:00:54):
basically interrupts criticizing her mom for fucking her dad again
to come out and then returns to what she was
stopped thing about it. And I don't know if this
was the actress's choice because it's in the lines a
little bit for her dad, but like she did it
on purpose. I love it. She's just like had a plan.
I know, I have to come out to my parents.
What's the best worst way I could do it to them?
Let me wrap it in an extremely personal criticism. I

(01:01:17):
love it. I thought that seemed was so like, especially
for its time, so cool, and it's I'm curious at
what you guys think. I also thought because it's the
way Diane Keaton's character deals with it. At first, she's like,
are you sure, She's like, what do you say? Lesbian? Right?
But but I do feel like that is how some parents,

(01:01:41):
especially older parents, like someone born in that is a
pretty good outcome for like bafflement but acceptance, Like it
seemed like, you know, as much as it would be
amazing for you know, Diane Kitton to be like, that's amazing,
I completely accept you. Yes, this is like that's ideal obviously,
but I felt like supportive, realistic way of showing that thoughts. Yes.

(01:02:06):
I love the scene where they show up at the
gay bar. Yeah, so there's a lesbian bar. First of all, bigger,
nicer than any lesbian bar I've ever been to, which
are determinedly like dives. But this is a like, you know,
dance club, like ladies dancing. Uh, it's very big, it's
all ladies. Um. Goldie Hunt is so excited because she's

(01:02:28):
never been in a gay bar. Uh, Bette Midler, it's
just so matter of fact about it, could not give
a ship. I love the way her character handles it.
They're just all examples of ways to do it right.
Be super excited, don't give a fuck, or if you're
that cheesy and sensitive like Diane Keaton is just stopping
a woman walking out the door, being like you're just incredible.

(01:02:50):
I just loved it because that's more again, like this
movie is like my parents, like my dad, that's my dad.
That stops what you're doing there, I like a good
way to go. Big thumbs up, congrat congratulations, big thumbs up.
I think is what I'll stick with. Is that what
you like to be called big thumbs up? Is that? Okay?

(01:03:13):
Just the sweetest. I also really enjoy it. You're not
incredible because you're a lesbian. You just are a lesbian.
You could still be a piece of ship, living proof.
Like it's fine, that's such apparent thing to do. It's
so cute. Is they're they're just like I just I,
which is they're just saying like I don't get it,
but I'm signed it. Like it's that scene. Was I

(01:03:35):
in the same vein of like Diane Kean being like
I what what? What? Like that's yeah, that scene doesn't
punch down at all because it's that to me, is
about freedom. A woman just didn't say that like it.
You know, there's a like you kids, what you're up to?
It's still I understand that perspective. I think there's this
whole generation that like you don't say that kind of
thing out loud. It's not just that you don't come out.

(01:03:58):
It's like, oh no, it isn't there an underground society
where you're supposed to be there, Like, you know, what's
running through her head is like all the lesbians she
knew that got married to men like and lived and
like you know, marriages or whatever with their long term
friends on the side. But whatever's her picture of what
lesbian freedom is. Isn't that lesbian bar not if you

(01:04:19):
you know, even in nineteen sixty nine and a lady
Gay was just like, I'm a proud lesbian who will
marry a man to satisfy my family. And people were like,
congrat yes, proud of you. That was like, you can't fight.
It's so hard. When they're all at lunch on the
Southern Dandy and I'm gonna marry a generously proportioned woman. Good,
we've got plenty, and we need you lock this down. Well,

(01:04:43):
when they're all at lunch after Cynthia's funeral, you know,
and they're just like and Hee is like she's talking
about her daughter and she's like, and you know, lesbians
are great these days, Chris, It's just perfect. I mean,
lesbians are great nowadays, She like has it takes a
second before saying nowadays too. It is like the perfect

(01:05:04):
like mom desperately trying to get it, not quite getting
it line read I thought it was. It's also it's
a lot to ask of your parents to be excitedly
proud of your sexuality, of your family, of your love. Absolutely,
but like just straight up raw dog fucking no, your

