Full-Court Miracle with Faye Orlove

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Speaker 1: Hello, listeners. Just a quick note about this episode. Some of the audio quality is a little distorted here and there. We are still recording remotely, so technical difficulties are a bit more prone to happen. We appreciate your understanding. Enjoy the episode. On the bed cast, the questions asked if movies have women in um, are all their discussions just boyfriends and husbands or do they have individualism? The patriarchy? Zef invest start changing it with the beck Del cast. Hey Jamie, Hey Caitlin, I think it's time we try. I think it's time we try a full court podcast. Oh okay, I get it. I thought you were you know what. I thought you were gonna do what. I thought you were gonna go full Mommy and me. I thought you're gonna be like Jamie. You can't be a basketball player. I need you to be a podcaster like me. I got you an internship. You've got to fall fucking Joe Rogan around all day and if you don't, and I'll be so mad at you. What a curse that would be? We know, imagine following Joe Rogan around all day? What would happen to you? I don't even want to think about it all right, Well, really going in with some negative energy today, which I think is which is good, which is good. Maybe it sounds like we need a miracle. We need a miracle to turn things around. We need a miracle. We need a long winded metaphor, We need a feature length metaphor, is what we need. Welcome to the Bechtel Cast. Hello. I think that was our best intro yet. You know, it's fun is the longer we do the show, the less we know how to begin the show. Because for the longest time we would just be like, hi, welcome to the Bechtel Cast. Im And then we decided at some point that we really needed to do a clever every time. And I was like, wait a second, we're not even funny, Like what are we talking about? What are we doing? You know? But yeah, if you listen to like early episodes of the Bectel Cast, which you shouldn't but like, but if you do, it's like, Hi, um, welcome to the show. There's a lot of weakness. Look, look, we hit our stride at some point, and then that stride was also messy. No, don't say that does say you're like and then it just kind of stuffed. Um, we have an amazing episode today. Um, oh my god. Sorry, my cat has been using my I don't know why I bought a fabric bed frame like a loser, but he has been shredding it and it looks a hundred years old. My goodness. Fleet. Well, let's start the show. Yeah, yeah, yeah, let's do it all right. So this is our podcast where we examine movies through an intersectional feminist lens using the Bechtel Tests. But J mean, I don't remember what that is. Oh well, I can help you out there. The Bechdel Test is a media metric created by Alison Bechdel, queer cartoonist. I don't. I usually said that in the opposite order, but today I didn't. Um. There's a lot of different versions of it. Here's the one that we use. It requires that any piece of media have two characters of a marginalized gender with names who speak to each other about something that is not a man for two lines of dialogue. That those lines of dialogue should be meaningful. If you listen to the show, you understand, you get it, and if you don't, I feel I could get the hang of it. It's all good. Yeah, it's pretty it's pretty easy. Honestly, this movie does not not to get ahead of ourselves. And if you're this is your first time listening, we don't spend the whole show trying to figure out if it passes the Beckdel test that this movie passed. I don't think it did, right, I don't think so. Also, I would love it if someone's first episode of this show is Full Court Miracle. I love if they showed there like full Court Miracle stands. Finally, it's our fucking moment. There's always there's always one person that's like I've been waiting for this specific d com, which been a while since we've done a d com. It felt good. It feels good to be back in the in the in the movies that cost fourteen dollars to make Weeds. Yeah, you're in your comfort zone, Jamie. I feel like I'm out of my element. The only d coms I've seen are the ones that we've watched for the show, plus teen Beach Movie one and two. Well, you have to, we have to support friend of the cast, Gracie Gillham. That's who is That's the Queen of the Beach canonically. Um So, if you're listening to this crazy Hello, we see you and we recognize you as the Queen of the Beach now forever. Yes, but today we're talking about Full Court Miracle, and there I feel like it's fun to maybe say how we planned this episode because it was at a wedding, but not just any wedding, the wedding of our guests, because always be booking your podcast, even when you're at maybe the most personal event of a person's life. Yeah, so let's introduce her and we can all tell the story together. So she's an artist owner of Junior High, a nonprofit community space in Los Angeles. You remember her from our episodes on Josie and the Pussycats and The Fast and the Furious. It's fay or love Shallow shallow back. I guess I should have added to my intro notes that I'm Jewish. Yeah, I'll go back and cut that in. You um start over from when you did the intro, So like, you're can we run that back full Court podcast? I know, because yeah, you don't want to lose that because it was so effortless, the way that we take it so good. Well, it was really cool being behind the scenes seeing how many times you'll practice that. It was just amazing, Yeah, and I feel like it really paid off. We've been rehearsing for at least a month. Yeah, we've been really working hard on this um fay. We we planned this episode at I mean I would say maybe less than an hour after you got married. It was a pretty Jewish wedding as far as non rabbinical weddings go. Like we didn't have a rabbi, but there were a lot of Jewish moments. And I think what you just were like, we want to do a Jewish episode of Bechtel for Hanukkah. And I was like, immediately, we have to watch Full Court Miracle. Yeah. And then you called your husband of less than an hour over and was like, Ross, We're gonna do Full Court Miracle. And Ross was like yeah, Like it was very exciting. Well, it's his favorite movie and you're his favorite podcast. So I was like, this is the best gift I could give him besides my virginity, you know, which you did right, So he got both that. Yeah, amazing. It was a buggy guy. It was a busy yeah. I mean I remember you saying that this would be your wedding gift to him this you being on this episode, Ross, this is your wedding gift. It is, and I'm still waiting for what he's going to get me. So TB D, what the fuck? I guess just like a happy life together and like eternal support, but like I don't know, rather have something like hold well, Ross, if you're listening, you owe Faye an equally amazing wedding gift as Faye being on the bectelcast talking about your favorite movie, just saying say, honestly, you oh Faye a full court miracle. Honestly, Ross brought this movie into my life, which is shocking because he's really not Jewish. I had never seen this movie until he showed it to me as his favorite Disney Channel original movie that was really formative for him as this little white kid who wanted to be a basketball player. And I was like, I was pretty shocked when I saw the movie for the first time. All these little Jewish kids like you didn't see that on TV. I was, oh my god, this movie primed him for a lifetime of me. So were already like a full adult by the time you had seen that. It was probably three years ago the first time. Yeah, wow, I didn't know that you hadn't grown up with this movie? Did you grow up with D coms in general? Oh? Yeah, I had shockingly never heard of this one. I don't even know how I skimmed it. This one is kind of a deep cut um. I don't really fully know why no one talks about it. Yeah, Caitlin, did you have any history with this movie? None whatsoever? When she did, like, never, Like, because I famously have not. I didn't grow up with the Disney channel, right, So I had never seen any D comms until we started this podcast. Very Toxic Way to Live. I truly I resent my parents every day for not having cable in the house. But this is another one I had. I had never heard of it either, because there are some that, like, obviously I had heard of, you know, your high school musicals, You're smart houses, You're I don't need whatever, the other ones are that are like pretty popular. This one, yeah, I didn't even so when we were talking about it at the wedding reception, we were like, yeah, full court miracle. I was like, what are you? What is this? And much to my amazement, you followed up. I was like, this is never gonna happen. Look, and to be fair, we have made some podcast guesting promises while drinking hard liquor which we were that we have not followed up on. But this time we did. Well, I would have canceled you, It would have called you, and it was out of fear that you would do that. Well, no, I'm almost curious, sort of. I don't know, like research you've done to just prepare yourself because there's gonna be a lot of Jews listening there's Well, I did do some research just to like, I mean, I did learn things from Full Court Miracle. I didn't think I had seen this movie before, but then as I was watching and I realized I actually had seen it, because I was like, I sort of just assumed that I saw every d com that came up between like and like two thousand and seven, pretty much like that was my era, and that's when I kind of topped out. So I did see this, but I think