Suggestible - Bridgerton, CODA and Our Flag Means Death

Episode Date: April 7, 2022

Suggestible things to watch, read and listen to. Hosted by James Clement @mrsundaymovies and Claire Tonti @clairetonti.This week’s Suggestibles:01:31 CODA10:30 Our Flag Means Death17:23 Bridgerton Season Two28:48 Dog37:43 Self Esteem, Sentimental Garbage39:08 r/place41:44 r/fudgecars43:58 Tonts with Zahra Biabani (Soulful Seeds)Send your recommendations to [e-mail], we’d love to hear them.You can also follow the show on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook @suggestiblepod and join our ‘Planet Broadcasting Great Mates OFFICIAL’ Facebook Group. So many things. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hey folks, it's Mark Maron from WTF. I travel all over North America doing stand-up and it's always good to know Airbnb is an option when I'm away from home. But if you're away from home, why not take your own place and Airbnb it? Airbnb your whole home to make some extra cash. Or if you have a spare room that's not in use, just Airbnb that. Whether you could use extra money to cover some bills or for something a little more fun, your home might be worth more than you think. Find out how much at airbnb.ca slash host. Bing bong, whatever, bing bing bong. Nothing like doing it again because I forgot to press record, James.

Unbelievable. But at the same time, pretty standard stuff around here. Correct. Welcome, welcome one, welcome all to Suggestible Podcast, a podcast where we recommend you things to watch, read and listen to. My name is Claire Tonti. James Clements is also here. We are married.

We are coming off a sugar high because I made chocolate cake tonight. I'm not feeling very good, Claire. I'm not going to lie. I had a lot of sugar, a lot of cake and a lot of cream. Yeah, you also made a delicious slow-cooked meal. So we've all in all had a very heavy old time. Very bougie. In the tum-tum.

It was my delicious Nigella Lawson Oliver or chocolate oval cake. For those who followed my newsletter, which is on hiatus again. Oh, wow, is it really? Yes. Shock. I know. Anyway, but that recipe is in there somewhere in the archive. It's a delight. Great. Let's, shall we get started? Shall we? Enough of this. Yeah,

let's, enough, enough banter. God, too much bantering. People don't want banter. They want a list of things they can watch. Do you know who they want? They want Santa. What are you doing? What is that? Yeah, but that's not anything. People always want Santa. Who doesn't want a Santa to show up? I'm not interested. Ho, ho, ho. Who laughs like that? No one laughs like that. Exactly. And you know, it's just a thing to get people buying presents or whatever, you know, corporate, I don't know. I don't care. I like Christmas. Anyway, what's your first recommendation? Let's not go down that rabbit hole, Grinch. Alright, so I, as promised, last week we talked for

45 minutes about the Will Smith-Chris Rock debacle. It's true. But in amongst that, what we actually should have talked more about is the film Coda. And I said that I would watch it because it's fantastic and won many, many awards at the Oscars, which was kind of a little overshadowed

by events. And it won three Academy Awards, including Best Picture. And also Troy Kotzer received critical acclaim for his performance and won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. And I think the first deaf man to ever win Best Supporting Actor. Yeah, that would absolutely be true. Yeah, and then Sian Haydar, who is the director of this movie, also received praise for direction and screenplay.

Very good. So, yeah, she is excellent in this as well. Now, for those who haven't watched it, it's so good. There may be a few little spoilers in here, though. What is it about? Right. I know very little about this movie. Oh, my goodness.

It's so far up your alley, mate. It's basically called James Alley. It's called James Alley? I mean, they called it, but they could have called it James Alley. They should have called it James Alley. I would have watched it then. Yeah. Except now I've seen it, you can't watch it. Anyway, so it's an English language remake of the 2014 French-Belgian film La Famille Bel Air. Oh, it's a remake. I did not know that. Correct. Exactly. Now, La Famille Bel Air. Oh, it's a remake. I did not know that. Correct, exactly. Now La Famille Bel Air was released as the Bel Air family in Australia, anyway, in 2014, and it's a coming-of-age comedy drama.

So it was in French then and they used the French sign language. Anyway, so this is obviously a remake from that. It stars Amelia Jones as the child of deaf parents and she's the only hearing member of her family, including her brother. So the family run a struggling fishing business and she is kind of the main support person for her family. She's been interpreting for them since she was born basically as soon as she could talk and sign.

And so it then appears that she loves to sing and it kind of follows the trajectory of her being discovered as a singer by one of the teachers at the school and there's a little bit of a romantic love story as well. There's a lot of commentary around what it means to be very different from your family, what it means to be very different from your family, what it means to try and carve out your own identity, what it also means to be that kind of person within that family structure. Now, what's also interesting is the love interest in this. He comes from a family

who's really dysfunctional and going through divorce. And while she sees her family in this kind of fishing town as being really strange and people make fun of them and they're also super loving and super funny and super close and he actually in the end is very jealous of her. Right. For that reason. And they're just, her cast is just wonderful.

Are they all deaf, I assume, the cast? They are, yes. Not all of them but the people who. So her parents and her brother are all deaf, yes. So Ruby is played by Amelia obviously. Now Troy Kotzer plays her dad and he's deaf in real life and the sign language in this is just so animated and so beautiful. Her mum is played by Verdia Walsh-Pilo and she is also,

I think she has actually won acting accolades before. She's just also hilarious and great. She's kind of completely different from Ruby as a central character. She's really into make-up and hair and I think won like a pageant back in the day. Right. So part of their parents' relationship is the fact that they're just still passionately in love with each other

and at one point she is home with her, the guy that she's practising singing with who turns out to be her love interest, and her parents just start having sex in the other room. But they probably do that. Because they can't hear that she's home and practising singing. And what is also really interesting about their dynamic, right, is that because she lives in this house of people who are deaf, they're super loud because they don't know that they're loud.

