Explore " molly ringwald" with insightful episodes like "The Breakfast Club (1985)", ""Great Americans" (w/ Tina Fey)", "The Breakfast Club (1985)", "'The Breakfast Club' [1985] - Bonus Black Friday Episode" and "Ep.190: Arcane Sounds From The Big Screen - Covers From Beyond!!!" from podcasts like ""The Fifth Row Podcast", "Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang", "Born To Watch - A Movie Podcast", "90mins On Film" and "InObscuria Podcast"" and more!
Do us and the world a favor. Go to your window and shout out "TINA FEY is on Las Culturistas!" Because it's true and everyone should know! Wish fulfillment is defined this week as Matt and Bowen welcome Great American Tina Fey to discuss Countess Luann fandom, Molly Ringwald's career as a transcriber of French novels, starting out at SNL in the tough-as-hell 90's, watching Benny Hill as a family, the beginning of MTV, Blockbuster culture, and the era of soda, hoagies and no fitness. All this, Disney v. Universal, SJP's 90's film work, Rachel McAdams's impact as Regina George, how Mean Girls was written on Fire Island, what makes the best SNL hosts and the joys and dangers of hosting the Golden Globes. Also, discovering the Tina and Amy magic and bringing that to the road on their Restless Leg Tour (go see it!!!), Reneé Rapp and how the Jimmy Awards are the future, deodorant culture, and a very prescient IDTSH from Tina that ranks as an all-timer. How many mozzarella sticks is enough for you? Something to think about. TINA!
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"The Breakfast Club," directed by John Hughes, is a seminal film of the 1980s that has transcended its era to become a timeless classic. This 1985 masterpiece delves into the lives of five high school students who, on the surface, embody the quintessential teenage stereotypes: the Brain (Anthony Michael Hall as Brian), the Athlete (Emilio Estevez as Andrew), the Basket Case (Ally Sheedy as Allison), the Princess (Molly Ringwald as Claire), and the Criminal (Judd Nelson as Bender). These characters, forced to spend a Saturday in detention together, start off as archetypical figures but evolve into complex, multi-dimensional beings as the film progresses.
The genius of "The Breakfast Club" lies in its simplicity. The entire movie unfolds in one location – the school library – and focuses on the interactions between the five students. This limited setting could have been a constraint, but Hughes turns it into an advantage, creating a microcosm of high school society. The film opens with a quote from David Bowie, setting the tone for a story that challenges the status quo and speaks to the rebellious spirit in all of us.
The characters are introduced in a way that immediately establishes their social roles. Brian is the obedient, academically focused student; Andrew, a wrestler, carries the burden of his father's expectations; Allison lurks in the background, her silence and odd behaviour making her an outcast; Claire is the popular, affluent girl; and Bender, with his flippant attitude and disdain for authority, is the quintessential rebel.
As the day progresses, the characters engage in conversations that range from frivolous to deeply personal. They argue, laugh, and eventually open up about their fears, dreams, and frustrations. The film brilliantly uses humour and drama to explore the pressures of adolescence. Each character's story reflects broader societal issues – parental pressure, peer pressure, social expectations, and the struggle to find one's identity.
One of the most powerful aspects of "The Breakfast Club" is its portrayal of the common ground shared by these seemingly different individuals. The film suggests that, despite superficial differences, everyone faces similar challenges and insecurities. This realization breaks down the barriers between them, fostering a sense of understanding and camaraderie.
Hughes' direction is impeccable. He gives each character enough screen time to develop and shine. The script is sharp, insightful, and, at times, painfully honest. The dialogue never feels forced or contrived, resonating with a sense of authenticity that has made the film a favourite across generations.
The performances are exceptional. Judd Nelson's portrayal of Bender is both charismatic and heartbreaking, revealing the vulnerability beneath the tough exterior. Molly Ringwald and Ally Sheedy deliver nuanced performances, capturing the complexity of their characters' internal struggles. Emilio Estevez and Anthony Michael Hall balance the ensemble with their portrayals of Andrew and Brian, adding depth to the athlete and nerd stereotypes.
The film's soundtrack, particularly the iconic song "Don't You (Forget About Me)" by Simple Minds, perfectly encapsulates the film's themes of identity and remembrance. It's a reminder that the experiences and emotions of these characters are universal, echoing beyond the confines of their detention room.
"The Breakfast Club" also deserves praise for its exploration of themes like empathy, acceptance, and the challenge of being true to oneself in a world that often demands conformity. It's a poignant reminder that, beneath the facades people present to the world, there's a depth of emotion and complexity.
In conclusion, "The Breakfast Club" is not just a movie about teenagers in detention; it's a film about human connection and the universal experience of growing up. Its honest depiction of the highs and lows of adolescence, combined with exceptional writing, directing, and acting, makes it a masterpiece of American cinema. It’s a film that speaks to teenagers and adults alike, reminding us all of the importance of looking beyond stereotypes and finding common ground. This movie remains as relevant and impactful today as it was in the 1980s, a true testament to its brilliance and the visionary work of John Hughes.
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!['The Breakfast Club' [1985] - Bonus Black Friday Episode](https://www.podcastworld.io/podcast-images/90mins-on-film-h08ljpkn.webp)
On a bonus Black Friday episode, we dive into the timeless portrayal of high school stereotypes, as the crew attempts to dissect The Breakfast Club's long lasting impact, and unravel the secrets behind this film's enduring relevance in pop culture, as well as other John Hughes teenage angst ridden films of the 1980's.
Thank you for listening! Don't forget to rate & subscribe. New episodes bi-weekly. Also available on YouTube.
This week, a world premier crossover event… Grab some popcorn and join your hosts this week as we check out songs from flicks as interpreted by other artists. That’s right, we are going to the movies and listening to the sounds of bands covering other bands' material! Two infamous recurring InObscuria series are colliding like peanut butter and chocolate to bring you a blissfully delicious treat. Grab your Reeses, large Coke, and some nachos, and hum along!
What is it we do here at InObscuria? Every show Kevin opens the crypt to exhume and dissect from his personal collection; an artist, album, or collection of tunes from the broad spectrum of rock, punk, and metal. This week is our very first major crossover event. One that provides yet another collection of lost and forgotten songs from the silver screen as covered by other artists! Our hope is that we turn you on to something new… or something that sounds like something new that actually may be old. It’s complicated.
Songs this week include:
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Diane and Sean discuss the John Hughes classic, The Breakfast Club. Episode music is, "Don't You (Forget About Me)" by Simple Minds, from the OST.
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Iconic comedic character actor Paul Dooley carved out a role as Hollywood’s go-to movie Dad while his own children were missing. Paul played dad to Julia Roberts, Mia Farrow, Toni Collette, Dennis Christopher in Breaking Away and Molly Ringwald in Sixteen Candles, all as his ex-wife was on the run with his kids.
The pandemic pause compelled Paul to chronicle his story in the new book, Movie Dad: Finding Myself and My Family, On Screen and Off. Paul joins us to share his casting secrets, his encyclopedic joke memory, his improv inspirations, his clowning history and his journey from small town West Virginia, to Greenwich Village to Broadway, to Hollywood and a proud place in movie dad history.
Paul has stories about Mike Nichols, Neil Simon, Carol Burnett, Don Knotts, Alan Alda, Lin Manuel Miranda and so many more. Was Walter Matthau a scene hog? Turns out, yes!
Plus, Fritz and Weezy are recommending Poker Face on Peacock and The Bear on Hulu.
I have a question, Film Nerds: Does Barry Manilow know you raid his wardrobe?
On this week's episode, BK & Jack take a look at the extremely complicated history of what is often considered to be the quintessential film of the 1980s. Hear how John Hughes created a space in the art form for serious teenage voices for the first time by utlizing his own penchant for rebellion, how the principal crew on the project had to fight the studio every step of the way to make the film, how the bonds between the cast translated into universal & relatable characters, the checkered legacy of the film's director & films, & much, much, more! This is one of our juiciest discussions yet, and you won't wan to miss it!
Sincerely yours, The Film Nerds.
you look up from the podium during your reading and see the actress molly ringwald cutting through the crowd finding a place in the corner after the reading you’re relieved to find your editor in the back of the room though your interaction with him is a bit awkward before you can launch into an apology about the whole thing and explain your side molly ringwald appears and it’s clear they are a couple and all else is washed away in pleasantries
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Will you walk on by? Or will you listen to my latest episode where I talk about how John Hughes effected the 80's, pop culture, movies, and me?
Thank you friends that let me know YOUR favorite Hughes movies!
In this episode we discuss the pros and cons of toddler taxidermy, Mike's curious cravings and Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story.
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Sixteen Candles was the first great John Hughes high school comedy, and it was also the first movie Brad fell in love with as a youngster, watching it over and over through the 80's. So it was an obvious choice for 1984, but what do Pete and Giff think? Are they as amused as Brad? Do we all feel Molly Ringwald and Anthony Michael Hall are the perfect 80's teens? Do the aspects that don't hold up so well anymore ruin the movie now? There's a lot to unpack here.
1984 was a great year for movies overall (as you'll see form our selections), and this is the episode where you can hear our favorites. So tune in now oh sexy girlfriend. You'll be saying, "I've never been so happy in my whole life!"
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This week in “The Rom-Com Room,” Kendra and Mercedes are getting into the soft Jacob Elordi launch…THE KISSING BOOTH. The gals tackle some of the most burning questions surrounding the Netflix rom-com generation…like WHERE did Noah Centineo go? Which Jacob Elordi character would YOU take home to meet the rents? And of course…are we swiping right on this movie?
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Meg presents The Butcher of Tompkins Square Park, his infamous soup, and its unfortunate ingredients. Jessica goes thrifting and finds herself in a 1982 - 2022 time warp.
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Thank you for tuning in! On today's show we will be taking a look back at 4 of John Hughes most popular teen movies of the 1980s : Sixteen Candles, Pretty in Pink, Ferris Bueller's Day Off and The Breakfast Club. We will discuss a brief overview of the films and share some behind the scenes information that you may not be aware of!
