Suggestible - Peace, Love and Starstruck

Episode Date: July 29, 2021

Suggestible things to watch, read and listen to. Hosted by James Clement @mrsundaymovies and Claire Tonti @clairetonti.Check out Claire’s new podcast Tonts!Sign up to Claire’s weekly bonus newsletters here – tontsnewsletterThis week’s Suggestibles:Puddle HuntersSeven Little RabbitsWoodstock 99 Twitter ThreadWoodstock 99: Peace, Love and RageStarstruckRose Matafeo InstagramPaddle Your Own Canoe by Nick OffermanThe Dark Underbelly of TikTok (Claire's Podcast - Tonts!)Send your recommendations to [e-mail], we’d love to hear them.You can also follow the show on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook @suggestiblepod and join our ‘Planet Broadcasting Great Mates OFFICIAL’ Facebook Group. So many things. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We can wait for clean water solutions, or we can engineer access to clean water. We can acknowledge indigenous cultures, or we can learn from indigenous voices. We can demand more from the earth, or we can demand more from ourselves. At York University, we work together to create positive change for a better tomorrow. Join us at yorku.ca slash write the future. Join us at yorku.. Second in the motion. And therefore I will do them in perpetuity forever. I appreciate a commitment to a dumb thing. That's what I'm all about.

Well, you know, I've made a commitment to a dumb thing. Oh, he laughs. It was good. It was a good joke. Do I not laugh enough? No. Your comedy bone is broken. You know this. No, yeah, maybe.

Actually, no, that is actually not fair. I, surprisingly, am one of the few people that can make you really laugh. It's true. I think I don't laugh, like, in the regular world enough. I think that's my problem. What do you mean? Just, like, in interactions with people? I think I just consume too much, like, media and content.

So if a normal person's like, how's this bloody, like, shut up. I know what you're going to say before you're going to say it. And I don't need it, quite frankly. Which is just rude, quite frankly. That's so rude. Like, quite frankly, if we're being frank about it. If we're being frank about it. Well, look, I appreciate the fact that you laugh at me,

but why do you laugh at me then? Because I just. No, I think you're funny. Thanks, mate. I just surprise you. Yeah. Do you know what gets me every time? And hello, listeners.

This is Adjustable, a podcast where we recommend you things to watch, read, and listen to. My name is Claire. James is here also. We are married. What up? And now I'm going to continue with the banter. Yes. Because I got that out of the way.

I love when we're sitting around the kitchen table and we play that game where we have to try and make the other person laugh and the first person to laugh obviously loses. And the rules are that you have to stare at the person's face. You cannot make any sounds. Yes. Yes. You just have to do a face thing and I can make you laugh every bloody time. I don't think I've ever won one.

I know. Why is that? Because you look fucking strange. I do. I have a really frightening face. I really do. I have a really frightening face. I really do. I can manipulate into pretty terrifying facial shapes. Yeah, it's very Sesame Street-esque, I feel, my face.

It just kind of morphs. I look very different from different angles. I've had a lot of time to think and look down about the different angles of my face. Do you ever see a photo of yourself and you're like, Jesus. Yes, all the time. Is it a grandma in that? What are you talking about?

You look like a very fit, regular man. I look a million years old. You do not. Yeah. You do not. The only thing that makes you look old is your graying hair and aging face. Yeah, exactly. With my hair as well, it's like 20 years beyond what it should be

of my age. You know what I mean? I mean, to be fair, you started growing it grey at 14. So really it's doing pretty well. I guess. All things considered. Sorry, it's our daughter. All right.

So who wants to go first? You go first if you want. What are you talking about this week? Thank you. Okay, I've got two things. My first one is a fun thing that we did. I love fun things. We did as a family and I thought, you know what, everyone's in lockdown,

not everyone actually, and not even us because we came out today of lockdown for a bit. So what we've been doing, we've been scouring the local neighbourhood for stray pets and we've been stealing them. And then we were like, where's my cat? Then we turn up with a cat and we're like, we found your cat. And then they're like, oh, my God, thank you so much. And we're like, happy to do it.