I just got confused because there's just other there's so many Disney movies about basketball that I just sort of didn't remember this one specifically because they're playing basketball in high school musical. They're playing basketball in a formative one for me, which was double teamed like they're also iconically playing basket of the Irish look of the Irish. That's another one. Yeah, yeah, but this one the right and I and that was and that's on me if we're not having a stronger imprint of this movie. But I had seen it before, um, and I remembered nothing. So so there you go. I'm glad you came into it fresh. Yeah, it's better that way. I learned. I learned, I lived, I laughed, I loved, and I also have some critical thoughts the same. WHOA, you didn't tell me we're going to be critical of this film. I'm so sorry for you to find out this way that this is what the show is about. Wow, let you guys take the lead, because I have absolutely nothing to contribute negative. Well, should I recap the story and then we'll get into this criticism. I have been waiting for the calender on the Full Court Miracle recaps. I the people demanded. We'll see how I do. Okay, Okay, So we meet Alex Schlotsky. He is a fourteen year old kid who goes to Okay, here's my first question. Is this a middle school? I know it's a Hebrew school. But they're like, because it would make sense if they're middle schoolers, because like they would be as like fourteen year old eighth graders or whatever, you know, they'd be like the top dogs at the school. But then I read Wikipedia that he's a freshman, and I'm like, wait a minute, why are all these like fourteen year olds the starting players of the high school basketball team? Did not occur to me, I started what he said he was fourteen. I'm like, well, that's the age where you just don't know. You just don't know if they're in middle school or high school. And I don't mind living in that mystery, but that, yeah, that doesn't make sense that it would be all unless it's like the Super JV team and they're just not telling right. I don't know, Yeah, I did consider that either way. He's fourteen and he attends a Hebrew school in Philadelphia. We meet his friend Julie, who is sorry, Okay, so that's that we were talking about this off Mike that for all my Degrassi heads is a I think maybe one of the most famous Degrassi characters of all time. Many Santa, my god, I didn't recognize how because you're not recognized many Santos and by Mandy Santos. I made Cassie Steel. Oh my god, she wasn't wearing much long I didn't recogn it. Is truly one of the greatest, like truly one of the greatest to grassy stars of all time. She played Manny Santos from age eleven to like age a hundred, like we don't even know she might still be doing it. Very formative character to my childhood. I love Classie Steele to this day. She's great. Also worth I just feel like, yeah, the child starts in this movie. They're really bringing it because the kid who plays Alex Schlatsky is the kid from Max Cuble's Big Move Alex Ylan's Ross's id all really love this kid. That is so I love that. I've never met an Alex Delon's stand before. He Well, come out for dinner sometime. What's he up to anyways? Yeah, Max Cuble's Big Move. I really loved that movie and I was like, Wow, Max Cuble, Now there's a man I want in my life. Is that another D com? I don't what is this? No, that's a that that was on the big silver screen. Oh, but it's like same budget I think that this was maybe I don't know if that this came up before or after Full Court Miracle, but it had to do with a kid named Max Kibel and he moved and that's basically the movie Shenanigans. Yeah sounds like a romp to me. Yeah, this kid moves from one location to another and a little weird. I think that there is a big food fight. But maybe I'm projecting that onto my memory, but I think that there is a big food fight. Got it? Anyways, you know, everyone's everyone's out and they're doing a great job in the movie Full Court Miracle. Yes, so Alex loves basketball, but his school's team is the worst team in the strict or whatever and they lose basically every game, partially because their coach doesn't know what he's doing, he doesn't know anything about the game of basketball, and also partially because the other kids don't like playing basketball, which I feel like this is acknowledged constantly, but like never treated as a real problem that like nine percent of the team doesn't want to do it right. And those people are named Joker Stick, t J and Big Ben are Alex's teammates. Awesome and one of my criticisms of this movie is that I don't know who is who. I don't know which character has which name, and I don't know Alex that many times gestures to them and says all of their names. But I guess you never really know which ones which. Yeah, yeah, yeah, who's Joker? Because you've got to stay away from that kid? Right? Yeah? What are we in a Todd Phillips movie? I hope so not? Okay? Uh So the team plays a rival team, the Warriors, with this kid Tyler, who mocks them and makes fun of them for being so bad at basketball. And then this Liberty Tournament is coming up because I guess Liberty because they're in Philadelphia. I'm not sure. They keep calling it Attorney and I was laughing. Um, but it's coming up in like a month, and for once, Alex doesn't want to lose. Um. Also, by the way, Alex has a problem where he never passes the ball to his teammates, So I guess we're setting up an arc here. And then anytime someone says that though, he's like, well, maybe if you guys didn't suck, I would pass the fucking ball. You're just like Jesus. Meanwhile, They're like literally there to support him, Like none of them want to even fly right right, They're just like, yeah, well we don't even like we're just doing this kind of for you. You're not even passing. And yeah, he's a piece of work, that that kid. So then we meet Alex's parents. His mom is a doctor. He tells them that playing basketball is his dream. He wants to be in the NBA, but his mother, who's like very kind of pragmatic, is like, the chances of you playing in the NBA are so slim. You should follow in my footsteps and be a doctor. I think it is funny that I feel like that's unusual. Well maybe it's not super unusual for kids movie, but for just a parent to blatantly tell you your dreams are never going to come true at the beginning of the movie and have like math to back it up. This child is like maybe five ft like Fay, you don't believe in his dream either. I want him to find happiness. Wow, okay, I think that he went on to play in the NBA. Let's hope. So um okay. So back at school, Alex goes to Rabbi Lewis, who I think is his history teacher and asks if Rabbi Lewis will hire a real basketball coach who will lead them to victory the way that Judah mccabee lad the Israeli's to victory against this evil king and Caracus. That story is, of course the basis for the holiday and celebration of Hanukah. Yes, but Rabbi Lewis refuses to hire a new coach. Part of it is because Alex's mom is like on the board of directors or something at the school and she won't like allocate the funds for that. But Rabbi Lewis is like, what if you find a Judah maccabee elsewhere? So then after school, when Alex Stick, question Mark, and Julie are shooting hoop uh he's Alex sees this guy across the world say hoops hoops and like you said it, like it hurt you to say that. They're throwing some basketballs and some baskets, and Alex sees this guy kind of across the way who is really good at basketball, and Alex approaches him, but this guy isn't really interested in talking to Alex. So then Alex and his friends cyberstock him based on his license plate. They're like able to figure out who he is. I love it. It's an early two thousand's like I'm in kind of it's amazing hacking. I love it. They find out that he is a former college basketball star who did go on to play in the NBA. I think his name is Lamont Car And then some of the friends think that, oh, maybe this guy is the ghost of Judah mccabee because they the same nickname and like some of the same details are the same. So at the very least Alex is like, hey, maybe this is like the guy who will be able to lead our basketball team to victory. So the next day Alex asks Lamont Car if he will coach them, and after a lot of convincing and an offer to pay him, Lamont reluctantly agrees to coach them the following day for an hour. So they have this practice. The boys are bad, they're out of shape. Then they have practice again the next day, but they're worried that they can't keep paying him, so they have to like figure that they start selling their like basketball trading cards. Meanwhile, Alex's mom is like, here, shadow this doctor so that you can become a doctor. In a like kind of storyline that ends up going nowhere because like Julie just ends up taking his place in the Shadow program. It's so unclear, Well whatever, I just I always felt like Julie was about to become relevant to the plot in a more meaningful way, and then she never did. They just kept like moving her to a different because they're like, she loves basketball. I'm like, oh, she's going to end up playing on the team. She doesn't. And then it's she's like, I want the internship and like, oh, she's going to end up becoming that, I don't know, doogie howser or whatever. She doesn't and then it's like and then she's like, I'm mad at you. And then she's like just kidding, I'm not right, And the movie's over correct, waste of Cassie Steele's time. Okay, So then Lamont continues to coach them. There's like