Today's episode touches briefly on some adult topics, so I added the explicit rating just as a head's up.
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"Do I offend?" In this week's episode, Mally and Jonah both offend each other by being on opposite teams! Figure out if you're #TeamDuckie or #TeamBlake, in addition to revealing the secrets of the original ending to Pretty In Pink. Get ready to be transported to the 80s! Directed by Howard Deutch. Written by John Hughes. Starring Molly Ringwald, Jon Cryer, Andrew McCarthy, Harry Dean Stanton, Annie Potts, James Spader.
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Ben and Lexi reminisce about the quintessential coming of age movies of our youth - kind of. Dork You Forget About Me find Ben and Lexi looking back at classic 80's teen movies. Both Lexi and Ben struggled to fit in with humans and had to turn to movies to learn how to be a teen, which means watching copious amounts of John Hughes! In this episode, Ben and Lexi dork out about classic John Hughes movies, which holding them up to the test of time. Have these movies aged well? Listen now and find out!
Show Notes:
Lexi and Ben talked about the following movies:
The full list of John Hughes movies can be found here
You can find the episode of Art Intervention we mentioned here
We talked about Margaret Atwood being a TERF and you can read about the 2018 conflict here and the more recent one here
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If you're enjoying Dork Matters, we'd really appreciate a nice rating and review on Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your pods. It would very much help us get this show to the other dorks out there.
“We're all pretty bizarre. Some of us are just better at hiding it, that's all.”
Transcript:
Lexi 00:00
One time I was driving to work and listening to like, you know, rap and I like aggressive hip hop, and I was listening--
Ben 00:08
[chuckles] Someday I'll ask you to define that, but not now.
Lexi 00:12
Okay, so, like, for example, I was listening to Run The Jewels one day, [Run The Jewels plays] which I wouldn't even classify as, like, super aggressive anyway, and I was trying to psych myself, like, "I gotta get in this building. I gotta be, like, in a good mood and talk to people all day," and so I was listening to it, fully cranked, and the windows were flexing, and I didn't realize there was just like a sea of children sitting there watching me, like, pound coffee, and try to, like, psych myself and, like, "Get out of the car, go inside," and it's just like, "Well, whoa, nope! Sorry, kids. I'm just gonna turn that off real quick". [music stops] I don't know what happened. [laughs]
Ben 00:50
I don't know how to get myself psyched up. When I worked in an office, I had about a 15- to 20-minute walk to work to, sort of like, just not be the person I normally am, and become work person. That didn't always work. I still a pretty grumpy shithead, usually. I don't like being bothered, and, you know, being in an office means you're just constantly bothered. It doesn't matter what you're trying to do.
Lexi 01:15
And you have to make small talk. Like, yuck.
Ben 01:17
Yeah, I had to learn how to do that. I've always been an introvert and making eye contact with people, when you have a conversation and just like... And so, I'm actually pretty good at just talking bullshit now with people. I don't like it. I don't like doing it. I don't like this other version of me is just talking to people, and I'm just like, "Eugh. Glad I'm not that guy."
Lexi 01:36
There are so many times where I'll finish doing, like, a presentation or having small talk with someone, and I'll go away and I'll be like, "Oh, she's terrible," and I'm referring to me. Like, I hate that part of me like, [upbeat] "Hey, how's it going?" I'm like, "Eugh! God."
Ben 01:51
Yeah. So that's an interesting thing with, like, being a stay-at-home parent now too, is like, I don't get to go to a different place and be a different person for a while, and divorce myself from who I think I am, versus the person I have to be in a work setting. Now, it's all just me, and it's all just gotta try to do well all the time.
Lexi 02:11
That sounds hard. Oh.
Ben 02:13
Can't phone it in like I used to when I'd go to the office. [laughs]
Lexi 02:17
Well, I mean, you could. You could just like plunk him in the laundry basket in front of the TV.
Ben 02:21
No. I mean, I'm incapable of doing that.
Lexi 02:24
That's good. That's good.
Ben 02:25
I am your Cyclops archetype. I am responsible to a fault. "No Fun Ben", I think, is what I used to be called.
Lexi 02:33
Oh, I was the old wet blanket.
Ben 02:35
You know, you guys would be like, "Let's go to a party and get drunk." I'm like, "I don't know about that. I gotta be home by 9 PM and, you know, we're underage." [laughs]
Lexi 02:43
I do remember being at a party at your place when you lived with Brandon, and in the middle of the party, you did start doing dishes. [Ben laughs] I remember, I was like, "Hmm, this is interesting."
Ben 02:55
They were stacking up. You gotta keep 'em clean. You gotta keep them clean. That's just respectful to other people.
Lexi 03:00
Fun is fun, guys, but come on. Like, clean up after yourselves.
Ben 03:04
"No, no. Y'all keep having fun. I'll clean the dishes." That's a nice thing for me to do. [laughs]
Lexi 03:08
I was the wet blanket in terms of like, you know, at the sleepovers, I'd go, "Oh, it's getting late, ladies. It's probably some shut-eye time."
Ben 03:16
Oh, god. You're lucky you didn't get Sharpied every time.
Lexi 03:20
Those people, I think maybe they were like, "Is she...? Is she, like, you know...? Should we be nice to her because she's not all there?"
Ben 03:29
"The same as us."
Lexi 03:29
Yeah. And sometimes I kind of wondered, like, "Did they think that I am maybe on the spectrum or something?" which I kind of wonder if I am sometimes.
Ben 03:38
God, I wonder all the time if I am, and I'm not trying to say that as a joke. Like, I constantly--
Lexi 03:41
No, no.
Ben 03:43
--wonder if my inability to connect with people is something neurodivergent.
Lexi 03:49
Oh, do you do-- okay, sometimes I'll watch people. I'll watch-- like, especially when it comes to women, and when I was a teenager, I would watch groups of girls interact, and I felt like I was watching, like, a nature program. Like, "Ah. That is how the female species puts on makeup," and it never made sense to me to like go up to them and be like, "Hey, gals, let's all put our makeup on together." I was just, like, so awkward that I didn't understand how to talk to them.
Ben 04:18
Yeah. The thing for me was that I was just always felt on outside, as well. Like, I never felt like I had a group of friends in any situation. Part of that was moving schools a lot. Part of that was never feeling like I connected with other individuals. So yeah. No, I definitely should probably figure out if I'm--
Lexi 04:35
But I think that that's a great thing that people are learning more about themselves at all times because sometimes, like, I'll talk to adults that are like, "Well, I probably have a learning disability and that would have made school a lot easier, but what's the point in finding out now?" I'm like, "Well, why wouldn't you?"
Ben 04:51
How would that make... Well and, like, record scratch. [scratching record DJ-style] How would that make school more easy for you? Would you have had maybe more support? Maybe, but maybe not. It depends on where you were, what kind of, like, financial supports the school had, what your parents believed. Like, you know, there's no reason to think, like, if you have a disability, you have it easy. That's a wild take.
Lexi 05:11
Yeah, I think you can... You're right. Like, it depends on where you are, that you can access different types of supports, but I think we're also moving towards a more inclusive education model in the old Canada, where you should be treating everybody... It's like, it's technically universal design for learning where everybody should benefit from like, you know, flexible due dates, and, like, more understanding progressive assessment practices, because, yeah, like if you do have a disability, and you need a little bit more support, that's great, but if you don't, you can still get support, too, and that's fine, too.
Ben 05:49
Yeah.
Lexi 05:50
But, ah, that's interesting. This is maybe a good, like, introduction, though, because as teenagers when we were watching, trying to learn how to be a teenager, you turn to movies to try to understand, like, how to fit in.
Ben 06:05
Right. So the question is, like, "Should we have ever even looked at those other groups and people and been like, 'I'm supposed to be that way?' Or was that something we were taught by John Hughes and his movies?"
Lexi 06:18
Oh, John Hughes. I'm so conflicted.
Ben 06:21
So we're here tonight, as you've certainly guessed, to talk about '80s teen movies. You know 'em. You love 'em. We are going to revisit our memories of those movies, talk about some things that don't really hold up, some things that do just fine, and some things that are problematic and it matters to dorks. Wow, that was rough.
Lexi 06:47
That was-- I won't lie about it. It wasn't your best.
Ben 06:51
No, let's hit the theme song and let's try again after. [Lexi laughs] [theme music "Dance" by YABRA plays]
Ben 07:22
Welcome to Dork Matters--
Voiceover 07:24
[echoing] Dork Matters.
Ben 07:24
--the show by and for dorks, made by dorks, in a tree of dorks. We're like little dork elves, Keebler elves that make you dork cookies.
Lexi 07:34
Oh, I like that.
Ben 07:36
Yeah.
Lexi 07:36
That's a nice little image.
Ben 07:38
Yeah.
Lexi 07:39
We grow on trees.
Ben 07:40
[chuckling] Yeah, or are we are inside of trees, baking tree.
Lexi 07:44
Yeah, 'cause we don't like the outside so much.
Ben 07:46
No, I'm not an outside person. [Lexi laughs] I am your Dad Dork host, Ben Rankel, and with me, as always is...
Lexi 07:53
Your Movie Buff Dork, Lexi Hunt.
Ben 07:56
Oh, wow. No alliteration at all. You're just flying--
Lexi 07:59
Nah, just gettin' right in there. You know what? Fuck it.
Ben 08:03
You are going to have to be the movie buff dork tonight. I have tried to bone up on our subject, and I'm like, "Good God, I need a week to prepare for this by rewatching every single teen movie from the '80s," because that's what we're here to talk about tonight, or today, or whenever you're listening to this. Time is a flat circle. [chuckles] We're here to talk about teen movies of the '80s.
Lexi 08:26
[sing-songy] I love this episode.
