Suggestible - Deadloch & More Barbie Movie
Episode Date: August 3, 2023Suggestible things to watch, read and listen to. Hosted by James Clement @mrsundaymovies and Claire Tonti @clairetonti.This week’s Suggestibles:01:38 And Just Like That S208:20 Deadloch17:19 Barbie ...Movie - Louis Newstead's BlogSend your recommendations to suggestiblepod@gmail.com, 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.
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                                         Hi, I'm Jessi Cruikshank from the number one comedy podcast, Phone a Friend, which I strongly
                                         
                                         advise you listen to. You know what else I suggest you look into? Becoming a host on Airbnb. Did you
                                         
                                         like that segue? Thank you. I recently started putting my guest house on Airbnb when I'm out
                                         
                                         of town, and I didn't realize how easy it would be until I did it. If you have a spare room,
                                         
                                         you could Airbnb it, or your whole place could be an Airbnb. It's a great way to make a little
                                         
                                         extra money by doing not a lot, which frankly is my mantra in 2024. To learn more, go to airbnb.ca slash host.
                                         
                                         Bing-a-dee-bong, bing-a-ding-bong, it's suggestible time.
                                         
                                         That's true.
                                         
    
                                         Hello, my name is Claire Tonti. James Clement is here also. We are married and we recommend
                                         
                                         you things to watch, read and listen to.
                                         
                                         Why have you turned into a gremlin today?
                                         
                                         I'm always a gremlin.
                                         
                                         Oh, yeah, that's true.
                                         
                                         I just had never noticed before. I've been living with a gremlin for years and years.
                                         
                                         Yeah, I'm going to shrivel up more into a gremlin as I get older.
                                         
                                         Just a little grey gremlin.
                                         
    
                                         What do you mean as you get older?
                                         
                                         I feel like this time has already arrived.
                                         
                                         Well, as I continue to be the age that I am, which is old,
                                         
                                         and then get older even again beyond that.
                                         
                                         Oh, God.
                                         
                                         You're going to get worse than this?
                                         
                                         Yes.
                                         
                                         Holy shitballs.
                                         
    
                                         What, you think I'm going to get better?
                                         
                                         Nobody gets better.
                                         
                                         I think that I have got better with age,
                                         
                                         though I feel like I could be approaching my peak
                                         
                                         and it's all sliding downhill.
                                         
                                         My son took this video of me this morning.
                                         
                                         Oh, God.
                                         
                                         I don't know if this happens to any other parents out there,
                                         
    
                                         but you walk around thinking you look like a normal person
                                         
                                         and then your child takes a photo or video of you
                                         
                                         and you look like you have no neck and you're an old,
                                         
                                         an old, old, oldie, old, old person.
                                         
                                         And he usually always takes videos of footage of me when I'm in bed
                                         
                                         because I'm vulnerable and he's just waking me up.
                                         
                                         Nobody looks good in bed.
                                         
                                         And my neck is like sliding into my chin and I just look like I've lost
                                         
    
                                         all the will to live.
                                         
                                         Well, you know, truth hurts.
                                         
                                         It's mainly more.
                                         
                                         It's like 6 o'clock in the morning.
                                         
                                         Anyway, let's talk about some things.
                                         
                                         We like to recommend you things to watch and listen to.
                                         
                                         We're cutting down on the recommendations.
                                         
                                         We're doing one each.
                                         
    
                                         You're trying to streamline. We to. We're cutting down on the recommendations. We're doing one or two. We're trying to streamline.
                                         
                                         We are.
                                         
                                         We certainly are.
                                         
                                         And so this week we have a few.
                                         
                                         First up, though, I have some opinions.
                                         
                                         Oh, wow.
                                         
                                         Unlike me.
                                         
                                         Well, I don't have any opinions.
                                         
    
                                         New thoughts, new me, new suggestible.
                                         
                                         Let's go.
                                         
                                         All right.
                                         
                                         My opinion is Aidan and Just Like That arrived in the episode that most recently came out,
                                         
                                         and I'm sorry for anyone who doesn't watch this show
                                         
                                         and know who Aiden is, but goddamn, he looks good,
                                         
                                         except he's wearing a very silly jacket.
                                         
                                         I think his jacket looks cool for a man who's 62.
                                         
    
                                         It's so silly.
                                         
                                         Why is it tapered in and it's too short and it's like high collared?
                                         
                                         It's just wrong. It's a wrong jacket it's wrong and patricia fields would never have let that happen and it's wrong wrong wrong
                                         
                                         for those who don't know patricia is uh the previous wardrobeist of sex in the city and
                                         
                                         upcoming for one particular scene one particular scene she's probably got paid like a zillion
                                         
                                         dollars for and the only person from the original cast I feel who was sided
                                         
                                         with King Patral in the whole thing.
                                         
                                         Other than the fact that Aiden was wearing a ridiculous jacket,
                                         
    
                                         I loved that whole scene.
                                         
                                         I loved it.
                                         
                                         I loved it.
                                         
                                         I loved that whole episode.
                                         
                                         It felt like a return of year old Sex and the City.
                                         
                                         Do you think that's also because they brought back two characters
                                         
                                         that you know?
                                         
                                         No.
                                         
    
                                         Yeah, I mean partly, but no, because it wasn't even that long a scene with Aidan.
                                         
                                         I actually think it's because they had a lot of Anthony in it.
                                         
                                         Yeah, it's cool, yeah.
                                         
                                         And like he was hilarious and fun.
                                         
                                         Yeah, he had some good moments.
                                         
                                         Some real quips.
                                         
                                         I felt like Shay and Miranda broke up, which thank God,
                                         
                                         because I felt like for the first time Miranda was much more closer
                                         
    
                                         in the writing to her original character,
                                         
                                         which I think is partly to do with the writing from Samantha Irby
                                         
                                         because she is like a die-hard Sex and the City fan.
                                         
                                         I've heard her on a podcast and she really understands
                                         
                                         those characters inside out as so many of us do
                                         
                                         who watch that series so many times.
                                         
