New Year, New Q&A Episode

00:00:00
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, zeph and best start changing it with the Bechdel Cast.

00:00:16
Speaker 3: Happy New Year, listeners of the Bechdel Cast.

00:00:20
Speaker 1: It's me Caitlin, it's me Jamie, and we are entering, if you can believe it, the tenth year of the Bechdel Cast. And as you can tell, the show started in November twenty sixteen. Coincidence but telling. And yeah, things are better for women than ever. Yeah, gender issues have been resolved.

00:00:47
Speaker 3: Look, we solved them.

00:00:48
Speaker 1: Look we're here to do a Q and A episode. I'm just sorry we didn't fix it.

00:00:52
Speaker 3: We didn't fix it.

00:00:53
Speaker 1: We're doing our best bet year. Yeah. Yeah, we're just two people. So we have done this a number of times over the years. We haven't done it in at least three years, is that right? The last time we did it. It's been a while in which we sort of put the call out for questions to our Matreon community, if you're not aware, hot Plug. For many years now, we've had a Patreon aka Matreon where for five dollars a month, you can get two bonus episodes of the podcast, as well as access to our well over two hundred episodes of back catalog that goes back many, many years. And so we asked the Matreon community for questions around the show as we head into our tenth year. Lots of changes, lots to reflect on, and as is common in the incredible Matron community, they showed up, and they showed up in a big way.

00:01:48
Speaker 3: Yes, we received many, many questions. Unfortunately we won't have time to get to all of them, but we've selected a few questions that we will answer on this little Q and A episode and I'm excited to dive in. But yeah, it's uh, it's been eighty four years, yeah, in the podcast, and there's a lot to reflect on.

00:02:16
Speaker 1: So I mean I think, yeah, maybe in dog years. No, it's been seventy dog years. Oh god, let's not think about that.

00:02:23
Speaker 3: Yeah, we don't have to. But why don't we start with a question from Sophia. Okay, this is when we I believe have answered before.

00:02:33
Speaker 1: But not for a while. I feel like, not for a while, is it it? Yeah? I'd like to hear our respective versions of this story. All eighty four years later.

00:02:42
Speaker 3: Right, So the question is, how did you guys meet.

00:02:44
Speaker 1: Wow, meet cute.

00:02:46
Speaker 3: We had to meet cute. I don't remember a ton of the details. I know that it was at a comedy show in Boston, probably like thirteen or more years ago.

00:02:58
Speaker 1: Wow, maybe, yeah, I guess, like because I yeah, I'm guessing like twenty between twenty twelve and twenty fourteen would have been when this was happening. Yeah.

00:03:08
Speaker 3: Yes, And we were at a stand up show and I met you and I thought you were super funny. And then I saw you at various other shows, either stand up or sketch, and I was like, Wow, Jamie's so funny. I want to be her friend. I felt the same. And then we moved to LA within a year of each other. Then years past, and then we and then we didn't become friends really, or at least we didn't hang out until we were both living in LA a few years later. Then I asked if you wanted to do a podcast with me? Yeah, and arrested.

00:03:43
Speaker 1: History this very podcast. I remember seeing you, I don't remember specifically when we met. I remember doing shows together, but I remember I don't know why. My specific memory of you when before we were friends. Was because I used to work at the box office of now defunct comedy theater Improv Boston in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and I have a strong memory of like, I think you were going into a show, you were hanging out in the lobby with people, and I was working at the box office, and I was like, Wow, she's cool, and that was the whole that's that's the whole story.

00:04:21
Speaker 3: And you were so true to think that.

00:04:24
Speaker 1: I was right. I was, My instincts were spot on. And then years passed in but it was nice. I mean, I really feel like, I mean, in the now that we've both been in LA for over a decade, it like really was a life changing link up, truly.

00:04:41
Speaker 3: Life altering in the best possible way. Yes, yeah, okay. Next question from Kira asks how would you describe the Bechdel Casts different eras since it started. This could pertain to the show's overall vibe or what it meant to you in the moment.

00:05:00
Speaker 1: I love a Taylor Swiftian question. I mean, I guess for me, I feel like the show has both grown with the times. I feel like, especially because we talk about from time to time, like older episodes that the Bechdel Cast are like embarrassing, we don't like them, and that can be very true, I think objectively, if I was listening to the show and it was not us, I do feel like a lot of our growth is reflective of ourselves as individuals and you know, putting in the work and all that stuff, and also so much of what we've learned from our guests over the years. But I think it also is kind of reflective of the times of like part of why listening to a twenty eighteen Bechdel Cast episode doesn't feel great is because it's a past version of ourselves that knew less than we do now.

00:05:53
Speaker 3: Absolutely, Yeah, I was thinking about it in terms of like, like first we were in our hobby era where we were just doing the show as a hobby.

00:06:03
Speaker 1: Actively losing money. We were Yeah, I think I remember when we started the show, we each paid Is this right? We were each paying like one hundred and twenty five dollars a month to host this show and pay Aristotle for like stuff because we had free so lower drop listeners we had and correct me if I'm aroun Kaitlyn, we had free recording space at your employer which is now condos.

00:06:29
Speaker 3: Yes, the Nerdest Showroom is where I was the program director. That was a comedy venue and then also in that space was a podcast studio.

00:06:38
Speaker 1: Upstairs, which was really cool. I mean I missed that space a lot.

00:06:42
Speaker 3: Oh rip Nerds. So many good memories.

00:06:45
Speaker 1: But luckily the community has endured and we're all still even though I wasn't actually, but I felt like I was there anyways, you were a part of the community. I was in the building frequently, but that was when Aristotle Acevedo was but he was kind of doing it. He was helping produce the show, and he was also our our engineering sound engineer. Yeah, yeah, for years, and so we were working with him. And also at the time this feels so ancient history now, we were like paying to host the podcast on Libson. Do you remember that, Yeah, because we had to just pay a monthly fee or something and a website fee and like just random small hosting fees we had to pay like during the first year.

00:07:29
Speaker 3: Yeah, And after that we started up our Patreon aka Matreon.