Ben 08:30
The good, the bad, the ugly, the ones that hold up really well, the ones that do not hold up. We're gonna just shoot the shit on teen movies 'cause that's what we do.
Lexi 08:39
Oh, yeah.
Ben 08:40
We're gonna get a bunch of shit wrong, as usual, and that's half the fun here.
Lexi 08:44
Can I start by saying, like, how many movies did John Hughes create? My god, that man was prolific.
Ben 08:51
Yeah. So it depends on if we wanna look at whether he directed it, or produced it, or whatever, but if we just go by Wikipedia filmography, let's count these out. 1, 2, 3, 4... (fast-forwarded counting) 38. 38 different films.
Lexi 09:16
And a lot of them, like, I didn't actually know that he did some of them. Some of them, of course, I was like, "I knew that one. That's a John Hughes," but, like, Maid in Manhattan? What?
Ben 09:27
Yeah. Flubber.
Lexi 09:28
He was part of Flubber.
Ben 09:30
He was part of Flubber. He produced Flubber. Yeah, all the Home Alone’s, right up to Home Alone 4: Taking Back the House, that seminal classic. We watch it every year at Christmas. Not the earlier three Home Alone’s, just Home Alone 4, the one everyone remembers.
Lexi 09:47
Yeah, the one that went straight to VHS release.
Ben 09:50
Yeah. I think, unfortunately, it was even DVD at that point. Just DVD. [Lexi groans]
Lexi 09:55
But then there's so many great ones too, that... Actually, I was talking to John about, you know, "What movies did you guys watch when you were growing up that we you would classify as a teen movie?" and he was more in the action side of the '80s and '90s movies, so he was like, "I can talk to you about The Rock. How do you feel about that?" But not so much... I think he said that they watched Breakfast Club in school, which I find incredible. Like, "Why did you watch that in school?!" Like, listening to it, there's so many messed-up things like Emilio Estevez talks about supergluing a guy's butt crack together. Like, "I know, and I'm going to show my grade nines today." [chuckles theatrically]
Ben 10:38
And that's one of the tamer things that happens in that film, like, that doesn't hold up. [Lexi laughs] I mean, we might as well get into it. Let's start with the seminal classic, The Breakfast Club with, you know, the greatest brat cast that you've ever seen. Everyone has seen this movie. We all know how it ends, that jumping fist pump in the air. [Simple Minds "Don't You (Forget About Me)" plays]
Lexi 11:00
You can hear the music right now, can't you?
Ben 11:01
[sings] Don't you forget about me.
Lexi 11:03
And I gotta say, best soundtrack.
Ben 11:07
[sings] Forget about you.
Lexi 11:10
[sings] Don't you... [speaks] I also like that like weird slide guitar. [sings descending glissando, imitating slide guitar] That's a great '80s sound right there.
Ben 11:17
[chuckling] I want you to do it again. [Lexi sings imitation along with slide guitar] Nice. Let's start a band.
Lexi 11:23
I can play the mouth trumpet. [laughs] And that's... Okay, that sounds really dirty, but it's actually like... [sings melody, buzzing lips] [laughs]
Ben 11:29
I can play the mouth harp, as well, as long as we're embarrassing ourselves. [Lexi laughs] [harmonica plays] That's right. I play harmonica, as if I couldn't get any loser-ier. That's a word.
Lexi 11:37
Hey, man, I played the clarinet in the old high-school band for many years. [clarinet plays basic melody]
Ben 11:41
I think I played clarinet at one point, too, in the band.
Lexi 11:46
It's a great instrument. So Breakfast Club, which is weird, because Sixteen Candles... Okay, let's let's go through--
Ben 11:55
I feel like Sixteen Candles is probably the greatest offender of any teen movie--
Lexi 11:59
Oh.
Ben 11:59
--we're gonna talk about.
Lexi 12:00
It's so bad. Yeah.
Ben 12:03
And, you know, everyone loves Breakfast Club. I feel like maybe Sixteen Candles is a little less watched, still. I mean, we can talk about 'em both, but let's turn to Breakfast Club, first. Let's talk about some of the fucked-up shit that you remember happening and see if it's all true. You guys let us know if we make up anything.
Lexi 12:19
I couldn't get over the fact that, first of all, I was like, "Who the hell has detention on the weekend?" Because that's more of a punishment to the teachers than anything. Like--
Ben 12:29
Yeah, that's not happening.
Lexi 12:31
And what parent would be like, "Yeah"? Parents would be like, "No, I'm not doing that." [laughs]
Ben 12:37
Yeah, "You wanna keep my kid half an hour after school, that's one thing."
Lexi 12:42
Like, "Go nuts."
Ben 12:42
But yeah, they're not coming in on a weekend." And what teacher wants to do that? Like, you're not getting paid for that. Is that extra-curricular at that point? [Lexi blows through lips]
Lexi 12:50
I think that there's just so many issues with detention as-- like, that's a whole other issue. But to, like, spend your weekend... I know they're trying to demonstrate that, like, the character of-- god, what is his name? The assistant principal who hauls everybody in. It just shows what a miserable git he is. But, eugh, to me, like, that, already, I was like, "This movie is just setting me up for"--
Ben 13:15
Principal Richard Vernon, who, like, already is a problem, because this guy just treats these children--
Lexi 13:21
He's so horrible.
Ben 13:22
--and they are children, just awful. Yeah, just like a way that he would have lost his job if it was nowadays. There's no way he keeps his job past that weekend. There's no way he keeps his job past, like, his first interaction with, I think, Emilio Estevez with the stupid devil horns and, like, [in devil voice] "the rest of your natural born..." That'd be on TikTok. In, like, five minutes, there'd be a whole crowd of people knocking down his doors. The school board trustees, they'd be like, "Nah, you don't have a job anymore."
Lexi 13:46
And, as well they should. Like, you can't... There's one part in the movie where Judd Nelson's character--
Ben 13:53
Bender.
Lexi 13:54
--is playing basketball in the gym, and he's like, "I'm thinking about going out for a scholarship," and that's such a great point that, like, he could have just been like, "Okay, let's play," and then like, look, you're building relationship and you're not being a complete d-bag. Then, like, get to know him! Just play basketball with him. It's, literally, a Saturday, and you're sitting in your office. You may as well.
Ben 14:16
Yeah. Instead, he yells at him, if I remember correctly, and tells him he's never going anywhere.
Lexi 14:21
Yeah, that he's a, you know, piece of trash. Just, you don't talk to people that way. It's terrible. So, it's so, just, offensive to... You should never treat anyone like that, and you should never, 100%, have teachers speaking to students that way. That's just unacceptable.
Ben 14:38
The movie is in the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress, for its culturally, historically, and aesthetically significant nature, so that's something that I didn't just read off of Wikipedia.
Lexi 14:51
I mean, it is a huge part of culture that, kind of, changed the way that we, you know, talk about things.
Ben 14:57
Do you remember where the movie's set?
Lexi 15:00
They're all kind of set in the same...
Ben 15:03
Middle America.
Lexi 15:04
Yeah, like a Michigan kind of place.
Ben 15:08
Michigan is what I would guess. I have no idea. I can't remember any more. It's a very white cast, as well, which is interesting.
Lexi 15:15
Oh, yeah.
Ben 15:16
Yeah, what are some other egregious issues that we have with that one?
Lexi 15:19
Well, I don't like the way that Claire, so Molly Ringwald's character, she is berated, harassed by Bender the entire movie. He's got his head between her legs at one point, because he's hiding, and, at the end of the movie, she, like, goes and makes out with him and they become, like, boyfriend and girlfriend because he's wearing her earring and, like, you don't reward, like, a guy that treats you like trash, a person that treats you like trash. They're not gonna change. [laughs]
Ben 15:51
Yeah. I, 100%, remember it seeming, sort of, weird that that was, like, his reward for having some sort of character redemption is that Molly Ringwald will date him. And that's supposed to be character growth for her, is that she's not so stuck up anymore, she'll date somebody who's... poor and abusive?
Lexi 16:07
I guess? Or that, like, she's pushing back against her parents or... Like, I didn't really care for that part as much.
Ben 16:18
Yeah.
Lexi 16:18
But then, like, then you've got Claire and Allison, at one point, doing, like, makeovers and Allison's the kind of the quiet one who's the artist and the freak who's-- she's choosing to be at the detention instead of being sent there, and so Claire gives her the makeover and, all of a sudden, she's She's All That-ed. She's pretty, and now Emilio Estevez's character, Andrew, is, like, into her. If it wasn't for a lame... Before, he didn't see her, but as soon as Molly Ringwald puts some makeup on her, and pulled her hair back, well, now Allison's a person. I just thought like, "Ugh, that sends the wrong message."
Ben 16:55
Yeah.
Lexi 16:56
But, as a teenager, you're like, "Oh, that's how I get the attention of a boy."
Ben 17:01
Yeah, "I've gotta conform to beauty standards that are set out for me." Yeah, it's not great. It doesn't hold up. It feels wrong nowadays. I mean, it's really difficult to watch and think anything positive of it anymore.
Lexi 17:14
[laughs] The soundtrack was good.
Ben 17:16
Yeah, the soundtrack was good.
Lexi 17:17
But then John and I are having a conversation about that, and he's like, "Yeah, but at the time, that's what was a successful movie, and so, how fair is it for us to judge something from the past by today's standards?" Like, "Well, it's a difficult one. Like--"
Ben 17:33
Absolutely.
Lexi 17:34
I think we have to.
Ben 17:36
I mean, yeah, and also, like, what does that really mean, the idea of fair? Like, I mean, it feels sort of like the wrong question to apply to, sort of, reexamining past media. Like, you don't get a pass just because it was from the past.
Lexi 17:54
Yeah, there you go.
Ben 17:55
And the whole point of looking at something from the future is to reanalyze it from the scope that we have now. Like, you can do that and still acknowledge that, at the time, that general awareness of these sorts of things wasn't what it is now, but that's not really the point, I guess, is what I'm getting at.