                                         And you could tell because the Miranda in that episode
                                         
                                         is like kind of unhinged
                                         
    
                                         and funny and very it's also very dark because she's kind of divorcing Steve at the same time
                                         
                                         and finally they seem to have some narratives where she and Steve actually talk about
                                         
                                         talk to each other and have conversations that people actually would have if they were going
                                         
                                         through what they're going through do you think they put off on purpose so they could like get to it down the line
                                         
                                         or do you think they just forgot?
                                         
                                         Like what do you think?
                                         
                                         Oh my God, I don't know because I don't know what they were thinking for most of it
                                         
                                         because it's atrocious writing.
                                         
    
                                         He does feel more like Steve from previous seasons.
                                         
                                         Yeah, because Samantha Irby I reckon.
                                         
                                         Yeah, as opposed to the first season where he was just an old man.
                                         
                                         I know.
                                         
                                         Which I can relate to.
                                         
                                         But no, even the first, yeah, the first series he felt like a caricature,
                                         
                                         but this series he barely featured.
                                         
                                         Yeah.
                                         
    
                                         Up until this episode.
                                         
                                         Yeah.
                                         
                                         And.
                                         
                                         Did you like him with his shirt off?
                                         
                                         Yeah, I did.
                                         
                                         He was boxing.
                                         
                                         He was so good.
                                         
                                         Not looking like a gremlin.
                                         
    
                                         But I also just felt like for the majority of this season,
                                         
                                         before this most recent episode,
                                         
                                         it did not feel at all like Miranda was experiencing anything real.
                                         
                                         Yeah.
                                         
                                         Like all of that Shay stuff did not feel real.
                                         
                                         Maybe that was the point.
                                         
                                         It was a Hollywood fantasy.
                                         
                                         Maybe, but it took a bloody long time to get to some real proper emotional
                                         
    
                                         depth and writing that actually made any sense.
                                         
                                         Anyway, so no, I actually think that there was a few things in there
                                         
                                         that actually made you feel like all these characters
                                         
                                         and even just some of Kerry's lines in that episode around Aiden
                                         
                                         or before the Aiden thing just felt much more like her.
                                         
                                         Also, she does have that date in the episode before that
                                         
                                         with that tech guy that sort of felt a little more like a callback to her.
                                         
                                         That's true.
                                         
    
                                         And Miranda had a little date with a guy.
                                         
                                         With a woman.
                                         
                                         With a woman.
                                         
                                         I meant to say they're from the same show that you used to like.
                                         
                                         They are.
                                         
                                         They're both in that show.
                                         
                                         What is that one?
                                         
                                         Younger?
                                         
    
                                         Younger.
                                         
                                         Is it Younger or the other one?
                                         
                                         No, it's Younger.
                                         
                                         Yeah, and they're both really great, both of those actors.
                                         
                                         Excellent.
                                         
                                         That is all to say I feel like you should watch it if you haven't,
                                         
                                         just that episode to let me know what you think of Aidan's jacket.
                                         
                                         And also I just thought, great storyline.
                                         
    
                                         What did you feel about that?
                                         
                                         Do you think he's going to get his heart broken again?
                                         
                                         Because I think he should.
                                         
                                         I think that would be incredible that he comes back for the trifecta
                                         
                                         of getting his heart stomped on.
                                         
                                         And even he knows, he feels like it's going to happen again
                                         
                                         because she's like, come up to my apartment.
                                         
                                         And he's like, why do you leave?
                                         
    
                                         And that was such good writing.
                                         
                                         So it's like, yeah, of course he doesn't want to go back
                                         
                                         into the same apartment where he like bought half of it
                                         
                                         and like knocked down half a wall and then it was awful.
                                         
                                         Of course.
                                         
                                         Yeah.
                                         
                                         That makes so much sense, right?
                                         
                                         He's very tall and I think that's cool.
                                         
    
                                         I think that's why you want him to get his heart broken again.
                                         
                                         Yeah, that'll teach him.
                                         
                                         Giant freak.
                                         
                                         Whoa, that is so uncalled for.
                                         
                                         I like him more than Mr. Big.
                                         
                                         I always have.
                                         
                                         Me too.
                                         
                                         But also I was reluctant for like, they're not real people,
                                         
    
                                         so who gives a shit?
                                         
                                         But like do you want these people to get together because she's like
                                         
                                         treated him terribly like again and again.
                                         
                                         And she literally got like hives from like dating him at one point.
                                         
                                         The thought of marrying him.
                                         
                                         No.
                                         
                                         So we'll see where this goes.
                                         
                                         I don't know.
                                         
    
                                         I actually just feel like it's going to be another sort of storyline
                                         
                                         that will peter out.
                                         
                                         That's how I think.
                                         
                                         Okay.
                                         
                                         Yeah.
                                         
                                         Well, I want him shattered, Claire.
                                         
                                         I want his heart shattered for a third time.
                                         
                                         And he has to go crawling back to where it is.
                                         
    
                                         I feel like maybe he's going to break Harry's heart this time.
                                         
                                         Oh, yeah, that would be interesting.
                                         
                                         I think so too.
                                         
                                         That would be great for him.
                                         
                                         That would be a real victory.
                                         
                                         Yeah.
                                         
                                         Oh, imagine that.
                                         
                                         Someone breaks your heart, then you come back
                                         
    
                                         and you fucking break their heart.
                                         
                                         Oh, God.
                                         
                                         And maybe he's like, I did this on purpose.
                                         
                                         I'm not even divorced.
                                         
                                         I lied about that so I can break your heart.
                                         
                                         Terrible.
                                         
                                         Yeah, I would love that.
                                         
                                         Oh, I don't know.
                                         
    
                                         Anyway, let's move on.
                                         
                                         But I think for the first time in that whole series,
                                         
                                         I was like a glimmer of, oh, this isn't so bad.
                                         
                                         I watched the whole episode.
                                         
                                         Other ones I've sort of like had to skip through a little bit.
                                         
                                         At least they're bringing in some like partners of people
                                         
                                         and people they're dating that are like interesting one-offs.
                                         
                                         Yeah.
                                         
    
                                         Which they haven't really done properly at all.
                                         