(01:05:24):
parents don't have to wave a flag for that. It's
totally okay. If they are a little shy about, like
the actual sex part about your sexuality, probably for the
best that they aren't overtly enthusiastic. I mean, parents are
that way about straight to your parents. If you're telling
your parents something about what you do while you're having sex,

(01:05:48):
they are allowed to be like, look, okay, hang on,
let me get over the part where you are having
sex with anyone or thing, and then I'll process who
you are having sex with, what look, do what you
want with your life, and then it. Chris is like
a continued presence throughout the movie. She she pops up
here and there, she's participating in the first Wives Club

(01:06:09):
and the like scheme on her dad, who she hates again,
I want to just read the conversation at the very
beginning between her and her mom where she's like, oh,
you were with that man again, weren't you. Mother. I'm
so disappointed. And dun King's like, I know, sweetie, but
he is your father. And then she's like, yes, but
he's using you and you shouldn't let him. And it's like, hell, yes,

(01:06:33):
women hating their dad representation in movies can't get enough
of it. It's it's super fun. And he was also
accurate to the way a daughter hates her dad, which
is still lots him, just knows that he's knows him,
and it's not like, you know, she's still like in
his office. She hasn't said he's never gonna she's never

(01:06:53):
going to talk to him again. You know, that's her dad.
But she's also not like she's got expectations for him.
He hasn't met. And I appreciate that. That's a kind
of love. It's a very daughterly kind of love for
their dad, like to do better, do as good as
I think you should do. And then and then the
other thing about Chris that I liked because I feel

(01:07:15):
like people are like queer people are out at as
jokes in movies very often, especially of this era. And
at the beginning she tells Diane Keaton, don't tell dad,
I'm going to tell him when I want to. At
the end she does, and it's such a funny moment,
and she does it too like it's just yeah, like
Chris is fun. I mean, she's just perfect. It's like

(01:07:38):
she says something, don't tell daddy, I want to tell
him when the time is right, like Father's Day or
Christmas morning. My favorite joke of the whole movie. And
then at the end she does I forget what the
quote is, but she comes out to him and when
he's really when he's when he's like already he's just
been extorted, and she's like, btw, I helped extore you. Also,

(01:07:59):
I'm gay Ce like it's amazing, It's yeah, I enjoyed it.
Same worth noting that this is, you know, a woman's story,
believe it or not. But it was directed by a man,
screenplay by a man. It was based on a novel
by a woman, Olivia Goldsmith Um. It was produced by

(01:08:21):
Scott Ruten and then many other almost entirely men. I
think there's maybe one woman producing this, but it is
still largely men behind the camera, per usual. Baby, Why
why why do that? When this is such a female
driven story, Caitlin, Men like money, um, also women like money.

(01:08:42):
But you know, that's a conversation for another day. Under
do you get thirty million dollars to make a movie
about four women, all of them over fifty unless the
directors a dude in a woman direct I mean we
still barely let a woman to act wonder Woman. True.
And it is many years later, right, and I mean

(01:09:05):
Katherine Bigela was directing movies his first Wives Club, Violence, Violence,
They would someone would have already hanging upside down by cycle,
right when when like waterboarded, whenever Diane Keaton hits her therapist,
it would have been with a machette. It's Tarantino's first

(01:09:33):
It's just feet, it's just first Westat. I also think
it's worth noting that, you know, while this is a
you know, a nineties feminist text, this is still a
movie where the women are pretty much all consumed by
the men in their lives, Like the men are motivating
their choices there, you know, and it is to get
revenge or justice against the men, but it's still like

(01:09:57):
they're being motivated and riven by men. That's definitely true,
But I also don't mind it for what this movie is. Like,
this movie is a revenge fantasy for women who have
been wronged by their husbands. And if that's the audience, like,
it would be great to see them just start a

(01:10:18):
small business, I guess. But like, but like, this is
a revenge fantasy franchise and just and men, but I mean,
like men get so many of those where they like,
there's a ba jillion movies about a man seeking out revenge,
usually because someone killed his wife wife, but I see

(01:10:40):
slash most movies. But like, I mean First Wives Club,
I agree that. I mean it is like the nineties
version of they are tied to their men culturally at
this time. I don't think that that is too far
off from what would have been true for many women still,
I mean, my my mom wants to get a divorce
in but like financially couldn't get a divorce And it