a fundraiser that the boys do where they're selling hot coffee on the street using Alex's mom's espresso machine. It's very weird. Um. And then Rabbi Lewis invites Alex and his family and Lamont over for shop Is dinner and Alex's mom is not thrilled with the idea of this stranger coaching boys on the streets. So Rabbi Lewis suggests that they moved the practice to the school and like kind of officially hire Lamont as the coach UM. But Lamont is like, I don't know about this. I'm actually here in Philadelphia trying to get picked up by the Sixers to play in the NBA. But they decided to go through with the Rabbi's plan and start practicing at school, and they officially hire Lamont as the team's coach. But then one day, Alex follows Lamont home and learns that Lamont is unhoused and living in his fan and because of this, Lamont had lied about his address. When Mrs Klein, who I think is the principle of the school, has Lama what her job title is. But I don't like her her but I feel like she really didn't experience any consequences for what mean and judgmental person she was truly um, But she had had him fill out an application for this coaching job, and she's like very suspicious of the whole thing. So Alex his dad, who is a real estate agent. Alex is like, hey, Dad, can you set Lamont up in this condo that's on the market that you're having trouble selling, So it seems like Lamont is living in this condo. So that happens um and then meanwhile Alex and his family are celebrating Hanakah because it's Hanakah while all this is going on, fun way to like mark the passage of time because this whole movie takes Also, how how many does this movie just happen over hanaka plus a couple of days? Well, I can't because there's a month till the tournament when I think it's just Hanaku. Towards the end, when they like are playing the semifinals and then the finals, yeah, I think. Okay. So Lamont is continuing to coach the team, but Alex is not doing well in school, so he has to sit out until he gets his grades up and his team comes over and helps him study. The team is continuing to improve their basketball skills, but oh no, the Sixers call Lamont and have him sign a ten day contract to play for the team, which is might be a real thing. I don't know anything about freelance basketball players. Is that a thing. I wrote that down and then I forgot to follow up on it. I'm like, can you just freelancer ten days? But I thought was weirder was the alternative that the um then the school offers him a position coaching, but it's day by day like that to me was weirder than a contract. He had a day to day position with children out of school, and like basketball season seems like it's like kind of almost over. Well, I guess now it goes into like I don't know, I don't know why I'm pretending to know anything about basketball season. We don't know anything about basketball. However, Yeah, a day to day position as a teacher, You're like, okay, well that's a substitute teacher. Like that. Also, I don't know where my head is at right now, like benefits can we get, like come on, this man health care because me hurts, which also like I'm thrilled for him that he gets to play on this on the on the sixers, but also it's like he's injured. Yeah, so how do you get a freelance contract playing professional basketball, which I'm not convinced exists if you're the whole thing is like he's injured I don't. I don't get it. I cannot find the logic there. But yeah, Lamont leaves to go for this ten day contract, like right before the Liberty attorney. So he leaves, and Alex is like, oh no, we're gonna lose the tournament without our judah mac couldbee. But then Rabbi Lewis is like, hey, Alex, you should just look inward. Maybe you're the judah. So it's time for the Liberty Tournament, and Alex kind of assumes the role of the team's coach. Uh. They advance in the tournament and they make it all the way to the finals where they're going to be playing the Warriors. They're like rival team. Meanwhile, Alex has reconciled with his mom and she's like, yeah, I should I guess not try to push this whole doctor career thing on you, especially because you're only fourteen years old. And he's like, thanks mom. And then it's time for the big game against the Warriors. Uh, they're losing. The electricity goes out, and so they decided to start the emergency generator and play. He's exciting. They the rules that they established here is that they're going to play the game continue playing until the fuel runs out in the generator. Whoever has you know, more points When the fuel runs out, that's who's going to win the tournament. So they go back in they start playing. Meanwhile, Alex's mom has gone to see Lamont and a miracle seems to happen where his van, which had broken down, starts back up again. So miracles are happening. And then back at this school where the game is being played, Um, you forgot the part where there's the the rap, the rap about Draydals when they dance. Yeah, there is a dance and there's also like non diagetic rap, there's a rap about Dradals playing underneath the dance. Hey you didn't. I'm so distracted by the dancing. I didn't even they're rapping about Tradeles underneath that really bad child dancing seas. Wait wait, let me see if I can find it on YouTube. I bet you can't. Like that was I forget? Who I told I was that we were covering this movie and they were like, oh, that's the movie with the Draydal wrap in it. So I it's like hyper like aware of it. Um, but yeah, once you know it's there, yeah, please please take an ad break. I gotta watch that. Yeah, we'll we'll, we'll get there in just a moment, and then we'll give you an opportunity to watch the dradle rep. I'm so excited for you. Um okay. So the generator barely has any fuel in it, and it seems like this team they're gonna need a miracle the fuel again, it's almost run out, but then Lamont shows up a k a. Judah Maccabee, And much like the Miracle of Hanegah, where the oil in the lamp was only supposed to last for one night but it lasts for eight nights, the fuel in the generator lasts long enough for Alex and his team to keep playing catch up and win the big game. And then they all celebrate, and then Alex's family becomes friends with Lamont's family and they share a nice moment, and then that's the end of the movie. So let's take a quick break, let's all watch the drade will wrap and then we will come right back. Bears Manifest and People Game on Record. You don't always bring in three young cover straight one on one three at Breties, you can bring on to Ready for the pain of the gag, give feet in the sound of the ground and earn the beat. Nobody. I definitely not even a gossage dad lead screaming, but the screaming for me because the one coming down with the full court near bons with the game said, let you don't hear me, don't remember want it that we all know it's true. Ns can't do't be to come and have it for you. Trading train trade. Oh my god, I've never thought about the song because they're dancing is so incredible. Okay, wo wow, okay, and we're back and we've we've seen the dradle rap and we are all better people for it. Well, I feel like I do. I always say there's no good Jewish songs, and now I just feel like an asshole. There's been one since two thousand three. Dare I say anything Mariah Carry has ever done for Christmas? So oh, I don't know. I won't argue with you. Let's go, let's go with that good song. So fay before we get into the main discussion, I'm curious how you feel about how Judaism and Jewish culture is portrayed in this movie well as the definitive just like Decider of all Things Jewish, Um, decider, Um, I say it's good. You know, I'm pretty happy with it. Um. Now it's I love it because it's sort of in the background. It's like how it should be. It's not like the forefront where everything's like I can't go out on Friday. It's a bat or so I don't know. It's like that's just this. It's like another It doesn't feel like intentional, like the the entire story could have happened without it being Jewish, but it has like a sweet Jewish. It's just cool seeing people very casually being Jewish. That makes sense. Yeah, Like you're not hit over the head with it. It's just like sweet. And you see these little family moments. You're like, oh, I do that with my family, and um, it's just cute to have Anica taking place in the background, like not even in the forefront of a movie. Like I don't know, because when we were talking about this at my wedding, the only other movie we could think of that was like overtly jewish was Eight Crazy Nights, and that just like hits you over the head with it. It's like we were eight Nights of Honaka each night is like a hole and that movie does not age well because it's just Adam Sandler making one horribly problematic joke after the next. So I have not seen that since it came out, and I don't really plan on rewatching it. There's yeah, I was looking up in general, like there's there's at least in like whatever Western media. There's just like not a lot of examples of movies that like, I mean, okay, so I'm on the Wikipedia page. First of all, you're welcome for Hanakkah films, and the only four movies that are cited are An American Tale, which we should cover at some point, eight Crazy Nights, which we just said we would rather not, The Hebrew Hammer, which does anyone know what that is? And Full Court Miracle, and that's it. Yeah, that's it. Only four, I think, honestly, because I didn't grow up jewish, um, I think that the piece of media that I most closely associate with learning