                                         It's like Carrie's dating a very boring man.
                                         
                                         Gosh, the cardboard guy from her podcast thing.
                                         
                                         That is so boring.
                                         
                                         That was so, it was so boring.
                                         
                                         All the scenes with him were boring.
                                         
                                         Or it's like this person's talking to someone at a bar
                                         
                                         and you're like this boring person at a bar.
                                         
    
                                         Such bad writing.
                                         
                                         The whole, most of it has been such atrocious writing.
                                         
                                         But.
                                         
                                         But.
                                         
                                         Wait till this thing, wait till that one scene with Samantha.
                                         
                                         It is still smug rich people being smug about it.
                                         
                                         Yeah, yeah.
                                         
                                         Which is so, they think that they're being escapist but they're not.
                                         
    
                                         It's like gross.
                                         
                                         I feel trapped.
                                         
                                         Because people, I know, but people are going through so many hard things
                                         
                                         at the moment and that's not the kind of escapism they're wanting.
                                         
                                         No.
                                         
                                         They're not wanting, I don't think, that kind of like bold in your face,
                                         
                                         we have so much money, we don't know what to do with,
                                         
                                         let me haul a car and wear the Met Gala things.
                                         
    
                                         I don't know.
                                         
                                         Let's move on because I'm done.
                                         
                                         Let's move on.
                                         
                                         I've had enough feelings.
                                         
                                         I've got a recommendation.
                                         
                                         I've been talking about this for weeks but, of course, you're away.
                                         
                                         It's so good.
                                         
                                         It's a show called Deadlock.
                                         
    
                                         Have you finished it?
                                         
                                         I have not finished it.
                                         
                                         I'm not going to spoil it.
                                         
                                         It's created.
                                         
                                         It's Australian.
                                         
                                         It's created by Kate McCartney and Kate Lennon.
                                         
                                         Kate McLennan.
                                         
                                         Kate McLennan, sorry.
                                         
    
                                         Kate Lennon.
                                         
                                         Kate Lennon and McCartney.
                                         
                                         Kate McLennan.
                                         
                                         Yeah, I think that's what I've done there.
                                         
                                         Who are two great – well, they started in comedy.
                                         
                                         Two amazing Australian comedians and writers.
                                         
                                         A parody morning show called Get Crackin', which is really great.
                                         
                                         Hilarious.
                                         
    
                                         People might know Aunty Donna and a bunch of other Australian comedians and that are featured on that.
                                         
                                         Anyway, so what they've done here is the synopsis.
                                         
                                         The town of Deadlock, Tasmania.
                                         
                                         Tasmania, if you don't know, is the southernmost state of Australia.
                                         
                                         It's an island.
                                         
                                         It's as close to like as Antarctica as you can get from, I don't know.
                                         
                                         Is it?
                                         
                                         In Australia at least.
                                         
    
                                         It's cold and it's a forest.
                                         
                                         Is that accurate?
                                         
                                         Yes.
                                         
                                         Yeah.
                                         
                                         Great.
                                         
                                         Anyway, it's preparing for its winter festival when a local man turns up dead.
                                         
                                         Two detectives and an eager constable are sent to investigate the crime.
                                         
                                         So it stars Kate Box, who you've met.
                                         
    
                                         She's an absolute legend. Yeah. Oh, my gosh. I'm you've met. She's an absolute legend.
                                         
                                         Yeah.
                                         
                                         Oh, my gosh.
                                         
                                         I'm obsessed with her.
                                         
                                         She's so funny and so cool and so awesome.
                                         
                                         Yeah.
                                         
                                         Madeline Sami, Nina Oyama, Alicia Gardner, Tom Ballard.
                                         
                                         Incredible cast.
                                         
    
                                         And what's good about this, this is a great balance of like a murder mystery
                                         
                                         that you might enjoy, you know what I mean, like a BBC whatever, you know,
                                         
                                         and comedy.
                                         
                                         I think it balances that really, really well.
                                         
                                         So this town that this takes part in, it's been kind of partially transformed into this LGBTQIA plus kind of cosmopolitan haven,
                                         
                                         but it's only happened relatively recently.
                                         
                                         So the town is kind of like old school kind of like country, you know,
                                         
                                         maybe not necessarily backwards thinking but like, you know,
                                         
    
                                         the way things were probably more like 30, 40 years ago, you know.
                                         
                                         And so you've got these two kind of dynamics going on.
                                         
                                         I actually think it's a really accurate representation of communities
                                         
                                         around the traps that are sort of partly gentrifying and cool.
                                         
                                         Like I think so many communities I've visited,
                                         
                                         like rural towns are like that.
                                         
                                         Like there's kind of this.
                                         
                                         What's that one just out of Melbourne?
                                         
    
                                         Yak and Danda that I went to recently is a really great example of that.
                                         
                                         There was sort of like Trump supporters alongside like really new age hippies and it was like just very interesting.
                                         
                                         People waving Trump flags.
                                         
                                         I know what country they're in. Yeah, not waving, but they had like posters of him in their shop window
                                         
                                         and stuff.
                                         
                                         Why?
                                         
                                         I know.
                                         
                                         Yeah, I don't know.
                                         
    
                                         But it's so interesting to me because like that kind of people moving
                                         
                                         further out, particularly through COVID around here,
                                         
                                         so many people moved out to rural areas who are from inner city.
                                         
                                         So you then got this juxtaposition of like hardcore kind of locals
                                         
                                         who've been in an area for
                                         
                                         a long time and are quite conservative versus like, you know, inner city hippies who've done
                                         
                                         a tree change or a sea change. I just think it's very accurate in a lot of ways and also obviously
                                         
                                         heightened and hilarious. Absolutely. Yeah. So that's cool. So that's like the setting of this
                                         
    
                                         town. So there's already this kind of like simmering kind of tension, you know. um but it's also it's the kind of thing where this town has been like completely revitalized
                                         
                                         you know it's brought in tourism like businesses the thriving all of these things so you know
                                         
                                         because you know you got to kind of change to hello dog you got to kind of change to you know
                                         
                                         to to survive on top of that also it's got this rich indigenous history which has just been kind
                                         