Lexi 18:12
I can understand the criticism of like, yeah, you know, it's a questionable movie, but at the time, it was very progressive. And even now, like, I'm sure there are some TV shows, movies, books, whatever, that we think are pretty progressive that, in the future, people have problems with, but that's the point. Like, if we're all staying the exact same, that's the issue. Could we not be able to move forward, and then look back and be like, "Eugh. I shouldn't have done that"? Let's have a conversation about it.
Ben 18:37
I think the world and where it existed, and when it was made, is not where we are now. Like, that's not really the point. So Breakfast Club, like, none of these movies are really going to hold up to every standard that we have nowadays.
Lexi 18:47
No, it's impossible.
Ben 18:48
The bigger question is like, "Can I still enjoy this media the same way?" And you can't, especially... I mean, I don't think this movie, you can really... Like, I can watch it. I could enjoy parts of it, I suppose, but I don't know. I don't know if I really even would try to rewatch this movie. It used to come on TBS a lot, so we didn't have much of a choice, but...
Lexi 19:10
Yeah, I think now I would fast forward through a lot of it.
Ben 19:14
Yeah, I can't see myself going back to rewatch this, unlike a movie like "Footloose", which I still think is a fun watch. Same era, same sort of idea. There's a lot going on in that movie, too that's kind of effed up. Like, I think the main character, whose name I cannot remember, but it's Kevin Bacon, he moves to the small town where dancing and music is outlawed, and the girl that he falls for, her dad's abusive, her boyfriend's abusive, but I think, at one point, her boyfriend actually just punches her, and I'm just like, "Why would even?" Like, [sighs] in that sense, they're not trying to glorify that behavior necessarily, but it's... Yeah, so that's the interesting thing. Maybe that's what you gotta look at is the depiction of the thing in the movie something thing that they're doing as a "We're not thinking critically about this because that's the era we're from," or are they presenting it in that era, but they're saying, "This isn't a thing that should be happening," and that's a tough one. I can't remember that movie well enough. But I still like the dancin'.
Lexi 20:17
You like the dancin' part of it, hey?
Ben 20:19
Yep. Kevin Bacon, finally, in 2013, I think, admitted that he had a dance double for parts of that, but he did a lot of the dancing himself, he said.
Lexi 20:28
Did we not know that? I thought that that was widely accepted.
Ben 20:32
I don't know. It was just a thing I remember reading a while back, but yeah. Yeah. I don't know. I feel like, that movie, I could rewatch again. I feel like it's worth going back for the dancing. I don't know what would bring me back to Breakfast Club, aside from the soundtrack, which I can just listen to on my own.
Lexi 20:46
Yeah, I would just listen to the s... Like, if it was on the TV.
Ben 20:50
I guess I like Emilio Estevez. I like Molly Ringwald. Like--
Lexi 20:53
Then watch "Mighty Ducks", Ben.
Ben 20:55
Yeah, and that's what I do. We're gonna have to do an episode on "The Mighty Ducks". I love "The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers" on Disney+.
Lexi 21:02
Oh, there you go. Yes.
Ben 21:04
Disney+ isn't sponsoring our show, but if they want to. [Lexi laughs] I like "Game Changers". It's a little weird. It's a little bit--
Lexi 21:13
I can't say that I've watched it, but, you know, I'll take a look-see.
Ben 21:17
Yeah. Oh, are we gonna do a "Dawson's Creek" episode or teen TV dramas of the 2000s? And those are-- a lot of those are trash but, like--
Lexi 21:26
Yes.
Ben 21:26
Yeah.
Lexi 21:27
I could talk about those, just "Smallville". Oh, my god. We need to talk about "Buffy". What are we doing, here?
Ben 21:32
That's an interesting one, like, 'cause, you know, 'cause you have to deal with the Joss Whedon. I call him Josh now. He lost his privilege at two "s"-es.
Lexi 21:41
You know, you strike an "s" off the name. Okay. We have to talk about Sixteen Candles, though, because it is the worst.
Ben 21:50
The worst. There is nothing--
Lexi 21:53
I think that a couple come close.
Ben 21:55
I could rewatch Breakfast Club, yeah. Like, I could re-watch Breakfast Club. There's a lot I don't like about it, and a lot that doesn't hold up, a lot of analysis of, sort of like, teen issues that doesn't really feel like it really got it, but I could rewatch it. I will not re-watch Sixteen Candles. I mean, give us a rundown. Give us the point-by-point. What's wrong with Sixteen Candles, aside from everything?
Lexi 22:17
If you've never watched Sixteen Candles before, don't. I will just run through it really quick. Basically, it's a party movie. Sam, play by Molly Ringwald, it's her birthday. It's her 16th birthday, but her entire family has basically forgotten, and she's really pissed off about the whole thing, so she's a real b-word all day at school. Meanwhile, she has this huge crush on this guy Jake Ryan who's, like, the quintessential hot dude of the school.
Ben 22:42
The perfect dude. Yeah.
Lexi 22:44
And, like, everyone of their little friend group is just like, "No, he's got such a hot girlfriend." They even show her showering naked in the girls' change room to really hammer home the fact that this lady is like a full-blown babe.
Ben 22:59
Wait. I do not remember this part of the movie. There's a naked scene of Molly Ringworld as a teenager?
Lexi 23:06
Yeah. Not Molly Ringwald. It was the girlfriend.
Ben 23:08
Oh, I'm sorry. I missed that.
Lexi 23:10
Molly Ringwald and her creepy friend... It's so creepy. They're leering and watching her shower because Molly Ringwald is comparing her chest to Jake Ryan's girlfriend to be like, "Oh, she's such a... She's a woman and I'm a girl. Why would he ever pay attention to me?" because boobs are the only thing that matter, apparently.
Ben 23:10
Mm.
Lexi 23:30
And then, meanwhile, so at the same time, Sam, Molly Ringwald, her grandparents come to her house, and they bring their foreign exchange student.
Ben 23:41
No. We can't even get into the foreign exchange student. It's so bad.
Lexi 23:45
It's so bad. I'm not even gonna. Like, you can go look it up. I'm not gonna say his name because it makes me feel uncomfortable, if I'm honest, but it's like a derogatory name that is just, like, it's just so offensive, and every time he's--
Ben 23:58
It's intended to mimic what white people make as sounds when they try to, you know, do Asian voices or language, and it's just a continuous shit show of racism.
Lexi 24:12
Oh, Ben, every time the character is on the screen, a gong sounds.
Ben 24:15
Yeah, I remember that part.
Lexi 24:16
Like, oh. [groans frustratedly] So then, Sam goes to the dance because she still has a thing for Jake, and she has to bring people with her, and now enter Michael C. Hall.
Ben 24:17
Oh, he's Ducky, right?
Lexi 24:31
And his creepy little character because... No, that's "Pretty In Pink". Come on. Jesus Christ, Lexi. Get your shit together.
Ben 24:39
Oh, god. I'm mixing up movies. Well, I'm sorry that all good John Hughes movies start to blend together after a while. [Lexi laughs] Sorry, I can't specify which Molly Ringwald film we're talking about. She wears the same thing in every movie, too.
Lexi 24:51
No. She...
Ben 24:52
She looks exactly the same.
Lexi 24:53
She... Well, yeah, that's good.
Ben 24:54
I'm pretty sure she's in a pink dress in every movie.
Lexi 24:56
Okay, I will accept that. Anthony Michael Hall's character is Ted, and they refer to him as "Farmer Ted" the entire movie, which I don't really understand why that's the thing.
Ben 25:06
Oh, he's the one that gets sent home with what's-her-face?
Lexi 25:09
Yes.
Ben 25:10
Right? When she's drunk, and he, basically...
Lexi 25:11
Yeah, right?
Ben 25:13
It's a date rape situation. How fun.
Lexi 25:15
Well, and first, like, he won't leave Sam alone at the dance. He keeps following her around, won't take no for an answer, and she basically has to barter with him to piss off by giving him her panties. So... And then he pretends that he like got them, however, and is cheered on by, like, a full bathroom full of dorks-- not our people-- but then this devolves into a party at Jake's house. Everybody kind of winds up at this Jake's house party, where Jake's girlfriend is drunk and kind of an asshole. He kicks them all out and gives Ted the keys to his car, and his passed-out girlfriend in the backseat, and long story short, he winds up making out with her when she comes to, eventually.
Ben 25:59
Yeah, I remember that.
Lexi 26:00
And, when she asks, "Did you take advantage of me?" and he said, "No," and she was like, "Cool." [laughs] Like, what?!
Ben 26:08
Wait. Don't they actually end up, like, doing it in that movie? And neither of them remember it, or am I thinking of another movie again?
Lexi 26:15
It could. You know what?
Ben 26:16
Remember that they, like--
Lexi 26:17
I haven't seen it in a while.
Ben 26:18
"I don't remember if we did it or not," and then they're both like, "Yeah, we did it," and it's like, that's supposed to be cool or something, and I'm like-- and, like, a virtuous moments where--
Lexi 26:24
That does sound about right.
Ben 26:25
Yeah, I remember throwing up. Like, I don't think that movie even sat well with me in the '90s when I was a teen, seeing it for the first time. I was like...
Lexi 26:32
[whispers] No.
Ben 26:34
"..eugh." Yeah, Sixteen Candles is gross. What else? Is there anything else gross about Sixteen Candles that we need to mention before we move on? Don't rewatch Sixteen Candles. It's no good.
Lexi 26:42
Don't. Well, it ends with Sam getting Jake and he gets her a birthday cake, and, you know, it's this beautiful moment between the two of them, but it's just like, she spent the entire movie comparing herself to other people, about how she was shit and not good enough for him, and he spends the entire movie pissed off at the world that he lives in because he's, like, this wealthy, white dude with a dumb girlfriend, and he's brutal to her. Like, he's really mean to his girlfriend, like, sends her off to be, like, you know, ravaged by some stranger.