about Hanukah was a Rugrats special that came out that was I think only yeah, yeah, which I haven't revisited it, but I'm I'm hoping that The Macababies is still still a classic. Well, The Rugrats are iconic. So my uncle was a director on The Rugrats and one of their like lead writers, and the entire like crew was very Jewish and it was like a very overtly show, like intentionally, and it was awesome growing up with that because I got to go like need all the voice characters and like, see that's so cool. What Yeah, it's really cool. I have all these original animation cells from Regrets and like, um, oh my god. Yeah, well he was at the wedding. I should have introduced gosh. But yeah, no, I love that The Road Grats was formative for you. It's just like, what a sweet show, and yeah, macababi has gotta do what a macababys gotta do. Like my little cousins and I when we were little, we would play Maca Babies as a game like that was our like Hirid or whatever other kids play. We were like, no, we're literally the Maca Babies. First likes. Um, that's the main Jewish representation I saw at any point in my life was Kyle Broflovski in South Park and his his family. I'm not even mad at that either. I loved that. It's true. I mean it is just like extremely scarce in uh, in Western especially in comparison to the like absurd amount of Christmas media available in the world. It just it keeps ongoing. So we really I mean, I feel like they we've been talking about this for years of covering a honeck a movie, and it just it was just there. There's there's unfortunately, at least at the time of this recording, not a ton of options, and so I'm glad that we're covering full core miracle. And then also I think I think I like learned ship by watching. Yeah, like I feel like it's I don't know, it's very like so many of the elements of this movie are really you know, after school, specially in a way because it's a d com so that's in the nature. But um, I learned stuff in the scene, like the way that they integrate the like the Shabbast dinner scene. I was like, I learned things about Um I've never been to a shopbast dinner, so that was interesting to me. I've like they you know, the way that the plot you know, maybe heavy handedly you know, fits in the matt could be story. I was like, oh wait, yes, like Rugrats, I remember I remember that I like, I mean, I I liked how the movie like you were saying, just like, this is the world that we're living in, and it seems like there were a lot of Um. It was certainly written by a Jewish writer. I don't know if it was directed by Stuart Gillard. Let me just while you look that up. Joel Silverman, who was one of the co writers on the movie, knew real life Lamont Car, which is what this movie is based on. Because this is based on a true story and they knew each other at University of Virginia in the seventies, I want to say, and so he kind of adapted his real life story. Um, Joel Silverman did for Lamont Car's story. Um, because there was a time where Lamont Car was coaching, you know, like youth basketball teams, and he in in Boca Raton, Florida, No less, not in Philly, in folk Overton. Yeah, there's still life story is fascinating. I wish that they kind of stuck more to like Lamont Car's actual life story because there were so many like he just sounded like a really fascinating guy. He was also a wine connoisseur and a dart player a dart player. Yeah, I was just like where is that? And then lost over these facts, right, like that's really and I I don't know, Caitlin, did you have much luck? I was trying to like fact check the more specific elements of Lamont card that are included in the movie, and they're the most of the information he passed away I think four or five years ago, but most of the information around him seems to be pretty general. So it was like hard to I don't know, Like anytime you're you see a movie that you're like based on a true story, you're like, okay, but probably not though, but what is real and what isn't? And it was um in terms of like the broader elements of fake Lamont's story, Um, like you know he was unhoused at the time of coaching, and like the son and the wife. I was not able to confirm those details in anyway. I couldn't find information about it either, So yeah, I'm not sure about that, but um yeah, in any case, this movie had at least one Jewish writer and and stars a young Jewish actor. Yeah. I was also trying to figure out like who of the cast the actual actors, um, Alex Delons is Jewish, where I say children looked very Jewish. They played Jewish very well. A lot of the cast is. Um. I was like, was this a Canadian production because so many of the actors that they cast are from Canada. But that's neither here nor there. I mean, full on, there's a Degrassi cast member. Um anyways, um. I did find some criticism surrounding this movie about the movie leaning into a fair number of Jewish stereotypes, such as like the overbearing mother. That's every Disney movie. It's like the mom wants you to be something specific, and like you're like, but I like this arts thing, and no, that's still people just look for things to be upset by. And if you're upset by that, okay, that's a valid like when I obviously do not speak on behalf of all Jews, but like I didn't even know that was a stereotype. But my mom is so overbearing. I got your mom's a sweet that's kind of where I like how casual the movie. It wasn't like these like like I don't even want to say all the stereotypes I could have done that I've heard in my lifetime. So you didn't find there to be like egregious stereotyping with the Jewish characters in the movie. I didn't at all. I thought it, I love this movie. It's like the only thing I have, I have to cling to it. I mean I didn't either, But again, as a non Jewish person, I like, wasn't other criticisms that you've read. I mean, everything was kind of vague I found, I mean believed or not. Not a lot of like prestige journalism has been written about this movie. So what I did find were just a handful of blog posts. One was from something called Mainline and Christmas, where it's by Aaron Snyder. She seems to be watching holiday movies in general and trying to find ones that depict Hanukkah and maybe other Jewish holidays. Respectfully, she did not like the movie. She thought it was really bad for like mostly like plot whole reasons, but also yeah, well we cost twelve dollars to me. But um. Also she felt that this writer felt that Jewish stereotypes were leaned into, but she doesn't get very specific about it, so I don't know what exactly she was referring to. I will say that I mean and I can't. I can't really speak to the Jewish stereotyping. I did think that the main obstructive forces for for Alex were two women, and everyone who was like super supportive of him and his dreams were like Daddy and my RABBI think I'm so awesome and like I can do this, and then it's like Mrs Klein and his mother that are the obstructive forces. Which so I think at least there's like a little bit of like true stuff going on. That's not the Judaism speaking. It's more of like the two thousand three Disney era, where like women are telling you what to do with your life, like that sort of thing. But yeah, I think that's a separate conversation where yeah, it's just like the two main like adult women in the movie happened to be sticklers for the rules and they have to be, I mean in a movie written and directed by men. Yeah well yeah, yeah, I did not phrase that well. But there was one conversation that felt like maybe was about to pass the Beach Doel test, which was between Julie and the mom when they're just like at the internship and they're like, oh, we have to go to the game, and I'm like, okay, all right, yeah, we gotta go watch Alex play. Yeah, I was like, damn it, but yeah, there were only two female care that the principle, but she was well, yeah, So between like Alex's mom and dad, Dad is like the fun goofball. He jokes around a lot, and then Mom is like, I want you to be a doctor and you have your fourteen but you need to have your career path already figured out. And what I did appreciate that about that though, was it so few stories feature a mother's son story arc. It's usually a father's son things. For that to be like the main focus of I mean again, it does make it so that the mother kind of is an antagonistic force for our protagonist Alex throughout the movie. But for that to still focus on like a mother's son relationship is like a pretty rare thing to see. At the top of that for like two thousand three, it's like that the mom is very clearly the breadwinner of the family. We see the dad doing more like traditionally maternal tasks like he he's cooking well, and when his mom cooks, she she doesn't have time to really cook as well, which is kind of throws some waffles in a microwave and and that's that's representation for the moment when they're the principle is like Dr Schlotsky wants to talk to you. And it's the mom and sort of a powerful moment where you would inherently birded thinking it would be the dad, but no, he's a real estate agent, but not a yeah, he's struggling to sell this one condo that he yeah, you just simply can't sell. I would say no offense to Alex's dad, but I would say it doesn't seem like he's trying very hard. There's at one point where Alex comes home during the day. It's like a plot point where it's like, oh, we're going to move Lamont into this condo. But it's like two PM and Alex's dad has like a cup of whiskey in front of him. He's like he's like drinking during the day. I was