                                         of wallpapered over by pretty much everybody in the town. So there's like seeds of that kind of, you know,
                                         
                                         rolling throughout this entire thing as well.
                                         
                                         So anyway, people start turning up dead and like it's very quickly established
                                         
                                         that this is probably a serial killer and it's just from there it unfolds
                                         
    
                                         about who this could potentially be and obviously they go
                                         
                                         through various suspects.
                                         
                                         I was constantly like second guessing myselfessing myself and I was just
                                         
                                         like wrong multiple times.
                                         
                                         I'm like, well, it's not that person, it's probably this person.
                                         
                                         Like, okay, it's not that person, maybe it's this person, you know.
                                         
                                         And I did that until like the reveal and I'm like, god damn it,
                                         
                                         I can't believe I missed that.
                                         
    
                                         But what I also think works really well here is the characters
                                         
                                         are really well fleshed out and the dynamics between everybody works so well. And they're incredibly like comedic and it's just, everybody
                                         
                                         feels very distinct. It's not like the same person kind of copy and pasted it. They're very uniquely
                                         
                                         written. And in the way that they interact with other people is also reflective of that.
                                         
                                         Also the two Kates, they write insufferable, like, really well.
                                         
                                         Like, when you meet somebody who's like, oh, I hate this person,
                                         
                                         like, they really write that well.
                                         
                                         But they can also flip it where you're like, oh, okay,
                                         
    
                                         I see why this person is like this and that's terrible, but also,
                                         
                                         like, I get it.
                                         
                                         And they even, you know, they'll turn you around on, like,
                                         
                                         somebody entirely, you know.
                                         
                                         But there's so many people in this city just like,
                                         
                                         God, this person, I hate this person so much.
                                         
                                         I hope they get come up and done whatever.
                                         
                                         Yeah.
                                         
    
                                         It's gorier so far as like any kind of BBC murder procedural is.
                                         
                                         You might see a dong or two or so if you don't mind.
                                         
                                         It's on a dead body.
                                         
                                         A dead one, yeah.
                                         
                                         But you can see it.
                                         
                                         So, yeah, so it's not like you're not going to see serial killers like. It's not a dead body. A dead one, yeah. But you can see it. So, yeah, so it's not like you're not going to see serial killers like.
                                         
                                         It's not very gory.
                                         
                                         No.
                                         
    
                                         It's not like slashing.
                                         
                                         I would say it gets more kind of, it gets more intense as it kind of goes on.
                                         
                                         But, you know, it's more implied than you don't see specifics really.
                                         
                                         Anyway, it's eight episodes.
                                         
                                         It's made locally and I love it when something local comes out and it's good. I also
                                         
                                         think it's been good that it's released on Amazon Prime because that means, you know, it's got a bit
                                         
                                         of international traction as well. Yeah. Which is super cool. Absolutely do. Do you know what else
                                         
                                         I think is great about it? Lesbians. I genuinely just think that these characters that they've
                                         
    
                                         written, it's mostly female centcentric, the lead characters, right?
                                         
                                         And that is just a breath of jolly fresh air.
                                         
                                         I mean Kate Box in general is so well cast in this
                                         
                                         but also the entire cast of women.
                                         
                                         So Kate Box's character is a cop, obviously, a detective,
                                         
                                         and she has a new kind of cop sort of ends up being her partner who arrives in town,
                                         
                                         who's played by Madeline Sammy, and her character's called Eddie.
                                         
                                         And I think she is my favourite character of the whole thing.
                                         
    
                                         She's so funny.
                                         
                                         She's absolutely hilarious.
                                         
                                         It's queer revolutionary storytelling.
                                         
                                         That's what I think.
                                         
                                         Yeah, fair enough.
                                         
                                         I just think the way she's written is just ridiculous.
                                         
                                         Yeah.
                                         
                                         She's awful and rude.
                                         
    
                                         Probably smells bad.
                                         
                                         Yeah, and just speaks in these hilarious,
                                         
                                         like obscure references.
                                         
                                         It's just so good.
                                         
                                         It's funny also because she's from up north
                                         
                                         and she's been brought in for this investigation.
                                         
                                         She very desperately doesn't want it to be a serial killer
                                         
                                         because it means she'll have to stay for longer.
                                         
    
                                         So she spends like the first few episodes in like a tropical like Hawaiian
                                         
                                         shirt and shorts and like one thong and a cardboard shoe taped to her foot
                                         
                                         because she's like I'm not getting warmer clothes,
                                         
                                         I'm not staying here.
                                         
                                         So then there comes a point where she's like I might be here for a while.
                                         
                                         Yeah, she goes to the camp store and like talks to the dummies in there
                                         
                                         and like gets them warmer clothes and everything.
                                         
                                         Exactly.
                                         
    
                                         I think it's so hilarious.
                                         
                                         And it's also, I won't spoil it, but she also has real depth.
                                         
                                         Oh, yeah, yeah.
                                         
                                         Which is just like what you were talking about with the characters
                                         
                                         and the way that the Cates write them.
                                         
                                         Yeah.
                                         
                                         You sort of get spun around again on her in so many different ways.
                                         
                                         But the chemistry between her and Kate Box's character,
                                         
    
                                         who's really the straight man in that, not literally,
                                         
                                         because she's playing the queer character.
                                         
                                         But, yeah, exactly.
                                         
                                         And she's the one that kind of is sensing all the things going on
                                         
                                         and is trying to fight for her town and actually
                                         
                                         and playing it very deadpan in a lot of ways
                                         
                                         and that works so well in that context.
                                         
                                         It's just there's so many layers to it that I just absolutely love.
                                         
    
                                         So I would just so recommend it.
                                         
                                         And it's just fresh.
                                         
                                         It does.
                                         
                                         It's a really fresh take on the genre, I think.
                                         
                                         Yeah.
                                         
                                         It's kind of outside of genre in a way.
                                         
                                         Yeah.
                                         
                                         It's definitely like you'll recognise like tropes in it obviously.
                                         
    
                                         Yeah, but that's what I mean but it's not one thing.
                                         
                                         But it does feel fresh, yeah.
                                         