Sometimes we get a reward. That's what we've been doing. I've got a whole shoebox worth of rewards. You better believe it. One time we got $10. Another time we got three mandarins. Three mandarins? I know.

Or mandarins. Do you say mandarin or mandarin? I don't talk about mandarins. You don't really eat them, do you? You only eat one type of fruit. Bananas, apples, grapes. You only ever eat two types of fruit. And every time I say go get the fruit,

you're always coming back with just apples and bananas. There is literally a plethora of fruits out there. There's so much fruit in the fridge. I bought strawberries this afternoon. Did you? Yes. Anyway, sorry, go on. What are we really doing?

You never eat them though. No, I don't. Yeah, exactly. You only eat two types of fruit. Are you? Yes. Anyway, sorry, go on. What are we really doing? You never eat them though. No, I don't. Yeah, exactly. You only eat two types of fruit. Like a strain. Are you a cereal killer? Strawberries are overrated. No.

You are so insane. You just are a man. Because they're really good. I don't understand why. When they're good, they're really good. But they're very rarely. But when they're bad, they're awful. Yeah, but they're very rarely really good.

Okay. I just think you don't like change. Anyway, my recommendation is a book and then an activity, just like a school teacher. So I want to recommend the picture book Puddle Hunters. Oh, yeah. Yeah, so when the rain stops, it's time to go puddle hunting. Ruby and Banjo and Mum go up the street and into the park,

over the bridge and down to the river flats where the puddles lie waiting. Splash it, Ruby. Splash itdles lie waiting. Splash it, Ruby. Splash it, Banjo. Splash it, Mum. A glorious celebration of splashing and squelching all the way home. It's written by Kirsty Murray and illustrated by Karen Blair. The illustrations are really beautiful and it's a great book to read with kids, I reckon, three to five, that kind of age bracket.

Yeah, totally. And it's just such a fun way to get your kids walking because I don't know if anyone else has kids out there but our kids don't like, well, particularly our one kid, doesn't like doing walking unless there's an activity related to it. And because we've only been allowed out for the last couple of weeks for an hour a day or whatever, trying to get him walking has been a difficult up and up climb.

Especially because it was raining so much. Yeah, exactly. But you had the great idea of going puddle hunting and he put his gumboots on and then just went kind of running all over our little neighbourhood, splashing in the puddles. He loves it. And it was awesome. And I loved it too. And it was just really fun.

And it was a great activity to do when it is that kind of like scourgy, gross day. And the illustrations are really fun. It's a beautiful watercolour. And I also just like Ruby and Banjo as kids. I think they're like really gorgeous. They capture the language of kids really well in that book as well. Yeah, they do. And the way they, there's something also really lovely in a picture book

where it has a narrative arc where they go on a little adventure like that. Then they come home and the house is all cosy and warm and they get in a bath and have a lovely bubble bath or something and get tucked into bed. I used to love those stories as a kid. I love that though when you go out and you do something all day and you're like soaked through or whatever and you just get to have a shower and you're like, ah.

Yeah, it's the best feeling. I feel like that's the only reason you do anything. Yep. So you can come home again. Yep. Yeah, so anyway, I just really loved that book and it's a really gorgeous little read. And the other recommendation I had for a picture book is a book that I got in the post today.

Oh, a post book. Seven Little Rabbits. Yeah, that's an old book. It's a really old book that I got given to me as a little girl, a little gal, and my mum used to read it to me every single night. The illustrations are just so whimsical and gorgeous and it's literally just a very repetitive sort of poem about seven little rabbits walking down the road to call on their old friend Toad

and they keep getting tired and turning around and going to visit a mole under the ground. And the mole, I think I just loved it for the exact same reason as Puddle Hunters. The mole's got this gorgeous little home that has like really cosy, fluffy things and like a big comfy bed and he's always giving them cookies and letting them sit in this cute armchair with a little knitted blankie. Yeah. And it's just, and there's like flowers and lilacs in there.