(01:11:02):
seems like um on a in a much on a
much more privileged level. That's true to some extent for
these women as well. And I just I mean, yeah,
I like that it's a revenge fantasy because that's why
people watch this movie. That's why people watch kill Bill
is because it is cathartic and exciting and like, no
one's going out and doing this in real life. It

(01:11:23):
would be far too expensive, but it is. No one
has the resources to have a building in Manhattan to
turn into your revenge factory. But that's a really fun fantasy.
I wonder if the novel was written in the eighties,
because it's got to go go eighties energy. I think
with all the wealth having a broken down building in

(01:11:45):
Manhattan came out in ninety two. And the screenwriter of
this movie, I guess it's worth mentioning while he is
a man and we have to count that against him. Uh.
He is also the writer of Steel Magnolias and as
of Attraction. Um so he. I mean, we we have
not covered either of those movies, but he seems to

(01:12:06):
be commonly tapped to write movies about I cannot wait
for your Steel Magnolia's Day. I'm surprised it's taking us
just everybody gets juiced. Everybody has to drink juice. One
thing I liked. Another thing I liked about this movie
is I liked the scene where they're in the room
full of Open Flames, which isn't really a movie about

(01:12:27):
friendship between women if they're not sitting in a dangerous
room full of candles at some point drinking wine and
hashing it out. It reminds me of the scene and
Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants where they go to like
the place where their mom's met and like baby gymnastics,
pregnant Lady gymnastics, uh like once a year. I believe

(01:12:51):
that that is what it is called. But they have
a similar scene and in it is they talk about Cynthia,
who I think her press since in the narrative is
very in and out, and sometimes it gets it's this
movie gets so rompy that you forget why they're kind
of what motivated them to do it, but then you
occasionally come back to grounding it of I really, I mean,

(01:13:14):
I thought that scene was very sweet where they were
like revisiting memories and yes, is is Cynthia's letter kind
of just like a random Chekhov's gun to keep the
second act moving. Sure, absolutely no one's gonna argue it's not,
but but I did. I I liked the the and

(01:13:35):
that's where the um Leslie Gore Karaoke is introduced is
in the I don't know. I thought that scene was
very sweet and it was like a nice reminder in
the middle of the movie of like, oh, yeah, this
is why we're here. It's so nice to see, you know,
women bonding, women having fun in a movie, women throwing

(01:13:57):
golden globes at each other writing Yeah, and honestly that's
my listening. Imagine being at a place in life where
you can have a golden globe to throw. Incredible. But yeah,
I think it is worth at least touching on the
representation of mental health and suicidality in this movie. Yeah.

(01:14:18):
I don't even quite know what to say about it,
but it's it's definitely not well informed. Let's let's just say,
I mean it's not well informed. I think that it
is like, you know, employing a number of tropes um
in order to fit the exact plot of this That
is not responsible. It it implies that a single event

(01:14:43):
in your life would would drive you to this. It
doesn't even really address the mental health aspect of that
at all. Uh. There's also in that weird letter later
where she was like, maybe it wasn't my husband, perhaps
it was loneliness, and you're like, Okay, there, I I
don't even know if that's in what direction of helpful

(01:15:03):
that is. Yeah, I think that it is like another
example of like something that should ideally be a responsible
mental health discussion being used as a plot point, right, Yeah,
I don't think. And I also, uh, I don't think
it was done with intention to harm anyone, but it

(01:15:25):
just was kind of lazy writing. Sure, and it's not
the worst example that we've seen of like mental health
suicidality representation, but it certainly wasn't handled the best way
that it could have been. No, but I mean I
also did like, and I guess I want to know
what you guys think about this too. I did like

(01:15:45):
even though like the way they discuss it. Again, a
lot of the ways they discuss things is flawed, but
it's it's it's good major suffering for no reason. She's
suffering because we're not talking to her about the act
that our attention is pointed at each other and not
at the dog. And it's it's my fault because I
spoil her and this is the result. Don't spoil your dog,

(01:16:08):
ignore them, ignore your dogs. But but they talk about
at that lunch, like how their friend died by suicide,
and yeah, like I forget which character is, but one
says why do you think she did it? And then
they discuss it, which it is not a laser focused
perfect discussion of mental health, um, but it is. It