                                         And it's just the female-centric storylines
                                         
                                         and the queer storytelling is just perfection.
                                         
                                         So cannot wait for you if you haven't seen it to watch it.
                                         
                                         It sets up like it closes the storyline but it does set up
                                         
                                         for a potential season two which hasn't been announced yet
                                         
                                         but hopefully.
                                         
    
                                         I would be shocked if they didn't do a season two.
                                         
                                         I mean, who knows?
                                         
                                         It's hard.
                                         
                                         I mean, I guess.
                                         
                                         Who knows with streaming?
                                         
                                         Yeah, that's true.
                                         
                                         But really, it's done so well and had such great reviews,
                                         
                                         so you would think hopefully, fingers crossed.
                                         
    
                                         Sorry, everybody, two dogs are fighting.
                                         
                                         We've just got dogs fighting in our studio.
                                         
                                         We're just going to continue.
                                         
                                         They're two walks today.
                                         
                                         I know.
                                         
                                         I don't understand.
                                         
                                         Maybe we're making them too fit.
                                         
                                         Maybe.
                                         
    
                                         I don't know. I don't know what too fit. Maybe. I don't know.
                                         
                                         I don't know what is happening.
                                         
                                         I think it's the full moon.
                                         
                                         It's a full moon.
                                         
                                         Ah, the full moon.
                                         
                                         And everyone's going a little kooky.
                                         
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                                         All right, what are we doing?
                                         
                                         What's next, Claire?
                                         
    
                                         Right.
                                         
                                         Because I know you wanted to talk more about...
                                         
                                         Yes, so last week we talked about the epic gloriousness
                                         
                                         that was the Barbie movie.
                                         
                                         Well, actually, I think it was bad.
                                         
                                         I've changed my mind.
                                         
                                         What did you think about that?
                                         
                                         No, you raved about it and for very good reason.
                                         
    
                                         And we stopped at the end because we only had half an hour
                                         
                                         and you wanted to talk about why you thought it was such a great film
                                         
                                         for men, which I think is such an interesting point to be had
                                         
                                         because obviously you can look at it as like a feminist masterpiece
                                         
                                         and it's talking into the cultural expectations placed on women and, you know,
                                         
                                         trying to unpack what it's like to live in a patriarchy.
                                         
                                         But I'm interested to know what you think about it
                                         
                                         from a male perspective.
                                         
    
                                         Well, you dropped this on me just before the show.
                                         
                                         You said, are you going to talk about Barbie this week?
                                         
                                         And I'm like, we did talk about Barbie.
                                         
                                         You're like, you know, you said you think it's actually a good movie
                                         
                                         for men and I went, I don't remember that.
                                         
                                         I haven't made any particular notes. Let me read you a little. Yes, are you going to keep going? No, you're going to jog know, you said you think it's actually a good movie for men and I went, I don't remember that. I haven't made any particular notes.
                                         
                                         Okay, so let me read you a little.
                                         
                                         Yes, are you going to keep going?
                                         
    
                                         No, you're going to jog my memory.
                                         
                                         I am.
                                         
                                         So a lovely listener, Lewis Newstead, has written in
                                         
                                         and I just thought I'd read the email first
                                         
                                         and then you can continue the conversation.
                                         
                                         This is like me and Lewis telling everybody what's going on.
                                         
                                         Yeah, all right.
                                         
                                         Thanks, Lewis.
                                         
    
                                         The topic of the email is called Barbie and the Manosphere.
                                         
                                         Oh, yeah.
                                         
                                         Yeah, in sales for next week. Thanks, Lewis. The topic of the email is called Barbie and the Manosphere. Oh, yeah. Yeah.
                                         
                                         In cells for next week.
                                         
                                         I totally agree with what James said about Barbie being a pro-men movie.
                                         
                                         It has some really nuanced and sensitive depictions of masculinity
                                         
                                         and, I thought, a lot to say about the pool of toxic Manosphere narratives.
                                         
                                         I'm really looking forward to hearing you both talk about this next week.
                                         
    
                                         Oh, my God.
                                         
                                         But he doesn't have a take?
                                         
                                         He's leaving me out to hang.
                                         
                                         I'm drying.
                                         
                                         You had a big take on it.
                                         
                                         So I have two suggestions.
                                         
                                         I wrote an essay on this side of Barbie including a lyrical analysis
                                         
                                         of the Ken song for my blog that might be interesting to you.
                                         
    
                                         Nice, love that.
                                         
                                         And my second suggestion is the book Men Who Hate Women by Laura Bates.
                                         
                                         Last year I wrote my undergraduate dissertation on incels
                                         
                                         and the endemic blindness to violent misogyny,
                                         
                                         and this book was the genesis of that idea.
                                         
                                         It looks at how misogynist narratives from these extreme spaces
                                         
                                         penetrate all levels of our society and it's so eye-opening.
                                         
                                         Thank you both for everything you do on the show.
                                         
    
                                         It's always a welcome treat in the feed every week.
                                         
                                         Yeah.
                                         
                                         Thank you so much, Lewis, for writing.
                                         
                                         Too great.
                                         
                                         We should get that blog and we'll link it. We will, yeah. I'll send that to Colleen. Yeah. Thank you so much, Lewis, for writing. Too great. We should get that blog and we'll link it.
                                         
                                         We will, yeah.
                                         
                                         I'll send that to Colleen.
                                         
                                         Yeah.
                                         
    
                                         From my perspective, and obviously I'm not a bloke,
                                         
                                         I'm a straight white lady, but to me I think it did a really good job
                                         
                                         of showing men what it would be like to live in a world
                                         
                                         where everything's run by women.
                                         
                                         Yes, but I would also say this.
                                         
                                         I don't think the men in this even have bad lives
                                         
                                         because I know people talk about like Ken is emasculated
                                         
                                         and all of those things, but I don't think that's true.
                                         
    
                                         Like in this world that he lives in, this is before all the, you know,
                                         
                                         he goes to the real world.
                                         
                                         He's like he's, you know, he's too reliant on Barbie.
                                         