00:07:34
Speaker 1: That was like a full year later though. That was late twenty seventeen.

00:07:36
Speaker 3: For sure, and then it was maybe a year ish, maybe a little less than a year after that that we got picked up by a network how stuff works, so that I think transitioned us into our next era almost.

00:07:51
Speaker 1: Yeah, I guess, yeah, I guess from like indie podcast to network show, right, which is an interesting like Again, it's so particular because I guess I was thinking about it in our like in our personal place with like progressive issues and feminism, which has also very aligned with you know, when you're listening to a back to the Cast episode, please show us grace and look at the date it was released. Yeah, because we have taken many l's over the years and rightfully so, and you know, and we appreciate your patients with us and all that. And then and then also like I guess I wasn't even thinking of it, like literally the growth in the podcast industry, because I remember, for a while, I want to say, until like twenty eighteen ninety, the first couple of years we had the podcast, I was having the time of my life. I was always having so much fun. We were meeting all these really cool people.

00:08:47
Speaker 3: You were drinking a lot of Mike's hard lemonade at the time. That was its own era.

00:08:51
Speaker 1: Well, I was the Mike's hard Lemonade era was like Jamie was twenty four and going through something, but also like, did you ever feel like I was like kind of like I felt a little ashamed to be like I have a podcast, and everyone was like, uh, okay, what the fuck is that? Like, it's just so weird to think about, because I think in the early years of our podcast, it was just not a mainstream thing. It was still very niche I mean the fact that our show, to my knowledge, was really the only show of its kind and it was two white women talking about movies like that didn't exist. That's absurd. I don't know, it's just like so weird to think about.

00:09:31
Speaker 3: Yeah, I guess because so many people I knew, and by that I mean so many comedians I knew had a podcast. I was like, yeah, podcasts are huge right now, but you know, you're right, Like it.

00:09:44
Speaker 1: Wasn't like the comedy community I was in at the time, Like I have a specific memory, and obviously they shall remain nameless, and I certainly am the only person in this conversation that remembers us. But I felt it like I was talking about having a podcast. It was like I enjoy podcasting, but like my mom doesn't know what it is, and like I feel like I don't know, Like I love our listeners, but I don't really know who's listening, and like I don't know how to explain the job. And they said to me, well, having a podcast, isn't that embarrassing, And it was like, oh, which is first of all untrue. Having a podcast is embarrassing, And second of all, that same person two years later had one of the most boring podcasts I've ever heard that last of last the year, so you know, it's just weird. And then with the network stuff, yeah, like I guess we are on iHeart podcast now, But it was because a much smaller network we originally signed with got consumed by a larger network, and that's happened. We've seen that happen many, many many times to like our peers of like, god, I mean, this is like probably boring if you don't care about the inside podcast stuff. But like, but how like Earwolf was like this independent network that was sold to Sirius XM, and like there were so many examples of that, and our show was sort of you know, taken on that journey, taken taken on that journey.

00:11:16
Speaker 3: Shout out to the movie taken question Mark, just kidding take it.

00:11:19
Speaker 1: Yes, we're going to a YouTube concert in Paris. And then something wild happened. Forgot we signed with House Stuff Works.

00:11:29
Speaker 3: I forgot that's what it was. Yeah, but yeah, and then like, I feel like the pandemic era was its own thing too, where we went from recording every single episode in a studio to having to pretty quickly, you know, adjust, And I think it was a pretty easy transition for us. But you know, we were recording from home and that made like editing a little different, and recording was obviously different. But then it also opened up doors to remote.

00:12:00
Speaker 1: Yes that were international, and yeah, like which is why I mean, not all podcasts have not all podcasts have done I mean like every I don't know, like the industry is so and podcasts can be anything now, but you know a lot of podcasts have returned to recording in person. We've stayed remote in part because it's like cool to have international guests. It's cool to have guests that don't live in the exact same city. And I feel like it's enabled us to have like a wider range of perspectives because we love la but you know that really kind of limits the types of perspectives that we're getting and yeah, we're super We're super lucky. It's yeah, that was another big shift, and I think like going back to the earlier days, like I think there was I don't know, I feel like it was maybe two years around the time we switched to a network that we were not a research for. We were like primarily a comedy podcast to start. We were not doing a ton of research. It was a lot of off the top of the head kind of stuff. And you know, it's like we're still not we're not writing a dissertation for every episode, and we do occasionally get things wrong, and you know, we're not saying that the research is above reproach, but research being a priority in the show was not an original part. And also do you remember I sometimes forget this how part of the original thing was that like Caitlin's seen a lot of movies, Jamie's said, no movies, like but that kind of went away pretty early. We were like playing games.

00:13:42
Speaker 3: A if you get yeah, I mean, I think that made sense for our initial launch almost as a as a premise almost because like for.

00:13:52
Speaker 1: Me, podcasts were more like that too than like with like segments, you know.

00:13:57
Speaker 3: Segments and then yeah, and also the we're coming at it from different perspectives, like I've seen a bunch of movies, you hadn't seen that many. I mean that was kind of part of the conceit of the show for me, where I was like, I grew up with so many movies that I know are full of harmful, reductive tropes and are sexist and racists and all this stuff, and I wanted this podcast as a way to sort of like reconcile that, yeah, and be like, Okay, well is it okay if I still like these movies, if I'm acknowledging why they're maybe not so great and so, which is like.

00:14:32
Speaker 1: I think a lot of podcasts like I mean, not that we like invented that, but I think it is like a dynamic that to this day is like used. I think it just I didn't mind it, but just after the show ran for a couple of years, I could no longer say I hadn't seen many movies. I had seen many movies, and so I mean it never like we never decided for it to go aw. I feel like it just kind of naturally same with the games where we're just like, oh, I think we're having enough fun just talking about this, or movies that, Oh, here's a change. We've always done live shows. I think our live show model has changed over the years a little bit. It's, I mean, relatively similar. The biggest thing that we've changed is that we used to cover movies that were really depressing at shows or like really dense, and then it would be like fight Club, Yes, yes, which is we stand by the episode, you know, like it was and we had a wonderful guest. The audience was great, but you could feel a moment in the show where it was like either you or I were like reading like three paragraphs of like theory and we're like, oh, we actually have to mostly choose fun movies, which feels so obvious, but we learned it the hard way and more than once, I think they a couple of those times being like, oh, people like this episode, but they maybe don't want to like be like drinking a beer and hanging out with their friends while they're listening to us talk about Fight Club. I don't know.