And I never thought about that before but that makes so much sense. Like they're just stomping around and like smashing plates and, you know, even the way they chew, they eat, they fart, like it's so loud. And so she's trying to study and she's just like, will you guys just quit it? And she's always like her and her brother just like exchange insults all the time. And that's really cool. It's kind of really, yeah. So that part of it, I found really funny. And also I wondered whether some of it would resonate with families who maybe have parents who don't speak English and who, you know, are then having to navigate and interpret

for their parents in that situation as well if they're first or second generation migrants. I wonder if they would resonate with this film too because it is very much about how much her family rely on her to make their way in the world, particularly in the fishing business because if there are sirens and things going off, they wouldn't hear them on the boat. So technically they're not allowed to be on the boat without her there. Right, okay.

But she wants to go to college and sing. She doesn't want to, yeah, be stuck in the fishing town. Yeah, yeah. The other part of it that I think that you would find super heartwarming is just the idea that your daughter has this incredibly beautiful voice that you'll never hear. Oh, right, Yeah, yeah. And so you see her parents go to watch her perform

and they just can't hear anything. Yeah. And so there's this incredibly moving scene that just made me sob where in order for her dad to hear her sing, he loves rap music because it kind of vibrates through his bum while he's like singing in the car and he has it up really loud and that's how he experiences music. And so after she performs at this concert and everyone raves

about her voice and he hasn't heard it, she sings to him again and he puts his hand on her vocal cords. And it's just this incredibly moving moment where he then kind of realises that actually she should pursue this career. Right, okay. And there's this sort of element of fear with her mother having to kind of understand that they're very different and she had this real fear having a daughter that wasn't deaf

that she would be a terrible mother. Yeah, okay, yeah. And so having to parent someone that is very different from you that is going to experience life in a different way from you and eventually leave. And that, so there's just so much in it. But it's super funny and super heartwarming and so much beautiful music and Joni Mitchell, Both Sides and Now, plays a big part in it.

Oh, cool. It's just great. It's so great. All right, I need to watch this. What did you watch it on? I think I. It's on everything at the moment. It is.

I'm pretty sure maybe Apple. Yeah, okay. I think I watched it on Apple. Cool. It's just so, I can't recommend it highly enough. And it just leaves you feeling just so good. Did you watch The Sound of Metal as well? You've talked about this before.

No, I haven't. They're not the same, obviously, but they both have, they both focus around hearing loss. And that's an amazing movie too, but yeah, I'm just wondering. You haven't seen it? No, I haven't. No, okay. I'll have to see that too.

Yeah, it's a really interesting kind of world to explore because obviously when you lose one particular, you know, hearing loss or you lose your sight then the other senses can compensate for that as well. Yeah. Which I find really kind of interesting to think about too. It's also being adapted into a musical. Oh, wow, okay.

Yeah, which is cool. So by the deaf community. Yeah, right. Interesting. Yeah, that's really cool. One other little tiny interesting nerdy fact is that the original movie that was done in French had some real backlash from the French deaf community because they didn't use actors who were actually deaf.

Oh, okay, right. And so the French, like the sign language that they use is often incorrect. Right, okay. Whereas this, they've actually used actors who are all deaf themselves, which makes it so much richer. That seems like a pretty, that seems obvious that you would do that. Right, I know.

It just seems easier as well. Yeah, right. Exactly. Because a lot of the French community who went to go and watch the film had to have subtitles even though they were deaf because they couldn't understand what the French actors were doing. That sounds right. Yeah, right. Exactly. Which is so interesting.

But then I guess it also goes into that argument of choosing actors who are actually, for example, autistic to play people who are autistic. Yes. Or, you know, or to play people who are autistic. Yes. Or, you know, or have all kinds of different disabilities. Yeah, absolutely. So I find that really interesting as a, I think we're shifting. You know, I think they're starting to really trust more diverse people. You were telling me before the show that you said woke culture is destroying.

Oh, yeah, all right. You said it's destroying this country. You do that joke every bloody time. I do. I do it to Mason a lot as well. You are nothing if not consistent. It's true. You just like wheel out the same jokes over and over again.

And the thing about you is I've said before, they start off funny and they get not funny and then they come full circle again. And then who knows where they go. Hilarious, yeah. Up your bum. Who knows? Yeah.

Introducing Uber Teen Accounts, hilarious yeah up your bum okay yeah introducing uber teen accounts an uber account for your teen with always-on enhanced safety features your teen can request a ride when you can't take them you'll get real-time notifications along the way your teen feels the sense of independence you can follow their entire route on a live tracking map your teen will get assigned a top-rated driver. You'll get peace of mind. Uber Teen Accounts. Invite your teen to join your Uber account today. Available in select locations. See app for details.

You ready for this, Claire? I'm ready. I'm locked in. I'm loaded. Our flag means death. That's the show I've been watching. Whoa. Okay. All right. For a minute I thought you meant the Australian flag, which, you know.

Well, that is also true. Probably true. Yep, definitely. Colonialism, all those things. Definitely. Anywho, do explain. Please explain. So this is a show on HBO Max, but on that terrible streaming service,

Binge in Australia. It's created by David Kenkins. It stars Rhys Darby, who you might know as Murray from Flight of the Conchords, you know, the manager. Yes. Yes, yes, yes. Taika Waititi, who you would know as a director and also as a director. Boy, he's in Boy and he's in Marvel movies and all that stuff.