                                         Like that's kind of the thing, you know, because the way he validates himself
                                         
                                         is if like Barbie like looks at him and acknowledges him, right?
                                         
                                         But he's like he's treated well, you know?
                                         
                                         Like I'm not saying he doesn't have like a great role in society.
                                         
                                         His job is beach, you know?
                                         
    
                                         That's like the joke.
                                         
                                         But he's like the toy, he's an accessory to Barbie because that is what Ken is.
                                         
                                         Like this isn't – so just from that perspective alone,
                                         
                                         it's like this is what Ken is.
                                         
                                         Ken's not, like I can't remember who said this.
                                         
                                         Maybe it was you, but like you'd have like eight Barbies
                                         
                                         and maybe a Ken, you know?
                                         
                                         Yes.
                                         
    
                                         Maybe one Ken.
                                         
                                         Maybe.
                                         
                                         I don't even know if I owned a Ken, to be perfectly honest.
                                         
                                         But, you know, but he's not like disrespected really,
                                         
                                         you know what I mean?
                                         
                                         Like he gets hurt and they talk about how brave he is and all of that,
                                         
                                         do you know what I mean?
                                         
                                         And they like rally around him.
                                         
    
                                         So I think also like, yeah, his life is not great,
                                         
                                         but I'm saying like he's not treated that badly is my point.
                                         
                                         Also, he's a fucking toy.
                                         
                                         So like all of these people are, it doesn't matter.
                                         
                                         But then I think from there, yeah, it is, I mean,
                                         
                                         I think it's reflective of like the Manosphere stuff.
                                         
                                         It is a very slippery slope and like TikTok will just like
                                         
                                         or most of these social media sites will just eventually take you
                                         
    
                                         into that to see if you're interested, you know.
                                         
                                         What is the manosphere?
                                         
                                         It's just like blaming feminism for everything.
                                         
                                         Not even feminism.
                                         
                                         It's just like women in general and like it's about being how men are high value and like the more
                                         
                                         partners that women have or not even like the older they get, they're not worth as much.
                                         
                                         Whereas men, you know what I mean? It's one of these very specific rules about dating and how
                                         
                                         much money and women are only after your money and blah, blah, blah, which I look, I know there
                                         
    
                                         are people like that, like on any like sexuality sexuality spectrum like obviously there are people who
                                         
                                         very superficial in that way but i just think most people are just looking for somebody you know that
                                         
                                         they can you know share a life with i'd imagine so even if they don't really know that they're
                                         
                                         that they're looking for that and i think this movie does a good job of breaking that down and
                                         
                                         and give and and giving ken at the end also something that he wants, like a sense of purpose, a sense of like being.
                                         
                                         He wears that shirt that says like the hoodie that's I am Ken-uff
                                         
                                         or whatever Ken-uff or whatever it says on it.
                                         
                                         You know, so I think it does.
                                         
    
                                         I mean everybody in this movie is also an idiot.
                                         
                                         Like I don't think you could point to Ken and be like he's a stupid person.
                                         
                                         Like they're all stupid.
                                         
                                         You know what I mean?
                                         
                                         Barbie gets, there's a moment where she comes, you know,
                                         
                                         when like everything's going badly and she just like falls in a heap,
                                         
                                         like the first challenges she's ever been presented with.
                                         
                                         You know what I mean?
                                         
    
                                         I don't think she's this like unstoppable bulletproof hero.
                                         
                                         I think they're all written flawed in, you know,
                                         
                                         in very interesting ways.
                                         
                                         For a toy, it's a toy movie.
                                         
                                         You just want to specify that.
                                         
                                         Yeah.
                                         
                                         Also, but the manosphere basically, yeah, so it's just this,
                                         
                                         it's a space that could be very easy to fall into.
                                         
    
                                         And is that kind of what Ken does in the movie?
                                         
                                         Yeah, I mean it's like a.
                                         
                                         He comes to the real world, sees men running everything,
                                         
                                         finds what patriarchy is and brings those ideas back to Barbie Land.
                                         
                                         But the thing about that is like even in the real world he's not valued
                                         
                                         because he's not bringing anything to that.
                                         
                                         You know, he's just like I want to be a doctor and they're like you, he's just like, I want to be a doctor.
                                         
                                         And they're like, you can't.
                                         
    
                                         It was like, I want to be a lifeguard, but I can't swim.
                                         
                                         So he's not even getting the things that he thinks that he wants.
                                         
                                         Does that make sense?
                                         
                                         Yeah.
                                         
                                         Yeah.
                                         
                                         So it's really, and a lot of this manosphere stuff though, it gets you in by like talking
                                         
                                         a lot about self-help and it might start like, you know, clean your room up.
                                         
                                         It might be like, you know, you should work out, you know, you should pray or meditate or whatever, which are all, you know,
                                         
    
                                         all good things, like, you know, all good things that, you know, you could potentially be doing,
                                         
                                         but then it very quickly spirals into like, into something else. And it's, it's basically also
                                         
                                         think like, because the way society is, it's structured, it's not, it's not catered to all
                                         
                                         people. And that means men specifically, and men, I think,
                                         
                                         who also come into this because it tells you that the world is a certain way and broken because of
                                         
                                         feminism or women are keeping you down or all of these things, or there's certain types of men
                                         
                                         that get all the women and that's why you can't get a woman. So you've got to be more like that.
                                         
                                         So it tells you all these things that aren't true so you're basically
                                         
    
                                         pointing at the wrong things like you're targeting the wrong things for what is wrong with society
                                         
                                         or you personally like as a result of maybe the way you're raised or where you live or you know
                                         
                                         what you even what you look like even you know a lot of it is like you need to have a certain type
                                         
                                         of like jaw structure you know jaws are size you familiar with this a certain type of like jaw structure, you know, jaws are size. You familiar with this? Like jaws exercise.
                                         
                                         So like you put like this kind of rubber kind of grip thing in your teeth
                                         
                                         and you're like work out your jaw and it's supposed to like chisel your jaw.
                                         
                                         It's bullshit.
                                         
                                         Your jaw is a bone.
                                         
    
                                         Like you can't like you have muscles in your face but you can't work them
                                         
                                         out like that, you know.
                                         