00:15:58
Speaker 3: And that's why we did a sh Shrek Tannic tour.

00:16:01
Speaker 1: Yeah, and like a Barbie movie tour. And actually this kind of gets to a question coming up later. Movies that are also like fun to like dress up with and like make mrich for, and like I really want to do a Wicked tour, and like, like there are certain movies that we save because they would be really fun live shows.

00:16:20
Speaker 3: Yeah, for sure, Star Wars.

00:16:21
Speaker 1: We just did our Star Wars prequels tour, So yeah, we didn't know that you shouldn't talk about a really depressing movie for two hours in front of a kind of hostage situation live and learn.

00:16:35
Speaker 3: Yeah, so true. Next question comes from Kelly asks how do you find your guests? Do they come to you or do you go to them? I know a fair amount of them are fellow podcasters themselves that you're friends with, But what about the others, Well, Kelly, it's a mix, it's a mix. It depends. Sometimes the guests reach out to us or their reps contact us, and if they seem like a good fit for the show, then we invite them on. Sometimes we will reach out to someone who we would like to have as a guest.

00:17:10
Speaker 1: Because we're like fans, or because I mean, sometimes we'll so I guess a question that I've seen presented by listeners over the years is do guests pick their own movies? And the answer is, for at least the last five years, yes, Like that model has changed over time. There was a time where we would approach specific guests about specific movies. I think the only exception to that now is if there is a movie that we would really like to cover and there is a writer who has written about that movie and is someone that we know has a really strong opinion on that movie that we would like to explore with them, we'll invite them on the show. There's definitely a handful of examples like that, but by and large, anytime you hear I guess in the show, especially this deep in like a returning guest, it's almost always like in the like last two minutes of recording, we're like, all right, you know, come back anytime you want. And then it will be I'm thinking of like Shelley Nicole about how I feel like at the end of recording with Shelley, she's always like, Okay, well, next time I want to do this, this or this, and then yeah, we'll hit her up or she'll hit us up, and then we'll do this, this or this or like, you know, with repeating guests, it's we always want to make sure that guests are covering movies that they are excited to talk about.

00:18:33
Speaker 3: Yeah, we don't want to like project a particular movie onto a guest unless they've specifically written about it or posted about it or but otherwise, Yeah, it's like it is almost entirely guests picking the movie that they cover with us.

00:18:49
Speaker 1: Right. And then, because the show has been on for so long, there are now podcast publicists who reach out to us when someone has a new show launching or promoting something, And if it's someone who were interested in having on the show, or like someone we're a fan of or someone who's been on the show before, we'll say yes and we'll find a thing. So the answer is kind of all of the above. We still very often reach out to people who we just are fans of and would like to have on the show to have we have, you know, our like kind of common stable of returning guests, And yeah, we're trying to keep a mix of like familiar voices and new voices on the show for sure.

00:19:35
Speaker 3: Next question comes from Sammy. What Hollywood trends of the twenty twenties do you like or dislike?

00:19:44
Speaker 1: What is what's your? What's your? What comes immediately to mind for you? I'm like, I need to for me pray on this. I appreciate, huh. I appreciate a couple of things. The resurgence of lower.

00:19:57
Speaker 3: Budget indie comedies, which feel like the kind of went away in like the twenty tens, maybe even earlier. Yeah, at least ones that got theatrical releases and are also funny not to be bitchy, but.

00:20:14
Speaker 1: No, I mean there was a lot of like I think, kind of focus grouped comedies in the twenty tens.

00:20:20
Speaker 3: Definitely, there's like the back half of the twenty tens. Yeah, yeah, like studio notes, like high budget but like bad premise. Yeah, comedies. But in the past few years, movies that have come out that I've really loved and I've thought were hilarious, such as Dix the Musical, Twinless, Sorry Baby, Theater Camp, a handful of others. So I appreciate that. I also appreciate that more movies are addressing class in a way that felt like class was also kind of ignored in the better part of the early twentieth century. Twenty first twenty first century is that's so true.

00:21:09
Speaker 1: It is.

00:21:10
Speaker 3: Look, you're just like keep going, thank you so much. And we've talked about a few of these movies recently, and you know, their execution happens at rates of varying success. But I appreciate that, like filmmakers are being like, hey, maybe the billionaire class, maybe they're really bad.

00:21:30
Speaker 1: I have mixed feelings on that subgenre. Yeah, but I mean, I totally agree with you. I think that the circumstances that have led to lower budget movies getting theatrical releases is interesting. I mean, the positive thing for the twenty twenties is the collapse of franchises. I think we were really in the trenches with the aimless franchises in the twenty tents and in the tw twenties they stopped making money, so they stopped making them. And you know, there's plenty to be worried about in the twenty twenties. I think the trend I dislike is labor issues for those that are like I guess the strikes of twenty twenty three were extremely important, the WGA and SAG strikes. However, they have not really the ways that studios and the industry has responded to those strikes has been to double down in AI and not to you know, find ways to circumvent the winds made by those respective strikes into just like fine, we don't need you. And what that's resulted in is a tremendous amount of dog shit. I feel like it's kind, I mean little less relevant to our show because I'm thinking a lot about TV, but like, how so much TV, Like the quality of TV I think is like really because of how poorly the industry responded to crucial workers asking for basic protections. I think that also applies to the podcasting industry. But I do think that one of the like you're saying, Gaitlin, like, one of the positive cast offs of that is that it's like I don't know if like people blame consumers, like or the industry blames consumers so consistently in a way that just like doesn't scan because people always want to see good stories and like good movies, and like all of the movies you listed are great examples of that that are like it's amazing they're getting theatrically released, but they're not being properly promoted in all situations, And like, I don't know, I'm very glad that there are still places for people to go for like original stories, because I think people seem really burnt out on franchise stories and that original stories are like being actively asked for by everybody now, Like people get it, and it's cool to see directors and storytellers like hit their stride and be able to like make cool stuff that people are able to see. It frustrates me that it seems like, unless it's profitable, it's always going to try to be thwarted. But like people are finding ways, and I think that's really cool. And I feel like in response to a lot of how shitty the last couple of years have felt in the industry, whether it's like the like how horrible people were treated after necessarily striking after like blacklists around speaking out about gaza, like, there's just been a lot of hits. But I like that, you know, people are responding by like fuck you, let's make something and and and that people want to see those stories. So yeah, the industry is still fucking sucks shit, yes, but people are making really cool stuff anyways, and movie lovers are finding it and that's cool.