like, how hard are you really trying to sell this one condo? And every time someone's like, hey has sold that condo yet, and he's like no, no, Like he's he's making cakes and drinking whiskey on like a fucking Tuesday. He's chilling. You're married to a doctor. That's the life. Baby, That's true, that's true. Like why why try? I guess like he so anyways, Alex's that Alex's dad character. He was so chill that I was like, what's going on with this guy? Um, yeah, he's just making dad jokes. But uh, I did appreciate that Alex's mom has an arc where you know, they have a meaningful conversation about like her expectations for Alex, and he's like, you just need to let me follow my dreams, even though I know it's very unlikely that I'll make it to the n b A. Just like, let me have this for a while. And she's like, you're right, I should like back off and just support you and not try to make you be a doctor. And then she said something like maybe the only doctor in your future is Dr J And I don't know what she was talking about. And I'm like, am I old or out of touch or both or everything? Like the main basketball card that he it's a famous basketball player doctor? He got it? Is that the one he kept selling? And okay, yeah, so that's her being like I accept your basketball dreams, which apparently Caitlin and Fay don't think he's going to accomplish. I do. I think he's going to do it, and I believe in alex Um. I did like that journey. Yeah if I feel I feel like a lesser movie would attribute that whole journey to the dad. But the dad is kind of they're more for comic relief. He's there to tell us facts about the history of Jewish basketball players. He's there to set off a car alarm, he's there to drink during the day, like he's just he's more sidelined than the mom. So I mean, I do, I do. I see where I don't remember the name of the writer, Like I understand where she's coming from with stereotyping, and if that is something that any of our listeners feel, it's completely valid. And I also do see what you're saying, Fay, of like, there were certainly like a lot of moms and children's media who were depicted this way regardless of their religious back ground in two thousand and three, So definitely anything it kind of felt more like integrated than anything else. It was like, oh, this is how they depict every family, every like white family, in a d com movie is this way with like a quirky dad but a strict mom, and like a kid who wants to follow his dreams. Like I was like, we are no different. It's also Lizzie McGuire yea, literally it's McGuire's parents. I feel like, didn't we have that discussion about xenon the space Space Girl? Right? Yeah? Yeah, so there there is like a precedent for it. But yes, I also see I feel like that also speaks to like how few Jewish kids movies there are that It's like that would stand out. There's nothing to really compare it to in a mainstream way. Let's take a quick break and then come back for more discussion and where we're back. Before we jump back into the discussion, I just wanted to quickly shout out I think that there's a scene where they're letting the kid improvise and it made me laugh. Wait, which one I think that unless it was some very weird dialogue, it's the scene. It's like an important scene, so I'm like, what is it going? Um, it's the scene where Alex is talking to his mom and she asks him, why do you care about basketball so much? Alex. That was not that was written. He describes basketball so weird. He's just like, yeah, you know, and you have the ball and you throw it and go in the hoop and then it's like, wow, oh my god, it's in the hoop, you know. And they're like playing the score like really loud, so it's kind of hard to hear him do. I was like, is he just like, is he having an off day? I couldn't tell if he was. It sounded like he was making it up. It sounded like her like, you know how if you're like, like how you love podcasting so much, Jamie, when you podcast, the rest of the world just disappears. You have no problem, responsibilities, no struggle, you know. That's what he's when he is playing basketball. It's just him and the ball and the hoop, you know. Um. And it was beautifully written, and it was very poignant conversation between a boy and his mother as he faced a window. It sounded like he was being played off stage. The scorer was playing so loud, and he's like, you know, when the hoop and the ball and then they keep cutting back to his mom and she's like, uh huh. I liked it. I liked when he said right at the beginning, he's like, Mom, I'm proud of you for being a doctor, but that's just not for me. Like, okay, I mean, but I always said to my dad, Alex appreciates a powerful woman. He does. That's why his best friend is Julie, who has two lines. Okay, can we talk about Julie, because let's talk about Julie. Really poor Julie. Okay. So the movie opens in such a way that it makes it seem like the friendship between Alex and Julie is going to be an important part of the movie, that she's going to be a way more important. Like the first scene, Yeah, that sets a precedent narratively that like she's going to be an important character. They never address why she's not on the basketball team or like or like, yeah, does she does she go to the same school? Does she go to a difference? You know what? It's probably a boys school now that I think about it, right, I I was like not paying close enough attention. But then like part of my head canon was like, so at the end of the first scene, they say goodbye to each other and she speaks in Spanish, So I'm like maybe she doesn't even go to a Hebrew school, but she could be from a like I don't think it's she very well could be a Jewish character like true it, but we don't see like it's. Yeah, I think that that's just like some clunky ass writing because you're just like, well, how do they know each other? And like does she? I was never quite sure if she knew like Joker and Big Ben and like does she know those? I guess she does because she appears in scenes with them, But it's like, how do you guys all know each other? Do you? You don't? I don't think you really. You see her at games, but you don't see her at the school. She yeah, she goes. Think she goes to the school. I don't think so either. She does cheer him on at the games, and I think maybe they're just friends because they like play pick up basketball together because she's a basketball player, but we don't learn anything about her interior life at all those she wants to be a doctor, which comes up very suddenly right and then also gets dropped just as quickly. I'm like, honestly, I was, so, I mean the bar so on the floor for movies like this so I'm like, well, I'm glad that they didn't make her like a love interest, you know, like it could have been worse, but it just yeah, it was so messy and bizarre. And then there's like that scene where she was like, I'm mad at you, and then twenty minutes later she's like, I'm not mad at you. And then she makes that really funny sign that says like miracles can happen, and then she must have had a sharply on hand because she crossed it out it happened, And then we were laughing and crying because that's a that's a beautiful story. Yeah, Julie, Man, what a disservice. She should have been on the team. What do you lose by having Julie on the team. It sounds like she's a committed basketball player. Well that would have been interesting because most schools don't have co ed teams at least at that age. So I mean, and at this I mean at this school, it's like, you might as well the team sucks let her play, right, She seems like she would be an asset to the team. She's a better player than the team, and she likes playing basketball, which of the team doesn't see, so why can't she play on the team. I assume she was Jush and went to that school. And I always loved that they showed like a Latina Jewish person because there are right right. Yeah, But now that I think about it, I'm like, I'm thinking back to that scene where the rabbi is like teaching the first class about like the Maccabee's, and I'm like, were there any women in that classroom? I'm wondering if it was just a boys school and she I don't know. Now I got to rewatch again. Yeah, first to appreciate the dradal rap, I don't think she goes to the school, but I don't think that that doesn't mean that she's not a Jewish character. Well, I just use a lot of negatives. I don't know if that sentence came out the way I was planning, right. We we can't make any assumptions, but we never We don't know enough about her character to know whether or not she's Jewish. What we do know is that she plays basketball and she's like better than most of the people. Honestly, they did they even need Lamont car. They could have just asked Julie to like teach them basketball, have an internship, right, Julie has gotten into it also, like fourteen year olds with the internships. This is just outside of my frame of reference, right, but whatever, I'm glad she got to do that, although I didn't know that she wanted to until she just said I want to, and then she was doing it in the next scene, and it had no narrative impact. Basically, you can write her out of the movie and the story changes not even a single percent. Like, but but also don't like she should be in the movie and she should have just been written to be more important of a character who like contributes to the story. The choices they make with her were so bizarre to me. And then the final character who is a woman is Mrs Klein, who again between similar to like the mom and Dad