500 Movies of Bechdel Cast

00:00:01
Speaker 1: On The Bechdel Cast.

00:00:02
Speaker 2: The questions asked if movies have women and them, are all their discussions just boyfriends and husbands, or do they have individualism? It's the patriarchy, zephim fast start changing it with the Bechdel Cast.

00:00:16
Speaker 3: Caitlin, it's a party.

00:00:18
Speaker 4: It is a party.

00:00:19
Speaker 1: We're celebrating they We're celebrating the passage of time.

00:00:24
Speaker 3: And how the more you know, the more you need to know. Isn't that a thrilling wow?

00:00:30
Speaker 4: It has been eighty four years and we.

00:00:33
Speaker 3: Have coveredel cast.

00:00:36
Speaker 4: Yes, and in those eighty four years, we've covered five hundred movies.

00:00:42
Speaker 1: Yes, Welcome to the Bechdel Cast. My name is Jamie Loftus.

00:00:47
Speaker 4: My name is Caitlin Durante. And normally this is our show where we examine a specific movie every episode and analyze it through an intersectional feminist lens. This week, we have two main things on the agenda. One is to plug a little tour we have coming up and make sure everyone knows about it so that you can come to the shows. And we're also celebrating covering five hundred movies over the course of doing this podcast.

00:01:20
Speaker 1: Yes, So we're gonna do a little retrospective, have a little bit of fun, and then we'll be back next week with you're regularly scheduled programming. But first, Yeah, we just went to remind everyone that if you live in the UK are Dublin, we are coming for you, non threateningly and with love. Yes, at the end of May. So let's run through. Where are we going, Caitlin, do tell me?

00:01:46
Speaker 4: Well, I will tell you. First, we are going to London. We are doing two shows on May twenty second. The first show we're covering Shrek because we should say, this is the.

00:01:59
Speaker 1: Shrek tur yes, and you don't need it broken down for you figure it out.

00:02:05
Speaker 3: If you can't figure it out, don't come. Please come.

00:02:08
Speaker 4: Yeah, So the early show we're gonna be talking about Shrek. The later show on that same evening we're talking about Titanic again. That's May twenty second in London. Then we are going to Oxford on May twenty fourth. This is part of the Saint Audio Podcast Festival and we're covering Titanic.

00:02:31
Speaker 3: I ever heard of it? Yeah, if you've listened to this show or if you exist genes is our yes you have.

00:02:39
Speaker 4: Then we are going up to Edinburgh on May twenty sixth for a show on Shrek because Edinburgh's in Scotland, Shrek is Scottish. It just makes sense.

00:02:53
Speaker 1: And again, if you live in Edinburgh and you need this explain to you, don't come. No, please come, please come, please come, do come.

00:03:00
Speaker 4: And then we are doing a show in Manchester on May twenty eighth that is a Titanic show. And then recently we have added a final show in Dublin on May twenty ninth that's also a Titanic show. And what we want to make clear is that have we done about eight hundred episodes on Titanic already? We have, It's true, but this is gonna be a whole new slate of stuff.

00:03:31
Speaker 1: Yeah, it really is like mainly a celebration of the show itself and all of like the goofy ness. We're gonna be wearing ridiculous outfits. We are going to talk about the movies themselves, but we also know you've heard us talk about these movies over the years. We're going to have a broad conversation, but we're also gonna like play games, have fun, exclusive merch. Like it is like a celebration of not just these movies which we love to celebrate as if they are gods, but.

00:04:00
Speaker 3: Also to celebrate the show and celebrate the community.

00:04:02
Speaker 1: It's going to be super, super fun, and we're pumped to see everybody.

00:04:06
Speaker 4: I'm editing so many videos to screen at the shows.

00:04:12
Speaker 1: Caitlin is going, yeah, and I'm drawing so many pornographic images of us to sell at the show that are like cartoons, So don't even be scared, and please purchase them. It would be so great if you purchase the pornographic images we're making.

00:04:26
Speaker 3: All that said, please come. We're really excited.

00:04:29
Speaker 4: And same thing with the Shrek shows. Yes, we've covered all four Shrek movies, but.

00:04:34
Speaker 3: We can bring all of that information.

00:04:36
Speaker 4: To you in new and interesting ways.

00:04:39
Speaker 1: Caitlin, I haven't told you this, but I'm hoping. I'm aspiring and I may in fact hold you hostage. Whoa to do a challenge? I call all four Shreks no pee breaks before we depart.