Ben 27:15
Yeah. He sends her off to get raped.
Lexi 27:17
Yeah. And then it's like, "Okay, movie over."
Ben 27:19
Yeah, and I remember him also saying like, a bunch of really crass shit to her before, because she's drunk, and being like, "I could abuse you all I want if I wanted to. Yeah, it's super fucked-up and that's supposed to be a virtue for this guy--
Lexi 27:31
Yeah, he's the good one.
Ben 27:32
--that he looks down on her for being drunk.
Lexi 27:34
Oh.
Ben 27:35
Yeah. Fuckin' dumpster fire movie, and so this is why, like, people, you bring these up and they'll be like, "I fucking hate Ron Hughes." Yeah, Ron Hughes. I don't know who that is, but I hate him, too, just for sounding like John Hughes. [Lexi laughs] Fuck you, Ron.
Lexi 27:50
But, I think it's also like, the genre of, like, rom coms. Like, eugh. This is where it's kind of like stemmed from some of these teen movies . People think, "Like, this is maybe like the norm?" Like, "No, it isn't. This isn't good."
Ben 28:04
What's next on our on our shit shower?
Lexi 28:07
"Weird Science".
Ben 28:09
Are we doing "Pretty in Pink" at some point?
Lexi 28:11
"Pretty in Pink", technically, comes after "Weird Science". "Weird Science" was released in 1985.
Ben 28:16
Oh, we're doing these chronologically? Okay, my bad. Okay, "Weird Science" it is. So like, are we even gonna find teen... Like, John Hughes defined this era and defined what it meant to be a teen in this era, so I guess we may not get away from his movies. I mean, "Footloose" wasn't one of his, so that was good, but that's wild. It's basically just a John Hughes shit episode. Fuck you, John Hughes.
Lexi 28:37
But, no. I've got some redeeming ones.
Ben 28:40
And your brother, Ron. From John Hughes? I don't agree.
Lexi 28:44
I've got one. I got a couple that I'm gonna fight for, saying they're good.
Ben 28:47
What? Okay, you're gonna have to try real hard to make me like john Hughes in any capacity. "Weird Science", let's just get the premise out of the way. These two losers decide that they're going to robo-code their-- I'm just gonna use fake science words 'cause that's what they do in this movie-- they're gonna robo-code their digi-ideal woman and build her to be perfect and subservient to them. The whole premise is fucked up and weird and gross, and then, through the magic of--
Lexi 29:11
Yeah, the magic of science.
Ben 29:12
--science, I don't know, this woman comes true. She's there. Suddenly, they built her, and they can do anything they want with their new robo-girl or whatever. [Lexi sighs]
Lexi 29:24
And... [groans].
Ben 29:25
The only thing that's redeeming is a nice title song written by Oingo Boingo, the new-wave band from the '80s.
Lexi 29:32
Ah, Oingo Boingo. Yep. I know that it was this whole, you know, the dorks or the geeks strike back where like Revenge of the Nerds and that was also another popular problematic movie of the era, of just, like, dorks who aren't... You know, it's basically like these, the nice guys, the incels.
Ben 29:52
Incels.
Lexi 29:53
They can't get-- no girls will pay attention to them 'cause they're not popular jocks. Wah, wah, wah. So what we're gonna do--
Ben 29:59
No, this is great. I like this line we're riding. I like this. This is, we are what's-his-face from It's Always Sunny.
Lexi 30:07
Dennis?
Ben 30:08
No. Not Dennis. We're not Dennis. Nobody's Dennis. Dennis is a sociopath.
Lexi 30:11
I was gonna say.
Ben 30:12
Ferris Bueller is Dennis.
Lexi 30:13
He's a serial killer.
Ben 30:15
Well, that's--
Lexi 30:16
Mac?
Ben 30:16
No, not Mac. Goddamn. Charlie.
Lexi 30:18
Charlie?
Ben 30:19
We're Charlie at the wall with the line, and we have just gone from John Hughes movies to the nice-guy phenomenon, and then straight on past that to the incel, the current incel disgusting thing that we have going on.
Lexi 30:35
Well, all of like...
Ben 30:36
It's all Ron and John Hughes' fault.
Lexi 30:39
Anthony Michael Hall basically played an incel [chuckling] for, like, his entire teenage youth--
Ben 30:46
God.
Lexi 30:46
--of the best friend who's just waiting around. "When's it gonna be his turn, gosh darn it?" because that's what it takes.
Ben 30:52
Yeah, and if I put in enough, you know, "nice coins" into the Woman Gashapon I will get the sex prize in the little ball.
Lexi 31:00
Exactly.
Ben 31:01
Yeah, I mean, fuck, as a white male, this is the kind of shit that I was taught, too. Like, I had some very strong, and I mean that as in of character, women, who... I mean, I could have been a very shitty person if I didn't have people that were better than me that helped me learn to be better. That should have been the responsibility but, like, "Thanks for being in my life to help me not end up like these fuckers." 'Cause I didn't get that from, like, my upbringing and, like, watching this kind of bullshit, or from, like, my religious upbringing. You definitely were taught that, like, the idea was that you put those wonderful little friendship points in, and eventually, you're gonna get what you want back out of it, which is not a relationship with another human being. It's vagina.
Lexi 31:46
Yeah, they just, the pure physical nature of it. But then, if we can move on to Pretty In Pink, which I think Ducky is the worst character for that, is the most blatant character for that. I mean, like, he's--
Ben 32:01
Oh, yeah. He's nice guy.
Lexi 32:02
[groans] He is so horrible, such a, like, you know, kickin' rocks and, "Aw, gee, when's it gonna be my time? Nobody loves you like I love you," like, gaslighting Molly Ringwald's character.
Ben 32:15
Unrequited love sort of thing is supposed to be, like, romantic, as opposed to creepy.
Lexi 32:20
Well, and speaking of creepy, then James Spader's creep-ass character is even worse because he's the king gaslighter of pretending to absolutely hate Molly Ringwald's character, Andie, but then, secretly is like trying to get with her and like, "Yeah, there it is. There's the douchebag," and I did know guys like that in high school that would pretend, "Oh, we don't talk when we're at school, but then I'll message you on MSN later tonight."
Ben 32:48
Yeah, I mean, this this is where I get ranty because this leads me into one of my hot topics and also not a sponsor of the show. [Lexi laughs] Wish they were. Do they still exist?
Lexi 33:01
Yeah, they do. There's one at Market Mall.
Ben 33:04
Yeah, you can get, like, records from them, and film. They're the only place that sell record players and film anymore.
Lexi 33:09
[laughing] Yep.
Ben 33:10
But this is one of, like, things that gets me kind of passionate is that, when this kind of subject comes up, men get mad at people pointing it out, white males specifically get mad at people pointing out that, like, this was sort of the culture that we were steeped in, what we were built to be like. I feel like men should be super fucking angry that this is what society tried to turn us into, did turn us into. Like, but instead, we double down on this shit. We get mad. We try to defend it. We try to defend that like "culture", but like, we should be fucking pissed all the time about what society, what our society, patriarchal and you know, colonial as it is, like, what it tried, and tries, and continues to try to turn white men into. Like, but dudes just don't get pissed at that. For some reason, they just can't. They can't find that, and it makes me mad on a daily basis. I see myself as, sort of like, this robot that was built by, you know, these fucking people to do this thing, and it makes me mad every day that I almost didn't have a fair shot at being like a normal-ish human being that could treat people with empathy and kindness because of this kind of media, of this kind of culture, this pervasiveness, and yeah, fuck it. It just gets me that other dudes, you know, aren't just constantly pissed off about this.
Lexi 34:27
Well, when you talk about, like, systemic racism, and lots of people are like, "There's no such thing ," which is bullshit--
Ben 34:32
Yes. [along with dancehall airhorn] B-b-b-bullshit. Sorry. I hadn't gotten one of those in in a few episodes.
Lexi 34:36
That's all good. We've gotta have one of those per episode. I feel like these, like, not necessarily these ones but movies like these, this is a part of it, of just like keeping everybody in their place, and telling everybody what role. "You sit on that chair over there. You wear that type of T-shirt." Like, this is-- and even like looking at the '90s movies, it's just as bad because now we have like--
Ben 34:59
Oh no. Yeah, definitely.
Lexi 35:00
It's just as bad, and even now, I was thinking like, "What are the current teen movies?" They're not that different, really.
Ben 35:08
I don't really know. Well, no, 'cause I guess it's still the same machine, and the same systemic system. [laughs] The same systemic system that's still turning this shit out. It hasn't-- like, the decision makers, the money and stuff, are all of a certain, I don't know, persuasion, ilk, build, and so that hasn't changed, so why would the content change? You know, there might be veneers put on things from people at certain parts of the process, but the assembly line is still largely the same and has the same intent. The blueprints haven't changed.
Lexi 35:41
You know--
Ben 35:42
Have I mixed my metaphor enough?
Lexi 35:45
You got a little... They're good.
Ben 35:46
Yeah.
Lexi 35:47
Like, just so thinking of the other podcast, "Art Intervention", there was one episode where I found out a lot of research about why the art industry, especially, like, art galleries, and museums, are so white, and one article I found was talking about, they're super white because those types of institutions, typically, they don't have a lot of government support. They don't have any, like, you know, public money coming in that's really keeping the lights on, so you really have to rely on the private sector for donations, and, unfortunately, a lot of the wealthy patrons for a lot of these big, big institutions are, largely, white patrons, and they don't wanna feel uncomfortable, and they don't wanna feel like--
Ben 36:38
No. It always comes with strings.
Lexi 36:40
It's always coming with strings, and so they don't want you to be bringing in an artist who is calling out the white patriarchy of the art society. They want someone who's gonna like, you know, ruffle a little feathers, but not be too, you know, radical, and so it's creating this industry that is perpetually keeping people in their place and keeping the dialogue moving along, and I think, like, some institutions are getting a little bit better, but it is a huge problem in the arts, and a lot of times people are like, "Oh, but the arts are... You know there's so many black actors that are very famous," and there’s'--
Ben 37:19
What does that even mean?