character, where like the woman is the you know, the stickler, like I kind of hesitate to use shrew, but she's kind of shrew. Yeah, And between Mrs Klein and the are like main educator character in the story, Rabbi Lewis. You know, she is the disciplinary and she's the one who's always like trying to squash their fun and you know she doesn't know how to be silly or goofy, and she's always like, you know, stickler for the rules, whereas Rabbi Lewis is like very laid back and he's he even says like silliness is good for the soul. I mean, Raby Lewis is a really fun I like, I like him. He's fun too, but he yeah, he like exists in contrast to her. Yeah, oh yeah, I hated them that principal character, Like it just felt very um. It was hard to like observe the scene where she follows Lamont home and not think it was rape, Like how weird did that be? What? Well, that's the thing is, like I think like it's heavily implied. Whether the movie is even like acutely aware of this or not that Like she's racist and classes and like her, I mean she and it's through her that all of this ship comes through of like god, I mean, there's so many and I guess that this starts the discussion about Lamont's character as well. But the way that she acts when she is like pressuring him to give her a permanent address is really hard to watch and really frustrating, and like especially because we as an audience know by then that he's unhoused and that whatever. It's like, if you know anything about those sorts of issues, it's like, well, why would not having a permanent address preclude you from being employed? And how are you going to have a permanent address if you're not given sustainable employment? You fucking anyways, and then she like stalks him and like just I don't I don't know. Everything's such a weird invasion of privacy. She sucks, and then yeah, I'm curious to everyone's thoughts on like how the movie treats just sort of like the idea of being unhoused. Because we learned that Lamont is unhoused. He has family back in virgin Virginia. So I'm like, is he just like living out of his van while he's staying in Philadelphia trying to get a job, Like this is his family housed back in Virginia's from it? Yeah? And then they like set him up in this condo that Alex's dad is having trouble selling, and that's not trying to sell at all, just like drinking whiskey and right, So it's like, I don't know it. So I don't know. I didn't I mean, we've definitely seen movies that handle the state of being unhoused worse and that are like cruel to characters who are unhoused, But this, this one felt a little dissonant to me. But it definitely hasn't wasn't like the worst example we've seen depictions of a unhoused person of color speaking as someone who was neither a person of color nor unhoused. Um, I was like, this feels empathetic. This feels like he's very human, He has a whole you know, it's not just like this person who the trope of, like someone who's drinking or drugs or whatever. This was just someone who is down on his luck and got injured, which is a very typical reason do people do end up at housed. And I love this scene where they're eating dinner together, him and Alex And yeah, I loved that he was a human character as opposed to just like this depiction of the worst of it. Um. But yeah, the movie doesn't seem to make a judgment call on him being unhoused. And in fact, the movie once I Think Wants You Too, condemned the behavior of the principle, who is like judging him and trying to discriminate against him for being unhoused. So yeah, I thought, I mean, I thought, it's like, I don't know, like everything in this movie, it's very after school special. It's very like of this dcom genre where it's like it's all going to be a little heavy handed, it's not gonna like Agecent well, but I felt like at least where the movie was coming from, felt like it was coming from an empathetic place. Like the protagonist of the movie immediately empathizes doesn't judge Lamont for being unhoused. They like you're saying, fay like they and I like kind of that like duality of like Lamont goes to Alex's house for dinner and then Alex goes to la Month's place for dinner and they have a discussion about it. It's like there aren't I don't know. I mean, I like the classic negative stereotypes, especially two thousand and three, where I feel like that stereotype was just like flying around then of either portraying and house people as the butt of jokes or kind of trauma porn, and in an lot of the arts, this is like, uh, I don't know, I mean, there's there's more to be said about the Lamont character, but I think it's kind of more empathetically done than most of those stories and not something that's like negative for kids necessarily. If you think about the audience how it is most kids, this is it could very well be some like a child's first introduction of someone who is on house, and like it's kind of a sweet I guess, like I don't know, I don't know the word. I guess empathetic introduction to someone who does live on house, because like they're definitely a protagonists and they're seen as like this Judah mccabee character, this big hero and like a legend and an incredible talent and a sweet guy, and we learn a lot about his life and his his backstory, his interior life. We learn way more about him than we do about Julie, certainly for Julie. Yeah, I think I ultimately felt like it was like an imperfect but like well meaning attempt for two thousand and three. But let's keep it. I mean, let's keep talking about Lamont because I also like was happy and and that was when I was like, oh, I want to learn about the real Lamont. And it sounds like there's a lot of like it sounds like the lamentt of this movie is honestly heavily fictionalized, and the main takeaway is like this basketball player who got injured briefly was the coach of a young Jewish team. Like I think that that's maybe the extent to which it is quote unquote based on his life. Yeah, that's what it seems like, because there's not a single mention of darts in the movie Full Court Miracle. He should be drinking wine with Alex's dad, you know, like they should be Somalia get up together. But as far as Lamont's character goes, I I, I don't know. I'm like again, I think that there are trophy elements to the way that he's presented in the movie that are like, I I don't know what. How did everyone feel? I felt like there were magical elements about Lmont that were presented like it it felt like, very firmly in that trope of like the magical black character who shows up and you know, helps the white protagonist reach his goal. How I described the movie to people who haven't seen it, I'm like, like, magical black character who helps a bunch of white people be successful and then sort of has their story not really finished or develop Yeah, oh absolutely, But yeah, I mean I was if that's the story they're trying to tell, like how could they kind of avoid that? But yeah, definitely, Well it's that's so that's the problem is, like I feel like they didn't need to tell the story that way. Like all of the magical elements of this story, I feel like, I don't know, it's it's tricky because I under down that the magical elements are part of what makes the Hannakah metaphor so central to the story, But I feel like that happens at the expense of Lamont's character and kind of leaning into a trope that is marginalizing Lamont's character, if that makes sense. Where there are moments where and again it's like I think that what is Maybe it's still very firmly this trip. But we know a lot about Lamont, we know about his background, we know what his goals are. Independently of coaching this team of fourteen year old kids. He does achieve that dream briefly, and he does have a fully realized arc where he's realized or reunited with his family, and then they're just like, we're going to move to Philadelphia. It's kind of clunkry, but but we do know a lot about his character. But it's still like, ultimately he is there to like usher these kids to victory. And then there's a few moments where he's straight up presented as magical. I mean, in the last scene where he shows up and the power is back on in the gym, there's no explanation for what it is. That was bizarre. Yeah, and for him to be the only black character who has any lines or any characterization whatsoever, it's like it is especially glaring. Yeah, I also find it funny. This is maybe a little off topic, but I find it. I don't even know what to make of this, But like the miracle that happens is like these kids got to finish their basketball game, the steaks that look at these steaks be higher, and I'm like, is this really the miracle we need right now for these like fourteen year old boys to win their I feel like it even less nuanced than that. It was literally like there's only enough oil in this generator or whatever energy to for the hell it was to last for one minute, and then it lasts for eight minutes. Like it's even less like right now than you're described. It was straight up like the miracle is very specific in one regard. I love that they kept using the word like miracle and that that was so heavy handed a bit, because that is like really the point of Hanukkah, and the point of Hanakah is like not that it's near Christmas at all or like that you get gifts or that I don't know, just like any of the things that you might associate from just like regular culture or whatever. It really is like about this, like I don't know ownership of like that moment and the legitimate miracle when a small band of