Episode 38 - The Duff

"Whoa, wait, you're having a party on a Wednesday? On a school night?" - Bianca Piper

Designated Ugly Fat Friend......a DUFF, if you will. This teen movie took the wingman concept and spun a new definition to help label the insecurity monster we all have had to face in one way or another. While Mae Whitman is hardly ugly or fat, she has the sarcasm delivery the role of Bianca Piper needs. This movie came out in 2015 and one of your hosts had never seen it. Join Andrea and Melissa on this fun episode! We hope you have a great time laughing with us.

Episode Transcript

(00:06):
Okay, I'm going to be perfectlyfrank here. I don't have a cute
question. All I have is acaffeinated brain, dried up tears, and
a prayer. That's all I've got. That's all right. I am a
teacher in twenty twenty one, andthis is I didn't get all my homework
done, so I didn't think ofanything cute, so I figured we would

(00:28):
just go into introducing our movie thisweek. Welcome to fourteen going on forty.
This is Melissa and this is Andrea. And it feels like it's been
a million years since we recorded,so you may have forgotten that we met

(00:48):
in high school and we are supposedto be doing a podcast where we rewatch
movies and have some fun doing thisshit, and you know, it's just
a it's been a tough time gettingit to where we can actually do the
fun thing for me and you todo. Yeah, So on today's episode,
we're heading to Malloy High School tolearn about being a duff. If

(01:12):
it's been a while since you've seenit, here's a quick description from IMDb.
A high school senior instigates a socialpiking order revolution after finding out that
she has been labeled the duff designatedugly fat friend by her prettier, more
popular counterparts. I I don't knowif I love that description. Yeah.

(01:34):
But my other issue is I alwaysthought, in my brain, because it
had been before I saw the movie, I kind of knew what it was
about. I always called it inmy mind the dumpy ugly fat friend,
and so I struggle, like rememberingthat it's supposed to be designated ugly friend.

(01:55):
Yeah, I mean, this waskind of a new vernacular for me.
I had ever heard of this termbefore. I don't know when it
was supposed. I actually afterwards waskind of like, Okay, well where
does this come from? And thethis was written by a woman who this

(02:15):
came to be her reality. Basically, I don't know what the book is
about. I don't know if it'sjust about her life or if it's a
fictionalize I have no idea but that, and it was I guess more of
kind of like a mid nineties ornot mid nineties, mid two thousand's terms,
so like two thousand and nineish ten. So I don't know. I

(02:39):
mean, I think it's a prettygood term for this. It's so much
nicer than saying you know, well, for sure, the dumpy ugly one
like yeah, so I guess wellI had to take it, you know,
to that next level and just addone more insult in there instead of
designated. I had to make itdumpy ugly fa frut because that's just where

(03:00):
my brain goes, so you cantell where my self esteem is at.
It was released February twentieth of twentyfifteen. We were thirty six, so
like, we don't have really,I mean, I had never seen this
movie before watching it this time,so I don't like and I own it,
so I mean, I don't know. I watched it, you know

(03:22):
what. I think it was oneof those where I saw it day was
out of town and I cracked opena bottle of wine. I wasn't It
was one of those weekends where it'slike, yeah, I could have called
up my friends or whatever and wecould have gotten together, but I was
like, you know what, Ikind of want to enjoy my house with
silence and my cats and a bottleof wine and watched whatever movie I want

(03:45):
to watch. So I think Ihad seen something. It was like like
best high school movies or something likethat, or something like you know,
like Easyer was on there and stuff, and I was like, all right,
well I'll get a try like MayWhitman, who is who plays Bianca
in here? And I was like, all right, I'll give it a

(04:06):
shot. Yeah, and the restis history. Yes, Well, I
remember this is one that you wouldalways tell me that was super cute,
and then I needed to see it. But then I just I hadn't seen
it, and then it was likeI was saving it for the podcast.
Right, So which is the othervicious cycle that we get into where I'm

(04:27):
like, what we just say thatbecause I'm going to need to take notes
later, so I better not watchit now. Yeah, so you know
I was, I too, ama fan of May Whitman. I think
she is great and almost everything I'veever seen her in I mean I've never
seen something. I mean, Iloved her in Parenthood. You know,
I never really watched a lot ofparent I've seen episodes here and there,

(04:49):
but I never really That's kind ofwhat I wouldn't mind you know, doing
liga well, especially now that youcan binge it. I remember I was
watching parent Hood when it was likeon, so I was having to wait,
you know for episodes. Um,but I think that it would because

(05:10):
it was again one of these showsthat's kind of done in that style of
it's so well produced, and it'sso it has a lot of like pretty
big names in it, and soit's it is like a movie almost each
episode. So if you were tolike start it up, it's just thoroughly
enjoyable to like go through all ofit, and it's like it's not really

(05:30):
Cliffhangery. So it would just benice to just like binge a bunch of
them at once. But yeah,I really really like her, and that
I know that there's definitely other moviesthat she's been in, probably that I
haven't seen. I show Scatt Pilgrimversus The World She's in that I do
love it. I like that.So I'm only seen that once, but
I remember really liking it. Itwas I also liked her recently. I

(05:55):
was trying to think of, well, what did I watch recently that she
was in, and it wasn't Parenthood, and it was that Good Girls.
Did you watch that where they robbed? Oh? Okay, So I was
late to the game on that one, and I finally like threw it on
while I was like home this summer, like when I would start a project

(06:16):
or something, I would throw thaton because it's I think it was made
by like a TV network. Andwhen I say that, I mean that
I think each season has a decentamount of episodes. So it was like
something where you could just kind ofhave it on and like keep going.
And it was one of those thingswhere I remember I was texting our friend
Kayla and I was like, Okay, I know you like the show,

(06:39):
but these women keep making the world'sdumbest decisions and I don't know if I
can like it yet, and She'slike, just hang in there, and
so you know, it ended upbeing and she is a gemin it just
like in everything I've seen her in. So that was really cool, and
it was it was making me likejog my memory, like what have I
recently seen may Whitman in? Sothis one wasn't my radar. Also say

(07:00):
the term never heard it. Also, I will say this, I was
trying to rack my brain really hardto think if I've ever really noticed that
as we go through the plot,well, maybe I should just wait until
we get to this spot. Let'sgo into the plot, and then I'll
ask what you think because I havea question of like the concept of the

(07:25):
Duff. So maybe we need toget there first. So let's get into
the movie. Okay. So atthe beginning, I remember they are kind
of introducing like the main cast ofgirl characters, and I like the way
they did this where they give everyonelike a It's almost like you're like senior
superlative. It's like the one,the tough one, the other one.

(07:49):
So Jess is the kind one andshe's an aspiring fashion designer and a zen
Buddhist. Case is the tough one. She plays soccer and is a hacker.
And then Bianca, who is MayWhitman, is the other one,
who is a cult movie lover.And I wrote in my notes it's us

(08:09):
Rights. I was like, ohmy gosh, this is why A pretty
much pretty much all the stuff thatthat she's into. I'm like, oh,
that was probably me in high school. Um, yeah, for sure,
absolutely um. And so you know, it's kind of doing one of

(08:30):
these typical like high school movie introductionsof like in the hallways montage, like
characters you're gonna meet. Um,there is a thing with the homecoming dance
flyers get passed out or they walkby one. I can't remember, but
Bianca doesn't want to go. Shesays, there's a Vincent Price marathon,
and I went, I'm going tostop this movie right here for a second,

(08:54):
because Price is momma like, Iam in a Vincent Price movie marathon
as we speak right now, becausewe are heading into October at the end
of September. What's Someone? Isit? The like thirteen Ghosts? Is
he? Is he in that one? The old? No? The House
on Haunted Hill? Yeah? Andso good. It's so good. So

(09:20):
I love The House on Haunted Hillis my favorite. I actually just ordered
the vintage movie poster to frame andput up in my house. That's how
much I love inc Price. Also, do I love Vincent Price when he's
in Scooby Doo? Yes? Ido, so I'm here for it.
And I love the Vincent Price voiceoverin the song thriller. Oh that's just

(09:41):
what it Vincent Price for days.Uh. So I was dying when she
said that, because I was alsothe same way. Didn't not go to
the homecoming dance I'm my senior yearinstead watch horror movies. You didn't go
to homecoming senior year ever? Wentto a single homecoming dance. Well,
that kind of ducks because we wereon student council together, so you would

(10:03):
have to decorate for it. Yep. Um. I got really good at
making balloon arches and then my asswas put in charge of them, and
then by the end of it myfingers would be bleeding from tying bed that.
I was like, I want nothingto do with this. I want
nothing to do with this anymore.Ever, it's all perfect, and I'm
going to watch everybody get it dirtyand ruin it. I'm done, This