I don't know, I just always loved the idea of this like really homey little mole kind of like looking after them, poshing around with little glasses on. I think you've always enjoyed like little families and little burrows and like little teapots and stuff. Yeah, I really do. I really – I love – Little felt blankets and whatever.

Yeah, I have. I really loved like Beatrix Potter for that reason. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, and I also really loved – what was it called? There's a series called Millie Mollie Mandy. I don't know if that's a British picture story. What's it? Oh, look it up.

It's like it's a chapter book. But I just used to love that because she did like a miniature little garden and I can't remember that one story where she had to go to the fair and build this like little imaginative little tiny garden out of like rocks and moss and she built like little things. And I just loved it. And so I used to do that all the time as a kid, just go out into the garden and imagine all the fairies and build them little chairs out of rocks.

Wow, that was from, that was English, yeah, well, the writer was and it was first published in 1925 in the Christian Science Monitor, which is a fantastic publication if you can get hold of a copy. It's really good. Anyway, Millie Molly Mandy, I just loved it because she'd go to the, you know, she'd take her jams to the fair and she had little adventures and I just loved it. I love that kind of stuff. Swallows and Amazons is another one I love too.

Anyway, that's my recommendation. It's nice to have nice things. Let me ruin that. Here's what I got for you. So I was on Twitter the other day. Oh, no, the best place full of lovely things. Yeah. Kind.

If you want to ruin your day. Anyway, I saw some tweets from Alicia Grosso. She writes for Screen Rant and Adam and a bunch of other places in, like, the movie sphere. And she was talking about her experiences at Woodstock 99, right? And I retweeted the thread because I'm like, wow, I always knew, like, Woodstock 99 was, like, terrible. But here's, like, some personal stories, you know, that came out of it. So I don't know if you're aware of this, but there was recently a documentary, while she was talking about it, a documentary about Woodstock 99, which had some of the, or one guy in particular who started Woodstock, who did Woodstock 1969, which, you know, is known for, you know, peace and love and happiness and all these kinds of things or

whatever. And even though a lot of that isn't actually true, because the original Woodstock, it barely came together it was falling apart there were arrests death like it was kind of chaos like it wasn't strictly this like this wonderful bastion of like hope and love for boomers or whatever you know what I mean it was it was a lot of it was bad but they anyway the idea was to replicate that in the year 1999 30 years on and this documentary is called Woodstock 99, Peace, Love and Rage, which kind of perfectly sums it up. I'm just going to go through a bunch of stuff here, so just bear with me.

I'm buckling in. I'm watching it and I'm just like, I'm writing that down. Yep, I'm writing that down. But, look, you should watch it. If you grew up in that era, which I did and you did, it's so grim and fascinating and like a real specific time capsule of like bands and moods and and like uh and like clothing and all that kind of and the general feeling of the time so basically one of the things it does it charts like the change from

bands like nirvana in into link biscuit and what uh and they make mention of this as well everything i'm going to say here is basically touched on in the documentary so you should just watch it. But Nirvana at the time, they were quite progressive. Like Kurt Cobain himself, he was very kind of open and he'd come on stage in a dress and he'd do all these kinds of things. He was very welcoming of all sexualities and genders and that kind of thing which was not unusual at the time. No,, you know, not unusual at the time.

Well, no, it was. It was unusual at the time, especially for a major band coming out of like hair metal and all these. Yeah, I read completely, yeah. You know, prior to that. And then after his death, it kind of, the culture shifted and changed into this kind of like homophobic, like hate rage situation.

And this is also off the back of like Columbine and the Clinton-Lewinsky, you know, situation that happened in, you know, that impeachment happened like early 1999. And then you get bands like Limp Bizkit appearing who were just like all noise and hate. And they're not even like, you look at it now and it's laughable. Like Limp Bizkit are a fucking ridiculous band and they always have been. But so this festival was basically all the major US acts from the 90s in the one place with only, I think it was three female acts. So they had like Jewel, Alanis Morissette and Sheryl Crow.