Jews were able to like fight oppression and have oil that lasted long enough for them to resurrect their temple. And like even though like it was so corny and the miracle for these young fourteen year old boys was a basketball game, I think it just like made it made it seem accessible, Like what what miracle are? You reached to a d calm audience that's going to feel that is fair. Usually a contest or a sport, it's always like you're going to have to win something. Um, but yeah, I mean, it's just like framing the context of like a miracle around something that a Disney Channel audience is going to think, Wow, that really is a miracle. We won our Tarney. That is fair. I didn't think of it like that. That it makes it very accessible to a young audience. Yeah, I think ultimately, I just wish that, like, because there is that an amount of attention paid to the Jewish characters, that that same amount of consideration had been extended to like, well, how are we portraying the only black character in the movie, and are we um effectively avoiding stereotypes, which I don't think that they we're also I just like I also wish this is and I'm sure that this is a budgetary thing because like how would you do this? But it felt like it kind of reminded me de com wise of the end of High School Musical, where you see all of Zach Afron's basketball game and then you see none of Vanessa Hudgens's science contest and you see like five hours of Alex's bast foot football game, and like, what about Lamont. We don't even get to see Lamont in the stadium. I'm assuming because they couldn't afford to shoot in a stadium. But I felt like his story was kind of like dropped, especially after this scene was like intense. The scene between Alex and Lamont where Lamont has just achieved his life's goal, like he's going to play for the seventies six and these kids are furious at him. They're so mad, They're like, what the fucking dare You could not have been more communicative from the beginning. He was straight up like I am in town for a reason. It is to play this game with this That's all he's here for. He gets that opportunity and suddenly everyone's like, wait, you never told us you'd leave. Alex was so out of line. He's like, oh, you think that's what your family would want, and Lamont is like, yeah, I actually do, Like that's why I came here, right And yeah he even sites like I have a family to support. They're relying on me, And the only reason the catalyst that gets Lamont to agree to coach these boys is that they offered to pay him, which I'm glad they did. Like I was like, imagine the movie if it's like these like you know, son of a doctor and real estate agent or like, hey, random guy who I'm bothering, who's just on the court shooting hoops, cheach my team, but for free. So I'm glad that these like these kids had the wherewithal to like understand that, you know, someone's labor should be compensated with money, because we live in a capitalist society where that's how things work, and that is like rooted in like Lamont's motivation to where it's like he we we know that he needs money to continue pursuing this dream of freelancing with the Sixers, which I still whatever, maybe it is, maybe it is I don't know how sports work, Hey bectel heads that are also basketball heads, let us know. So yeah, And then also just to the end of I don't know, like there were some points where I don't know. I'm still I'm still mad about the mystical troping of Lamont, But there's there's some moments where his story is very front and center, and then other times where it's kind of like you're just like, wait, does I know what happened there? Where you do learn so much about him, You learn about when they're trying to figure out if he's the reincarnation of Judah mccabee. You know, they asked him about his background to verify that how many brothers did you have? Who is your father? And he answers very honestly. We find out that he had a brother who was a cop who died, and you're like, well, that's a lot of information. That information does not come back by the way, it's just something that you learn um. But then but then it's like at the end, I think the end, it just becomes so about the basketball game because it's a d com and the kids want to know how the basketball game is gonna go. But at the end they kind of like Lamont's story. It's so like it's literally like when Vanessa Hudgens comes to the gym at the end of High School Musical and it's like we want to like it's that um, which is an iconic moment in cinema where they drop her storyline completely, and then she shows up and she's like we went to and we're like, okay, who cares? But it's like, did you forget to shoot some scenes of the movie, because that's what it felt like for this movie, where like right Alex's mom goes to like give Lamont a ride or something like that, or they like then she like they pick up his family at the airport. But like those scenes feel like we need those scenes. I wish it was unclear that that happened. Ye, and then Lamont just is like, oh, yeah, by the way, and the scene that we didn't we forgot to shoot my family families now and they're actually moving here, which also I was like, oh, they're moving here, but he just was freelancing. Wouldn't he just go home? But now he has a full time job, which he didn't know until they already agreed to move there, So it was just kind of confusing. But and also but I guess that there is like that's a moment where it's not attributed the magical qualities, like not attributed to Lamont, but that scene where the mom shows up at assuming outside of the Sixers Stadium whatever, and then she's like trying to start your car and he's like, it won't start, and then she looks at like lightning and then she's like, try to start your car, and then it does start, And I was like, I guess that that was the magic of Hanic. I don't know. Trying to cut the movie a little slack and saying that a lot of the magical elements are more about the anka metaphor I don't even know have metaphor is the right word because it smacks you over the head so obsessively, but less about like the magical black character. But I mean, you just obviously have to be aware in particular about those things. But I'm like trying to not just ruin this movie for myself, and I feel like a lot of that, like the ghost and the magic and the generator, it's more about the Hanukah aspect than this, like right, I think it just it becomes complicated when you only have one black character in the entire movie and that's the expected to be the ghost of an Israeli hero. Yeah, it's it's complicated. When I first saw the movie, I thought they were going to make like a really cool observation when alex Or Schlots is like, I think this guy is the ghost of Judah mccabee, and then all his little Jewish friends are like, I don't think so. And it's obvious that they think he's crazy because A like our ghost real and be it's like this tall black guy. And he says like, well, we don't know what Judah Maccabee looked like it could have been. And at first you kind of think they're going to reference the fact that like Jews from Israel were like Middle Eastern and maybe like that is what someone looked like, and then it doesn't really come back or like, I don't know. When I first saw this, he I was like, oh my god, are they about to reference the fact that like Jews historically have been people of color and like are actually Middle Eastern and people's depictions of Jesus are really whitewashed and like all these ideas. And then I'm like, oh, no, no, no, no, they're just making a because it's they don't touch on all right, I was. I was, yeah, I was really um hoping that that would happen, but this is not the movie where it happens. Yeah. Was there is there anything else that people wanted to touch on? I didn't really have anything else. I just wanted to say. I truly like, you know, I enjoyed the performances in this movie, even that weird scene where I truly think the kid was improvising how basketball makes him feel um because he was like, you know, when you put the thing in the hoop and it feels so good. But anyways, line of the movie is when Lamont it's just like, I don't know, like you know, when someone starts real acting in the movie in the middle of like a movie that it's not like that. But when Lamont is like, don't ever do that, don't put yourselves in a box, I was like, WHOA, Yeah, I felt it. I felt it. That was sweet, mom, it was really sweet. You really think a bunch of which kids can win. He's like, don't ever do that? That was sweet. I thought that was great. It was great. Shout out to the actor who plays Lamont, Richard T. Jones. He's been in a bajillion things. I recognized him from I know, I like Santa Clarita Diet. The career. Good for him. So that's my way of saying that I've seen Santa Clarita Diet, and you know what, I thought it was just fine. I keep thinking, you're gonna say, Santa Clause Santa University, which is coming out this season, bring him up our Jewish episode. I know. I'm so sorry. You really got a way to loop in. Santa. Hey, do you want to do you want to be in Santa University this year. I would be absolutely honored. Can I play a Jewish character? Yeah? Of course you can. Wow, this is like really for my career as a freelances. I think this year is going to be called the Santa Vaccine, but I won't know until I write it two minutes before we record. Amazing. Yeah, I'm obsessed. We should really have a star studded cast this year. If you're an extremely famous person, um, and you're listening to this right