(10:26):
is it, I'm good bye.Do you remember I don't remember what it
was. It was it we weresupposed to have in an event and it
was like, um, we hadlike the Walk of Fame and we had
to put all those stars with contactpaper onto the gym floor. Oh yeah,
and then we had to go backand take them off after that was
fun. Yeah, that was thankyour local student council people. Yeah,

(10:50):
okay, telling you and we didall of this before pinterest m. So
then we meet this Madison Morgan,a future reality star. She's the mean
girl and she's played by this BellaThorne. Yeah. Do I know her

(11:16):
from something? I'm going to clickon her right now and I am d
I feel like I've heard her.Oh, I know what, I I
tried watching the Scream TV series.I watched, yeah, the first couple
of seasons of it. I did. She's the one who dies in like
the first like the Drew Barrymore Rules, Right, I just I don't know.
I am not. I don't know. I'm not real entranced by her,

(11:41):
but I feel like I hear hername come up a lot in like
the movie World and everything. ButI just, yeah, I don't get
it. So in a way,she was perfect because I was totally okay
not liking her for you know,just me personally. So she is.
And it's so because you know whenthey say, like during the beginning credits,

(12:01):
like you know, Jess is thekind one, Casey's the tough one,
Bianca's the other one, and it'slike, you know, Madison Morgan
is a future reality start. Noliterally, like that's what she wants to
be. Yes, yeah, likeshe is a self proclaimed Yeah that's the
weirdest goal for your life is tobe a reality star. Yeah yeah,

(12:24):
I mean maybe you could be areality star and then eventually become the president.
So true. I mean, justSam the whole world is messed up
at this point. I don't knowanymore. I love her how um how
Bianca describes her, She's like she'spassive aggressive and she's like aggressive aggressive,

(12:46):
Like this girl is just a bitchall around, Like she will cut you
and she will also side swipe youcompliment, like backhand compliment. She's probably
the most realistic mean girl there is, oh yeah, um in these movies,
because it is I feel like alot of your popular mean girls are

(13:11):
that way where it's like in frontof your face. They make you feel
like they're friendly, right, andthen then it's like as soon as someone
walks out of the room, theylike cut them to the quick, you
know, just it, and it'sit's really nasty. I did um.
She gives this like party invite outand of course you know she's giving it

(13:31):
to this Jess and Casey and thenshe doesn't want to invite Bianca. And
I don't remember if this was inthe movie or if this was my own
thought. On a Wednesday, youcan do that? Yeah, No,
that that's no, that's in themovie. She's like, really on a
Wednesday, Okay, yeah, soI guess um this further proving that I'm

(13:52):
on Bianca's wavelength, like we're we'rehere, We're in this together. Girl,
I got you because that's exactly ona school night. Yeah, on
a school like that. So she'slike on a school not really wow.
Yeah, And then I love thatJess like she's like, well, it's
an invite only, and Jess justgoes wish. I guess she has one.
Now. I was like, that'sjust a baller move. That's great

(14:13):
because she's not gonna say anything becausethese are two you know, girls on
basically her same level as of popularityand well of looks and popularity, yes
for sure. And so this newspaperthey end up and then this like newspaper
meeting and Bianca gets a signed towrite an article about homecoming, and Jess

(14:35):
the nice one, wants to helpher find a date, and she tells
her that she has this crush onToby Tucker and describes him as amaze balls.
Yes, this whole like montage ofher like and Toby like flipping his
hairs, and the background me whoever, I don't know the direction of the

(15:00):
music and just the the special likebecause I mean it does have some special
effects, but like what they doin this is just hilarious, like because
yeah, it's amazable, yes,because you in your brain are looking at
that person exactly like hum huh yes. Um. And then we also get

(15:24):
introduced to Wesley Wesley Rush Rush Um. He is Bianca's neighbor and also the
football captain and one of these goodlooking, jock popular types. We can
already tell who he's supposed to beas soon as we meet him, and

(15:46):
he's asking where are her friends at? Like where are your girls at?
Thinking like you know, Casey andJess, the hot ones, and Madison
walks up and starts like eating hisface like I mean, this girl so
the funny, Like Madison is soinsecure. She she is like she puts

(16:10):
off this like a really badass bitch, Like she's so secure. But she
is so insecure because he's talking toBianca like just it's it's his neighbor and
she can't handle it. She can't. She's like no, But isn't that
sort of like I mean, Iguess that it's probably a pretty good example
of probably how a lot of thesegirls can be, and that they find

(16:37):
there they're parts of the universe wherethat they feel ultra confident in so among
other girls, like she knows herhierarchy, she knows exactly where she's standing,
she's Queen Bee. But then witha guy she has to keep kind
of guessing, like I need toestablish myself of like I'm hot and I'm

(17:00):
with the hottest guy, but likeI'm also showing my insecurity by being this
like needy about it, you knowwhat I mean, Like where it's like
that's maybe the yin to the yangof it. That's her whole identity is
being hot, Yeah, and beinglike ruling the school. That's her whole
So like anybody who is not impressedby that. First of all, Bianca

(17:21):
couldn't give a shit, Like shedoesn't care one iota about Madison and her
hotness or whatever. She just thinksshe's a trash person. So to come
across somebody who doesn't care about thatat all and is still confident enough in
herself to be like, yeah,whatever, okay, yeah, like I'll

(17:44):
still talk to Wesley and whatever.And like Wesley came up to her,
which is probably what Madison saw.I was like, why is he going
and talking to her? Because shehas nothing else besides her looks, to
offer anybody else well, and againit's such a fragile ecosystem. You know.
It's like I have to make surethat I'm still staying on top in

(18:07):
this like game that is high school, you know. And I do feel
so sorry for people like that ina way, you know, like this
idea of like I always think backand I'm like, I don't know if
it would be a good thing tohave like really blossomed in high school,
you know, for it to likeit's almost just kind of no, you

(18:30):
don't want to peak in high school, no, because then it's just like
a downhill ride from there. Iguess, right, no, I you
know, I won't say that Iwas like on the I mean I feel
like I was very well entrenched inthe middle, like in the middle,
Like I was like, I wasn'tlike super popular. I wasn't like the

(18:52):
people who were very socially awkward.I just was like I had my friends,
I talked to pretty much everybody.I was like, listen, if
you're nice to me, I'll benice to you. That's it. Like
I was like I was but liketo have that be the highlight of my
life, I don't know, there'sa lot more living to be had after

(19:15):
high school, and I mean,that's such a small percentage of your life,
it is, And it's one ofthose things where it's like, it
does make me feel like kind ofbad for people who, you know,
play so much importance at that timewhen you're still a kid, you know,
and you're in this weird spot,and it's kind of like, you
know, I like the fact thatI knew that I was still a kid

(19:40):
and that my biggest thing was doI have a trustworthy friend group? Do
I find my joy in like hangingwith my friends and sleepovers and doing the
things. And of course, likeyou know, you you you can't not
participate in the social hierarchy of highschool a little bit, like you know,

(20:04):
I mean, there's definitely still thegroups, and you know that we've
learned multiple times in every freaking teenagermovie. But it's kind of nice to
have just been under the radar.That's really okay, And I think that
to it kind of gives you theopportunity to build your character in a way
that I know that that sounds likesuper nerdy and dorky, but like when

(20:27):
you well, when you are notthe focus of everything, it gives you
an opportunity to observe. It's like, well, let me let me watch
that person crash and burn, andnow I won't make that mistake, you
know what I mean. And it'sI know that sounds terrible, but in
a way, it's like not theworst thing to be the unnoticed one,
you know, because it's like youkinda if you have situational awareness, you

(20:52):
can you know, you can seesome cautionary tales on ravel right in front
of you. Well. Yeah,and it is kind of funny because I
mean, you and I have bothtalked about going to like the high school
reunion and stuff, and it wasreally weird for me because like people come
up to me and I'd be like, they'd be like, oh, how
are you doing. I was like, you remember me. I didn't think

(21:17):
you even knew who I was.Like, it's kind of one of those
things where you're like, oh,I had some sort of impact or some
sort of like I nestled somewhere inlike one of your folds of your brain
for yeah, an amount of time. It's weird. It's very weird.
It's very weird. And so it'sjust like I think that Bianca's approach to

(21:41):
this is very relatable to like myself, and I'm sure for you two.
You know. I also liked thatwhen they were going to get ready to
go to this party, she says, well, I'm gonna wear my Lucky
party shirt and it's a flannel andagain relatable. I never had any of
the cube clothes, Like I waslike, no, this is and not

(22:03):
And I don't know if mine wasreally for a lack of want. It
just was like everything. I mean, you also lived the life of being
like super tall, hard to dress. Like It's just everything was either really
shine for me or like I waslike it was. I was like,
listen, I am not trying towear two short of shorts. That just

(22:26):
happens because they don't make them longenough. My shirt is coming up because
it's not made for me. Likethat's m especially like especially like when we
were in high school twenty some yearsago, too many years, like we
I mean, they weren't making theywere just starting to make like tolls and

(22:48):
longs and that was like yeah,that was very hard to find, very
hard and it and things didn't runlong either. We're like no, I
remember there was kind of like ashift where even just like regular things like
in pants and stuff ran longer becausepeople liked the look of like it went
over your high heeled shoes, whereforeus it would just touch our shoes.