Lexi 37:21
Exactly. Like, it's still an industry and it still has a lot of problems, and I think we're just scratching the surface on the whole like #MeToo" Harvey Weinstein thing, and even the fact that, like, #MeToo was appropriated from a black woman who had been talking about it for years, and all it took was, like, a couple white actresses to be like, "Yeah, I've had similar experiences," and pfff, it blows up.
Ben 37:44
Yeah. What was that shitty joke, where, like, the white dude is like, "Oh, if I was in charge of equality, you know, we wouldn't need feminism anymore," or something. Or like, "If I was in charge of feminism, we'd all have equality by now," something like that.
Lexi 38:03
That's a great joke.
Ben 38:04
The idea is that the joke is in the idea of this guy saying that he could fix a problem that he is the creator of, or part of the system. [Lexi laughs] There's the joke. You're supposed to laugh at the premise of the guy.
Lexi 38:17
It's so sad, though. Like, "Yeah. There it is."
Ben 38:21
[Lexi laughs] Speaking of sociopathic white males, let's hit Ferris Bueller. [along with dancehall airhorn] B-B-B-Bueller.
Lexi 38:28
[along with Yello's song, "Oh Yeah"] Oh, yeah. Bom-bom. Chik-a-chik-a!
Ben 38:31
I mean... [along with Yello's song, "Oh Yeah"] Oh yeah. Bom-bom. So that basically--
Lexi 38:36
[along with Yello's song, "Oh Yeah"] Bom. Oh.
Ben 38:38
That's enough right there. Really, like Ferris Bueller is a sociopath. He manipulates everyone. He can't empathize with other people's feelings. He manipulates his friends into doing things because he thinks it's for their own good. Like, he gets to decide what's best for Cameron. He gets to decide how Cameron deals with his emotionally-abusive parents or like, "Oh, steal the car." Eugh, but, like, Ferris Bueller is just a smug piece of shit, and, you know, Matthew Broderick, I like you enough, but you're much better in Godzilla 2000. [Yello song "Oh Yeah" continues]
Lexi 39:06
I think the real hero of that movie is Jennifer Grey's character, Jeanie Bueller. Jeanie is the true-- 'cause she's the only one that sees him other than Ed Rooney, Jeffrey Jones. She's the only one that sees him for his bullshit, but she sees it, more or less, like a sister just wanting to rub her brother's face and like, "You're not all that. How about that, kid?" Like, it's more she just wants to prove him wrong, not ruin his life, like Ed Rooney, but she's trying so hard the entire movie to get people to, like, see through his bullshit, and I always felt really bad for her because I was like, "Yeah, he shouldn't be doing all those things." [Yello song "Oh Yeah" continues]
Ben 39:49
Yeah, he's a terrible character. Yeah, that movie. You know, you've got Ben Stein in there as well, and he hasn't held out well. He's aged poorly, as far as he--
Lexi 39:51
Has he?
Ben 39:52
His movies are pretty, pretty shitty. He's a pretty smug asshole most of the time and very-- [Lexi sighs]
Lexi 40:11
Well, I mean, same with Jeffrey Jones, hey? [Yello song "Oh Yeah" continues]
Ben 40:14
Oh yes, I know what happened to him. We don't need to discuss that. That's just such a--
Lexi 40:17
Yeah, that's--
Ben 40:18
A disgusting human being, so we're better off--
Lexi 40:20
There's a couple, like, Charlie Sheen, like that's--
Ben 40:23
Who, Charlie Sheen was in that?
Lexi 40:25
Yeah, he's the creepy dude that's hitting on Jeanie in the police station when he's like, "Why do you care so much about what your brother does?"
Ben 40:32
Oh man, now I remember that.
Lexi 40:33
He's the one that kind of like helps her, right?
Ben 40:35
Yeah, yeah. [Yello song "Oh Yeah" continues]
Lexi 40:40
Controversy comes from us all, Ben.
Ben 40:41
"Just be more like Charlie Sheen," is a thing that nobody should say. [laughs]
Lexi 40:44
No. Be more like Jennifer Grey is what I think.
Ben 40:49
Like, the actor or the character?
Lexi 40:53
Eh, the character in this one.
Ben 40:53
I don't know anything about the actor.
Lexi 40:56
Neither do I. I hope that she's not... I hope that no one is, like, actually.
Ben 41:01
Do we have anything that can bring us back? Like, we need some redeemable teen movies. I had a little bit of being like Footloose could be fun still. Are there ones we can watch? I've got one more that I sort of like.
Lexi 41:11
Oh, I've got one I love.
Ben 41:12
I'll do mine. You're more passionate. I'll do mine first. It's called... [laughing] Oh, god now I'm blanking on the name.
Lexi 41:20
Uh-oh. [laughs]
Ben 41:21
It's with Christian Slater, and he is a, like, pirate radio host. Pump Up the Volume.
Lexi 41:28
Okay.
Ben 41:28
So, there's some stuff that doesn't do it for me, which is sort of that, like, white suburban kid ennui that you see in, like, the '90s. It's technically a 1990 movie, but it was produced... That's when it was released, so it was produced in the '80s. So it's got a lot of that, sort of like, white teen ennui that we see in the '90s a lot with, like, the navel gazing and, like, "Let's just, you know, not worry about anything except our white privilege problems." So there's a little bit of that, but there's also a lot of like, sort of challenging the way that kids' problems are sort of downplayed by adults, or like, they're tried to be brushed aside when, like, you know, kids are actually suffering with problems. One of the things is a student kills himself and, like, that's sort of an impetus for the main characters to sort of go on and speak out about what's happening and tell the other students not to be quiet and to, like, live their, like... "Talk hard," is his line in the movie. Talk hard and, like, say the things that are a problem for you, and not hold them back, so I feel like I could rewatch that one again. I feel like it probably is watchable. He gets arrested at the end for his pirate radio, which is just such a great idea, a pirate radio, broadcasting illegally on the FM channel. Fuck, can you do that? I wanna broadcast illegally on an FM channel.
Lexi 42:52
I think it is something that's elite. Like, you have to be allowed to do it.
Ben 42:56
Yeah, I mean, I just don't even know anybody who'd be interested. Why do that when you can make a podcast? [both laugh] Yeah, I guess, you know, somebody would still have to tune to your pirate radio frequency, so... [chuckles]
Lexi 43:11
They'd find you.
Ben 43:12
Yeah. So the villain of the movie or whatever, is like the FCC comes to find Christian Slater's character and shut down his pirate radio.
Lexi 43:21
The FCC won't let him be.
Ben 43:23
Yeah, the FCC won't let him be. [laughs]
Lexi 43:26
Thank you. Thank you for that.
Ben 43:27
You're welcome. Thank you. I don't know what you're thinking me. You did it. That's great.
Lexi 43:31
I always like a good laugh, Ben. You know?
Ben 43:33
Yeah. I think yeah, give Pump Up the Volume a watch if you haven't. I haven't watched it in a while. I should re-watch it, but let us know if I'm wrong about that, and if it's a total trash fire, as well.
Lexi 43:44
I'm going to end this with a bang, Ben, because I'm gonna explain to you the greatest coming-of-age movie of the John Hughes-era is Uncle Buck.
Ben 43:48
Okay, so here's my thing with Uncle Buck. Is it a teen movie, though?
Lexi 43:58
Yes.
Ben 43:59
You think?
Lexi 44:00
I think so. I watched it all-- I watched it with my mom, and then I watched it with my friends when I was, like, 15, and I've watched it many times since because, I don't know. It was about, like, to me, it was about connecting with an adult in your life.
Ben 44:16
That's interesting. I appreciate that take. I guess I just find, like, the centering of John Candy as the main role in that, sort of, takes it away from being a teen movie for me.
Lexi 44:24
But that's why I think it's key because teenagers are so stuck in their own bubble, that it's hard to see your angst when you're living in it, and I think that was the reason my mom made me watch it.
Ben 44:35
Oh, interesting. So you were saying, like, the point-of-view character being the adult but having the show and the content geared at a teen gives you some outside of your own situation-ness, some self-awareness.
Lexi 44:47
Yeah.
Lexi 44:48
'Cause, see, like his... Oh, gosh, the... bup, bup, bup... Tia, so Tia is 15 and she's the oldest of the three kids and she's like, if you've never seen the movie, she's a cow. Like, the entire movie, she's just being an asshole for no purpose.
Ben 44:48
Interesting.
Ben 45:06
No, I've seen it a number of times.
Lexi 45:09
I watch it every Christmas. That is my Home Alone.
Ben 45:11
It's been a while, though.
Lexi 45:13
And it's just because she's so brutal, and then John Candy's character comes in and, you know, she's got a couple of lines that she says that are just horrible, so, so mean and callous, and then, she treats her family like garbage. She winds up shacking up with a dude who's trying to take advantage of her, and I think that this is really key, and a lot of people should watch it that if you are a 15, 16, 17 year old, and you are dating someone who is older than you, it is not an equal relationship. I'm sorry. It just isn't. And that's something that, like, when I was a teenager, I was like, "I can take care of myself," and so many times, like, yeah, to a point and then you pass a line, and then it gets real tricky, and what I like about that is, even though she treated people poorly, like, John Candy came to her rescue and supported her, and helped her to take her power back from this douchebag who tried to hurt her.
Ben 46:12
Right. So, in a typical John Hughes movie, we'd see her get a come-uppance of some sort of degradation or sexual assault as, sort of, the character arc. Like, "Oh, that'll teach you to be a b-word, though. You got what was coming to you. Haha." But that doesn't happen in this film. Interesting.