He's great. He's so funny and great. And among others, like Claudia O'Doherty, and I mention her specifically because she's an amazing Australian comedian and actress who's like just very funny and very good. Anyways, it's about Steve Bonnet. Oh, sorry, Steed Bonnet. Steed Bonnet.

That's right. A pampered aristocrat who abandons his life. A horse with a hat. Yes, that's right. He pretty much abandons his life of privilege to become a pirate in the early 18th century, right? So it's basically, so it's this man, he's like a gentleman's gentleman, but even among his peers, like he's considered like a bit of a fop

and a coward and he's like he's married into this life and he has money, but he didn't want to do it. He always wanted to be on the sea. So he's hired this group of pirates. So it's basically this like pompous, like maybe not blowhard. He's got a lot of good intentions, like living among these like savages, for lack of a better word. But, of course, they're also very nuanced, all of these people that he lived with.

word but of course they're all also very nuanced all of these people that that he lived with so he's he's trying to navigate like this absolutely horrendous kind of like circle of like death and destruction and murder and poison and people stabbing each other and famine and being shipwrecked and all of these kinds of things but his methods are really different. Like he's all about communication and fun, you know, and that doesn't always like apply in the world of pirates. So as a result of this, as a result of his actions and his misadventures, he comes across the real pirate Blackbeard who's played by Taika Waititi. And they both have been raised in completely different worlds but also raised in certain ways where there's expectations of who they need to be and they're kind of both trapped within that in their own way and they're both trying to throw it off and kind of almost like meet somewhere in the middle like

it's it's very funny like it's it's very light-hearted but it also got like a bunch of social issues within it and what it means like in terms of masculinity and it's obviously of you know it's set in the 18th century but it's also reflections now and the expectations of what people expect of you in society because there's a moment there's moments where he goes back and and tries to kind of reconcile with his wife and she's like oh like i i don't want to be in this life either like as much as you do uh but it's also like it's in this life either, like as much as you do. But it's also like it's on top of that it's also super violent at times.

Not like crazy gory but, you know, there's stabbings and things like that. There's a jar full of noses at one point. Cool, excellent. Pickled noses. Usually tracks with your choice of viewing material. That's right. And, of course, pirates. It's just a bunch of pirate stuff and it's pretty cool and it's pretty fun.

I have a question. Yeah. Are there some peg legs? I don't think there is any peg legs. Any parrots? Yeah, maybe. Is there? Any eye patches?

Yeah, there's some eye patches and some wooden. Some flowy Jerry Seinfeld-esque shirts. Yeah, there's a bit of that, yeah. And it's just, I don't know know it's just he's it's he's very much fish out of water you know but also like like i mentioned among his own people he he's also like he's he's trying to find his place and there's like fun and drama and like sadness and also like happiness in that you know what i mean when maybe he is finding his people you know what i mean and so is everybody else and And other people are realising that, hey,

you don't have to murder and stab each other all the time. Cut everyone's noses off and stick them in a jar. Yeah, but it's got like a bunch of people show up like throughout it who you'd recognise like other famous comedians and actors and things like that like pop in and out, which is quite fun. So is it a comedy? Yeah, it's a comedy. It's a comedy, yeah. It's big on the laughs. On the laughs. On. But, yeah. So is it a comedy? Yeah, it's a comedy. It's a comedy, yeah.

It's big on the laughs. On the laughs. On the laughs, mate. Rhys Darby, who's amazing, who has incredible comic timing and, like, pairing him up with everybody who's in this. Like, he does a lot of – I didn't think Taika Waititi would be in it as much as Blackbeard because you're going to hear about this, like, Blackbeard character and then he just shows up

and he's just in it like a lot, which is really cool because also he's obviously he's very busy doing a million other things. And he's so funny. Yeah, and he's a great black beard. And he's also like a little bit older. So he's like I'm not even like grey beard. Like I'm not even.

And his heart's not in it anymore. He's like I don't want to be murdering people anymore. You know what I mean? He's just tired, you know? Yeah. And then him being introduced to. Not really resonating with his Blackbeard character. But him meeting like Steve Bonnet who's all about culture and books

and adventure and fashion and all of these things, they find this common ground which is really fun. That's really fun. I actually think that sounds pretty good. I think you might like it. Yeah, it's good. I think I might like it too. Did you resonate with it, James, because do you have a secret wish

to run away and be a pirate? I do not want to be. It seems awful, to be honest. It seems really terrible. It does seem pretty terrible. There is something to be said for more like finding a place and finding your people and all those kinds of things, you know. Yeah.

It's a lot of that. Swashbuckling adventures. Yeah, but it's also like. Johnny Depp is sort of drunk in a barrel. It's a bit kind of. Swashbuckling adventures. Yeah, but it's also like. Johnny Depp is sort of drunk in a barrel. It's a bit kind of Pirates of the Caribbean, yeah, but it's more kind of low key. I was going to say real world. It's not really real world, but it's more kind of like.

Conversational? Yeah, and they're like the actual implications of like what happens if you, you know, really get stranded on an island or run out of food or you know what I mean? Yeah, yeah. Is it magic? No, not at all. So it's not like Pirates of the Caribbean.

No. We're horrible, Geoffrey Rush, problematic, awful human. No, Claire, he got cleared and it's not because of his excellent lawyers and legal threats. Goodness. I used to really respect his acting prowess. It's a shame. It's a shame. Anyway, what's your other thing?ess. It's a shame. It's a shame.