(23:10):
I was like, oh, thankgod, thank you run long. Yeah,
And it's like that's just hilarious that, like, you know, it
just for us. We were inthis age of like there just wasn't that
and people were not like ordering online, so you know, you always just
sort of felt awkward, and soI can totally relate to her life.
Lucky party flannel. And then Bianca'smom was played by Alison Janny, whom

(23:33):
I love. I know. She'sa divorcee that got the idea from the
Simpsons of being a self help guru. This is comic genius. I was
dying when I saw that. Ilove. I love how she's like,
you know, put out a pantsuit, a power pant suit with a

(23:59):
little like Hillary Clinton mom yep,yep um. At the party, we
realize we do get introduced to thefact that Madison in fact does have a
friend named Caitlin that just films everythingfor her social media because she's just creating
her own reality TV show until shegets discovered. Wow, I'm pre famous

(24:25):
is how she describes herself. Ohmy, I could be dating famous people
or thirty year olds is what shesays to Wesley, and everybody throws up
in their mouth a little bit there. Yeah. I love how he just
goes oh gross, like yeah,that's just that's nasty. Like, I
don't I love what he says.It sounds like an episode of Dateline.

(24:48):
I was like, oh, yeah, okay, the actor who plays Wesley
so this. Uh. First ofall, he's hit the Janet Jack and
his cousin so he's Robbie mL.His cousin is Stephen mL, who is
on Arrow Who Again. I waslike, I don't understand how it is

(25:11):
allowed to happen that people like thisactually, like they actually look like this
and are funny and kim Like.I was like, that just doesn't seem
fair. I started watching. He'salso in the show upload have you seen
that? I started watching it.It's an Amazon show, but he is

(25:33):
in that, Like he is areally funny guy. Well what I recognize
him from one of my very favoriteNetflix movies ever, The Baby the Babysitter
yep, yep, uh huh yeah, just watched that That movie is my
fucking jam. If you haven't seenit, treat yourself. Oh my god,

(25:56):
The Babysitter is the best. Wejust introduced that to Dave's cousin and
his wife and they're like, whatthe hell. I was like, yes,
I know, it's great. They'relike, we were not expecting this
from this movie. I was like, yeah, I know it. It
is on par with like zombie Land, the horror comedy thing is made balls.

(26:17):
So, speaking of balls, healso tells Madison to enjoy those soggy
balls, which what a visual,What a visual. They are so toxic.
Yes, she is just toxic andtheir relationship is just toxic. It's
like it's I don't understand because hedoes not seem like he even likes her.

(26:44):
Yes, And you can tell thatthat's exactly it, that there's no
substance to their their dating relationship,and we need that because later on we'll
discover like we don't want to lookat him like a total asshole and the
way for that. And it's sofunny because, um, you know,
I kind of was like getting avibe right away that like he's gonna be

(27:06):
likable in this, but I wasn'ttotally sure because I hadn't seen the movie
if like where exactly they were goingto be going with his character, His
humor and wit helps us get there. You know, so Bianca sees her
crush. Um, I forgot hisname already. But he's playing an acoustic
guitar who brings their acoustic guitar tosomeone? Does someone does? Um?

(27:30):
This happens in high school. I'mjust going to have, you know,
as a high school team. Whath I Okay, I've been to I
had. I didn't go to aton of parties in high school, but
I've been to a few. AndI'm not talking about going to a high
school party. Let's make that perfectlyclear. I am not the teacher that
is attending a high school party.I am just trying to say that.

(27:51):
Do we randomly have a student thatwas suddenly like the Town Troubadour in the
hallway before school, just strumming awayon his stick guitar. You gotta be
fucking kidding. I am not kiddingyou. Did I chaperone a band trip
once and do people suddenly burst intosong out of nowhere? Like I'm just

(28:15):
gonna I'm just gonna sing Jason mraz, I'm yours a cappella because that's who
I am today, and I justum for me, this is my nightmare,
so it's very very noticeable to someonein my position. That is Wow.
The town troubadour situation I didn't mind. Before school in the hallway,
I was like, hey man,it's kind of nice. Let's do this

(28:37):
as a matter of fact. Ifsuddenly everybody brings buckets and drumsticks, I'm
here for that too, let's doit. But the strumming your acoustic guitar
at a party, I'm not entirelysure it gives him this hippie dippy vibe,
you know, yes, crush andso Wesley. This is when he

(28:57):
lays it out for all of us, including Bianca, that she is the
duff, the designated ugly fat friend. And I just wrote this mofo.
Well, guys like that, Wow, at a party, you decide to
tell her this. He lays itout so like just matter of factly,
like as if everyone knows it,yeah, and that it's a thing.

(29:22):
And I love that her reaction islike, what, this is a thing.
And he starts pointing it out likeeverywhere, and she starts suddenly seeing
it that there's a Duff in allthese different groups. I do love that
she throws her drink on absolutely,he absolutely deserved to be soaked in alcohol
and then live on fire. ButI mean by hate that this is the

(29:45):
defining moment where she is questioning herappearance image. And I think every single
person that watches this movie can relateto that, because there is a in
your life in which someone says somethingthat suddenly makes you question everything about how
you look, what you know,your self image is, you know what

(30:10):
you see in the mirror, andit changes everything, and it it makes
me really it's so upsetting now thatwe're older. Like it's totally upsetting when
you are a high schooler and you'rein that phase, but like it's super
upsetting now that we're moms, youknow, because it's like knowing that as

(30:32):
you interact with not just your kids, but any kids, you know that
like that moment happens, right.Oh yeah, there's no way to protect
them from it. Because even thekid that is like Madison, she's going
to have that moment too. Shedid, and that's what made her the
way she is. That's what madeit so that she cares so much about

(30:53):
how she looks right, and that'sthe whole defines her whole self worth.
I mean, fortunately, that's howsociety is. It's like if you look
a certain way, if you thataffects how other people interact with you.
I mean it's been shown time andtime again. Why do you think these

(31:15):
serial killers like Ted Bundy, whoI don't know why people thought he was
attractive. I don't think he's attractive, but like they thought like he was
a good looking white man and helooked a certain way, acted a certain
way, so no one suspected him. So like your conditioned to trust people
if they're attractive, which is sobonkers because people I think Ted Bundy also

(31:41):
brings up a great example because Iagree with you, there's only very limited
pictures in which you can kind ofsee him looking like okay, right now
again in the seventies when we're talkingabout dirty hippies, maybe he just really
looked like you know, Billy crudUp. I don't know, like I

(32:04):
know Billy krud Up in the sevenlike in as we had talked about.
Yeah, I mean he can pulloff a seventies stash, but right,
but not clearly lots of people didnot, and clearly lots of guys had
way too much hair everywhere, right, and Ted Bundy was clean cut,
so maybe that's what made him.But what is interesting about that example to

(32:25):
me is that it isn't necessarily inyour outward appearance. It's also what you
project in the way that you act, because you do look at someone and
we've all had that where we're like, did I really think that person was
hot? They're not that hot,but they sure as shit acted like they

(32:45):
were hot, you know, Andthat's what I think can be kind of
fascinating and still even today, youknow, just like in people Watching.
I'm a big time like I lovepeople Watching and just this, like,
you know, it's it's so fascinatingto see, like how does all of
this work? And like the wholealmost like social experiment of it all is
kind of wild, and I dohate that she gets there, but I

(33:09):
think it's also super relatable because wecan all definitely remember this happening, you
know, and it happens at differenttimes for everybody, and I think for
females it's especially brutal. Yeah,I do love that there's the five stages
of the duff are paralleled to thefive stages of the self help guru divorce

(33:30):
situation. So the first one isdenial. So I love that in science
class. Now, this was aninteresting thing that I didn't see coming is
that Wesley approaches her in science classand explains the duff thing even further,
like, hey, man, youthrew your drink on me kind of thing.