(01:16:29):
is a discussion that realistically, these women would have had.
I wish that there was kind of a more defining
like this is where the movie stands on this issue,
the way it takes very strong stands on other things.
But again, the fact that there is a discussion at all,
even if it is definitely flawed, I was surprised that
that discussion was even had. And then again because this

(01:16:52):
woman's death is used as a plot point pretty I
mean like pretty transparently. The only response to why do
you think she did it? Was Goldie Han basically starting
to form the First Wives Club, where she's like, well,
she probably gave him the best years of her life,
sacrificed her youth, always put herself last to bolster his ego,
his drive, his ambition, and just as her dignity was

(01:17:12):
hanging by a thread, he just lobbed it off by
running out with some preschooler I'm guessing. And at that
point she's already talking about herself and the discussion of
mental health has ended, right, Yeah, that preschooler being Heather
lock Layer. So there's there's that incredible m um. Yeah,
is there is there anything else that anyone would like

(01:17:34):
to talk about? I love Gonna. I think this movie
is not perfect and wonderful. It's it's perfectly flawed. I
think for what it misses, its heart is pretty sweet
and it's I guess if you saw it, I don't
know if you are a divorced or or the child

(01:17:55):
of divorced. This movie just hit certain notes that Like
the other thing we haven't even brought up yet is
that it's about divorce. Like, you know, I used to
go to movies when I was a kid my parents,
but when I was seven, and they were about families.
So that's like not my picture. Or if it is
about divorce, it's like some kind of drama. Like yeah,

(01:18:16):
Mrs staff Fire is another one that's just like so
emotionally rought. That's it's so hard. But yeah, so many
Hollywood movies are about like the nuclear family unit, and
at the nineties started to crack that open, and this
movie did it in a way that was like fun
and the trajectory of the characters leaving you know, is out,
not back into their relationships, except for Bet and I

(01:18:37):
think that her intention was set from the jump of
the movie too. After like watching it, once you've seen it,
it's like, Wow, they plant their seeds and they all
just grow so neatly. Uh Like, but yeah, it's I
think it's cool. It's about divorced. I think it's cool.
It's a bunch of ladies that aren't. I think it's
cool that their peak their peak performances. These are brilliant actors.

(01:18:59):
The whole cast is perfect, and everybody just is having
so much fun. And even watching it again with this
lens of like hous this movie made. How does it
feel to watch? What are these performances? Like? I still
slip into like Goldie Hawn's character and Diane Keaton's character
is just Diane Keaton, and I'm still like, oh Annie,
it's just so fun. It's a fun watch. It's a romp.

(01:19:22):
I really yeah, I really loved this movie. And it
gets the same thing wrong that white feminism gets wrong.
So yeah, it's very reflective of itself. It's time. Yeah,
I can't take you back in time and make you
be a divorce kid who sees it. But let me
tell you it really hit U. Certain moms really laughed
harder than other moms. There there's I had like a

(01:19:47):
few quick last things. The way the movie ends of
the Three First Wives, it is suggested that Bette Midler
and her husband that scene that shall not be named
where they are probably gonna get back together, they danced together.
And when that happened, I was like, oh no, everyone's
not getting back together, right, No, no, no, And then thankfully, mercifully,

(01:20:09):
no one else gets back together. We find out that
Goldie Hawn has a younger boyfriend, amazing, and that that
great like Diane Keaton voiceover where she was like, my husband,
you know, said he had changed and he wanted to
come back and I told him to go to hell,
and it was great. Yeah. I just I wish that

(01:20:29):
Bette Miller had just taken the business. But you know what,
fine one for three ain't bad. You need a morty too,
because men, as much as I love to admit it,
have feelings like and uh like, if men can't process
what they're experiencing, then we're perpetually fucked. Like part of
what we'd ask men to do is fully have their emotions.