00:04:52
Speaker 4: Like watch a marathon, a shrek athon.

00:04:54
Speaker 3: A Shrek athon.

00:04:55
Speaker 4: Yeah, well, yeah, I'm up to the challenge.

00:04:59
Speaker 3: I oh, I have no doubt.

00:05:01
Speaker 1: I have no doubt two thousand and eight that you can do it, that I can do it, and that in fact, we were born to do it, so we're really excited.

00:05:11
Speaker 3: Please come out.

00:05:13
Speaker 1: Yes, at the end of the day, we have covered five hundred movies.

00:05:18
Speaker 3: Caitlin Durante, it.

00:05:19
Speaker 4: Is can you believe it?

00:05:20
Speaker 3: It is shocking.

00:05:21
Speaker 1: It is shocked, And to be clear, I mean whatever, I feel like we're always qualifying things and apologizing for things that people are not asking us to do.

00:05:28
Speaker 3: And if that's not the fem experience.

00:05:30
Speaker 1: No, but we have covered five hundred movies between the main feed and our Patreon ak Matreon, which we have had since twenty seventeen.

00:05:41
Speaker 3: If you're like, oh, no, there's.

00:05:43
Speaker 1: No new episode of the Bechdel Cast this week, really, then you can head over there. It's five bucks a month for two new episodes and access to over one hundred and fifty of these movies we're talking about. Yes, but yeah, we recently hit five hundred movies covered, which is wild because we we've covered some movies multiple times. I mean like obviously Titanic we've covered multiple times, and then there's a few episodes that we were strictly based.

00:06:09
Speaker 3: On our own knowledge. Well maybe that's a fun place.

00:06:13
Speaker 4: Sorry.

00:06:14
Speaker 1: A shaved of this podcast started in twenty sixteen.

00:06:18
Speaker 3: Yes, we were different people.

00:06:21
Speaker 4: Those eight whole years ago or eighty four years ago. It's been depending on how you experienced time.

00:06:29
Speaker 1: I think spiritually, honestly, like I've been seeing more and more sort of thoughts and articles, et cetera about how the passage of time in the last five years has just like not quite been correct.

00:06:42
Speaker 4: We are in a weird time. We're a warp time loop multiverse. Something is happening. It's an interstellar thing, it's a Tenant thing. It's just a lot of like Christopher Nolan movies and how time is experienced by those characters, that is what is happening to us.

00:07:02
Speaker 1: See, I only saw a Tenant at I think I've heard this experience from a lot of people that and I kind of not to be like justice for Tenant because who cares. But like I know some people who recently saw when Tenant was like re released into Imax, and they're like, oh, that movie was actually really good, because I think many of us saw Tenant either on our TVs or I saw it. I've heard this story many times of like saw it at the drive in in a desperate attempt to leave the home and feel like you're having a communal experience.

00:07:37
Speaker 3: So the two movies I saw at the.

00:07:39
Speaker 1: Drive in during lockdown and this is so bleak is Tenant which impossible, impossible to understand from forty feet away if you're in like over a radio signal.

00:07:52
Speaker 3: Not good.

00:07:53
Speaker 4: Even if you're closer, you're not able to understand it. It is an unfollowable movie.

00:07:59
Speaker 3: It's confused when you're surrounded by it, much.

00:08:03
Speaker 1: Less from far away, like and you have your dog and you're like, ahhuh ah. And then I also saw Promising Young Woman at a drive in, which is like, however you feel about that movie?

00:08:15
Speaker 3: Not a drive in movie for sure, like real bomber to see at the drive in.

00:08:21
Speaker 1: Anyways, I have to rehabilitate my relationship with a drive in. The point is this show has been on for a long time, and the show is I mean, we've talked about the origins of the show many times. We don't need to recap that here, but it's changed a lot over the years.

00:08:35
Speaker 3: And yeah, I don't know.

00:08:37
Speaker 4: I'm proud of our little show, Caitlin. I'll say, oh my gosh, I'm so proud of it. I feel so lucky and privileged, not only that this is my job, because it's a job that I love doing so much.

00:08:51
Speaker 1: And it did not start as this is like you know whatever, very much started as like when we have time at an act.

00:08:57
Speaker 3: Of financial loss sort of thing. So we're very lucky that has turned into a job.

00:09:01
Speaker 4: Truly, and I also just feel so lucky and honored to be working so closely with you, Jamie Oka. I feel so lucky.