00:25:09
Speaker 3: Let's take a quick break and then we will be back with more questions. Next question comes from l is it more fun to cover actually good movies or really bad movies? Listening to the two of you shredding a horrendous movie is always fun, but I wonder if it's also fun for you. The answer is I fucking love it. I have a blast covering horrible movies, even though we might so grown and grumble when say, oh, I can't believe you requested b movie, or.

00:25:58
Speaker 1: We love the hereuse. We just wrapped our episode on shark Tail and we were like me, it's a part of the performance. Everyone we love watching dog shit. Yeah, that's the end of the sense it's fun. I mean, I think they're they're equally fun, like it is also amazing. We recently recorded an episode with returning guests Angelica Jade Bastian, who's like just the coolest person in the world. It's coming out in the near future. It's about Whatever Happened to Baby Jane, which is a great movie. And I leave recording those episodes feeling like, yes, let's make art. Art is amazing. Yes, I love talking to people about cool art. And and then I also leave with a very different kind of high when we talked about Sharktail for three hours, so it's like you kind of can't lose. It's honestly, the harder part is when we're we're not the tougher episodes. I think that the episodes where you leave with less less of a natural high, like it was fine.

00:27:01
Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, yeah, those mid mid movies.

00:27:05
Speaker 1: Yeah, but talking about shitty movies, it's the best.

00:27:08
Speaker 3: I truly love it. The worst the movie the funner I have.

00:27:12
Speaker 1: In most cases. Yeah, Like I mean, I'm still riding high on that shark tail, on that shark tail fume from earlier, maybe Martin Scorsese Pufferfish.

00:27:25
Speaker 3: The Titanic is a main character almost, Yeah, the sunken Titanic, if that's the prime location in the movie.

00:27:32
Speaker 1: If that's not an ad for the Matriarch, I don't know what is exactly.

00:27:37
Speaker 3: Okay. Next question comes from Amy. Have there been any moments in your podcast discussions that have changed your perspective on a movie or genre? If so, could you please share more about this.

00:27:50
Speaker 1: I think through talking to you and other guests, I have an I went into I think I have like I had at the beginning of the Backfield cast, kind of like more traditionally feminine taste in movies, which I think it was like a lot of our early dynamic is I love musicals and rom coms, and you tended to love action to venture, and I have a lot more appreciation for genres like action like horror, which I feel like it's just like gotten really, you know, mainstreamified in the last ten years, and I've like been unable to deny it, and even sci fi because I mean, since this podcast started writing, it started writing, I've became a star Trek writer briefly. So I think that the podcast has broadened my perspective and like made me sit with movies I would not normally make myself watch, and it's like in a good way. Like I feel like it has like expanded my understanding of movies and what I like. So I think it's been great for me in that way.

00:28:55
Speaker 3: Yeah, honestly, same because I mean, to your point, we had different tastes in genres, and I was consistently pooh poohing rom coms especially. I feel like, sure, yeah, I did not really engage with and you know, it's not my favorite genre still, but I see them for the merit that they have.

00:29:22
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm trying to.

00:29:22
Speaker 3: Think of specific movies that have that. I like kind of came in with a preconceived notion and then like had my mind kind of blown by our discussion. I'm sure there are examples of this, but unfortunately I no longer have a functioning memory.

00:29:39
Speaker 1: Well, I think that there's just been a lot of examples over the years of like me going in being like I'm not going to be into this based on genre, and then I've left very surprised and like excited.

00:29:51
Speaker 3: Yeah, next question comes from Rory. How do you feel about separating the artist the art i e. The movie, and the individuals who made it. Have your views on this changed over time? This is a great question that I have very complicated feelings about, still sure where you know, there are movies that I especially ones that I have nostalgia for, in nostalgia can be a pesky emotion, but there are movies that were made by bad people or that star bad people that I grew up with, and I have a hard time letting those go, and I don't want to necessarily give those movies up. But I mean, the whole kind of premise of this podcast is, you know, acknowledging the things that are problematic about a movie, and that might include who is behind the camera or in front of the camera and acknowledging that and talking about it and talking through it. So that's something at least that we do because a lot of people don't even get to that step of acknowledging well.

00:31:12
Speaker 1: And I think a lot of people too. And again this isn't like I'm not thinking of anything in particular, but like I think that there is a common sort of conflation that I've been guilty of myself. So I'm not saying that we've never done this on this show, because I think we definitely have. But like conflating acknowledgement with throat in the trash, it's completely culturally useless. And I've I mean, there's like creators that I really enjoy who really tense up at the acknowledgement, even if it's like, well, no, I like this movie, but like we can't not acknowledge right, Like I don't know.

00:31:53
Speaker 3: Well, to your point, like people's mileage varies on this significantly, where people if anyone has been you know, outed as a predator and they made a movie or they started a movie, people will completely disengage with those movies and refuse to watch them. And that's fair.