(01:20:53):
So if Morty did go through a midlife crisis, panicked,
didn't know what to do with his life, you know
who knows. You can apply whatever you want on to
his character. Was he feeling pressure, was he feeling failure?
Was he feeling inadequacy? He expressed it. He made mistakes
and then he made a choice to walk back those mistakes.
Like Shelly doesn't dump him, he like leaves her in

(01:21:13):
the lamborgaining that he's willing to walk away from Men
need to make those journeys too, and the other two
men do not. They remain shitty characters. So I think
it was cool to give whether or not that should
have gotten back together with him. It can be an
open question for whatever your own familial issues project onto
that scene. You can apply your own filter. But I

(01:21:33):
was really glad that one of the male characters had
to come face to face with his mistakes. And then
the trajectory is that he's going to be dealing with
that that he left, that he's going to have to
rebuild his home, and it's not just on Bette Midler.
Like I don't know, I thought that was a cool
art for old Moore. True, I always, I mean, I'm
always saying that toxic masculinity. One of the things that

(01:21:55):
it stems from is men not being able to feel,
process express their emotion and such a huge pressure on
them to not And in this movie, like there's pressure
on Morty to not have any feelings. He's supposed to
have this perfect plastic bride. Why isn't he happy with
his money in this new young he got all the
toys that he was supposed to have and he's not happy. Yeah,
I don't know that's a necessary arc. If there aren't

(01:22:17):
more Marty's Morty's, if they're all just the other two guys,
then there's no point in ever trying, you know. Does
that also mean that that scene at the Animal Sarah
Jessica Parker in the Lamborghini Victor Garber like, yeah, they're
fucking but then like that's that was his limb, that
was his Lamborghi. Yes, they sold the Lamborghini a Christie's

(01:22:38):
and fucking made Sarah Jessica Parker by that's a great detail.
The last thing was what their end game is because
with the first wives called, I'm like, okay, they have
one job and then where does this business. Go from
there and opening the women's shelter for in in Cynthia's name,
while of very bougie white feminist because they started a

(01:23:02):
women shelter in Manhattan, Um, which is helpful to women
exactly like them, not to I mean, not to knock
any women shelter that's opening. But it's like that's a
very this movie's feminism version of opening a women's shelter
with an opulent party with Avona Trump. It's like, I
don't love it. I do love the intention, and I

(01:23:24):
did love that that that the story at very least
Um says, Okay, now that they've completed this task, you
know they've gotten their revenge, and then they move on
to helping other people. That's cool. I like that, Like
it's you rarely see that at the end of a
revenge movie. You see the revenge be gotten and then
you're like whoo who but they but you see that
they're starting the next chapter. And I appreciate that. One thing.

(01:23:48):
I don't do they ever go after Cynthia's husband. No,
they should, oh yeah, oh yeah, I wonder if they
make him give money or something. I'm in the and
I'm just reading I read a piece on the adaptation
in the book they do. In the book they go
after him for insider trading, but in the movie it's not.

(01:24:11):
I mean, but I think that Cynthia has a significantly
smaller presence in the movie than she does in the book.
I wouldn't be surprised, you know. Also at the very
end um, when Sara Jessic Parker's character is being hit
on by Victor Garber, she says something to him like, oh,
what's going on in there? A lot of battered women
dancing around? Which is it? I guess a joke that

(01:24:33):
probably didn't need to be in the movie, but it
makes her look like makes I think it's gonna play
of shitty character. You have to be shitty. I did.
I did giggle at how insensitive that was of her,
because it does make sense that did two shittiest people
and then they would end up together. I don't know.
I didn't dislike that. No, I find myself in a

(01:24:55):
weird I am open to being wrong about this, or
at least a subjectively wrong. I often I am fond
of characters people hate because they're bad people, and I'm like, yeah,
they're bad, They're not a good person, there's character, even
if there are moves towards redemption. They are bad and
they will remain bad. They've done nothing to tell you

(01:25:15):
that they are good. I loved how much Three Billboards
split the world of new nerdy movie watchers. I fell
in the camp who loved it, and I was in
a theater that laughed really hard at all the things
that I thought were funny in that movie. And I
love Sam Rockwell's character because he's a piece of ship
and he's I love seeing this unrepented, like it's not

(01:25:36):
even unrepentant, because he's willingly unaware. Like that's a bad person.
We are supposed to not like him. And the fact
that he doesn't get his come up and is on us,
that's like a reflection of us. We don't do that
to bad people. We let them thrive, they continue to flourish,
they just go on on their rampage of vengeance. Like
that's how that movie sets off. And I totally get, like,

(01:25:57):
how disgusting that a cop gets to be this evil
in a movie. I'm like, it's so real. That is
honestly accurate. And if that character relented and gave you
a little one trickle a tear, it's the cheapest ship.
It's like, you know, there's it's there's better performances than others.
They don't know if there's a straight line between say
or Jessica Parker's performance in this movie and three billboards.