00:09:11
Speaker 3: I may yeah, yeah, I like should we cry? No? No, okay, fine, No I can't right now.

00:09:23
Speaker 1: It's because I honestly I could cry, but I just ate popcorn and all the salt is in my mouth. I feel like I couldn't even force it into my eyeballs. If I was feeling emotional, which I am. Does that make sense, I don't know.

00:09:37
Speaker 4: I'm not really sure what's happening physiologically.

00:09:40
Speaker 1: Which I just feel like you but you've got to pick a hole to have your salt right now it's in my mouth. I could do the like Liz Lemon thing where I start crying out of my.

00:09:51
Speaker 4: Mouth after she gets like off brands never start drooling, which also has kind of been my current reality.

00:09:59
Speaker 1: Anyways, No, kay, I love you so much. I like I we have grown so close and like grown together through making this show, and I just feel I feel lucky.

00:10:09
Speaker 3: It's somebody.

00:10:10
Speaker 1: I just feel lucky to be a friend of yours at all. And also I just I don't know, I feel like we're really lucky to have you. Like I was saying this the other day, I was like, Caitlin and I are like talking common law married, like we are, Yeah, yes we're common law married podcast wise, and and also friendship whiy, Like it's just.

00:10:30
Speaker 3: I don't know, I'm so grateful for you.

00:10:33
Speaker 4: It's beautiful. I love that we spend holidays together, we go to Universal together.

00:10:40
Speaker 3: We have we have we have theme park passes to use together.

00:10:44
Speaker 4: We get our souls stolen on the Mummy ride regularly, we take pictures with Shrek regularly.

00:10:51
Speaker 1: We avoid Beetlejuice regularly. And I also, I mean, I really do think that like this show. But also you specifically have like opened me up to movies that I would not normally see and end up really loving this show in general. It has really broadened my horizons in terms of I mean in terms of a lot of things, but just in terms of seeing things and in terms of like thinking about movies.

00:11:18
Speaker 3: It about who's making.

00:11:19
Speaker 1: Them, and about like what I like and appreciate in movies in a way that I didn't when this show started. I was like, very much for someone with a film degree, a very casual film watcher prior to this show.

00:11:33
Speaker 4: You the other day were like, I'm gonna be in Boston and there's a Lord of the Rings marathon that I might go to of all three Lord of the Rings movies, And I'm like, Jamie, what did you just say to me?

00:11:47
Speaker 3: I know I'm different. I've changed.

00:11:49
Speaker 4: I couldn't believe it.

00:11:50
Speaker 3: I've changed.

00:11:51
Speaker 1: And I also think said no pee breaks. I'm really like addicted to the.

00:11:56
Speaker 4: Idea of pissing your pants.

00:11:59
Speaker 3: Infinite movies. No pea breaks.

00:12:01
Speaker 1: Yeah, I don't really know, but yeah, I there are interests and like appreciations, and also like we've made friends with our guests through making this show. It's just been absolutely wonderful. And I think like one of the things that I think was a cool kind of turning point throughout this show was like I think it was between like maybe late twenty eighteen into early Lockdown, where we had covered a lot of movies that were, you know, kind of generally blockbusters, or culturally formative in the broadest sense during the time that we were growing up, and then when we started to run out of those movies, realized that, like, the show needs to evolve in all of these ways. And not only have our guests obviously been tremendously helpful in helping the show grow and sort of broadening the kinds of movies we look at and the movies we're championing and like who we are, Like, you know, I think like early bepelcasts us is like we're gonna cover Michael Bay movies because people have seen those, and you know us now it's like, I think we're more discerning and we're trying to and I just I don't know. I think that that has so much to do with our guests and what our guests bring us, as well as what our listeners bring us and have asked for as time goes on. And it's really wonderful, it really is.

00:13:35
Speaker 4: And I loved seeing the show grow, and I certainly have grown myself. I don't think I would be this.

00:13:48
Speaker 3: Three inches taller than when we started. I'm six two.

00:13:52
Speaker 4: Whoa, I'm rag five inches shorter somehow, Oh my god, I know I'm sick. No, I've certainly grown as a feminist by doing this show. I don't think I would be as fervent and militant to feminist as I am now if it were not for this show and all of the research that I've had to do along the way. And I'm grateful to the show and to feedback from our listeners and insights from our guests for kind of informing and shaping my journey with feminism. So it's just been such a wonderful experience.