Lexi 46:29
Well, it kinda... Like, it almost does. Like, her boyfriend tries to pressure her into having sex. She's not ready so she leaves the party, and he does, like, make fun of her, and then, John Candy comes and finds her walking away from the party and, you know, she's embarrassed and whatever, and then he basically kidnaps the boyfriend in the back of the car, and then they hit golf balls at him to really, like... [laughs]
Ben 46:53
Sounds good to me. I'm fine with that.
Lexi 46:56
I don't know. Like, it's still you're right. Like, she's still like, there's that, like, "Haha, you were almost, like, you know, taken advantage of."
Ben 47:02
"That will show you."
Lexi 47:02
"That's what you get for being a little bag," but I just feel like, of those movies, this is probably the one that has, like, aged the best because even John Candy's character is so flawed.
Ben 47:15
Yeah, yeah.
Lexi 47:16
And it shows, like, all these redeeming qualities about him.
Ben 47:18
Yeah. I mean, that sounds like a good synopsis to me. I'd rewatch that. I'll give it a shot. And you all should give that a shot too, see what you think, see if there's some aspects of that film that we forgot that maybe cause it to bump off a little bit, although it sounds like Lexi watches it pretty regularly, so she knows what's up.
Lexi 47:38
I'm gonna be really sad if someone out there is like, "But, did you forget about the scene?" Because probably.
Ben 47:43
Maybe, but you know, that's just an opportunity. Yeah, this is an opportunity to appreciate what happened there, and, you know, that doesn't mean you have to stop watching Uncle Buck. It just means we have to somehow create a 15-minute episode addendum to this that people are forced to listen to that, "Okay, so there's this part in the movie and we have to talk about it where things go blah blah, blah." Yeah, I have to imagine that we'll end up doing a lot of retraction or correction episodes. Maybe that should be just a fun off-week thing we do. We do, you know, corrections and just 15-minute episodes every other week when we're not on our regular schedule. "So here's some shit we got wrong last week," and we just list it.
Lexi 48:27
Yeah. Just, "Sorry about this. Sorry about the following things."
Ben 48:30
"Said this. Didn't mean to."
Lexi 48:32
Ben, we haven't done Who's That Pokémon? yet.
Ben 48:35
Oh, fuck. Let's do Who's That Pokémon? here. I think we've got another little ways to go. We should do a wrap up, but let's do a Who's That Pokémon? Is it your turn again to come up with the Pokémon?
Lexi 48:46
Well, I've done many. I'm happy to keep explaining wet bags of sand to you, but do you wanna take a crack at Who's That Pokémon?
Ben 48:52
I didn't come up with one, so it'll be on the fly. Yeah.
Lexi 48:54
Oh, do it.
Ben 48:54
I'll do it unless you have one prepared.
Lexi 48:56
No, no, no.
Ben 48:57
Okay. Okay, [along with "Who's That Pokémon" theme music] Who's that Pokémon? and I will describe now the Pokémon with which you need to guess.
Lexi 49:06
Excellent.
Ben 49:07
It's sort of like a pitcher.
Lexi 49:09
Okay.
Ben 49:11
Imagine an upside-down... No, right-way-up, like a pitcher as in, like, a vase. Not a--
Lexi 49:18
Okay, like, like a pitcher of lemonade.
Ben 49:20
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Then there's, like, some sort of leaves coming off, leaf-shaped protrusions, one on each side of this pitcher.
Lexi 49:30
Oh, my god.
Ben 49:30
And then there's also some sort of circular balls atop the pitcher.
Lexi 49:35
Are you explaining an actual Pokémon to me or is this like a...?
Ben 49:38
Yeah, yeah.
Lexi 49:39
It's an actual Pokémon! Oh, I thought we were being cheeky here and--
Ben 49:43
No. It's time for us to break out our--
Lexi 49:45
Anthony Michael Hall. [Ben laughs]
Ben 49:47
Oh shit. That's not bad.
Lexi 49:48
Oh, I gotta remember.
Ben 49:49
I'll change it. It's no longer Victreebel. It's Anthony Michael Hall. You got it. [Lexi laughs] [along with "Who's That Pokémon" theme music] Who's that Pokémon? [Lexi laughs]
Lexi 49:59
It's Anthony Michael Hall.
Ben 50:00
I'm gonna Google you a picture. [scratching record, DJ-style]
Lexi 50:03
Oh, Victreebel.
Ben 50:04
Yes. It was a real Pokémon.
Lexi 50:05
Damn it.
Ben 50:06
I think if I ever do them, they'll probably be real Pokémon.
Lexi 50:09
We still have to do a Pokémon episode.
Ben 50:11
It'd be interesting to talk to Mr. Hall and ask him how he feels about his part in the rise of incels.
Lexi 50:18
I'm sure he probably doesn't see it that way. [laughs]
Ben 50:21
I don't think many people do, as a child actor. I'm sure there's a lot more going on. I am being glib for the sake of humor.
Lexi 50:27
Hey, Ben, he had a redeeming role in Edward Scissorhands, where he dies.
Ben 50:31
He had a lot of good TV roles.
Lexi 50:34
Yeah, he has. He's had a very big career.
Ben 50:37
Mm-hmm. This is now the Anthony Michael Hall podcast, where we just talk about--
Lexi 50:42
Dissect him.
Ben 50:43
--the different works of Anthony Mic-- Michael Hall. I can't say his name anymore. It's lost all meaning.
Lexi 50:50
AMH.
Ben 50:51
AMH. He's been active as an actor since 1977. Is that something you knew?
Lexi 50:56
Wow. No, That's, that's...
Ben 50:58
He's 53 years old. He was born in 1968, April 14th, in West Roxbury, Massachusetts. Can we stop and talk about Massachusetts for a second? And how difficult a fucking place that is to say?
Lexi 51:10
Yes. I have such a hard time with it, I'd rather just be like, "That place," or write it down and point to it because I feel like I can't say it appropriately.
Ben 51:17
Yeah, and I'm not gonna make fun of the name 'cause I don't know its origins, etymology or anything, and I don't want to step on something, but, like, just saying, "Mass-a-chu-setts", like I've always said, "Massachusiss", or whatever, as a kid. I've always said it wrong, and then I was in New York, and I said, "Massachusiss", and somebody said, "What the fuck is wrong with you?"
Lexi 51:35
"Mass-a-chu--"
Ben 51:35
"Mass-a-chu-setts".
Lexi 51:37
"Mass-a-chu-setts".
Ben 51:38
Okay, yeah. It sounds wrong. Just say it-- okay, everybody at home listening, say "Mass-a-chu-setts" about five times, maybe 10 times in a row, and see if you still like yourself.
Lexi 51:49
That's a tough homework assignment. [chuckles]
Ben 51:52
Yeah, enjoy. What else do we need to know about M-- Michael Anthony Hall? That's it. I'm good. Let's move on. [along with "Who's That Pokémon" theme music] Who's that Pokémon? We're back. We're back into the regular show, no longer the--
Lexi 52:07
AMH.
Ben 52:08
Anthony Michael Hall hour, the AMH hour. Is there anything else we should hit here on the way out?
Lexi 52:15
I mean--
Ben 52:15
Like, he produced or something Beethoven, so that's interesting.
Lexi 52:18
He also did Home Alone, which is a beloved movie.
Ben 52:22
Produced, yeah. He didn't--
Lexi 52:23
Oh, I thought... Okay.
Ben 52:24
But still.
Lexi 52:25
That's good to know.
Ben 52:25
He produced Miracle on 34th Street, which, you know, I've always enjoyed.
Lexi 52:29
He did Mall Rats, which again, like, is a very big movie [Ben groans] that I think a lot of people are like, "That's a cultural icon," but, like, it's also a very, like...
Ben 52:39
It is. Yeah, it's not a good flick. It does not hold up, and it is one of those ones that, like, yeah, as a rite of passage as a 14 year old, at least around our neck of the woods, you definitely watched, and thought was the greatest thing that ever happened. "Oh, shit pretzels." [Lexi groans] "Ha, ha, ha, ha. In the back of a Volkswagen."
Lexi 52:59
It's just...
Ben 53:00
Yeah.
Lexi 53:00
I feel like it's a really weird mix of, like, heartwarming children's movies and then, like, really problematic teen raunchy comedies.
Ben 53:10
Yeah.
Lexi 53:10
Like, well, it's an interesting mix you got there, pal.
Ben 53:13
Yeah. It's a wild time at Ridgemont High, which is movie I would have-- we should have talked about, but we didn't get to. That's fine, and I don't really remember enough about it except one of the Penn is in it. I think it's Sean Penn who was problematic, as well.
Lexi 53:28
Yeah. It's Sean Penn. Yeah.
Ben 53:30
Yeah, yeah.
Lexi 53:31
Oof. There's... We could... There's a lot of other very problematic teen movies. I mean, like, we've got the whole '90s to stare down.
Ben 53:40
Yeah.
Lexi 53:41
She's All That.
Ben 53:42
I mean, you know, those are movies that I definitely... Can't Hardly Wait.
Lexi 53:46
[groaning] Oh, I used to love that movie.
Ben 53:50
Of course you did. We all thought it was great.
Lexi 53:51
And I watched it recently. Oh, god.
Ben 53:54
No, I know. There's not a single aspect of that movie that I think holds up.
Lexi 53:58
Oh, you mean Seth Green's character isn't a redeeming figure throughout history?
Ben 54:03
It is an absolute travesty that that was allowed to become a thing.
Lexi 54:08
[whispers] Oh, my gosh.
Ben 54:09
That... yeah. The racism in that character alone in that, like, sort of characterization that we saw a lot of in the '90s and early 2000s is just wild.
Lexi 54:19
[softly] I know.
Ben 54:19
Just wild that that stuff had no critical second thought. Like, I know, we talk about, like, history and culture as these eras, and, like, we didn't have this sort of cultural awareness of these things at the time and, like, it's true, but also like, "So fucking what?" Like, that doesn't--
Lexi 54:36
Doesn't make it okay.