(01:26:17):
Uh found it one converted book that didn't nobody thought
would make money that was only four old ladies, and
one converted play that nobody thought would make money that
was pretty much just for old ladies to make the
mad But uh, yeah, I love a character that's really
good at being bad, And I would be disappointed if
Shelley said anything less shitty. But it is shitty, Like

(01:26:38):
what an awful thing to say? I love it? Yeah,
I love it. Hey does this movie pass the back
to test the chance? Yeah? It does? Yeah, truly does.
Anna and her daughter Chris, Anna and her mom Anna
Brenda Alice. I'll talk to each other in various combinations. Um,
Chris never talks about anyone she's talking and only talks

(01:27:01):
about her dad like she's totally plot motivated character. Yeah.
I think it's interesting these ladies relationships with the men
in their life and how much it affects their decision making,
Like you were saying that that they are really tied
to the men's decisions in their lives, and the movie
is kind of about them discovering agency. Uh. But I
love these characters. I think they are unique. There's time

(01:27:25):
stamped in both sixty nine and in ninety six, and
I like, I'm still very fond of them. I still
am really fond of like Bette Midler's character reminding me
of my mom and being in a movie. I'm still
like tickled by Goldie Hawn being a movie star, who's
a movie star in a movie talking about being a
movie star and all the shitty things we do to

(01:27:46):
movie stars. And Diane Keaton's perfect. She's just ridiculously perfect
in this movie. So the three of them together, I
just it's dynamite. Don't if you haven't seen First Wives Club,
I'd be surprised. But if you haven't get it, it's yeah,
it's it's more of a hoot than I remembered. I
laughed harder than I remember. It's the jokes land more

(01:28:07):
often than they don't, and when they don't, they sud
in this way that like resonates how good the rest
were or how far we've come. You know, yeah, and
I mean and the end, the end is genuinely very
affecting the dance. Oh man, if you're crying in that crying.
I have to wear sunglasses concerts because people singing makes
me cry. So I'm stuck from the jump, like I

(01:28:30):
cry the first time they sing and they and then
by the end, Yeah, it's the sweetest. If you don't
want to watch The First Wives Club, fine, but do
go on YouTube and watch the closing scene, which you
can do, and it's worth it. Hey, let's write the
movie on our nipple scales zero to five nipples based
on its representation of women. M This one's a bit

(01:28:53):
tricky because there's a lot that it does right. There's
a lot that it does to the stage for more
inclusive and intersectional feminist texts to come out later. I
wonder what wouldn't have been made if that thirty million
dollars movie hadn't made a hundred and eighty million dollars.

(01:29:14):
I wonder what you could draw a straight line too?
Sorry I did interrupt with that, was like, wow, I
want that's genuine wonder, you know. So it's you know,
a good a good stepping stone, but also okay, thank you,
Thank you for your guys women helping other women beautiful.
I felt like where the roof was, I have no help.

(01:29:39):
I wanted to just like where I was at appreciate it. Um,
you know, just wow, I'm coming up with this all
by myself, but I think I'm going to give it
three nippos. Incredible. But yeah, I mean, you know, as
we've discussed, there's three women who are middle aged. We

(01:30:02):
never get to see women like that have their own
story in a movie. Um, they're seeking revenge on their
on the shitty men in their lives. That is cool. Um,
but yeah, it is a very like hyper privileged white
feminism story that excludes a lot of women. I do

(01:30:23):
like the way the Chris character and queerness is handled
for the most part. That was I think she's my
favorite character. So that said, I will give all three
of my nipples to Chris Annie's daughter. I do three
as well. Wow, incredible. I had no idea you were
going to do that. I will, you will? You always