00:14:37
Speaker 3: It's been really great.

00:14:39
Speaker 1: So if you are a new or long time lister, we've covered five hundred movies, and we have sort of a dual interest here. We are interested in over the years, what have been your favorite episodes? What are episodes that have stuck with you? Because you know, we've covered five hundred movies, but there's still at least movies we haven't covered.

00:15:03
Speaker 4: Yeah, twenty more movies.

00:15:05
Speaker 1: Exist, twenty two movies we haven't covered that have been released. But yeah, I mean, i'd be super curious of like, over the years, what are episodes that you still think about? What are types of episodes, what are guests that have stuck with you?

00:15:21
Speaker 3: And then moving forward.

00:15:22
Speaker 1: We have had gosh, I think over a half decade now, we've had our request page where listeners can send us requests that have I think has become kind of increasingly important in the show as time goes on, because we want to know what our listeners want to hear, and then we'll generally, you know, with some exceptions. It's like there's no hard rules with our show, never really has been, but we will first show potential guests the movies that you want to hear about, and we want to you know, show a diverse range of directors. We want to show more diversity in like the times movies have come out, because we've covered every single movie that came out in two thousand and.

00:16:05
Speaker 3: Three at this point, yep. And yeah, we want to know what you're what you're.

00:16:10
Speaker 1: Interested in hearing us talk about moving forward. So this has bafflingly become h endorsement of an old Google doc that we have that will be linked in the description.

00:16:22
Speaker 4: Yes, which we rarely plug, but it is.

00:16:26
Speaker 3: I know, I feel like it's really like and if you know, you know thing.

00:16:30
Speaker 4: It's true, right, But it is readily available on our link tree, which is also where you can get the tickets to that Shrek Tannic tour we were just talking about. Yeah, but yeah, if you go to link tree slash spectal Cast, you will see our listener request form. You will see our letterboxed account, which we also.

00:16:50
Speaker 3: Where we put our requests.

00:16:52
Speaker 1: Yeah, I guess we haven't plugged it in a while, and then we just end up getting a million dms being like.

00:16:57
Speaker 3: When are you going to talk about poor things? And it's like, oh my god.

00:17:01
Speaker 4: Soon if not already, because we recorded the episode it's forthcoming.

00:17:06
Speaker 3: Or and it was hard, So you're welcome.

00:17:08
Speaker 4: Yeah, yes, so yeah, we've got all kinds of goodies over there on our link tree, so check that out. But yeah, we are curious about what you'd like us to hear that we haven't covered already. So yeah, fill out that form and generally if we see a you know, commonly recurring movie on the request form, then we'll add it to our letterbox list of like frequent requests and so that's kind of how we do it.

00:17:40
Speaker 1: And well and we'll find a guess that wants to talk with us about it. Yeah, so you do have you do have power.

00:17:46
Speaker 4: It's true, and you know how you can have even more power is to join our Matreon and oh.

00:17:52
Speaker 3: We're pugging the Patreon for a second time.

00:17:54
Speaker 4: Yeah, just let people know head over there.

00:17:59
Speaker 1: Yeah, we're we're switching our focus over there for on and off for the next couple of months to focus on women directors ever heard of them?

00:18:09
Speaker 3: Ever heard of them?

00:18:10
Speaker 1: But we're because you know, because of the arc of time. Uh, you know, we have ended up covering quite a few movies directed by men, regrettably, but also Shrek and Titanic.

00:18:21
Speaker 3: You know, it's.

00:18:22
Speaker 1: Hard, true, So we were we're focusing on movies directed by women over on the Matreon aka patreon, aka call it what you want.

00:18:32
Speaker 3: Just give us five dollars.

00:18:35
Speaker 1: And we're starting with a month of women directed comedies.

00:18:39
Speaker 4: That's right.

00:18:40
Speaker 1: And I mean, finally, I just wanted to I feel like we do this every so often, but like, we're very very grateful to our listeners. Obviously the show wouldn't exist with value. Every time someone's like says that to a show, I listened to him, like, no, fucking dull, Yeah, Noah, listened to your show.

00:18:59
Speaker 3: You'll be broke.

00:19:00
Speaker 4: Oh it's true.

00:19:01
Speaker 1: Anyways, we are very very grateful to our listeners like over the years, I feel like so much of what has moved the show to change and grow has been our listeners being I mean, I think, being very like, kind and firm about what they want to hear. And it's really cool. I feel lucky that we have the community that we do.