(33:50):
Yeah, you know. And she'slike, you called me ugly and
fat and he's like, well,no, a duff doesn't have to be
ugly or fat, right, He'slike, I would never call you that.
Yeah. Yeah. She's like,but that's exactly what it means.
It means, doesn't He's like,yeah, but that's just like the term
that people have now used to describethe friend who is this like basically like

(34:14):
the end too, like the oneof these things. It's not like the
other, right, yes, AndI did write in my notes, um
when he puts like, the duffdoesn't have to be ugly or fat,
I would never call anyone that,And I put this feels like realistic teenage
logic. Yeah, being around teenagersall the time. Yeah, they're like,

(34:35):
I'm sorry that you're taking this sooffensively, but like urban dictionary.
This is the thing, dude,this is what we say. I don't
like it. I just love howhe goes. You know, Tony Tony
Romo is a Dall's Cup cowboy,but it's not like he rides a horse.
I was like, really, you'retrying to use a football analogy to
talk to be ONCT like, butthat is just that made me kind of

(34:57):
like that one made me the kindof like snort laugh because I was like,
that's like I feel like that forhis character, Like, I mean,
that's just the perfect analogy. It'strue. Does anybody besides a jock
really understand that? No, butI feel like that's very like for him,
very logical. And Veria well put. And then at this point,

(35:21):
Bianca does start to notice that she'sbasically invisible without justin Casey. Yeah,
which in a way I'm kind oflike that totally sucks to realize that,
but in a way it's like,well, that's probably why she's gotten all
the way to like senior year andhasn't really felt like that much of an

(35:42):
outsider because she always had these twofriends that like, well, of course
people knew who she was because everyoneknows all three of them, and I
do think that that's kind of interesting. And I love the way she's looking
at pictures from when they were kidsand Halloween they were Hartley's says, she's
Bosley, did I have to bebossing? I I to lose my ship

(36:12):
when that happened. I mean Ihad to legit, stop the movie and
laugh for a few minutes about it. Like I was like, oh,
bless her heart, Like there's threeangels. Why did I have to be
I mean, oh, it's great, it's great. Um so that the
next stage is anger. So Biancais mad at her friends for like making

(36:35):
her the duff, and she startsto question their friendship. And this is
I mean, as an audience,like we can see that, we can
see both sides, you know,Like so we can see that the girls
don't really feel that way about her, Which is why at the beginning when
I was saying, I have atough time with the description from IMDb,
because it says her her pretty ormore popular counterparts have labeled her the duff.

(37:00):
And it's like Jess and Casey haven'tlabel her uff. They've grown up
together since they were kids, right, It's the it's the Biancas and the
Wesleys. Yas, I'm sorry theMadison the Madisons, the Madisons and the
Wesleys and the rest of high schoolculture that has labeled her the duff not
right. They don't see her asanything but her friend like and that I

(37:22):
feel like is is very true.And I feel like this this concept,
while it maybe not be uh labeled, I guess you're not necessarily saying out
loud. It's more of something thateach person probably feels more internally, rather

(37:43):
than having somebody say, oh,well, you're you know. Basically,
it's the equivalent of saying, like, you're the wingman, you're just right
the person the accessory. It isvery frustrating to watch her like question the
friendship and then the unfriended unfind allowfight. Is pretty dumb that they have
like it's it's it's low hanging fruitin terms of the humor. But Bianca

(38:07):
is starting to find Duffs everywhere shelooks, and Toby, her crush,
comes up to her and compliments hersocks that she's wearing because she's in,
because she's in sweatpants and cracks andbare pajamas. Basically, again, we're

(38:28):
very relatable. Yeah, I meanI will say that I probably dressed like
that my senior year because I didn'tgive to flying fux anymore. Well,
remember in high school, it's sofunny the way they make it kind of
look in high school. And Iactually do see this today in twenty twenty
one, that like no one,I don't feel like any high school person

(38:51):
is consistent in their dressing level asthe week goes on, because even the
really super like prettier or poper girlsstill have like messy days, but they're
like messy days might still might looka little more up kept than say like
someone else who like actually rolls outof bed and literally comes to school with

(39:12):
like you know, sleep drools stillon their face. But it's there's definitely
like nobody I have yet to encounteranybody that like gets dressed head to toe
in a full outfit every day,you know, like they're they're not doing
that in high school, even thoughhigh school movies sort of make it appear
that that's the case. Right,But she she chokes, she can't,

(39:34):
she can't deal with Toby talking toher, and you know, she portrays
that awkwardness so well, like shecan't even form a word, like what
does she say. She's like,like, she just mumbles something and like
then turns around and books it.It's just a total choke. She completely
chokes um. And then so here'swhere the movie decides to get parallel to

(40:00):
Can't Buy Me Love. So it'sWesley is failing science and he needs to
be getting a scholarship so that hecan get out of his house and move
on with his life. And Biancais does really well in science. So
they strike up a deal. Canhe help her not be a duff?

(40:25):
And she's like, and I'll helpyou with science, and she does when
she is negotiating this with him,say you are a dipshit and a manhore,
but you're an honest dish. Yeah. And I'm going to say that
is very much a compliment here,because he really did make good on hurting

(40:50):
her feelings, but then circling backaround to be like, I'm sorry,
I didn't mean to hurt your feelings, but I was just saying, you
know, which is doesn't really excuseit excuse so he of course says,
you have to ask me in monstervoice from when they were kids. I
loved that. I thought it wasso cute. I also thought it was
hilarious when he's like, well,what's it for me? And she goes

(41:14):
or she said, have fun playinginter mural we golf this fall, and
he's like, all right, listen, okay, fine, I understand I
need to pass science. Come backhere, give something to me, and
then it is easy to forget ifyou weren't in this world. But the
reason why passing classes is so importantfor scholarships is because you're not eligible to

(41:39):
play if you're not be passing allyour classes. So it's not necessarily because
you didn't get accepted into college,but like if you're not playing, you
might not get those scholarships because nowyou're no longer playing because you're not eligible
from your grades. So at themall, Wesley, So I love everything

(42:04):
about this because we don't necessarily Wesleyis going to give her some very honest
appearance and shopping advice, and wedid not feel the need to introduce like
a gay friend to do this.And that I really liked about this.
I didn't even think of that,But yes, I think it's great that
he's like, he's like, listen, he's like, you're wearing the wrong

(42:27):
bra. He's like he just layingthis all out here, and she's like
what, And he's like what,I watched a lot of Project Runway.
Yeah, the fact that he knowshis way around them, all that he's
watched Projects Runway, that he understandshow to dress himself does not call into
question like his sexuality or masculinity.It's just his normals and we don't need

(42:52):
And it's like, I I mean, I love having gay characters in movies,
but like, I don't necessary.I like that this movie didn't feel
the need to introduce that in orderfor this to happen, because I feel
like that's something that if this moviehad been made in a different time,
it's almost like they would have hadto either bring in like kind of like

(43:13):
how and she's all that. Itwas like the little sister has to give
the makeover, right, Like youknow, actuality. Men care just as
much about their appearance and how they'represented to the world as women do.
They're just not maybe as forward aboutit. I mean, let's just to
feel like especially now, you wantto look good, you want to look

(43:35):
put together, you don't look homelessor like you just rolled out of bed,
because it makes you feel good andI really like his line. He's
like, I want what you're sayingnow. He's like, I don't know
who you are from your clothes.It's not saying anything about you. I
want you to look more like youunless like wreck it realp Which that made
me is that was pretty? Thatwas a very spot on description. Yeah,

(43:58):
I like that a lot. Andthen he does point out her univer
mob and that he takes her brashopping right away, which after working next
door to the Broad department in Nordstrom. Yeah, they're doing God's work over
because there we are grossly misinformed whenwe go with our mothers the first time

(44:21):
and how to get fitted for abra, what is proper to wear,
what we need well, how itshould sit, it just everything about it
is my mom. I finally tookmy mom in her like sixties to go
get fitted and she had been wearingthe wrong bra and she's like, oh

(44:42):
my god, I had no idea, And I was like, yeah,
I was like I knew because Icould tell from what you were. I
was like, will you come withme? And I will. It's a
whole new world out there once yourealize what size braw you actually need.
I also remember sharing this knowledge andbringing my mother into the light. Yeah,

(45:04):
like what girl, stop buying thebras in the boxes labeled playtechs at
kmart. I need you to stopdoing that. That means to stop now
if it comes You're not supposed tohave four boobs. You're only supposed to
have two, yes, or youneed to hit your Yeah, four or
one are a problem. Okay,the un four is a problem, and

(45:29):
the quad boob is also. Ifyou have four or one, that's a
problem. If you have three,you need to see a doctor. Um.
That's what I have to say aboutthat. Now. Now we're in
total recall. I don't know whatelse. Um. So the fashion show
scene is pretty dorky. I meanfor hilarius um, and that that Caitlin

(45:52):
girl who we established in the partyfilms Bianca for her, like Instagram is
film this whole thing. But alsoso is Wesley and so we obviously as
the audience can tell that this isgoing to be a problem because she's going
to think he puts the video outthere right, because Bianca knows that he's

(46:12):
filming, and he's like, listen, He's like, I just want you
to see how you look when you'rehe's like, you're pretty cute when you're
not overthinking things. He's like,when you're having fun, He's like,
you need to see how to justlike let go a little bit, which
I mean that's I think that there'sa lot of merit to that because I
think people there are people that Ifeel like it that is, it's like