Anyway, what's your other thing? Okay, let's move on because that's depressing. Also, Louis C.K. Bloody just revived his own career, didn't he? Yeah. Totally fine, apparently. Bloody hell. I don't know.

I haven't listened to any of his stuff since or whatever. Didn't he just win an award? No, he did win an Emmy. Yeah. No, I know that, but yeah. He'll always have an audience. No, I know that but, yeah. He'll never – he'll always have an audience. Yeah, I know. It's just – anyway.

Great. Okay, let's move on to something fun. Yeah. Okay, so I am so delighted to remind everyone, in case anyone forgot, that Bridgerton is so fun and I loved it. You loved it. I'm probably the only one in the world who lovederton is so fun and I loved it. You love Bridgerton. I loved it. I'm probably the only one in the world who loved it. I think everyone bloody loved it.

Anyway, season one, if you don't remember, was just like a feast for the eyes. It's a bit like Pride and Prejudice but updated for the modern day. Modern music. And it's based on a book series. Now, the first season starred Phoebe Dynevor. Anyway. God, I can't talk today.

As Daphne Bridgerton. And her leading man, Simon Bassett, the Duke of Hastings, was played by the internet's favourite human being, Regé-Jean-Paul Page. That's right. Paul Page. Let me try that again, colleagues. Good God, you can take all this out.

Leading man, Regé-Jean Page. I did it. Wow. I's right. Let me try that again, colleagues. Good God, you can take all this out. Leading man, Regé-Jean Page. I did it! Wow. I did it. Anyway, season two has come back in the last month, so. And all your favourites are there. All your favourites are there. Some of your favourites. Now, Bridgerton is famous for building up a whole lot of, like, wonderful, sexy tension with also, like, incredible costuming, just like all the colour and all the delicious fun and gossip and just brilliant. And Season 2 I feel delivers and is just as good. Some people would argue that it's a little less, well,

it's quite a lot less raunchy and therefore they preferred Season 1. I, however, think that they are both equally as excellent. Oh. Yes, and I really loved it. Now, Bridgerton season two, instead of following Daphne's storyline because she, spoiler alert, marries the Duke of Hastings and is like happily entrenched with a child and la, la, la. Very good.

It now follows her brother, Anthony Bridgerton, played wonderfully by Jonathan Bailey and his quest to find a viscountess. So he's kind of like the head of the Bridgerton played wonderfully by Jonathan Bailey and his quest to find a viscountess. So he's kind of like the head of the Bridgerton household. And because their father passed away in the very first episode, it sets up that he, he was actually there when his dad died and his dad was bitten by a bee sting. And so it kind of died from a bee. Yeah. He died from a bee. An allergic reaction. An allergic reaction anyway. And so, and his mother was pregnant at the time. There's a whole kind of drama. So it has a few flashbacks to that and kind of fleshes

out his character a lot more because in the first season he was in it insofar that he was kind of having a secret love affair with an opera singer. But he was very, I guess, sort of closed emotionally and more of, you know, like a fun party guy and couldn't ever commit to her. And it becomes very clear why, because he has a whole lot of issues based around the fact that he was so young when his dad died and he had to take on all this responsibility. And he saw love as being a means to be hurt because his mother, he saw his mother go through agony because her and

her husband were so in love. And so he kind of resigned himself to the fact that he would never hurt someone like that or hurt himself like that. So he would never love. Wow. It sounds very Mr Darcy. It completely is. I don't have time for love. I'm too busy being proper and protecting myself.

Enter the Sharma sisters. So Kate, played by Simone Ashley, and Edwina, Sharithra Chadran, and they sort of enter the scene as the new family. So everyone else are recurring characters, but these two come in and immediately sparks fly. Wow. Everyone's like, wow. Is that what everyone's saying? Wow. Well, in the very first episode, Kate is very headstrong and very smart and she's 26, so she's a little bit older. Oh, over the hill. All in the world. Give it up.

And she's like an avid horse rider, which is frowned upon in the British universe. Well, women can't be on horses, especially alone. Side saddle or regular saddle? No, regular saddle. Oh, my God. She's really breaking all the barriers. Why?

And so she's like riding and riding away on the horse and then he like sees her and thinks that she's distressed or something and it turns out she just races him and beats him. And then he's kind of met his match. Oh. And so the second book is apparently one of the most anticipated for this remake because it's very Elizabeth, Mr Darcy-esque. I'm seeing a lot of parallels there.

Very much so. Especially the bees thing. Doesn't that happen in Pride and Prejudice? There's that bee attack, isn't there? No. At the start, kills like half the people in that book. The first ten pages are just like, and there were so many bees and the bees just kept coming into the room.

Pride and Prejudice, bee catastrophe. It turns out there was a man shoveling bees into the room. Turns out they all had a lot of bees in their bonnets. Oh, very good. Thank you. Can I get a high five? That wasn't just a rhyme. You did the right thing.

That was good. I know. Most of my jokes, if anyone hasn't noticed, aren't really jokes. No. They're mainly me making an accidental joke or rhyming. Does it make you laugh? Or just repeating a phrase in a slightly different intonation. No, I love that.

And, yes, it absolutely does make me laugh. Then don't even worry about it. Or just making fun of you, one of my favourite pastimes. Anyway, let's get back to the world of Bridgeton because the world is gloomy enough. Let's get back into some sexy dancing. And so Kate is obviously, like, super bright and smart, but she is the stepdaughter of her mother and her father passed away.