00:19:26
Speaker 4: We have the best listeners, we really do.

00:19:30
Speaker 1: It's so every time we go on tour, I'm like, oh my god, the nicest people in the world listen to our show. And then I have imposter syntems like we're pieces of shit.

00:19:42
Speaker 3: No, like Cayln, we fucking suck. Why are these nice people here?

00:19:46
Speaker 4: No, we're nice. We're so nice.

00:19:49
Speaker 1: We're so We're so lucky to have such an intelligent and kind and funny group of people listening to our show.

00:19:57
Speaker 3: It's really cool not to get parasocial in the roof.

00:20:00
Speaker 1: But the point is we've covered five Hedrick movies.

00:20:05
Speaker 3: Yeah, and so we are.

00:20:07
Speaker 1: We are taking this week off and then returning to your regular, rely scheduled programming. But we just wanted to take a moment to say thank you and celebrate.

00:20:17
Speaker 3: Because this show is the best show. Sorry if you didn't know that.

00:20:21
Speaker 4: Yeah, now you know. And yeah, share any fond memories you have shared, any highlights. Remember when Alfred Molina was a guest who could forget?

00:20:35
Speaker 1: I remember? And I really were like, we're gonna reminisce, and I'm like, I don't remember anything except Alfred Molina.

00:20:43
Speaker 4: I know. Anytime someone's like, what's your favorite episode, I'm like, I don't remember what I did yesterday, and I simply can't be expected to remember anything from before that. So we've had great times. I know it, I just don't remember it really.

00:21:02
Speaker 1: And if that's not Tenant, and if that ain't Tenant, maybe.

00:21:06
Speaker 4: Actually no, that's a different Christopher Nolan movie aka Memento.

00:21:12
Speaker 3: I don't want to watch it right now.

00:21:16
Speaker 1: You don't have to to all of our listeners, thank you for being with us for so long or so new or so short, or maybe you just came back. We don't know, but yeah, we will be back next week and if you'd like to hang with us in the meantime, if again, if you're in the UK or Dublin, please come to our tour soon and if you want a new episode.

00:21:36
Speaker 3: Head over to the Patreon and we will see you there.

00:21:39
Speaker 4: Yes, one last little plug because I am doing a few extra shows on this little European excursion that will be on I'm doing a show on my literal birthday in Dublin on May seventeenth. It's a stand up show and I'll be doing a long set and the rest of the lineup are amazing local comedians from Dublin. So come out and watch some hilarious stand up comedy from yours truly, and you kind of have to do it because it's my birthday, so.

00:22:16
Speaker 1: Or you're kind of being a bully, you're not being.

00:22:19
Speaker 3: Which includes me. I'm sorry, I can't be there, but it's okay, it's.

00:22:23
Speaker 4: Good, it's okay.

00:22:24
Speaker 1: It's Irish law to go see Caitlin's birthday show.

00:22:28
Speaker 4: It really is. The shows at Hysteria Comedy Club. The tickets for that are also on our link tree. And then I'm doing a few other stand up shows in Paris and Berlin and maybe Copenhagen. I'm still trying to figure that out. Those shows are on my website kaitlinderonte dot com slash shows, but the real one that I want you to come to is my birthday show, and then we'll have a little birthday pint in Dublin afterward we'll have a nice little celebration.

00:22:58
Speaker 1: And then as for me, I have a new weekly show starting in May called sixteenth Minute on this very network on Cool Zone Media on iHeartRadio. It's going to be a weekly show where each and every week I revisit and examine an Internet character of the day that everyone remembers but no one ever thought to get to know. And so that'll start at the beginning of May and continue thereafter.

00:23:24
Speaker 3: I'm very excited.

00:23:25
Speaker 4: I love it.

00:23:26
Speaker 1: Yeah.

00:23:27
Speaker 3: Happy five hundred bechdelheads. We did it.

00:23:31
Speaker 4: Five hundred more, five hundred more.

00:23:36
Speaker 1: We love you, Bye bye bye.

00:23:42
Speaker 4: The Bechdel Cast is a production of iHeartMedia, hosted by Caitlin Derante and Jamie Loftis, produced by Sophie Lichterman, edited by Mola Board. Our theme song was composed by Mike Kaplan with vocals by Catherine Vosskrosenski. Our logo in merch is designed by Jamie Loftis and a special thing thanks to Aristotle Acevedo. For more information about the podcast, please visit linktree slash Bechdelcast