00:32:13
Speaker 1: Totally, I mean, and there are certain I think it's so tricky because there are I mean, like this is the most obvious example, but like I don't want to cover Woody Allen movies on this show, Like I don't want to think about him. I don't want to engage with his work because he is so completely repugnant. But I do think a part of it, for me at least, is that you can feel that in the art. To me, totally, you can feel why I don't want to engage with his work in the stories he tells. Yeah, when that's not true, I think is when it gets again I'm not thinking of anyone in particular besides fucking Woody Allen. But like, I think that when it where it feels harder, is like if it is specifically, if it's like an actor who did not write or direct the movie, right, that can feel very tricky. And I mean, there's no wrong way to approach this. They really it's like a very personal thing. And I think that it certainly, like when I was younger, I was a lot more like I don't know, I guess unnuanced in how I thought about it, and and I'm not even like mad that I felt that way. I was like, yeah, good for her, you know, like fuck that guy, fuck that movie. But it's I don't know, yeah, it's just like a very individual thing, and it's like it's it's hard for me to like, especially if it's like whatever, someone that you volunteer with, someone who gives back to their community, someone who really considers other people, and they're like, but I really enjoy X movie. You're like, well, I'm not gonna say like you're a bad person. What I mean like, yeah.

00:33:49
Speaker 3: Yeah, for sure. I think a hard and fast line for me is I will not spend money on movies. Yes, yeah, bad people are involved with.

00:34:00
Speaker 1: You have to steal it, you have to dot ru.

00:34:03
Speaker 3: Luckily I already own on DVD many movies made by problematic people that I like, Yeah, I won't spend money. I won't like go to like if there's a screening of that movie. I won't spend money on a ticket. I won't rent a movie or buy digitally, like, I won't spend money.

00:34:24
Speaker 1: That's I think like an excellent sort of like standard bearer for it. Because it's like you cannot help the movies that affect you, and you can't help how people in your life feel about you feeling that way. Like I think that over time, even in like our friend group, it's like there's just like disagreement on certain movies, certain cultural figures. I've gotten into it with partners too, of like, well, I don't really like watching this person's work because of this, and they're like, well, I, you know, like they don't feel the same way. It doesn't make either of us bad people, you know, Like, like, especially especially around the Mean Too movement, I feel like I felt very I mean, I felt very, very strongly about a lot. But it was it's so hard because I we were obviously like we were a show as that movement was kind of unfolding, and we were very much in conversation with it, and it was very I don't know, for me at least, it was like a very cathartic time to be recording because it felt like, you know, we've been working on the show for over a year at that point, and we'd been you know, in the world for much longer, and it was very cathartic to feel like people are finally taking the kind of issues that we have seriously. And I think that that energy and that Catharsis was so like, wow, things have changed. That when they didn't actually change and then when they actually started to actively regress, it's like, Okay, well what do we do now? You know, Like I don't know, it's so tricky because it's like it in a world where it's like you want to remain consistent and steady in your personal convictions and also not prevent conversations from starting from people who do not feel one to one exactly as you do. And I know that that's a tricky thing because I'm not saying like we should all hang out with our Republicans and blah blah blah, Like that's not what I'm saying. It's just like part of what I love about this podcast is that it is a place to actually talk about this stickier stuff in a way that isn't like, I don't know, in a way that feels safe and good and I don't know separating the art from the artists, The answer is, oh fucking no. I mean there's I think it's different for everybody, and I think Caitlin, your rule is like if you have an issue with an artist, don't give them money. Don't give them money.

00:36:53
Speaker 3: Because in a capitalist society, money is the language that speaks the loudest. So if you withhold your money, if you spend it somewhere else, like, these are the things that end up, unfortunately mattering at the end of the day. And as long as we live in a capitalist healthscape.

00:37:10
Speaker 1: And also just like prioritize, I think a lot of like it's important what you say, it's more important what you do. So I think that there's whatever, Like I'm thinking more like peak Twitter before everyone, you know, before a fascist spot and everyone fucked off. But stating you're like, it's it's important to state your personal convictions is just as important to act those out in the real world. And so is it a more productive use of your time to go volunteer in your community then to get into it with a stranger online. About separating the art form the artist in a very specific case, like frankly, yes, like go outside and do something and like I and and make your own art too, like you know it.

00:37:56
Speaker 3: I don't know.

00:37:56
Speaker 1: Sometimes it just feels like I don't want to I don't want to think about Woody Allen anymore? You know, I want to debate. Oh can we watch Anny Hall? I watching that ship? We love Diane Keaton, So we covered the Family Stone. It's honestly that fucking simple.

00:38:14
Speaker 3: Fy yep, Okay, next question comes from Donna. I'man what's been your favorite movie you two covered this year? What's been your favorite movie you saw this year? These are definitely different answers, same answer for me. Oh wait, what's your answers favorite movie I saw this year? I have a few, okay, and I'm gonna I'm gonna stick to ones that came out this year as well.

00:38:44
Speaker 1: Just everybody says like, and I'm gonna sing them in a rap.

00:38:49
Speaker 3: No, I'm gonna stick to the ones that came out this year.

00:38:53
Speaker 1: Okay.

00:38:53
Speaker 3: I loved like I mentioned, Sorry Baby and Twinless. I loved Sinners. I really enjoyed Weapons. Hell yeah, I really enjoyed one battle after another. I'm sure I'm forgetting some. But oh and I just saw Marty Supreme and by came out this year, I mean came out in twenty twenty five favorite movies we've covered on the podcast this year, and I will clarify that these are not necessarily my favorite from a Bechdel cast lens. These aren't movies that I'm like, wow, they fared so well on the nipple scale, But these are just personal favorites of mine. Dracula, The Francis Ford Coppola, One Shawshank, Redemption, Holes, Oh Brother, Where Are Though? Those were three movies from my birthday month, so stands to reason that they're some of my favorites. We covered the Before trilogy this year this year, Yes, that was a big one for me, and then also Banshee's of Venisharin Yay, how about you, Jamie, So reason I think you've prepared for this episode worth early than I. So I did not have a prepared list locked in letted.