And it turns out that her mother was kind of ostracised from society when she married a clerk instead of marrying like a fancy man. Oh, my God. And so she left to go to India and then has now brought the daughters back because her father, her husband died. And now Edwina is kind of the younger sister and Kate has kind of taken it upon herself to make sure that Edwina makes a very good match so that the family won't be destitute. And so Kate then obviously, there's this sort of funny thing where Edwina is kind of destined

to go into the path of Anthony Bridgerton. Yeah. And so Kate keeps pushing her sister on him even though they clearly have all this chemistry and all the things. That's very Hamilton as well. It is, exactly. And he actually clearly is like head over heels for Kate and they argue all the time and kind of hate each other.

Oh, do they though? They do. Well, exactly. Do the bees show up again? Yes, she gets stung. Oh, my God, I love it. And that's where like the first one, she gets stung. Oh, my God, I love it. And that's where the first one where she gets stung on her bosom and he has a panic attack and she puts his hand on the bee sting

and it's like it's just a bee sting because it happens in the same spot as his dad passed away. And she doesn't know at the time why he has this massive freakout and they have all this heavy breathing and tension and then later and she finds out that's how his dad died. Anyway, so she helps him to unpack all his emotional baggage while also arguing with his kids. Is he allergic to bees? No, and she's not either.

How do you know? Is he stung by any bees? Well, no, that's true. He wasn't in the show. Who knows? Wow. Anyway. Didn't his father carry an EpiPen?

Well, no, not back in the day. Should have, though. Yeah, but Bridgerton's modernised. All right. You're just ruining. I'm not ruining. I'm just asking questions. I'm just the guy who asks questions.

All right. Anyway, so the Queen declares Edwina, her younger sister, the diamond of the season. And I don't remember from season one, but if you declare the diamond, you're like the favourite of the Queen and destined to make the best love. Does it just mean you're hot? Is that what it means? Yeah, kind of basically.

You're just like the most epic catch and so all the bachelors sort of follow you. Oh, man, I wish I was the diamond of the season. That'd be fucking sick. I do too. I'm married to rock. Just like a garden stone. Wait, so is there like a male equivalent to the diamond?

No. Interesting. I know. It's almost like it was very sexist. I think it's sexist that there's no male diamonds. What's the gem equivalent of a man? What's that? Quartz?

Quartz. Yeah, probably. Or is that a mineral? People don't like how I say mineral. They write it and they say stop saying it like that. Mineral. Mineral. Mineral.

Minerale. Can I keep this past me, the mineral water? That's how you say it, isn't it? Mineral. Mineral, isn't it? No, it's mineral. Mineral. I think you say it fine.

Mineral. Okay, now you're saying it weird because what's happening is you're saying a word and if you say it too many times it suddenly starts sounding really weird. That's true. Anyway, yeah, so there's lots of other kind of interweaving storylines with this as well and they explore, you know, some other characters as well and their trajectories.

But really the main storyline is all about the tension between Kate and Anthony and will they or won't they get together and all the things. Let me spoil it for you right now. Yes. They both get killed by bees, right? Correct, exactly. Anyway, I really enjoyed it and it was so much fun

and it's just really binge worthy and just a world that I want to exist in and, yeah, it was great. And the cast is, like, diverse. It's interesting it's come under some criticism because the cast is really diverse. But? No, and they just don't mention it. Like, it's not it's come under some criticism because the cast is really diverse but and no and they just don't mention it like it's not a big deal like there's no kind of class divides or any of that stuff based around race and and that what's the controversy controversy right because i thought that was oh that's the controversy but they're obviously it's not

historically accurate part yeah partly but also I guess maybe there's commentary that that is just completely unrealistic. Yeah, that's true, but it's a fantasy, right? Exactly right. And then there's most of the things I've read have said, and I agree with this commentary that it's just really cool to see different types of women, particularly in different roles, and that it's not really cool to see different types of women, particularly in different roles.

Yeah. And that it's not a pointed thing. It's just part of a story, which is great. Anyway, I really loved it and I think it's awesome. And the music as well, it's all really, as the first season was, really great pop music done in the Pride and Prejudice vibe, which is also just so good. So the soundtrack is epic. What do you give it out of 140?

100 moons. 100 bees. 100 bees. That'll kill you. 100 bees will kill anyone. It's just the best. If you just want to like sail away on a whole lot of flowers. Should I watch it?

Do you reckon I'd like it? I think you might. You might appear in a drama. I think you would actually. And I noticed that of the original sexy couple from the first season, only one of them turns up. Yes, you're right. I was going to say this.

So Regé-Jean Page decided he was offered like $50,000 an episode or something and he turned it down. For how many episodes? I don't know. I think it was like eight. So he was going to be in each one of them. Well, he was probably – I mean Daphne's barely in it either. Yeah, I saw her when I came past when you were watching it

and she was like sitting quietly at a table in a wig. Yeah. Yeah, they're just not, they would have just been in the periphery because it's not about them. Do they come back for later books? Yeah, I think so. I think everyone's in the world. It's just each book focuses on a different, I haven't read them.

How many Bridgerton book are there? I don't know. Interesting. But, yeah, I thought that was interesting that Regé just said, no, I signed on for one year and that's it. And I feel like good on him because he would definitely be pigeonholed as that particular character. He was so incredibly popular.

Oh, shit, there's like a fucking million of these. Of the books? Yeah. Oh, there you go. What order should I read the Bridgerton books? I think you should just watch the TV shows, to be honest. No, I'm reading – there's a thing that was on. Oh, there you go. What order should I read the Bridgerton books? I think you should just watch the TV shows, to be honest. No, I'm reading. There's a thing that was on my head.

Oh, okay. It started in the year 2000. That's 22 years ago. Wow. Thank you, Miss Math. Okay, let's move on. All right, moving right on. Because I want to talk about Dog.