And they'd put like Alanis Morissette, like her set was right before like put, like, Alanis Morissette, like, her set was right before, like, Limp Bizkit and Rage Against the Machine and Metallica. So there wasn't, like, a theme. Do you know what I mean? There was no, like, it was just, like, who's popular? Let's get them together. And it just spiralled. Like, it was a nightmare.

Like, just to list some of the things that happened, trigger warning for this as well, there were, like, numerous deaths uh sexual assaults and rapes that that happened like on campus because what they'd basically done they'd taken this army barracks and changed it into a which is which is also hilarious if you think like the woodstock original woodstock was a was anti-war but they they the way they wanted army backs because they could then pen people in and so you couldn't jump the fence to get in, right? That was the idea. So you'd make more money. People were like rolling around in mud, but it turned out to be like human excrement because

like porta-potties would be tipped over and pipes would burst. There was like no drinking water or not enough and water bottles were like $4 a bottle. You couldn't bring in your own food or water as well in the showers which they had were only separated by tarps so people like pulling them down to like look into like other people's showers and things like that and one of the organizers are john sure was like well you know if women you know they they shouldn't be running around naked so you know they're partially at fault for all these kinds of things that that happened and it was kind of also the beginning of this exploitative kind of girls gone wild kind of culture that happened.

And, you know, because you got stuff also like around the same time like American Pie and like there'd be a frat movie and it's just basically about sexual assault, you know what I mean, the entire time. And that was like the culture and people just, everybody I think, well, not everybody, but it was just kind of these mainstream movies and also like, and these opinions that were just taken as a given. And Kid Rock comes out, who, by the way, is the fucking worst

and has always been and continues to be. He was a vanilla ice knockoff, like originally. And he's from like extreme wealth. And he eventually became this rap rock kind of absolute fucking buffoon. And he still is to this day. He's a clown. But he comes out and he's like, Monica Lewinsky's a hoe and Bill Clinton's a pimp.

Like, that's one of the things he just, like, says to the crowd. And, like, everybody's, like, red and burnt and heat stroke. There's a rave, like, every night. So there's no, like, proper timetable for anything or again, like consistency. So everybody's just like spinning out on like drugs and alcohol and dehydration. And,

but then there's bands like the offspring who came out and were like, well, I've always liked, like I like offspring from a, not that I've listened to an offspring album in like 20 years, but they were like, don't grope people. If people are coming over you in the liked, like I like Offspring from a, not that I've listened to an Offspring album in like 20 years, but they were like, don't grope people. If people are coming over you in the crowd, like women, don't grope them.

What's wrong with you? Like, because the crowd was just, you see this crowd and it's just terrifying to me. Just like 100,000 people like packed together, probably more just rolling, like jumping up and down. And then when the biscuit come out, they cause like a minor riot and people are like surfing on like torn off bits of plywood that they've found.

Why was it so insane though? It was like the culture of the time. Like it was, there was this like. It was like that frat boy energy. Yeah, but it was pretty much and it was this kind of simmering rage, but people didn't have like an outlet or like there was no war. Do you know what I mean? Not in the way there was with Woodstock.

Do you know what I mean? And I think there was a lot of disenfranchisement and they, did I say that right? You did. You nailed it. But like, and they were trying to be like, and also people were mad about, you know, because it was the start, not the start. It was like boomers had taken over.

People were starting to feel the effects of that and commercialization and it was all of these things were reflected in the in the festival and there were some good things like there was a there was a volunteer group that was just after columbine who came in and gave out a bunch of free candles and there was like there was like this moment of peace where everybody kind of came together for this this kind of moment you know what i mean and even it's funny because like I've never liked Creed and I used to when I was younger I'd rail against Creed and be like I hate Creed. Creed is the worst and they're a Pearl Jam knockoff.