                                         Yeah.
                                         
                                         And I do think like there is something to be said for being the best version of yourself
                                         
                                         and improving yourself but that's more looking inwards than outwards and like external blame
                                         
                                         you know and if you're putting yourself out in the world and you're looking at women like they're
                                         
                                         targeting you so they're going to take all your money or they're going to cheat on you at the
                                         
                                         first opportunity i want a girl who's a virgin and who's 19 years old or whatever like if you're
                                         
    
                                         looking for all these things that's ultimately not going to make you happy.
                                         
                                         Even if you trick somebody into marrying you, like that will unravel eventually, you know?
                                         
                                         I mean, how many times do people talk about like they met somebody when they started working
                                         
                                         on themselves and put boundaries in place and, you know, and they meet somebody and
                                         
                                         realize that this isn't right for me.
                                         
                                         And, you know, so you, you know, you meet somebody else, you know, like these are all things that you can put in place. And I've said this before,
                                         
                                         and I can't remember where I heard or read this, but it's this thing of like, and I should point
                                         
                                         out like ranking systems of arbitrary, like somebody, you know, like people will be like,
                                         
    
                                         like yours are nine, that guy's a six or whatever, you know what I mean? But if you look at that
                                         
                                         ranking system
                                         
                                         basically it breaks down to and i think i've even mentioned this on the show that any person but it
                                         
                                         refers specifically to guys can be like a seven you know and all it is is you know finding clothes
                                         
                                         that fit you doesn't even have to be expensive personal grooming take care of yourself get them
                                         
                                         like get like an okay haircut maybe put some moisturizer on every now and
                                         
                                         then or some sunscreen, you know, work on your fitness and just work on yourself, whether
                                         
                                         that be career, hobbies, like be interesting, make, you know, find things that interest
                                         
    
                                         you, you know, not things that you think will impress others.
                                         
                                         Because a lot of this other manosphere stuff focuses around like you have to have a certain
                                         
                                         type of job and present yourself a certain type of way, which is just it's not true.
                                         
                                         Because a lot of these guys.
                                         
                                         Yeah, it's exhausting.
                                         
                                         It's not even who you really are or who you really want to be ultimately.
                                         
                                         It might be who maybe your friends or your dad or somebody like expects you to be.
                                         
                                         But those people aren't that either.
                                         
    
                                         You know, it's just all it's cosplay.
                                         
                                         It's in the end finding out who you are because once you do that,
                                         
                                         then you meet other people who are aligned with you.
                                         
                                         Absolutely.
                                         
                                         And a lot of people that I am drawn to,
                                         
                                         and I'm not even talking about in relationships, I mean in general,
                                         
                                         they have worked on themselves and they have interests
                                         
                                         and they've worked on their like conversation skills.
                                         
    
                                         And that's another thing like not like I'm doing now
                                         
                                         or I'm just talking at you.
                                         
                                         But, you know, when you meet people, like ask questions, be genuinely curious, approach
                                         
                                         women like you would literally anybody, you know, because they're also people. They're not some
                                         
                                         mystery box that, you know, that you have to like untangle and they're playing mind games with you
                                         
                                         or whatever. And again, there are people like that that exist that do all the dating games and
                                         
                                         whatever. That's not what I'm talking about. that exist, that do all the dating games and whatever.
                                         
                                         That's not what I'm talking about.
                                         
    
                                         That's not worth your time.
                                         
                                         I'm talking about if you approach a person like a person
                                         
                                         and you are happy in yourself, then that will work eventually,
                                         
                                         probably, maybe, I don't know.
                                         
                                         Yeah.
                                         
                                         Well, it's most likely to end up with the best-case scenario, right,
                                         
                                         which is someone that has similar values and aligns with you.
                                         
                                         And you also might be like, I don't even maybe want that.
                                         
    
                                         Maybe I don't want to be in a relationship, you know?
                                         
                                         Yeah.
                                         
                                         Maybe I want a family.
                                         
                                         Maybe I don't.
                                         
                                         Maybe I'm gay.
                                         
                                         You know, people figure that out.
                                         
                                         There's a lot of that in here.
                                         
                                         There's a lot of like self-hating people who do struggle with their sexuality.
                                         
    
                                         There's a lot of that in there.
                                         
                                         In the manosphere.
                                         
                                         Yeah.
                                         
                                         I mean, how often do you hear about like a guy who's like a preacher
                                         
                                         and espousing all these values and it turns out that they've been soliciting
                                         
                                         like gay prostitutes or whatever.
                                         
                                         It happens like all the time, you know, like that again stems
                                         
                                         from like that self-hatred kind of thing, you know,
                                         
    
                                         which you're then lashing out with, you know.
                                         
                                         So bringing it back to Barbie.
                                         
                                         Oh, yeah.
                                         
                                         Yeah, he thought it was about horses or whatever.
                                         
                                         That's why Kim was doing it.
                                         
                                         That is so true.
                                         
                                         Do you think that it does in any way for people or for men or young men
                                         
                                         or young people who don't understand what patriarchy is or what it's like
                                         
    
                                         to live inside a patriarchy, do you think it is a helpful movie in that way
                                         
                                         or do you think actually they'll miss the point of that?
                                         
                                         I think a lot of people will get the point of it and do
                                         
                                         and I think there's some people who like might just be like,
                                         
                                         that was fun or I hated that for whatever reason because that's
                                         
                                         what movies are, you know.
                                         
                                         People experience like a range of emotions but I think the messaging
                                         
                                         in there is clear enough where like you can see it,
                                         
    
                                         you know.
                                         
                                         You might not like it necessarily but, you know, you can see it.
                                         
                                         And I think it's really interesting at the end where like the Kens don't even
                                         
                                         get equal footing in Barbie land, you know.
                                         
                                         They talk about they might get like a senator in who's not on the Supreme
                                         
                                         Court but a little bit lower.
                                         
                                         And then the resolution is, well, you know, eventually it's going to be
                                         
                                         they're going to have the same powers and responsibility
                                         
    
                                         that women have in the real world, you know,
                                         
                                         the joke being that it is not equal in the real world.
                                         