I watched a movie called Dog. It's directed by Reed Carlin and also Channing Tatum. Oh, the Chans. Who also stars in the movie, what's it called? Sexy Men Strip Teens. It's called Dog, Claire. The movie's Dog. I said it already.

I thought you meant the other Channing Tatum movie where he stars in it called Magic Mike. This is the movie Dog. They're doing Magic Mike 3, did you know? I didn't know. You're a fan of the Magic Mike movies? I don't know if you are actually. I thought I would be.

I watched the first one. I didn't mind the first one. I do like the dancing. Very fun. I like it. But then by the second one I was like, clearly the storyline is really lacking. People got a lot of time for Magical Michael. You need to cut him some slack, mate.

I liked the first one. I just wasn't that into the second one. Okay, fair enough. But the first one was a fun time. Apparently the stage show is actually amazing. Yeah, I bet it bloody is, Megan. No, but I know people are like, but it's actually quite empowering and feminist apparently and I didn't see it.

But, you know, good on him. Good on him. Anyway, they're doing a third one. He's great. So he's coming back for Magic Mike's final. All right, cool. But that is not what we're talking about. Is he in this movie?

Yes, he's in it. He stars in it. He's in the movie. This is the movie Dog. Anyway. Is he playing a movie? Yes, he's in it. He stars in it. In Dog. This is the movie Dog. Anyway. Is he playing a dog that does the striptease? Oh, God. No, I don't think so.

That's very funny. That's very funny. That's very good. You've broken your own brain. Rook-a-roo, you're harrowing. You're a rat hog. You're a rat hog. Anyway.

Anyways. With a dog named Lulu by his side, Army Ranger Briggs, Janning Tatum. Correct. Races down the Pacific coast to make it to a soldier's funeral on time. Along the way, Briggs and Lulu drive each other completely crazy, break a handful of laws, narrowly evade death, and learn to let down their guard to have a fighting chance at finding happiness. So, yeah, it's essentially a dog road trip, right?

They should have called it dog road trip. Hang on. Why is it called a dog? Is there a dog with them? Yeah, the dog is called Lulu. He has to take the dog to a funeral because the dog is a former army dog. Oh, I see, I see, I see. And they were deployed in Afghanistan together.

I see, I see. But the dog has got like PTSD and has been trained a certain way and can't switch that off. And he is like, I've got to look after this dog because he wants to get back in the army ranges. But the thing is as well, Claire. Has he got PTSD? He's got PTSD and he has a severe like head injury

and he's self-medicating with like booze and pills and stuff. Oh, this isn't very amusing. No, no, it is. It's an amusing tale, Claire, a lot of the time. And so basically you're like, man, he's like, man, I can't believe I've got to do this for this dog. I can't believe I've got to look after this dog. But maybe, maybe they're looking after each other.

They learn a little bit from each other along the way. Do you know what I mean? And they meeting like different people on the journey who have their own experiences and things like that. It's quite funny and like heartfelt in moments. It's pretty like, like it's standard stuff. Do you know what I mean? Like you, you won't be surprised by anything in this, but it's like, but that's a, I think that's a good thing. You know what I mean? I think that's one of the strengths of it that like, for example, because he's an army vet, he takes the dog, he wants to get a free hotel room. So he puts on glasses and pretends to be blind

and he goes into a really swanky hotel and like gets a free room. Like then it kind of goes south or whatever. So there's things like that that happen like along the way. I'd imagine maybe if you're an army veteran, you might like this or you might be like, this is fucking pandering as and I hate this. I don't know because this is not my world.

But overall, like I thought it was really like it's really nice and it's fun and it's funny and it's quite, you know, touching and it's got a dog in it. It's got a nice dog in it and they're going little adventures together and at the end there's like a moment where he's like, I've got to leave this dog. He's like, I don't know if I can leave this dog. I think I've formed a connection with this dog, I think I reckon.

That's what he says. I think I reckon. Yeah, that's what he's saying to the camera. He stops and he does like a four-minute monologue of like, what do you guys reckon I should do? What do you guys reckon? Write in, write me a letter. Let me know what you think.

Should I incorporate the dog into my dance routine? Yeah, hashtag keep the dog, hashtag kill the dog. What do I do? Yeah, no, again. It's very specific. It's on streaming. It's on like everything at the moment. I think it's also still in cinemas.

But, yeah, it's good. It's good. Lovely. Do you like a nice thing? Yeah, that sounds like the Tom Hanks movie with the dog. Yeah, it's got a bit of that kind of to it, yeah. A lot of man and his dog. You know what this is about?

This is about the pandemic and riders spending a lot of time with their dogs at home. That's probably true. That's where it's coming from. But I think it's also based on like a true story or something maybe, I don't know, or based on some experiences. Yeah, it sounds like it. And, you know, on all of those kinds of things.

And he's also like they're both readjusting to the world because, again, this is not my experience and it's not my world. But, you know, when you've been doing things overseas and you're like part of very traumatic like, you know, events and then you get pulled back in the real world, you know, your perception has been completely shifted about what you consider as important and, you know, things are, you know what I mean? Yeah, well, I mean this is to a very small extent but when we went up north or when we went to Africa.

Yes, the thing that you're saying is the same as what I'm saying. Oh, stop. No, no, I'm agreeing with you. We basically went to war. We basically went to war. We're volunteering in a beauty. No, but I do think that there is that reverse culture shock that happens. Oh, definitely, yeah.