now, let me know if you want to be in Santa Let's let's try to get Alfred Molina. Yeah, he's probably gonna be busy doing press for Spider Man, but Santi University counts as press. I would say, I agree, it gets uh it was you know, it gets pressed Santi University. I'm sure millions of people listen. It was on a list. I know about it. I don't even know. I don't remember if that's a lie or not. Um, Well, anyways, let's talk about whether Full Court Miracle passes the Bechtel test or not. I think the answer is no. I did forget about that scene where Julie and Alex's mom, Who do we learn her first name? At any point, or is she We've learned that her eponymous and his dad's name is Marshall. She's credited as Cynthia. If we learn her name in the movie, I like missed it, so I don't know Alex's mom. Mom Cynthia and Julie do talk about this like shadowing a doctor program, which I did forget about that scene, but yeah, I feel like they're they're talking about a male doctor that Julius shadowing, and they're talking about having to get to Alex's basketball game. So it doesn't I was like very like tuned to that scene because I was like, maybe, no, nope, it doesn't shoot well as far as our nipple scale goes zero to five nipples. Based on examining the movie through an intersectional feminist lens um, I mean for this to be one of four movies that prominently feature Hanukkah. I don't know if that was like a list of like American films or what exactly, but either way, there are very few out there, and while Hanukkah is not the most important holiday in the Jewish religion, it would still be nice to have movies about it and movies about other holidays. From any religion, because there are eight trillion Christmas movies and so much representation in media of Christmas, and there are very few movies about any other holiday or religious celebrations or traditions. Where's the Winter Solstice movie? That's what I want to know. But look, I yeah, I agree, and I also am like, let's get Santi University off the ground as well, So it's complicated for me. Two things can be true. Yes, So I think it's really positive for this movie to exist and for young Jewish kids who saw this movie on the Disney Channel to have felt represented by it. For adults seeing it for the first time three years ago, such as yourself Fae feeling represented, I think that is a really positive, wonderful thing. I don't like the way the female characters are represented, although again, the two adult women do have an arc. They maybe even have a redemption, which is something that we talk about in holiday movies a lot, where it's always like a dad needs to redeem himself because he was a bad daddy, but then he becomes Santa, now he's a good daddy or whatever those stories are about. I think that that's what it's about. So, you know, we get these, you know, kind of like sticklers, shrewish type of women. But then they come around and they have an arc. So I don't know, I feel a few different ways about it. And then Julie just is like set up to seeing like she's going to be an important character and then is completely sidelined. We learned nothing about her the you know, the magical black character trope that is present. I don't know. For me this, I feel like it's just going to have to be like a split down the middle, where like there's a lot of good things, there's some not so good things. Two and a half nipples. I'll give them to the menorah that is lit in a couple different A fun Jewish fact about them that is actually just like a candle opera on the specific one you've used for Hanukahs called a hanukia because it has to have eight little hands, and then one the main candle lighters called the shamash. Wow, I did not know. So thank you for giving yours your nipples. Yes, oh wait, I'm going to take half nipple away from that and then give my half nipple to the drado wrap. I was gonna say, I'm giving all my nipples to the dradle wrap. I'll go two and a half as well. Yeah, I I agree with that you're saying kill the knife. Like sometimes the Hanukkah metaphor chafed with other prominent tropes in a way that went a little under examined. I wish that Julie had more to do because I'm just like, you had Manny Santos and you did what with her Nothing? That's an interesting decision. Oh and I also just want to say I think that, like, yeah, this is a great movie for the representation of Jewish kids, but it's also great for kids who aren't Jewish to like know more about Hanukkah because there's not a lot of media that is gonna I mean it's like Rugrats. I don't know. Absolutely, this movie gave me a clear understanding of what Hanukah celebrates than I had before. So that brings me so much joy, truly and truly like the stuff like I I yeah, the Shabbat dinner scene, Like I learned a lot. And it's like kind of embarrassing for the world that there's not more media that teaches uh non Jews about Judaism. Actually, the one the media you know, like there you think you'd have more phase perjuring herself at the end of the episode, which is interesting. I'm giving my two and a half nipples to the dradle wrap. Done, done, beautiful. Hey, what what do you what do you say? I'm honestly giving it three nipples. I'm a notoriously lenient about my nipple giving. Uh And we love that about you. Yeah, you know, it's still meaning. And I always throw on a half nipple for intention um. And I just want to see Jews on TV, Jews played by Jews doing Jew things. That is my goal. And I love seeing Honk Kong on TV. And I love seeing a gear at kids and it just being very chill and casual and saying that these kids are just like me. They play basketball, and yeah, there's no good female characters and the black character has to be magic. Yeah these things are true. Well, we have key paws, and we have Hanu Kiya's and we have a dread rap And for that, I'm going three nipples. And I will give my nipples to my non Jew husband for introducing this movie to me and for being so excited to learn about Judaism all the time and that is special to me. Ross. We hope we didn't let you doubt. This episode is dedicated to you, whether you liked it or not. This is your wedding presents, so you're welcome you wanting to do a Hanakah episode and hogsamak to everyone out there. I hope you have such a good hankn like some pretty candles and just see your family. You're chosen or otherwise, and you don't have to lean into all the trying to be Christmas slash capitalism indoctrination moments. There don't have to be presents or buying things. It's just supposed to be about family and joy and miracles and it's a pretty holiday shout out to the moment where Alex gets a an encyclopedia he gets like Wikipedia on c d s and he's like, thank you, you didn't want that love that. I do like the way his mom is characterized as far as like she's just like very self aware, and she's just like very I don't know, she's just like has a wonderful awareness about the world and her son. And she's like, I know you think my cookies suck, but I gave him to you. Anyway, I know you don't want Wikipedia on c ds, but guess what it's happening. Um, I would love Wikipedia on c ds. Well, I guess that's the episode. Yeah, Faith, thank you so much, everybody, truly happy Hanuka. That's thank you very much in Hebrew Toda and fay. Where can we find you on the world wide web? Oh my gosh, you can find me at fail or love on everything. No, why don't just Instagram? I don't do tweets, um and then Junior highs at Junior High, l a on Instagram and Twitter. I do not run the twe so if you tweet at me, I will not see it, um and come to Junior High. I'm I'm very into doing things. I r L these days now that everyone's vaccinated, get vaccinated. Also, shout out to your art depicting a scene in Titanic, which making merch for you. Don't worry. Thank you so much. I really appreciate it. Oh sorry, no, I meant for Caitlin, not Jamie. Oh ship. Yeah yeah I requested it. So it's that's really now. That's awesome for you guys. That's so fun. But Jamie, if you play your cards right, maybe I'll give you a certain Winter Solstice gift. Maybe you guys can like share this mug I'm working on or something. No, I can't wait to see it. That's going to be really cool. I'm just getting March for everyone. Um No, I love you, but thank you so much for doing a little Hottka episode. I'm sorry there wasn't a better you a lot. Well, hopefully there'll be more soon and I hope you should write a Hanuka movie. Maybe I will use my knowledge of not writing movies to take my screenwriting class. This was actually a long ad. Yeah, Caitlyns, just trying to get your money. Literally count me and I'm not sicko. You can find that. You can find The Bechtel Cast on the Internet as well. We're on Instagram and Twitter at Bechtel Cast. You can get merch for whatever holiday you celebrate. Because capitalism rocks, rolls and rules baby, no matter what religion, we by by Capitalism Babies as a t public dot com slash the Bechtel Cast. You can also join our patreon ak Matreon where we cover two additional movies just Me and Caitlin every month. And what are we? What are we doing where? Does ever do it. We're doing another Princess Switch because we're pilled. He's not quite Princess Switch three not enough. Vanessa Hudgens is, yes, that's our advances should be at least five. And then I think we're still deciding on a second December Matreon movie, so stay tuned. But yeah, Fai, thank you again for being here. Come back anytime. Thank you, and Happy Hanukkah to you all. Bye bye training trade trade on trail trade, trade on train, trail, trail trade