(46:39):
they're so buttoned up that you're like, she's us, like, you gotta
let it out or you're going toexplode, Like you need to stop thinking
something that they did a good jobof establishing that, Like they've been neighbors
since they were kids, so it'snot that far of a reach for her
to open up in front of him. Where I think if this if it

(47:01):
was like can't buy me love,where like they were neighbors the whole time,
but they actually like they barely kneweach other or Wesley and Bianca know,
like they know each other, theyjust run in different circles, you
know, right, Like they havepictures of them in the bath together when
they were little, Like it's likeyou can tell, like, okay,
so their families probably knew each otherand stuff like that, so maybe they're

(47:23):
not as close as they were,especially since like her mom is divorced now
and like his parents are having problemsand whatever, but like they still have
a history together, right well right, and so um, we eventually make
it into the food court. Andthis gave me so much anxiety, the

(47:43):
fact that Wesley coaches her to approacha random guy. And it's so painful
because I could never do this,Like what this is. First of all,
the guy that is sitting there,I was like, okay, um,
he looks like he's about thirties,so like to have a high school

(48:07):
girl approaching this dude. He lookslike he looks like he should be straight
on a dateline. H. Yes, he's got a very suspect hearted hair
situation. And it just yeah,it's it's not good, but I know
that, like that's what they're goingfor here. But like I struggled to

(48:30):
write things down because I was havingsuch an uncomfortable response because I could never
do this. Like, first ofall, I don't know, I don't
know how she could do it,Like God bless her. I couldn't just
going up to like a random dudeand trying to get get his phone number
or get give him your phone.No, there has to be like for

(48:51):
me, just like multiple interactions,like the conversation has to be way more
natural. I can't. I lovehow it's like she she She's like,
is it is this being filmed?Is this like for like a like a
YouTube channel or something. She's like, yeah, huh, thanks so much.
Okay, yeah, well and shebooks out of there because and again

(49:13):
I understand it is one of thosethings where and there are times in my
life where this has has been theapproach where you're just like, well,
I just have to do it,like I have to do it and it
will just get easier from here.And that's basically what Wesley is saying.
He's like, you, you haven'tdone this ever. He's like, so

(49:36):
start with somebody who you don't careabout or you have no feelings for,
and just get it over with.And then he gives her THEE. Then
she comes back and he's like he'slike, okay, well, now I
have you have to talk to fifteenguys. Yeah, and she's like this
this was absolutely miserable. Yeah.I mean I would probably break out into

(49:58):
hives if I were her. Shehead to toe hives. However, she
does do a great job, likewhen you know the yogurt guy from the
Yogurt Story. They were like kindof joking and he approaches her and they're
just like talking about being a toppingas consultant, and you know, we
see that somehow now like she won'tshe won't choke like she did as the

(50:20):
Hope, right, like the terribleinteraction she had before. Um so the
me. And this is so funnybecause at this point I forgot what Madison's
name was, and I just keptwriting the mean girl in my notes,
so it says in here the meangirl approaches them. Um, I just
couldn't remember her name. I waslike, you know, the mean girl.
I just love how Wesley goes,can we run? And she's like,

(50:44):
no, she spotted out. He'slike because and again like he just
I think he just he just doesnot. I feel like he doesn't know
how to get out of the snarethat doesn't because he yeah, And I
think that. I think also we'veseen that in other high school teenage mute
movies where it's kind of like,I don't want to make this person my

(51:06):
enemy, because if she's my enemy, that's the end of me, right
right. But I also don't likeher, and I don't like it's a
very tight rope kind of like likeI feel like being in a relationship would
be very stressful with her, Like, oh, so, Bianca's mom is

(51:29):
starting to get on dating sites becauseshe's now single and ready to mingle,
and she tells Bianca this, andBianca tells her mom that Wesley's helping her,
and of course, the embarrassing videoof the fashion show gets posted and

(51:52):
it's edited making fun of her,and Bianca at school is humiliated and ends
up crying in the bay bathroom andJess and Casey their reaction to this.
Jess remember Casey is the resident hacker, and says like, shut the site

(52:12):
down, like figure out how toget rid of it. Even though they're
in a fight and they're not talking, they're like, this is bad.
Shut it down for Bianca. Ido love when the teacher who is,
oh my gosh, what's his nameare you talking about? Yeah? Yeah,

(52:34):
And then when he's talking without theprinciple, the principle who I am
completely remembering from forty year old virginOh yeah, that's where I was,
like, yes, I feel likeI haven't seen him since that, like
in such a like memorable way,um, so his name is Romany Malco,

(52:57):
and so he's the principal, andthe principle and the newspaper teacher are
talking and these were some of thechoice excerpts. The school is full of
cyber bullys. It's like a prisonyard out there. And I went at
my notes up I feel that itreally is. Sometimes I even say like,

(53:21):
well, I guess this is goingout into the gen pop Like it's
just it. It's really rough.The announcement that the principle decides to make
is that they are now under Internetmartial law. Yeah, we do not
negotiate with terrorsts. Yes, turnyour phones into your teachers. I wish

(53:43):
this would happen. It won't,but it would be awesome. And now
everyone's hating Bianca because they're considering ither fault that their phone's got right away.
And so Bianca confronts Wesley in thecafeteria and it all is kind of
falling apart. But and Wesley doesn'treally do anything to like defend right because

(54:06):
he kind of in this weird likehe's in this situation where he's like everybody's
expecting him to be a certain way. You can tell he feels bad.
About it, but he doesn't havethe spot spine yet to write to actually
say anything about it. And thebest thing that he can say is that
your boobs look good in that top, like or b your boobs look good

(54:30):
today or something he has to andit's like he's sort of in on the
joke, right, because it's toorisky to stand up and defend her from
everybody, right, And it's solater he decides, in a more private
setting he's going to try to cometo her house and apologize, and she
punches him in the face. Yeah, rightfully, so, but he does

(54:54):
say it turns out that he punchedthe guy that was making fun of her
in the cafeteria, and he boughther the black dress that she really liked
in them all as a key sufferingand said I never should have called you
a duff. So we're in Leslie'sredemption moments. I did really like the

(55:16):
whole regardless, irregardless conversation that theyhad. That kind of tickled my little
nerd bone right there. I waslike, because actually he ends up using
irregardless in the proper way during theconversation, because he goes irregardless and she
goes, that's in a word.He goes irregardless of that, and I

(55:39):
was like, that's the proper wayright there. Yeah, I was,
I like that, Well, atthis point she's on step six, but
I didn't keep track of all theother steps in between. The step six
of the uh not becoming a duffis now to just bone it, just
tell that's what I had to.I have stepped own it, like I

(56:00):
was like, yeah, that issound advice. Yes, so this is
probably the most useful advice. Andshe does it. She is he's hanging
a screaming Viola's his band or whateverthe fuck poster and she asks him out

(56:23):
and they're going to meet at Toby'shouse. Let's go wow. So Bianca
decides she needs more advice, soshe just marches right into the boy's locker
room. Yeah, which oh myum. And the fact that he starts
doing a peck dance to make herlaugh. I was dying, Oh yeah,

(56:45):
that was hilarious. And I alsolike them. One of the guy
says, you know, he's whatdoes he say? And she goes,
she goes, oh, looks likea penis, only smaller, Like she
walks by. I was like,oh, slid burn right, right right.
And I also sort of love that, like now that she asked him

(57:07):
out and she's like, well,what am I supposed to do now?
And he takes it on as likea football strategy session, complete with you
know, the white board and allthe things. And this was very cute
and I love the way it's goingthrough the height of height of class.

(57:28):
David Busters. You go to DavidBusters. Yes, yeah, restaurants,
something trendy, hipster unique, DavidBusters. Yeah, get a booth,
the darker the booth. Use yourbody language. And then there is at
a one point when he says somethingand Wesley tells her you are racist against

(57:51):
jocks. Your jockis seas. Ilike that. Um, so he gives
her this whole you know thing,and of course we have another juvenile moment
from him. He has drawn agiant penis on the chop. Of course,
you know what's hilarious. So Iwas watching a m because I have
the DVD, so I was watchinglike interviews with him, and Robbie mL

(58:14):
who plays Wesley, said, basicallyWest is a fifty year old man trapped
in a popular kid's body. Likehe that's it, Like he's makes dad
jokes he is just if he didnot look how he looks, he would
yes be it ad Yeah, Iwas like that is a perfect description of

(58:40):
him, because yeah, I waslike a fifty year old dad stuck in
a popular kid's body. So theteacher, mister Arthur, gives Bianca another
pep talk about this homecoming article,like you still have to write it,
you can do it, you gottado it, and she's just like,

(59:01):
are you fucking kidding me? Um? And so she Bianca goes to Wesley's
to get him to study, andhis parents are arguing so loud he doesn't
want to let her in, andso she's like, that's okay, let's
leave and she takes him to thewoods and they bond over shitty parents.