I've talked about this with someone recently as well that the going into the new community is actually not the hardest part. It's the coming back and seeing the world in a completely different way. But everyone around you is exactly the same. Yes. I guess to a lesser extent it's like if you go on a contiguity tour to Europe. Yeah, it's exactly like that. And you've had all these adventures and you come back,

you want to show all your photos and tell everyone how much you've grown as a person and no one cares. No one gives a shit. And everyone's the same. Yeah, it's not. I mean I found supermarkets and shopping centers really difficult when we came back from Africa. You also found the movie Sex and the City 2 very difficult so much

so that you cried afterwards. Yeah, I did, didn't I? Sorry to throw you under the bus with that. I didn't mean to but that's a terrible movie. That was the correct reaction. No, but it was so, yeah, and I. Like excessive and insensitive and like just. Completely racist.

Tone deaf. All about consumerism and consumption, all the worst parts of Sex and the City, and it made me relook at the whole entire series and realise how vapid it is. But it's not though also, you know what I mean? Yeah, it's not. But also, yeah.

No, the TV series has some really great writing and it was groundbreaking. Anyway, we've talked about this on our other podcast. I like to think that we learned a little something though and I like to think that like though we went there to teach, maybe we got taught something ourselves. Maybe we learned a little something. Let me finish this revelation that I'm making.

You always do this with your sweet voice. Let me just say. Entertain you. I think we learned something. And we'll have a real good time. It's like with teaching. Who's teaching who? Are the kids teaching us or are we teaching them? You know what I mean? Just say, I think we learned something. It's like with teaching. Who's teaching who? Are the kids teaching us or are we teaching them?

You know what I mean? Wow, that's crazy. Claire, write that down. You know what? I'm leaving. I'm leaving. For the first time ever, it takes a lot for me to leave a room because I like being around people. I'm not like you, the Grinch.

I'll leave. If you continue to make fun of me and all my corny, heartfelt vibes. I'm leaving. I'm getting out of this room. Little does she know I like being alone. When she leaves, I'm like, thank God, I'm alone finally, the thing that I want most in the world. No, that's not true, Claire.

I love you and I love your personality and I love when I mispronounce your name like I did just then. You did. Do you know what I also love? What? I love that people leave reviews for this show just like MakeyZomi21 who says, love the positivity. Ooh.

Was there much in this one? Maybe this review, like they've left us five stars. Uh-huh. But maybe we've both learned something from this. Do you know what I mean? Let's find out. I love how kind, honest, and positive both James and Claire are. Both of us?

Okay. Especially when touching on heavy topics. It's like having good friends in your ear encouraging you and making you laugh through these terrible times. Cheers from California. They are terrible times and you are welcome and thank you so much for writing a review. What a lovely review.

Do you know what? We have, as I've said before, James, the best listeners. Oh, my God. Here we go. Our little corner of the internet, all of the letters that I get, all of the tweets, people are so kind and so lovely and so funny and just thoughtful. And I just think that I know that Wee Planet has a lot of listeners, but I feel like we got the creme de la creme.

Really? Well, these are the comments that I get. For example, we had a video on the losers last week, right? And we didn't mention how Idris Elba was in the wire and Idris Elba was in the losers. And we made a joke about all the things that he's been in. And people are like, oh, did you know that he was actually in The Wire?

I can't believe you missed that and I want to shoot myself every time I read one of those. Well, that's just like a couple of our lovely listeners have left now because you've made a joke about using a weapon. Anyway, exactly, whereas our listeners would never do that. And I love hearing from listeners. So if you're a listener and you're thinking, shame, Ellen, they probably don't need to hear from me.

We do. We want to hear from you. That's right. Because we haven't gotten any emails this week. End of the show. No, we have many. Oh, what? Anyway, one particular is from Jess.

Hi, team. Hello, Jess. Oh, you can email the show like Jess has done at slashapodagym.com. Oh. Hi, team. Just wanted to say I love your podcast on Dynamic. Thank you for sharing yourselves with the world.

You're welcome. I'm just happy to do it. Just a small portion of it. On your most recent ep, you talked about self esteem. I do, not the vibe, though also really talk about self esteem. Great offspring song. The singer. Yes.

You know who I mean. Yes, yes, yes. Bloody great. I do reckon you should reach out and see if she'd be keen for an interview. You never know. Oh wow, that'd be cool as. Oh my gosh. I don't know if I could cope. But failing that, may I recommend her interview on Sentimental Garbage and that podcast more generally. It's lots of clever women talking and loving things unapologetically. Now, Sentimental Garbage, oh, goodness.

I love that show, particularly the one where they talked about Sentimental in the City, which is the Sex in the City podcast. Caroline Donoghue hosts Sentimental Garbage, and that was the sort of Sex in the City one was the spin-off with City podcast. Caroline Donoghue hosts Sentimental Garbage and that was the sort of Sex in the City one was the spin-off with Jolly Alderton. Yes, yes, yes. But Sentimental Garbage itself, thank you so much for the reminder, Jess, because I've been meaning to listen to more of her show and I just kind

of haven't got around to it but I heard that it's bloody fabulous because I follow her, Caroline Donoghue, on Instagram and she's so flippin' funny and great and strange and that's my favourite thing. So thank you so much, Jess. Wonderful. What a wonderful, delightful recommendation and email. Correct.

If you don't mind me saying so. I think so too. So that's it. That's the show. That's all you're here for. You got your recommendations and you can choof off. Did you hear about. On your merry little way.

You might have heard about this week called Our Place. Are you familiar with what this is? It's basically the old thing on the internet they revitalise for April Fool's Day. By the way, April Fool's. That was ages ago. Yeah, I got you. You really missed it.