Ben 54:37
I just can't see that as an excuse. Yeah. Can't see it as an excuse.
Lexi 54:43
"Can't Hardly Use it As An Excuse?
Ben 54:45
[laughs] Yeah, Can't Hardly Wait to use it as an excuse. Like, I just can't use that as a way to be like, "Ah, I can still watch this film and not think of it critically," which I guess nobody's really asking anyone to do.
Lexi 54:55
But then it, like--
Ben 54:56
Problematic media is a whole other topic.
Lexi 54:58
It is, because it does beg the question of, "Do we look at the art versus the artist?" because then, like, we're leading into that era, and even, like, there's a little controversy this week with the old Margaret Atwood and her comments.
Ben 55:11
Oh, God.
Lexi 55:13
And I'm not gonna say that "I told you so, world," but I did say that Margaret Atwood isn't a great... I mean...
Ben 55:20
Well, I mean, she started to swing problematic for a while now. But like, this is also the advent of, sort of like, internet as well, is like, we did not have the information earlier on to know her thoughts on subjects that, you know, were outside of what she'd write about in her books, and maybe more intelligent people than myself picked up more of, like, her problems. I read her books, the ones that I enjoyed, which were like the MaddAddam trilogy, when I was in my early 20s. I don't consider that I was even like a proper adult human with critical thought until I was 25, so like, I still miss stuff all the time, and yeah, that's interesting. Margaret Atwood though. Way to hold my beer, JK Rowling. Jesus.
Lexi 56:03
Yeah, I did make a couple jokes of like, "Oh, she's really J.K.-ing herself this week." Like, just, if anyone has ever... Like, here's my piece of advice. Just stop. Just don't. Just don't. Like, and, a lot of times, don't weigh in. This is not a place for, "Oh, you know what I think about this?" Nothing. You think nothing about it. Shut up.
Ben 56:23
Oh, no, trust me that's a lesson I learned as a white dude on the internet that's like, more or less cishet, like, you know, maybe I don't need to offer an opinion on this. There's gonna be a lot of other takes, and I could probably do the most for myself by just reading how this goes out, and if I have questions about things, do some fucking Googling and try to understand these points that I'm having trouble with, and...
Lexi 56:48
Well, this has been a depressing and sad episode about our failed teenage years of just disappointing racism and sexism. [laughs]
Ben 56:58
Yeah. Well, you know, and again, this goes back to my really good analogy about, like, conveyor belts and machines or whatever. Like, we haven't fixed the problems with the blueprints and the machinery that's making this shit, so why would we expect it to be different? A different outcome just because, now we're aware that, you know, the shit shouldn't be happening, but apparently, we haven't taken the right action yet to correct where that's coming from, and so that stuff still comes.
Lexi 57:29
Well, maybe in another couple of decades we'll look at it a little closer.
Ben 57:33
We'll see. We'll see.
Lexi 57:34
The rom coms of the future are gonna be more uplifting and diverse and positive.
Ben 57:38
Okay, well, rom coms are a whole 'nother thing we need to get into 'cause Nora Ephron.
Lexi 57:42
Teenage.
Ben 57:44
Nora Ephron, I'm coming for you.
Lexi 57:46
I don't even wanna talk about rom coms because I don't think that I could say anything other than, "Bleuch."
Ben 57:51
We broached the subject. I mean, we kind of came into the teen movies thing with the intention of having some positivity to balance it out, [Lexi laughs] but it's hard when you have about 15 to 20 years, dominated by one figure, who has a way of looking at the world that's pretty shitty, and made all the, like, pop culture in that time.
Lexi 58:10
This is why you need a diverse group of people making content so that you have a wider array of things to look at to form your identity, because, when you're growing up, and the only teen flicks that are out there are made by this fella, this is what he's telling you. Like, "This is what a girl does. She looks at the boobs of others and compares herself to them."
Ben 58:30
I mean, he's not necessarily wrong, but his sort of like reasoning or how that plays out is interesting. Like, he's not saying anything pointed about female body issues or criticizing them. He's just looking at something he doesn't understand and presenting it as a vapidness, I guess.
Lexi 58:49
Well, I'm gonna go watch Uncle Buck because I feel like I need some uplifting content.
Ben 58:55
So this is the part of the show where we jump up in the air, pump our fists in freeze frame and "Don't You (Forget About Me)" plays us out.
Lexi 59:03
[singing along with Simple Minds' "Don't You (Forget About Me)"] Don't you.
Ben 59:05
[singing high-pitched, along with song] Don't you forget about me. Do-do-don't you. Credits.
Ben 59:16
Thanks for listening. This has been Dork Matters. I have been your Dad Dork host, Ben Rankel, and with me, as always...
Lexi 59:23
Your slightly depressed, teenage angsty teen Lexi. Hee, hee, hee, hee, hee.
Ben 59:30
Great.
Lexi 59:31
I'm the sad girl from Breakfast Club now, Allison. [both] No!
Ben 59:37
Oh, boy. Well, just wait till we get you a makeover. Emilio Estevez will finally be interested.
Lexi 59:43
I mean, that was the plan in my teenage years.
Ben 59:46
Oh, yeah. You had a thing for Emilio? Okay.
Lexi 59:48
Actually, my go-to was AJ from the Backstreet Boys, but you know what?
Ben 59:53
Wait. I think you told me Kevin was your go-to.
Lexi 59:55
No, now Kevin's my go-to, as an adult. He is the one that we pick because he is the one that is the most solid adult out of the group. As a teenager, it was AJ. [Simple Minds' "Don't You (Forget About Me)" continues playing]
Ben 1:00:05
I wanna do an episode on the Backstreet Boys. "Where Are They Now?"
Lexi 1:00:09
I know everything about them. I've watched the latest documentary. I follow... No, I could tell you, Ben. Like, it's just...
Ben 1:00:14
I know nothing. so I'll just ask questions and you can tell me--
Lexi 1:00:16
Well, I can tell you, there's a little bit of controversy. Nick has not had an easy life. Let me tell you. Oh, my gosh.
Ben 1:00:23
Yeah, he's got some grief with his little brother, too.
Lexi 1:00:26
Yeah.
Ben 1:00:27
Who maybe went off the rails.
Lexi 1:00:28
His whole family went off the rails. The poor man lost a sister. Like, it's a whole... He has had a very difficult go of things.
Ben 1:00:35
Let's not do that episode.
Ben 1:00:37
That sounds sad.
Lexi 1:00:37
Yeah.
Lexi 1:00:38
We wanna have fun things. We're just going to talk about Stardew Valley in the next episode.
Ben 1:00:43
Yeah.
Lexi 1:00:43
So see you then.
Ben 1:00:44
Let us know if there are any topics you want us to ramble on about. We're always interested and if you enjoy the show, enjoy listening to us sort of just go off on tangents about whatever the fuck we feel like, and you're enjoying that, we'd really appreciate a rating or review. [in high-pitched English accent] "Please, sir, I'd like some podcast listeners."
Lexi 1:01:04
Yeah, do an entire episode like that. That's a good one.
Ben 1:01:07
Oliver Twist. We could do problematic Shakespeare. Do these Shakespeare plays hold up in the modern era?
Lexi 1:01:13
I can tell you.
Ben 1:01:14
I feel like they hold up better than John Hughes movies.
Lexi 1:01:16
[laughing] They sure do, actually. At least he had a black person in one of his plays.
Ben 1:01:21
And it sounds like he understood young women better than John Hughes.
Lexi 1:01:26
Well, I mean, like, when you die when you're 30, they've got a, you know, smaller timeframe to really be working with here.
Ben 1:01:32
Just like Jesus.
Lexi 1:01:33
This is a weird ending to the episode.
Ben 1:01:35
[laughs] Should see if the Bible holds up. [laughs] We review the Bible and see if some of those passages really hold up. Should you really leave town if you masturbate and get sperm on your hand?
Lexi 1:01:47
What? Is that a thing?
Ben 1:01:49
Yeah, earlier in the Old Testament. Wacky time. Let's cut this part, too. I'm sure this episode could have ended back when we did the "Don't You (Forget About Me)" song, and I think-- [Lexi laughs] All right. Good night. [Simple Minds' "Don't You (Forget About Me)" continues playing]
Lexi 1:02:03
[theme music "Dance" by YABRA plays] Thanks for listening to Dork Matters. If you like the podcast, subscribe, give a rating, and tell a friend about us. If you are a fellow dork and have a dork issue that you think we need to discuss, tell us on our social media. You can find us on Instagram and Twitter. You can also check out our original art and other content from Ben and myself.
Ben 1:02:24
We'd like to say a big thank you to YABRA for the use of our theme song, "Dance", off of their Astral EP, as well as a thank you to Jess Schmidt for producing and editing our podcast. Thanks, Jess.
Voiceover 1:02:24
[echoing] Dork Matters.
Lexi 1:02:38
This podcast is created on the traditional territories of the Blackfoot Nations, which includes the Siksika, the Piikani, and the Kainai. We also acknowledge the Stoney Nakota Nation, Tsuut'ina, and Metis Region 3.
Ben 1:02:51
[electronic arpeggio music plays] Dork Matters is a proud member of the Alberta Public Radio Podcast Network.
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Office Killer (1997): A mousy office worker kills off her coworkers. You'd think that would be a feel-good romp, but instead it's a drab and lifeless drag - and a total waste of Carol Kane.
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Theme Music "A Movie I'd Like to See" by Al Harley.
Get ready for some disappointment in our younger selves, as we turn our attention to the bevvy of jerky dudes and unrealistic romance in John Hughes’s Pretty in Pink. Who are your top f**k, marry, kill James Spader characters? Why mar Annie Potts’s otherwise perfect Iona by making her fall for a bland 80s yuppie? What kind of fashion designer destroys two decent prom dresses to make a fancy potato sack? And why did we ever feel bad for Duckie? This is the episode where the die-hard romantics make themselves known.
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