00:39:59
Speaker 1: I think for me it is off the top of the head. The same answer for both questions. A favorite movie I saw for the first time this year. Favorite movie we covered this year both Amadaas Wow, kind of no contest. Amadea's Fucked My Shit Up this year. I really enjoyed getting into men being bitches Cannon this year to the point where I wrote my own and we're making it. I really yeah. Amadea's was really stuck with B movies that we covered this year or I saw for the first time. I also really liked Sorry Baby, I really liked. If I had likes, I'd kick you. Thought that movie fucking ripped. Although it is a stressful watch. I really enjoyed covering whatever Happened to Baby Jane, recently seeing ry Lane for the first time, seeing the Before trilogy for the first time. Those are really good. I'm just like scrolling through my letterbox, I'm like, what else did I really love this year? No Other Land was terrific?

00:41:01
Speaker 3: Ah?

00:41:01
Speaker 1: What the hell?

00:41:03
Speaker 3: Oh?

00:41:04
Speaker 1: And a great documentary that if you ever get the chance to see it, you should. It hasn't been widely released yet, but I hosted a screening Is So Good called American Theater. It was really really good. I saw Mikey and Nikki for the first time this year. That was really fun. I really really I feel like, Yeah, I saw Sinners and shin Godzilla the same week. That was awesome.

00:41:25
Speaker 3: Yes, Shin Godzilla. I saw that this year too.

00:41:28
Speaker 1: Really really enjoyed it. Yeah. I don't know, I had a fun I had a fun movie year. Yeah, But I think I think for me all time movie that we covered and I saw for the first time. It's gotta be Amadaeus from fucking nineteen eighty or whatever, that forty five year old movie. It fucked my shit up this year. I loved those two bitches facing off. I loved this so bitchy.

00:41:55
Speaker 3: Yeah, awesome. Next question comes from Maren. What's a movie that you would like to recover from earlier in the podcast to speak back to our first or second question on this episode. You know, things from the first couple years, kind of anything from that era and.

00:42:21
Speaker 1: We and to be clear, that's nothing against our guests, we just didn't know what we were doing yet.

00:42:25
Speaker 3: We were little babies.

00:42:27
Speaker 1: I would love to recover the Wizard of Oz same, yeah, especially in light of wick Head so true.

00:42:34
Speaker 3: A couple others that come to mind would be clueless.

00:42:37
Speaker 1: Yeah, they'd be fun to cover again.

00:42:39
Speaker 3: I think Mean Girls. I think Dirty Dancing deserves a recover.

00:42:43
Speaker 1: Dirty Dancing as our first live show. Yes, maybe film and Louise American Psycho we covered pretty early in our matrearch. I would love to recover that. Yeah. I think that there's just like a lot of movies from our first two three years that we would be able to speak to more intelligently. Now that would hopefully be and also, of course Titanic again, well, well again again.

00:43:11
Speaker 3: Among the questions that matrons submitted, people also threw in a few different movie requests. So if people listening right now, if you have any specific movies you're desperate to hear us talk about, any specific guests, please always give us your recommendations. But at least one person was like, what happened to your annual Titanic episode? You didn't do one in twenty twenty five.

00:43:41
Speaker 1: Look, times were hard, it was bad. No, we we fucked up. Frankly, we fucked up twenty twenty six.

00:43:48
Speaker 3: It won't happen again, never again.

00:43:50
Speaker 1: It won't happen again, and we are sorry we failed you. Yeah, yeah, I think really like you name it from the first couple of years. We we do it again if it was a movie we felt strongly enough about. Because we're just different people. We don't know those people, those bitches, those bitches couldn't even read got we gotta do it again?

00:44:13
Speaker 3: We do Okay, next question, there's only a few left. This comes from Dora. Are there any specific movies you would not cover on the cast?

00:44:27
Speaker 1: Oh?

00:44:28
Speaker 3: And if so, why.

00:44:29
Speaker 1: I'm gonna separate whoa double separation incoming. I'm gonna separate this from separating the art from the artists. There are certain like specifically like directors and writers whose work we are just completely disinterested in. But I'm going to more focus on I think that there are occasionally there are movies that one of us will pitch the other that the other will say no to because it's too annoying. There are some movies that, like you have reviews. There have been movies I've refused. I'm trying to think of what they are though. Okay, I think you always say no to the Polar Express. You're like any anything else, anything but the Polar Expressed. You just rejected it last month, even though I'm pretty sure it won.

00:45:08
Speaker 3: We should have covered it next year, I promise. Look, I promise.

00:45:12
Speaker 1: I know next year we're doing is. We don't have to do it.

00:45:16
Speaker 3: Here's the thing. To me, anything is fair game. And even if I again grown and grumble about a specific movie, there's very little that's off the table for me. But yeah, I know there have been times where I'm like, hey, Jamie, and it's not even movies that I like. Well, first of all, I was like we should cover Anaconda to line up with the reboot that's coming out, and you did not seem interested in that, even though I've never even seen them.

00:45:44
Speaker 1: Well, I also, I think I also don't because we used to cover a lot of like movies that were being rebooted. But I feel like reboots don't even do well at the box office. So I'm like, I don't want to watch a movie I don't like for a movie no one's gonna see.

00:45:56
Speaker 3: Well, let me tell you something. I took it upon myself to watch the original Anaconda for what, well, for fun, and it was very fun. It rocked.

00:46:07
Speaker 1: I'm sure I would actually like it. Well. Something I recently rejected was you were like to celebrate the release of what is it?

00:46:15
Speaker 3: Uh?

00:46:16
Speaker 1: I'm dying up here now. That was a TV show? What was it called? Is this thing on? It's being on?

00:46:22
Speaker 3: The will arn't a stand up comedy movie.

00:46:24
Speaker 1: I said a hard note to any movies about stand up comedians because they make my skin crawl.

00:46:28
Speaker 3: Yeah, I can't do it, and that's fair.

00:46:31
Speaker 1: I can't do it.

00:46:31
Speaker 3: Even though there's that one with Sally Field that I think would give us a lot to talk about.

00:46:36
Speaker 1: But I respect, I would be open to a Sally Field Jewry because I feel like we've actually, like Sally Field has been it because she was also in Fucking is It norma normal gene right, like the Big the Big Labor movie. Like she she has such a great filmography. Maybe that's a good matreand theme.

00:46:54
Speaker 3: Okay, Sally Field March.