(01:30:45):
go first, so you never you you never get to
You're always setting the tone, and I'm like, well let's
mixed things up. Um okay, So yeah, I I I
really really really enjoyed this movie, and I think it
is like it seems like like you're saying, Caitlin Um
that it's financial success like that. Unfortunately, we you know,

(01:31:05):
we live in a society, right, and so so you know,
what is financially successful will inform what gets made in
the future. And so a movie with older women, um,
though they are very privileged older women, but that doing
well does pave the way for a book club for
another movie about rich that Diane Keaton is in. I

(01:31:28):
almost got kicked out of that screen. I was with you.
Oh yeah, I was. Michael and I were pretty drunk.
I also took lots of cancel wine into that movie.
It was it's like, what are you going to do for?
You know? And then someone hushed me. I was like,
are you fun? Are you kidding me? Are friendless? There?
I'm like, go watch Grace and Frankie at your house

(01:31:49):
if this is how you feel like, I came here
to be annoying. But anyways, first off, Club, Yeah, I mean,
I I think it does have a place in history
for paving the way for more inclusive movies. Um. I
appreciate the swings it takes at social commentaries. Some of

(01:32:09):
them really hit, others of them definitely miss in the
modern sense. But the amount of issues that this movie
takes on, whether they address it successfully or not, is
kind of staggering. I mean, like we're talking about body image,
we're talking about mental health, we're talking about queerness, we're
talking about patriarchy, we're talking about age, like we're talking

(01:32:32):
about money. It's like there is there is so much
that is even. I mean, just seeing a movie this
big and successful even attempt that many things is pretty impressive.
And the performances are so good and I cried. And
Victor Garber is such a dick is awful. It's so good.
The way he's smiling at the conference table when they're

(01:32:53):
talking divorce. Gee, I was, although there was okay in
his first scene. In his first scene, he does say babe,
and I was like, like, I I felt that, um.
Also at the child molestation reveal didn't work for me,
But if that is such a nineties reveal, um yeah,

(01:33:14):
and and I do I still feel kind of like
I just don't give the writers of this movie enough
credit to think that they were giving they were doing
subtext on how they wrote the younger female characters but
that's just I don't know. That's that's still something I
got stuck on. But other than that, I mean, I
think this is an amazing movie. I look forward to
watching it again. I hope people watch it for years

(01:33:35):
to come. Also, you know, divorce visibility that didn't happen
very much. Three nips just equal the one to three
Goldie Bet Diane nipped for one. I'm passing out a
fourth nip, but it's because I saw it then, and
I think being fifteen and having elements of the storyline

(01:33:56):
be close to my life except for the money part. Uh.
It it felt to me way better than the movies
of its era at handling what it was taking on.
And it did take on so much. And I watched
it at a time when movies were still like real,
like I was in them and felt them, and like
the story washed over me, and I wasn't watching for

(01:34:17):
shots and angles and like thinking about the screenwriter reading
the credits at all. Uh. It was crazy to see
that life on screen then, and it's fun to watch now.
And I think it's crazy that a movie that starts
with a dear friend's death and is focused on divorce
is like in my catalog of fun movies to watch.

(01:34:39):
It's cool to see life be normal and crazy and
stupid in the midst of all the big changes like
death and divorce, because life is those ways, and those
women had to figure out how to be themselves, how
to be wives, how to be ex wives, how to
be friends, how to lose someone, how to grieve, and
they all did it like a hot mess. Um. I
appreciate that they got to be mess I just think

(01:35:00):
that there were There's enough going on in night. I'm
reaching back. I'm trying. I climbed in my time travel
machine and in four nipples for nipples, an extra one
for christ the lesbian, and then one for all the ladies. Awesome,
oh man, Caitly so much. I have fun, And every
time I get to grace this seat, I feel like
I tortured you with book Cassidy and The Sunday Kid,

(01:35:22):
a movie I love, and then you tortured me with
the Notebook, and I yelled about it a lot. But
it is nice to be back. I think every this
is just such a great movie. Kevilly, my sweet lady,
was very excited because she loves this movie, and Kelly
loves movies like who's afraid of Virginia Woolf. She likes
people yelling at each other after drinking and this movie