(59:21):
Then of course kissing happens, andI love the uh that was practice.
Yeah, like his quick save heis so good like like but like the
whole um, his very like woundedkind of like vulnerability in this is very

(59:43):
um. It's just so genuine,like he's just like he's trying to say
that it's cute in this movie.In real life it would be very manipulative
because I feel like you wouldn't youwouldn't be getting strung together all these charming
moments, you'd have a lot ofother shit in the middle of like him

(01:00:06):
being the popular jock dude. Yeah, but like know what I'm feeling,
Like, I feel like with Wesley, he's not you don't really ever see
him being mean to anyone, Likehe's still a jet. But it's like
I feel like he's almost kind oflike a he's like insensitive, like oblivious

(01:00:30):
sometimes just um well because I feellike when you maybe have the talent,
he has a football and look theway he does, it's almost like this
very sheltered kind of like not necessarilythere's no awareness in him, but he's

(01:00:52):
not. I think once he realizes, just like when he apologized to Yanka,
once he realizes like he hurts somebody'sfeeling, he at least has the
self awareness to be like, God, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to
do that to you. Yeah.Yeah, because you never see him being
like outwardly mean, just like morelike dude, like that's not appropriate.

(01:01:15):
But like I said, I feellike it's it's insensitive. It's like when
he calls her a duff, it'san insensitive thing to do. It doesn't
outright mean the way he does it, but it's it's very insensitive and it
hurts her feelings, you know.And so I feel like there's probably a
lot of those moments that would makeyou very skeptical of like who he really

(01:01:35):
is, because she's the only one, it seems, who's getting a nice,
big dose of the real hymn becausethey're neighbors, do you know what
I mean? Yeah, it's likeI think that most people would be very
skeptical of. Well, then whyare you being nice to me because you
are like the jock, popular guy, you know what I mean? There

(01:02:00):
must be something in it for you. Maybe it's tired, yeah, right,
Like his parents are fighting and likehe's got all this pressure to like
pass these glasses. Maybe he's justtired. Well, they joke about each
other's kissing, and they're making theselike porn jokes, and she says she's
going to give him a lesson onhow girls want to be kissed, and

(01:02:21):
it's a very like, um,seems like it's going to be this big,
like romantic moment, and then shelicks his face, which is great,
but of course in the middle ofthe woods, this motherfucker Caitlin is
taping them. She's out for arun and she likes what I mean,
I guess like like she found thisrun because she would go on walks.

(01:02:45):
Sure, I'm assuming there's paths andthings that it's not just like in the
middle of like some random backwoods area. Sure. Well, now Madison mean
girl is on the war path.There's a small horror video that she makes
and U Bianca has this like shegoes home and she has this hilarious daydream

(01:03:10):
of she's starring in a porn andthe pizza delivery guy shows up, which
you know is like a porn trope, and it's Wesley and she's like,
he's a pizza delivery guy with ahelmet and a pool skimmer right right,
But she does wear the black dressfor her date and her mom is also

(01:03:37):
going on a date that she gothooked up online, and um, Wes
sees her, sees Bianca leaving andhe got to be in chemistry and cannot
tell her about it and says,you look good, but you don't look
like you, which again was likeon her end, like a what the
fuck? Yeah you know, Um, so she's now she's at Toby's house.

(01:04:00):
Uh, he's gonna make sushi.They're not gonna go out. So
the Dave and Buster's plan has beenout the window grown out the window.
There is no plan B. Shedoes not know what to do. I've
only been trained for Dave and Busters. This sounds you know, it's hilarious
because I feel like I get veryI like to have everything kind of planned

(01:04:25):
out, like now I can beI like to say that, but like
I like some spontaneity, but Ilike, this is gonna sound really stupid.
I like plant That's sounds so stupid, stupid. I could be like
the day of and be like,Okay, well let's just go somewhere,

(01:04:46):
but like I have now planned outthe rest of that spontaneous day. That
sounds so ridiculously stupid. It's stupidbecause it's an It's jumbo shrimp. It's
an oxymoron. Yeah, okay,planned spontaneity isn't a thing, Andrea,
Okay, Um, I want tolike a T shirt that says I like
plant spot it is it's the newYeah, it's um, I get it

(01:05:13):
though, it's the it's you wanta little bit of like a controlled situation.
It's because I'm again another oxymoron.An extroverted introvert. That's me another
oxymoron. I am just full ofI'm oxymorono. Are do you like planned
spotaneity? So she's moving seats aroundin the kitchen like will or in the

(01:05:34):
dining room. He goes into thekitchen to like finish prepping the sushi,
and she's like in the dining roomof this house, the parents are gone
and she's messing with like the lights. I mean, this is all comedic.
Like he keeps coming in at thewrong moment, you know. Um,
I mean it's kind of like it'sa little predictable. But he's like

(01:05:55):
having a normal conversation with her,and she keeps having these blips of fantasy.
Is about it turning into West beingthe guy that she's you know?
So of course, I mean,like, you know, it's not like
they're real secretive about this is wherethis movie is going, right, he
plays. So they get through thesushi thing and they go out on the

(01:06:15):
porch and he's like, can Iplay you a song? Oh my god,
No, the answer is mre.He's looking at her. I just
I wrote he is looking at her. No, he's looking at her and
he's singing her a song with hisguitar. This is the stuff of my
nightmares if I just no, pleasedon't. She brings up that she had

(01:06:38):
a fight with her friends and hestarts talking about Just and Casey and it
ends badly. The sushi was reallya fake out. He ordered it,
he didn't cook it. He justreally wanted to approach her as an inn

(01:06:59):
with her two hot friends. Thisthis guy is such a dick. Yeah,
just such a what a shiss hole? Like I'm sorry, but like
you know, like you saw thisvideo that she made about you. You
know she likes you. Why wouldyou think that it would be anything other

(01:07:20):
than she likes you and wants togo on a date with you. This
guy is in complete and total dick. Yes, and he's the worst kind
because he's packaged in hippie sensitive music. Boy Yep, not cool, not
cool. So it ends badly.She calls West and leaves a message she

(01:07:43):
doesn't pick up. So she headsback to her special like place in the
woods. In the woods the thinkingrock and um West and Madison are there,
and this is like an ultimate kindof betrayal, like, yeah,
that's my special place that I tookyou too. And now you're there with
her, right, the person whois like tormenting. Yeah, like okay,

(01:08:10):
Madison has officially crossed over into evilbitch. Yes, and you would
condone that at all, Like that'sgross. It doesn't. At this point
you need to like back away fromher because you see that she's rotten.
Yeah before Well West comes over laterand it's like, well, I thought

(01:08:32):
you we were friends, and shesays, you know, this was an
experiment. It worked for you,but it didn't work for me. Yeah,
so like you're passing chemistry now,but I'm still like I didn't get
my crush. I didn't get likewhat I was wanting to get out of
it. And it's pretty sad,you know. Um. The next day
she works on her homecoming article andtalks all about this, like pressure for

(01:08:55):
a perfect date, and I wrote, you know, I really do wish.
I don't know. I have toshould ask my students now, like
what is it like now? BecauseI feel like when we were in high
school, you know, it wasn'tas common to just like go as a
group of friends, even if youintended to. Everyone would eventually want to
pair off into dates. And itwas like I feel like homecoming was.

(01:09:19):
I feel like Homecoming wasn't like that. I feel like prom, yes,
because homecoming I feel like I alwayswent just with a group of friends because
I was never dating anybody at thetime. I did not date in high
school, so whatever, But likeI always just went with a group of
friends. So I feel feel likehomecoming. That's one thing. I think
if this was prom, that wouldbe a whole another. I mean,

(01:09:44):
I get it. I'm not like, you know, I just feel like
it is hard if you're the personin high school that like, whether it
be whatever the reason might be.Like for me, it's just I was
not really ready for that, andI wasn't interested in the high school dating
situation. It didn't mean that Ididn't want a boyfriend or want someone to

(01:10:05):
be with or have all those experiences, but I think deep down I just
really wasn't ready, you know.And it's like I didn't know, kind
of like Bianca in here, likewell, what do I do if it
goes too far and I don't knowhow to like back out of it,
or like it seems too scary tome, it's too up. I'm not
there yet, you know. AndI think that for some kids it is

(01:10:29):
like that, and it would justbe really nice to have it be normalized
that like, yeah, there's lotsof people that go with dates, but
there's also lots of friend groups thatgo just as like a big group and
just yeah, hey, or evenjust best friends that go like Romeo Michelle
style, you know, like we'rejust gonna go together, and it's not
because we're dating. It's because we'rebest friends and we have the best time

(01:10:54):
together, and it's just that that'swhat makes it the most fun for us.
And to normalize that more because Ido think a lot of adults put
it on the kids like oh whoare you going with? Oh do you
have a boyfriend? Oh? Youknow what I mean? Like, and
it's like, well, how aboutwe just don't ask any of those questions,

(01:11:15):
And it's just like, yeah,what's going to be fun about it?
What are you looking forward to?You know, like what are you
gonna wear? No kind of thing. And I just I hope that things
have evolved more there, especially becausewith hopefully maybe with social media, you
know, it being more popular tolike do things in a big group.