00:46:56
Speaker 1: Sally Sally Field March. Because Natalie Portman is been discontinued on our on our show, It's I kind of like movies that that one of us is just like, ugh, ugh, life's too short. Life's too short to watch movies about stand ups and or the Polar Express.

00:47:13
Speaker 3: You're not wrong? Okay. That brings us to the next question that Michelle asks as a certifiable Wicked Stan When are y'all gonna cover the movies Jamie.

00:47:27
Speaker 1: To tour tour? I mean, well, I guess this takes us back to the previous question. I would be so much fun. Our outfits would be so fun. I yeah, I mean, we're we've got to cover Wicked one way or another. I'd love it to be at a live show. But if if you disagree, then then then name a more fun movie about two women. Then We're Wicked that we haven't covered already, because what is it? Any other billion dollar movies about two women? Right now? Not thinking of.

00:48:03
Speaker 3: Any pondering interesting.

00:48:09
Speaker 1: I just want to dress up like Glinda, and so that is. And I also love Wicked one, and I will not be sharing my opinions on Wicked for good unless I'm being paid to do it. But Wicked one, I think is amazing. Cynthia Rivo, are in a grande? Come on, It's just like the first musical movie in like a decade where they cast people who can sing without computer assistance. Jonathan Bailey, are you joking? One of the hotest been on the face of the planet. I don't like Jeff Goldblum's performance. No, I'm just doing the episode now. Jeff Goldblum I find very grading in most settings. Michelle Yo frankly does a bad job. Cynthia Arianna, Jonathan Bailey, Bone Yang Bone Yang, John Cheu, forever and ever and ever like it's Wicked, It's Wicked even SpongeBob. Why not even SpongeBob? What do you mean You'll have to wait for the Wicked episode for me to tell you about SpongeBob's connection to wicked. Whoa, I can't wait to tell you about it.

00:49:24
Speaker 3: Okay, we'll see. This brings us to the next segment. It's called the Shrek section or the Shrektion because we got several questions pertaining to Shrek, and I think it's probably because, of course, the image that I included with this post on our Matreon asking for questions was an image of Shrek and donkeys. I have to imagine that's what influenced many of these questions, but I'm not mad about it. First question from Will Okay, when will you two be writing the screenplay for a fem freeboot of Shrek?

00:50:02
Speaker 1: I'm pretty sure that was Shrek two? But uh, will we will, we will, We've it's it's it's already, it's in the works. It's in the works.

00:50:12
Speaker 3: Yeah, we've got a question from Kate. Would you do a commentary for Shrek and Shrek two? I think that would be like super fun, the way that we did that Titanic commentary that one time years ago.

00:50:26
Speaker 1: Yeah, we used to, like, I mean we we we were kind of setting our ways on the Matreon right now where we do two original episodes which people like. But A was like, I kind of missed that period of time where we would occasionally kind of mix it up, do a commentary, do something I would be I would be down, especially Shrek two, Shrek April Shripril.

00:50:45
Speaker 3: Shry for real, Shrek Shreptember Shrep.

00:50:50
Speaker 1: Okay, now we're talking.

00:50:51
Speaker 3: Now we're talking. Now we're talking. Okay. Next question from Joe of the two of you, who is Shrek and who is Donkey?

00:50:58
Speaker 1: I mean, wow, I don't know. All my answers are evasive, like it depends on the day. I think we both are both we contain multitudes. I'm trying to think of who in the Shrek franchise would be my ideal, Like, who would I want people to be like you remind me of this person from Shrek? Probably no one. Honestly, I'd be disappointed to be like you remind me of a character from Shrek.

00:51:22
Speaker 3: I couldn't want to be gingy Oh.

00:51:24
Speaker 1: I don't even know. I mean I kind of am like I love Farkwaad. I don't want people to think of me as a Farkuad type, but I love fark Wood.

00:51:34
Speaker 3: He's pretty cool.

00:51:35
Speaker 1: He's pretty cool, And I love Sparkwad's mom.

00:51:39
Speaker 3: I don't know, Wait do we meet Parkwad's mom?

00:51:42
Speaker 1: Did we not meet Parks? This is why we had to do that? We have to do this. Maybe I just totally made that up.

00:51:47
Speaker 3: We got we got a fast track Shreptember, shrep Timber.

00:51:51
Speaker 1: I want to be one of the scary Shrek babies. I want to be the Shrek baby. Oh god, I think I want Shrek to be my dad? Oh wait, what is that character from Shrek for that says something funny? I'm talking about the roar that one. I love that. You say you knew what I was saying. Yes, yes, the kid in Shrek for that says that be okay?

00:52:17
Speaker 3: Yeah yeah, So hopefully that answers your question, Joe. Next and final question of the Shrek dishrection, Mary, fuck kill Shrek, Titanic, Christmas Prince franchise.

00:52:33
Speaker 1: Oh kill Christmas Prince easy?

00:52:36
Speaker 3: I think so yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:52:38
Speaker 1: Fuck Shrek. Marry Titanic for me?

00:52:40
Speaker 3: I think, see I would fuck Titanic Mary, Shrek, Well.

00:52:43
Speaker 1: Yeah, because I guess you marry Titanic. It's like, well, what are you guys gonna do together?

00:52:48
Speaker 3: But with Shrek, it's an endless adventure.

00:52:50
Speaker 1: With Shrek, and you know he's a he's a good partner. He's been married for twenty five years.

00:52:57
Speaker 3: Wow. Yeah, true, he's.

00:52:58
Speaker 1: Been He's Yeah, I mean like he as we saw in Trek four. You know that he has his issues, but.

00:53:04
Speaker 3: Well and in Shrek three, and in Shrek two and in Shrek one he has his issues.

00:53:09
Speaker 1: But I mean as a husband. I guess it's the Shrek's two, three, and four where we learned about Shrek's ability to be a husband. Yeah, I guess that that does make sense. Marrying Titanic feels kind of like a lost cause in a way. But although although although, going off of the fact that we just covered Sharktail, if I married the Titanic, I would just end up living with the Italian sharks in Shark Taale because they move in to the shipwreck of the Titanic. Or even better, is what is that Italian? Speaking of Italy, the Italian animated ripoff of an American tale, Anastasia and Titanic that came out in nineteen ninety eight.