                                         Exactly, yeah.
                                         
                                         And not even women.
                                         
                                         It's just like anybody.
                                         
                                         Minorities.
                                         
                                         Anybody, yeah.
                                         
                                         Queer people, people with disabilities,
                                         
    
                                         basically anyone other than like white men.
                                         
                                         Yeah.
                                         
                                         Yeah. Interesting. All right. Well, it's such a like white men. Yeah. Yeah.
                                         
                                         Interesting.
                                         
                                         All right.
                                         
                                         Well, it's such a worthwhile movie to go and see again.
                                         
                                         Because I think if you were, but it's interesting,
                                         
                                         I think that throwing that in place because like if you were critical
                                         
    
                                         saying like the Kens didn't even get what they wanted,
                                         
                                         then that would be you acknowledging that the real world women
                                         
                                         and minorities don't get what they wanted.
                                         
                                         Because the ending is the Kens get the same level of responsibility
                                         
                                         that like women have in the real world.
                                         
                                         So that would be you acknowledging that the real world is also not balanced.
                                         
                                         Unless you think that, well, no, men are better than women and men should have more power
                                         
                                         and responsibility.
                                         
    
                                         Who knows?
                                         
                                         Anyway, I don't know if that answered any of your questions.
                                         
                                         Those weren't the thoughts I had last week.
                                         
                                         I can't remember what my thoughts were specifically.
                                         
                                         I probably shouldn't have cut you off last week.
                                         
                                         That's fine.
                                         
                                         But that was really interesting.
                                         
                                         Thank you very much.
                                         
    
                                         If you too have a suggestion or a comment.
                                         
                                         Also, these people are grifting.
                                         
                                         They're just getting money off you.
                                         
                                         They're trying to get you to do drop shipping or like sign up for a course
                                         
                                         or whatever.
                                         
                                         Like this is the Manosphere stuff.
                                         
                                         Like it's a total grift.
                                         
                                         They will ask you for money for courses or whatever to like maybe subscribe
                                         
    
                                         to like BigSandwich.co, for example, or something like that.
                                         
                                         But no, it is.
                                         
                                         It's literally just like their business is like you are the business.
                                         
                                         They're talking about starting businesses.
                                         
                                         For them the business is you, getting money out of you,
                                         
                                         getting you to buy courses and then spread their message through TikTok
                                         
                                         or whatever to get more people on board.
                                         
                                         It's literally how Andrew Tate like started.
                                         
    
                                         His thing was like an affiliate program where like if you got people
                                         
                                         to sign up through TikTok or whatever, then you would get a cut
                                         
                                         of that money also.
                                         
                                         Like it was a pyramid scheme.
                                         
                                         It is a pyramid scheme.
                                         
                                         Yeah.
                                         
                                         Wowza.
                                         
                                         All right.
                                         
    
                                         Well, on that note, on that lovely enlightening note,
                                         
                                         oh, God, it's so depressing.
                                         
                                         Yeah.
                                         
                                         If you too would like to write into suggestible, you can.
                                         
                                         It's just for pod at gmail.com.
                                         
                                         Or leave a review.
                                         
                                         Exactly. You totally can. Just like Rufio pod at gmail.com. Or leave a review. Exactly.
                                         
                                         You totally can.
                                         
    
                                         Just like Rufio.
                                         
                                         Oh, here he goes.
                                         
                                         Stop biting my hand.
                                         
                                         Rufio1617.
                                         
                                         Five stars.
                                         
                                         Just do it in app.
                                         
                                         It says, this is where the fun begins.
                                         
                                         You familiar with that quote?
                                         
    
                                         No.
                                         
                                         From Star Wars.
                                         
                                         Ah.
                                         
                                         I just started listening as I've been a weekly planet listener for years
                                         
                                         and this was a pleasant surprise.
                                         
                                         I've already looked into a few of the recommendations
                                         
                                         and I can say that I am hooked.
                                         
                                         Stop.
                                         
    
                                         You're hurting me.
                                         
                                         You're biting my hand.
                                         
                                         Thank you, Rufio.
                                         
                                         Do you have any more letters or are we going to leave it there?
                                         
                                         No, that's it.
                                         
                                         That's it.
                                         
                                         Sick.
                                         
                                         Thank you as always to Royal Collings for editing this week's episode.
                                         
    
                                         Thank you to Maisie for running our social media.
                                         
                                         All the socials.
                                         
                                         Thank you to everyone who came to my tour as well and my shows.
                                         
                                         I did the final show in Sydney.
                                         
                                         It was so wonderful.
                                         
                                         Now you're taking some time to do whatever.
                                         
                                         And now I'm taking some time off because I am tired.
                                         
                                         I'm a tired old lady.
                                         
    
                                         So I'm just trying to hold this dog at bay while it tries to maul me.
                                         
                                         I know, my goodness, so crazy.
                                         
                                         But, yeah, if you're interested in anything to do with my album,
                                         
                                         you can head to my website, ClaireTonji.com.
                                         
                                         All the information is there.
                                         
                                         I thought I'm not going to be taking my two dogs.
                                         
                                         Digital.
                                         
                                         They've teamed up on me, Claire.
                                         
    
                                         Oh, no.
                                         
                                         Anyway, you can download my music there and find merch and all the things.
                                         
                                         And that's it.
                                         
                                         That's it.
                                         
                                         Thank you as always to everyone for everything.
                                         
                                         Claire, you seem tired.
                                         
                                         I'm so tired.
                                         
                                         Maybe you should have recorded today, which is when I wanted to record.
                                         
    
                                         I know.
                                         
                                         I know, but I don't always listen to time as a construct.
                                         
                                         This is the manosphere.
                                         
                                         And I was too busy hanging with my friends and playing.
                                         
                                         I'm asserting myself. Well, hanging with my friends and playing. I'm assorting myself.
                                         
                                         Well, hanging with my daughter, actually.
                                         
                                         Yeah.
                                         
                                         All right.
                                         
    
                                         Until next week.
                                         
                                         Bye.
                                         
                                         Bye.
                                         
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