(01:11:36):
Yeah, you know, like wejust took all of our pictures together there
wasn't really couples. It was justlike we went to have a great time.
So I do think that that wouldbe I wish that would just be
more the expectation and less pressure.Yeah, oh yeah, to make it
something more than it really is.So she So, Bianca decides at this

(01:12:00):
point she is going to go talkto Jess and Casey. They all have
insecurities. Bianca's mom gives them apep talk. They end up putting together.
Now we've we've entered into the prettyand pink situation where we are putting
together a magical dress out of scrapsof other clothing. Yes, because you
know, uh, Jess has youknow, she's she's an aspiring fashion designer

(01:12:24):
and she can whip up a dressin like an hour and design it,
design it and sew it all theday of I mean, she's got magic
fingers. We have to we haveto let the manager that the movies take
over at some point. Yeah.Um. So at the dance, we're
going back to a place we've beentoo many times before, Andrea, and

(01:12:45):
that is gross town. Um.The male teachers are making comments like she's
a ten. Well, the onemale teacher is, and then the newspaper
teacher. Mister Arthur is like,she's she's fifteen, and the other teayear
goes, she's at ten. Ohmy god. Yeah, could we stop

(01:13:08):
making this funny and just keep makingit super fucking creepy and wrong, because
that's not cool, that's not funny, it's gross. Well, I feel
I feel like at least um withbut I will give it this. Yeah.
The other teacher thinks that. Theother teachers like, yeah, you're
you're being you're being creepy. Yeah, that's so. I feel like at

(01:13:31):
least there's a little bit of abalance there, But I will yes,
I will give it that over someof the other movies we have watched where
a grown ass man is looking ata fifteen year old, like the fucking
wolf in the grandma's nightgown in LittleRide Rocking Hood. Yeah, or the
teacher that goes to the party andmax on the twenty year old the third

(01:13:53):
senior that BookSmart thing still disturbs meanyway, gross. Yeah. Okay,
So at the dance, West andMadison are there together and Bianca approaches Wes
and says that she's into him.Right, So, I mean just Bianca

(01:14:14):
is now well versed at just puttingherself out there no matter the results.
Well, I mean, honestly,at this point, she's been she's been
like publicly humiliated a couple of times, and she's still standing. So I
mean, this girl has got somefight. She does, I mean,
and so probably than I would atthat age for sure. He there have

(01:14:39):
this moment where like she admits thisto him and he's like, well,
I got back together with Madison,and then Madison comes over to be mean,
yeah, just strictly for that,and this is a big speech time.
So this is when Bianca gives abig speech all about like I feel
sorry for you because this is soimportant to you, you and so on

(01:15:00):
and so forth, because Madison isyou know, exactly who the movie paints
her to be. And she becomesthe homecoming Queen of course, of course,
and of course Wes is announced asking but doesn't go up and instead
kisses Bianca and now they're together andit's super cute and they go to the

(01:15:27):
newsroom to make out, but shestarts typing her article in true nerd fan
yeah, I love how he goes. He goes, He's like, they
block all the good sites. She'slike, that's not what I'm doing.
He's like, if you're gonna dohomework, I'm gonna kill myself. Yeah
right, She's like I kind offinish this well definitely, And then of
course, you know her article isexactly what you kind of expected to be.

(01:15:50):
That everyone's a duff. Right.So, I mean I would say
my impression of this movie, I'mglad that like you kind of on my
radar because I did sort of forgetthat I never saw it, you know,
like it was one of those thingswhere it was like what was now,
so much has happened since twenty fifteenwhen it came out that I was

(01:16:10):
like, yeah, I didn't wantto see that. When it came out,
I definitely thought it had a lotof like good witty humor in it,
but much like a lot of thesethings, like it was definitely predictable.
I mean you definitely, yeah,like you knew exactly where it was
going to go, and it wasvery cute. I could see it being

(01:16:30):
one of those things that you canlike throw on as a feel good movie.
Yeah, it's a comfort movie.What I will give this movie credit
that I feel I haven't seen inanother movie is putting a very specific label

(01:16:51):
on this feeling that everyone has,which is that you are the designated ugly
fat friends. You know, Iknow for a fact, like everyone has
felt that way. Yeah, thatyou have friends in like you have your
moment where you're like, oh mygod, I'm the one that's not cute,
I'm the one that no one's reallytalking to. Oh my gosh,

(01:17:13):
I'm the one that's invisible, likeyou know, and everyone has that moment
and they don't really realize that it'shappening to everyone. You feel very alone
in that moment. But I likethat this movie puts a name on it,
you know, Like you said,I don't know whether the term the
duff was actually really a thing beforethe author made this a thing, But

(01:17:34):
I like this idea of when youput a vocabulary word on it, or
you know, like a term,that it helps identify it. Like,
oh right, okay, right nowI'm feeling like a duff, but everybody
feels like a duff sometimes I'm gonnabe okay, you know. I like
that this movie does that. Ifeel like there's been a lot. I

(01:17:58):
feel like there's been a lot ofhigh school movies that have a lot of
these similar veins of lessons in it, but like, I like that this
one puts like a name on thatfeeling, like that, right, like
you can identify that particular yeah,that particular moment when that's what you're feeling,

(01:18:18):
because it is like everybody does that, whether you're going to a party
and you're like the odd man outand every is or I mean there are
times in my life even now thatI feel that way. I'm like,
do I belong here? Do Ifit in with these people? And it's
so stupid, but you can't denyhow you feel. So and it is.

(01:18:46):
It's like one of these things whereit's just nice that when it gets
packaged this way, it makes itso that like you can normalize, you're
thinking about it more. Instead offeeling like it's such an an upsetting phenomena
that you're living, you can belike, oh, yeah, this is
that thing. Yeah, it doesn'tonly just happen to me. It doesn't

(01:19:10):
only just happen to me. Andso that is one thing I really like
about the concept of this movie beingyou know again, lots of like lots
of parallels to other high school movies, lots of typical things in there,
lots of great like witty humors,some humor that was maybe a little like
like I said, I felt likesome of the scene with the like the
fashion show scene, it was like, okay for the love, this is

(01:19:32):
going on for a little bit long. But overall I could totally see watching
this movie over and over again.For sure. It's it's very cute.
Um, I think a bedtime movietonight might have to be The Babysitter thought
put that together. Oh I lovethat movie so much, God, it's

(01:19:53):
so good. But this one wasreally cute. And I think, you
know, and is something where eventhough we were introduced to it as adults,
I do think like you just saide, you know, like even now
you have those moments, like whetherit's in a work setting or a social
setting or like listen, I'd beconstantly feeling like the odd man out at

(01:20:15):
a pta shit like I am thatmom that is like coffee cuss words,
and I'm dressed like Mortiia Adams,and everyone around me is not like me,
and I just feel like I'm sayingall the wrong things. All my
humor is offending everyone, and Idon't mean to be that way, no,

(01:20:40):
but like I don't belong here.I feel like I'm radiohead. I'm
like, I'm a creep, I'mweird. Don't get my sarcasm. Every
nine percent of my vocabulary is sarcasm. So I kind of like that.
But I'm like, I'm sorry,Well, there's a there's a group of
people that I am and that reallythink I'm great. I'm funny. Um,

(01:21:01):
I don't know what's happening here,but I'm not okay, Like this
is not good. And so youdo you feel like the duff or you
know, like you just you're kindof like dangn Like, So I do
I think that, Um it makesit so that this is relatable even if
you're not in high school. Yeah, so I do love that. And

(01:21:25):
I mean May Witton, Maywitten,May Whitman is so likable, and Robbie
mL is so likable, like he'sI mean, she feels so magnetic.
She she's so magnetic. She isin the Gilmore Girls. So I mean,

(01:21:45):
you know my feelings about Gilmore Girls. I love Gilmore Girls so much,
and I especially love lor Lie.She has some of the best lines
and the amount of super fast dialogue, super sarcastic humor, lots of pop
culture references. When suddenly the universescollide and May Whitman is Laura Lee Gilmour's

(01:22:11):
daughter in the Parenthood show, allthings in the universe align perfectly because it
makes one thousand percent sense that inreal life now they are like super tight
and like Laura, like you know, they treat each other like mother and

(01:22:32):
daughter. And it's like more sothan I feel like the Rory character and
Gilmore's. It's like when they cometogether in Parenthood, You're like, ah,
now this makes sense. Rory andLorelai was kind of had some oil
and water moments. May Whitman andLaureli this is where it's at. This

(01:22:54):
is what this looks like right here. And so I think you would really
enjoy that if you kind of getout reboot it for yourself, I think
you could could get into it.Plus it has coach Craig T. Nelson.
I know, I mean I likeall the I like all the actors
who are in it. Yeah,I just it was I don't think it.
Um, there's so much goddamn TV. Sure, you know, I'm

(01:23:16):
trying to get through so many Iam trying to now finish stuff that I
have started that I took breaks from, and now we're going back to like
finish those. So I need tofinish some stuff before I start something new.
Can I also open up a letterto the complaint department here for a
second about TV. So Netflix andall of this trained us to binge watch,

(01:23:45):
right. They went ahead and theystarted dropping everything at once. Here's
your whole season at one time.Okay, enter now on like Hulu started
watching. You know where I'm goingwith this, So now there'll be a
show I'm excited about on Hulu.I see the little preview it's coming.