(01:35:42):
is like full of it. So just all the hot reads.
Lot's a little line, where can people follow you online?
And what would you like to plug? Oh on the online?
I am at robot Caitlin on Twitter, I am at
Caitlin is Tall on Instagram, Caitlin with a sea and
all proper vowel snow wise. Uh. And I'm very excited

(01:36:04):
that I have an album coming out on August secod.
It's called Major, named after my dog, who you might
have heard whining earlier in this recording. Uh. She It's
I'm just very proud of it. It's good for all ages.
There ain't no dirty words on it, which is kind
of silly and exciting. I made a clean album for
financial gain. I will be honest with you on this
podcast that it was a financially motivated choice. I'm proud

(01:36:27):
of the material. I think it's very good and warm,
and also I wanted to do that and uh, I
didn't really think about this sweet part. But right after
the recording, a comic who was in the audience, a
Buddy High Ben Kalina was. It was like midnight and
they nobody had noticed that it was clean, which I
was very relieved by. But when I mentioned it to
the buddies I was talking to, my friend Ben pulled
out his phone and texted his sister at midnight, like, hey,

(01:36:50):
there's an album coming out that his cousin can listen to.
Is a thirteen year old cousin who loves stand up
and like isn't afraid of pish it or um, but
also doesn't necessarily want to listen to that in the car.
Uh So it occurred to me, it clicked that, like
I made something that you could listen to when I
loved stand up the most, when I would listen to

(01:37:12):
all the dirty stuff when nobody was looking. But like
it felt really cool, Like again, reach back in and
just offer four little nipples, two tiny little kids out there.
Uh so that's really cool. So yeah, you can listen
with anybody. Um. I mean we've got a lot of
listeners who are moms. Yeah, with your kids. If your
child is aware of the existence of lesbian relationships, then

(01:37:32):
they are good to go. Um. But yeah, that's it
was really fun to record, and I actually listened to it.
I never thought i'd listen to and I do you
listen to the podcast? Do you listen to yourselves? As recorded?
I edit, so I have to. You have to of course,
what with the editing? Yeah, make me sound brilliant. Um,
I can't listen. It's so hard. I'm like, oh, I'm stupid.

(01:37:56):
I think everyone sound great, so yeah, perfect, But I
was pleased with it. I can report having listened that
I think it's pretty good. I didn't expect to gush
this must about it, but there you go. I'm proud
of the cell. I hope you really like it and
don't hesitate where it can. People will be able to
find it and buy it all over the all the things.
It will be on the Spotify, it'll be on Apple Music, um,

(01:38:17):
and anywhere you listen to or buy things digitally will
be able to find it. Thank you to my label,
Blonde Medicine for making all of that possible. I'm willing
to be a shill for any other corporation that will
do me papers or pay me, so stump on board.
You can also find us on all the places that
you find stuff, including on social media, where you can

(01:38:39):
follow us at Pecto cast We've got our Patreon a
k A Matreon, which is five dollars a month and
you get to bonus episodes every month. Coming up on
the patreon is my birthday month, August, Yes, in which
we will be doing Jennifer's Body and Freaky Friday, So

(01:39:00):
look forward to those. We've got merch that you can
buy at t public dot com, slash the Bechtel Cast, all,
all the classics, feminist icon, queer icon, feminism is the
law now, et cetera. I have a nipple scale button
on my jacket. Oh my good news. Where are you? Yeah?

(01:39:20):
Other than that, let's all let's all form a club,
shall we. Let's make an LLC tonight. Okay, I'm calling
my accountant. Does anybody know a good account No? Bye
bye

The Bechdel Cast News

Advertise With Us

Follow Us On

Hosts And Creators

Caitlin Durante

Caitlin Durante

Jamie Loftus

Jamie Loftus

Show Links

AboutStore

Popular Podcasts

Crime Junkie

Crime Junkie

Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.

24/7 News: The Latest

24/7 News: The Latest

The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.

Stuff You Should Know

Stuff You Should Know

If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.

Music, radio and podcasts, all free. Listen online or download the iHeart App.

Connect

© 2025 iHeartMedia, Inc.