00:53:53
Speaker 3: Oh, the Legend of Titanic, the Legend of Titanic.

00:53:56
Speaker 1: And then I could marry that big.

00:53:59
Speaker 3: Octopus you mean tentacles.

00:54:02
Speaker 1: Tentacles, Yes, Tentacles, the octopus who famously saved all the passengers of the Titanic from dying.

00:54:11
Speaker 3: Yeah, by holding the broken and half Titanic, holding it back together.

00:54:16
Speaker 1: Everyone evacuated with the plenty of.

00:54:19
Speaker 3: Boats that they had the exact right number of boats.

00:54:21
Speaker 1: And then tragically was pulled to the bottom when Dentles died. It was so funny when Tentacles died.

00:54:29
Speaker 3: Great, what was the question?

00:54:31
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm with you, kill Christmas Print, fuck Titanic, Mary Shrek.

00:54:36
Speaker 3: Yeah, all right, And then the last question curtails is that the right word dovetails maybe into a plug for something that we don't know all the details of yet, but we're announcing intent exactly. The question comes from Nancy asks, are y'all doing another tour again soon? Slash, will you be coming to the New York City, New Jersey area? And then several other people asked will we come back to the UK at any point? Will we come to Australia. Those questions were not too sure about. But because we're entering our ten years of doing the podcast, we are planning a ten year anniversary tour that is not going to be about Wicked. No, I don't know.

00:55:28
Speaker 1: I mean, I'm just saying a couple of it could be about Wicked. They don't have to be about Wicked. We'll see, we'll see, but we will go on a ten year tour. We will announce the details when we have them. It'll probably be later in the year because that's when our ten year anniversary is is later in the year. But we were very excited we've done I think in the last couple of years we've done a number of shorter tours, but this would be kind of a Beefer a beef here ten year celebration tour. Then I'm very excited for.

00:55:57
Speaker 3: So am I. Yeah, we have to hammer out all the detail hills still, but we will keep listeners abreast.

00:56:06
Speaker 1: Yeah, we've and with that, that concludes our Q and A episode, our first in a couple of years. Thank you so much to all of our matrons who submitted questions. Sorry that we weren't able to get to everybody's And if you were like, hey, why couldn't I submit a question, it's because you're not a member of the Matreon and ultimately you have to get on that. It's patreon dot com, slash bexel Cast. It is five dollars a month. It is the best way to directly support the show and its continuation and our ability to pay our guests all this other good stuff. There are plenty of benefits to becoming a matron, including not just access to the episodes themselves. There's over two hundred and there's two new months every month, but you also have access to our community and to vote and polls, and to submit questions, and to get exclusive merch at shows, and to sometimes get early ticket links. If you're interested in going to the ten year tour, we will make tickets available to matrons first. So if you've been wondering, oh, I don't know this five dollars, what do I do with it?

00:57:15
Speaker 3: A price that has never increased, by the way, No, you look around, we see inflation and we say no, not us.

00:57:21
Speaker 1: And Patreon keeps getting us to change the policy. But frankly, it's it's always been five dollars and uh, yeah, it's been five dollars for eight years. Honey, Please join us over there. We really love our community, and yeah, we're very grateful to have that community and to have all of our listeners. We love all of our listeners equally.

00:57:42
Speaker 3: It's true, but we do.

00:57:43
Speaker 1: Love the Matrons just more. It's okay. Do you have.

00:57:47
Speaker 3: Anything you want to plug, Jamie.

00:57:52
Speaker 1: Not in the short term. Yeah, no, this this year, I am. I think when this episode releases, I will be shooting my first feature, which I'm very excited about me So yeah, I guess stay tuned for me to tell you what happens with that, and that I will have a new book, my first novel coming out in the summer of twenty twenty seven. It is currently titled The Tower, but I am told that that title will change, so I will let you. So I have just like, hey, here are things that I've made, but I don't know what they're called, and I don't know when you'll be able to have them. Follow me on Instagram. I guess Jimmy Christ Superstar, that's what I got. That's what I got, Kitly, what about you?

00:58:36
Speaker 3: You can also follow me on Instagram at Caitlin Durante. And the main thing I want to plug is I have another round of my screenwriting classes coming up. I have several new sections, some of them are sold out already brag. But my intro to screenwriting class at the time of this recording still has a few spots left and it starts on oh, what's the date, January seventeenth, so there's still some time if those spots are still available by the time you're listening to this. You can find information about all of my classes on my website, Caitlindurante dot com. But yeah, I teach basically two screenwriting classes. One is an introductory class, and then one is a workshopping class. And that's for people who have taken my intro class or who already have some prior knowledge of screenwriting and have a project that they're wanting to start or that they're currently working on that you would bring into the group and do table reads and then get feedback from myself and your classmates. So those are my screenwriting classes that people.

00:59:49
Speaker 1: Should take all the time.

00:59:53
Speaker 3: Hell yeah, But yeah, that's pretty much it from me. Thank you so much, listeners. Thanks again to the matrons who submitted questions. Thanks to the matrons in general. Thank you to the entire Bechdel Cast community. Yes we love you, and we'll be back next week with your regularly scheduled programming.

01:00:13
Speaker 1: Love you, bye bye. The Bechdel Cast is a production of iHeartMedia hosted and produced by me Jamie Loftus.

01:00:24
Speaker 3: And me Caitlyn Dorante. The podcast is also produced by Sophie Lichtermann and.

01:00:29
Speaker 1: Edited by Caitlyn Durrante. Ever heard of Them? That's me and our logo and merch and all of our artwork in fact are designed by Jamie Loftis, Ever heard of her? Oh My God? And our theme song, by the way, was composed by Mike Kaplan.

01:00:45
Speaker 3: With vocals by Katherine Voskrasinski.

01:00:47
Speaker 1: Iconic and a special thanks to the one and only Aristotle Acevedo.

01:00:52
Speaker 3: For more information about the podcast, please visit Linktree Slash Bechdel Cast