Yeah, no, I got you. You used to be into April Fool's. I'm not into anything. You're just a fool in April now. So what they – I like to think i'm a fool in every month she's on fire guys she's on fire so i feel like the dog striptease is a real highlight so basically what this is i think it's incredible and it's basically what is it someone posted a uh

a a blank canvas with a thousand by by 1,000 pixels, right? And anybody can go to it and colour a pixel any colour and change one pixel every 10 minutes, every five minutes. So you basically had all these warring factions of people fighting for space to create an image or a word or something on this 1,000 by 1,000 canvas, right? So you got people pushing into each other's kind of territories to make like flags and imagery and like symbols

or presumably a bunch of crypto shit in here as well. And anyway, it ended up, this is the newest one, it ended up being this. And I know it looks kind of like a mess but if you zoom in, like there's all these little like details in here, you know, words and imagery and again like nations and like funny like in-jokes from certain communities. Like there's a Pink Floyd album and whatever. There's Revenge of the Sith, the Star Wars movie.

Just really cool. And it's also you have to fight for your space because other people see a bunch of them are like encroaching on others. Yeah. Yeah, so, yeah, it's just super cool. There's the Mona Lisa lisa in there you know it's kind of like a humanity james it is in a digital image yeah anyway i think it's like it's both a nightmare and really interesting so it is really interesting and cool i like that yeah yeah

that's a really cool idea and also I feel like it's a very masculine energy thing to do. No, Claire, there's some very. No, you're right. It's so masculine. It's so masculine. I love this one. Even the concept of it, not being like, hey, guys,

let's all make something and contribute to it. It's like, I know what we'll do. We'll just set parameters where it's thousand and then everyone has to fight for their art and like push in on each other's territories. That's true. Yeah, and most of it is very like. I love it. There's a bunch of Star Wars shit here.

Yeah, of course you do. It's basically. I love this subreddit, fuck cars, which is basically like how now whole entire cities have been built around how, you know, like cars and lanes and traffic as opposed to like actually what's good for people and communities. Which is like, yeah. And public transport and ride sharing and all these kinds of things.

Anyway, that's not a thing. I totally agree with that too, just on that point, because. This says porn. Oh, that's rude. I didn't know there were those rude things in here. I would love to see the statistics on how many women have contributed to that. None. No woman has time to bloody be fighting people on the internet for pixels.

That's not true. That's a real generalization. I'm sure there's many women who are contributing. I shouldn't say that. However, I would bet a lot of money on the fact that it's probably like 80-20. Yeah, fair enough. Anyway, but it's very cool. I like it a lot.

Yes, on that fuck cars thing, goodness me, that was a rude thing for me to say. I totally agree with you and I think we had this argument the other day about something to do with like cities and revamping them and I do agree with you completely because also when you think about. Wait, was it an argument or was it me saying something and then you were agreeing? I can't remember.

Or was it you just agreeing because you're like, yeah, yeah, whatever. So remember we had that argument about art in cities and how you think people should stop working in the city and I was like but then the cities would be dead. No, I how you think people should stop working in the city and I was like but then the cities would be dead. No, I didn't say they should stop working in the city. I said they should stop funneling people into the cities for pointless reasons to fuel real estate for fucking bankers or whatever who have rented out giant office spaces

and need to justify the costs. That's what I said. People should go into the city but they should go into them if they want to and under their own terms. Yeah, and I think my point was that people just won't go in. But they are though. Yeah, they're going back in because they're being asked to go in. No, no, but like you're on the weekends and that is busy.

Yeah, yeah, but anyway. Yeah, you're right. Anyway, I think that, yeah, I absolutely agree with that because you think back to before we had cars, people did all the things that were good for them, like walked places and congregated together. People used to catch tadpoles and swing on swings.

My God, you're so annoying. Anyway, on that note, thank you as always to Royal Collings for editing this episode and catching all the tadpoles. Absolutely. Great. That's a guy that would walk everywhere. Apparently, it's got a new haircut. Bet it looks great.

Bet it doesn't. No, I bet it does. All right. We've been to Desperate Podcast. Thank you. Oh, also, I have a new episode of Time. Oh, I bet it does. All right. We've been to Decimal Podcast. Thank you. Oh, also, I have a new episode of Time. Oh, yeah. What's your episode this week?

This week is with Zarabi Abani. And she is from an Instagram account called Soulful Seeds, which you should totally follow. She's just sharing climate change information while also doing sweet dance moves. She's over on TikTok as well. Oh, educational. She's a climate optimist. So she also shares weekly Earth Winds.

And it will just make you feel better. There's a lot of stuff there that is really heavy. And the episode kind of follows why she got into doing what she does. And also we talk about Slumdog Millionaire as well and how that was an inspiration for her. And just these bloody young people, mate. She's Gen Z. She's so smart.

These bloody young people. And so engaged and cares so much. And I just think they're bloody unfortunately going to have to save the world because of, you know, yeah, the dinosaurs out there. Anyway. It's not my fault. I just want to stress that. It's not my fault.

I didn't do it. Anyway, that's on Tom's podcast and yeah. Fantastic. Cool. All right. Talk to you. Yay. Fantastic. Cool. All right. Talk to you. Yay! Introducing Uber Teen Accounts,

an Uber account for your teen with always-on enhanced safety features. Your teen can request a ride when you can't take them. You'll get real-time notifications along the way. Your teen feels the sense of independence. You can follow their entire route on a live tracking map. Your teen will the sense of independence. You can follow their entire route on a live tracking map. Your teen will get assigned a top-rated driver. You'll get peace of mind. Uber Teen Accounts. Invite your teen to join your Uber account today. Available in select locations. See app for details.