(01:24:06):
I'm looking at you. Only murdersin the building, right, and so
I okay, I add it tomy um watch list. I can't wait
for it to happen on social media. I see the preview that says,
hey, the it's dropped like it'slaunched series premiere. We're good. I

(01:24:28):
go in with what I have nowbeen trained to expect that on a Sunday,
me and Drew are gonna knock thisshit out. We're gonna watch the
whole damn thing. And after thethird episode, a watch next preview comes
on and I'm like, what thefuck is this? So then I use
the back button and I'm like,wait a minute, what the fuck we're

(01:24:51):
going back to You're only giving mea few episodes and now I gotta wait.
Fuck you and the horse you ranin on? Ah who is big
on that? I feel like theycan just who stop? M. We

(01:25:13):
ain't going back to episodic and youknow what, you don't get a get
out of jail free card by givingme three at a time. That is
just as bad. I am nottrying to watch week to week shows.
You stopped right there. I knowmy adult TV time is very limited.
When I get a stretch, Ineed to fill that stretch. I need
all the content available and ready togo. Do not try and keep pulling

(01:25:36):
me back in M. I haveopened my official public letter to the complaint
Department. You heard it here first, people. That's where I'm at now.
I am going to stick with onlymurders in the building. But I'm
just saying, I mean, addabout it. I mean it's so good.

(01:25:57):
I know Martin Short and Steve Martin, I know, and I love
Selena Gomez and Selena Gomez is reallygood in it. Yeah, she's adorable.
I told you I was like inlove with her over quarantine and Selena
plus chef on HBO, oh I'mwant to talk about Oh well, if
you need something where you don't haveto pay a ton of attention, but

(01:26:17):
like it's just warm fuzzies and laughablebecause she has some real fuck ups and
not like produced fuck ups, likeoh no, it's happening, and you
can tell the chef on the otherend, and the zoom TV is like,
Selena, Selena, are you okay, Selena Selena? Because to set

(01:26:39):
my kitchen on fire? Yeah,she does. She does at one time,
at one point, like a firehappens. She has lupus and so
her hands shake. So the culinaryteacher in me completely understands when they're like,
hold your knife, butter, picka smaller knife. I'm going to
ask you to put that knife downand I'm going to ask you to pick

(01:26:59):
a small because they can see shehas no fine motor like control and they
are going to watch her slice thetips of her fingers off. And I
do this in my classroom all day, in the culinary rooms. So I'm
like, yeah, it's delightful.It is delightful. And her grandma and
grandpa are like living in her house. With her during quarantine, and like
she has two best friends and sosometimes it's either one and all her little

(01:27:21):
dogs are running around. But it'snot like contrite super produced reality TV.
She is literally doing a zoom cookingclass in front of you, and it's
just like just shit ensues. Andsometimes she's very successful, like and she
does great, and then sometimes it'slike, oh my god, how do

(01:27:41):
I get through this? You know, and she's doing it with all these
professional chefs and it's like super cute. So you fall even more in love
with her on that. And she'salso very open about not being what everyone
thinks she is. Yeah, ofthis like pop star entertainer. So then
like seeing her and only murders inthe building, it just makes you like
love her even more than because you'relike, well, I got to see

(01:28:02):
her in her house doing her cookingthing, and it's sure, I do
not need more things to watch.I know many things to watch. I
know, I agree I do,but I don't. Yes, you know
what ends up happening again, Iget this paralysis and then there's too many
there's too many options, and thenI just end up rewatching shits creak again.

(01:28:27):
Yeah, well that's good for thesoul right or Gilmore girls, Yeah,
those are always good. Go tosalways good go to well, definitely
fall vibes for sure, some Gilmoreswill bring it. I mean, can't
wait to be in scary movie season. Oh I've already I've already been watching.

(01:28:49):
Um, so have you watched Orphan? Let's get some scary movie recommendations
out. Have you watched Orphan?It came out into or half hum.
I called it about five minutes intothe movie because I think I've watched too
much True crime, Um, thatthis is where it was going. I

(01:29:12):
still enjoyed the movie. Um.And then we watched David and I watched,
and it was it was pretty goodfor what it was. Um.
It was called malignant now when Ithink it might be on HBO like it
was a theatrical release, but theyI think it was. It was.

(01:29:33):
Um. I again called it abouta third of the way into the movie.
On Dave's like, no, youdidn't, I was like, well,
I didn't call it out loud becauseI didn't want to ruin it for
you, but like I kind ofknew where this was going because and it
but it wasn't like a secret likeI feel like they telegraphed it really early.

(01:29:53):
Um, but it was it wasdecent. I mean it was a
it's a decent movie. Well,on the documentary side, I watched the
John Wayne Gaycy documentary on Peacock andI am going to go ahead and recommend
it specifically for you because being fromChicago, we are very well burst in

(01:30:15):
the Gaycy situation. Okay, sothat pecary clowns, it scary clowns do
not appear in the Chicago land area. If they do, they would probably
be run over or people are like, fuck you, fuck you. Do
you know what this real scary clownis? You're cute, little like giggling
scary clown shit doesn't scare us becausewe lived through John Wayne Gacy. But

(01:30:38):
okay, so, but the documentaryhere's what had me unsettled. And I
had to rewind it some and thenDrew eventually joined me to watch it and
was like a little wigged out.It is suddenly grossly apparent the Chicago accent

(01:31:00):
of everyone on the Gaycy documentary notonly sounds like my entire family, but
there is one of the cops onit that I almost thought it was my
grandpa, Like I was like,oh oh my. I was like,
Drew, you never met this grandpa. He died when that was in eighth
grade, but that could be mygrandpa. Like this is literally too close

(01:31:21):
to home, too close to home, Like I know it happened right here
in our own backyard displays, butwow, it is. It immerses you
into like where we grew up,and you're just and so for that piece
of it because you think they interviewa lot of the cops and things that

(01:31:42):
are now older, and just thesounds of their voice, the way they
talk, the way they look you. You immediately look at them and they're
like, that's a guy from Chicagoand Garge Keys absolutely yes, lots of
Ski last names Skis, yeah hmm. And it's so it is in that
way you kind of get sucked in, and it's a weird dichotomy of feelings

(01:32:06):
because it's sort of homey but thenalso horrifying, really really gross. So
I will recommend that for when youhave time and you're in the mood for
a documentary where you could also beplaying Solitaire on your phone, because you
know, this story got you.It's one of those. And then there

(01:32:28):
was that one and I can't thinkif there's another like show that I'm I've
started a couple of shows that Iended up liking, but nothing that is
like superstand out Right now, I'mstill like skeptical because I'm still in a
couple of shows and I'm like,I don't know if I totally recommend this
yet. Maybe so I'll have tokeep back to you on that. Not
that you need more shows or TVright Like I already have too much on
my watch list. I know it'scrazy. That's all right, Well,

(01:32:53):
we will still find time to doour homework and hopefully not go as long
between I know, like we're liketwo years in now, isn't that crazy?
October is when we launched Oh yeah, nine, I know it's crazy,
isn't that crazy? Well, youguys, thank you so much for

(01:33:13):
joining us on this wild ride.If you want to get into the conversation
about the Duff or your high schoolyears, or maybe you need to tell
us about a movie your show torecommend, head over and to Facebook or
Instagram. You can find us there. Facebook, We're fourteen going on forty
podcast. Instagram we're fourteen going onforty pod. Email us at fourteen going

(01:33:35):
on forty pod at gmail dot com. And you know I will add some
more tunes to our Spotify soundtrack playlistfourteen going on forty jams. So you
know you guys be waiting in yourhot little seats for upcoming I'm sure spooky
vibes for October episode's coming. Ihave some ideas, but I'm not giving

(01:33:59):
them up. So until next time, guy, watch movie with your best
friend. It's always beat an I