One of the like to their credit, one of the bands who again tried to like change the vibe was Creed. The guy from Creed in his billowy white shirt and his Jesus hair like standing out there. Like it's ridiculous and it talks about Napster and how that kind of gave music directly to people and people adopted that because they were getting you know you'd be charged like 20 bucks for a single you know for one song you know what i mean and it kind of

it addresses that and basically the whole thing just culminates in a big fire and a riot and they just like they wreck everything like everything is destroyed stages like venues are flipped everything's everything's raided like it's chaos and then everybody just leaves and it's just like the plastic and the waste and the human excrement it's just like everything that's wrong with society was like in this one place and it it's weird because there are kind of parallels to like the modern day. Do you know what I mean? Like you see like there is a lot of simmering rage. Do you know what I mean?

You see that in politics now. Like a lot of these people then, you know, it's 20 years on. Do you know what I mean? And it's become like a different more kind of political thing. You know, people who are like my age or older. Do you know what I mean? Yeah. Also, Moby was there and he's awful as always.

He's interviewed and you see like a clip, though to be fair, he's like, I hated it, whatever. But you see like a clip from back in the day and he's looking at the board. He's like, look at all these acts. None of this is, this isn't Woodstock. I don't even recognise half of these bands. Why am I not on this?

And it's like, you're a fucking DJ, man. Like why you at Woodstock? You stole all of your music also. Anyway, it's on HBO Max if you've got a VPN to watch it from, you know, if you're not in a place that has HBO Max. It's fascinating. I loved it. It was awful.

But it's just like wow. Wow. So it wasn't that they were enraged at something in particular, like Fyre Festival or something. I think there was like a lot of it is like, not to point fingers, but it's all white dudes, like wrecking shit, you know what I mean? And it's like it's a white dude festival, do you know what I mean? Because all the bands are that.

They're white guy bands, like Limp Bizkit, you know, that's a white guy band, you know. It just is. Metallica. Yeah, Metallica maybe not as much, but yes, essentially. I don't know who Creed's for. But again, there were bands that were there that I like. I like Rage Against the Machine.

I like Metallica. I like Alanis Morissette. You know, a lot of them. Nirvana. He's dead. He wasn't there. I thought you said he was there. No, no.

So it charts like the change of music. Oh, okay. Nirvana started this kind of like music revolution away from hair metal and like pop and this kind of, even MTV fled. Like they were covering it and then last day they fled. They just were like, this is terrifying. Yeah. Wow, it's such a strange time now when you look back at the 90s,

isn't it, in general? Because I was talking to someone for an interview upcoming for my podcast, Tons, who was a journalist during the 90s working in magazines. And she was a journalist reporting in those kind of tabloid magazines in London and England, like reporting on women like Ally McBeal, like Calista Flockhart and Deborah Messing from Will & Grace and, you know, the entire cast of Ally McBeal,

even, you know, Rachel from Friend Jennifer Aniston and this kind of waif-like figure of women at that time that was kind of touted as being the height of like hotness and sexiness and like the biggest stars in the world. And now all those women are coming out in their like 40s and even 50s saying that they were all completely starving themselves, had eating disorders, had intense amounts of pressure from, you know, network execs to lose more and more weight.

Yeah. And they weren't to the point where they would be passing out in their dressing rooms before they'd go on set. They're so small. Yeah, and there was this kind of undercurrent of like just women are ethereal and that's what's attractive and that kind of Kate Moss, like no breasts at all, super flat waist, like tiny arms. It's kind of gone like not completely but it's gone the other way.

Yeah, there's a totally different aesthetic now and obviously it's much more about the Kardashian kind of big booty and like women who can jump and are like physically more muscular. That's cool I'm a big fan of that. Yeah I am actually too a massive fan of that clearly but and I do think that that is healthier to a point but I think any parameter where you're expecting women to look a

certain way in any particular era is dangerous and bad because no one looks the same you know every woman's body and every bloke's body is different, you know. So trying to get us to fit into these narrow ideas of beauty are really, really dangerous and harmful. But what I just find so fascinating about that is that I had never even, like it had not occurred to me that those women, the biggest stars,

you know, Jennifer Aniston, Calista Flockhart, I looked at them and I didn't think eating disorder. I thought, why can't I look like that? Yeah. And they were like literally starving to death. Like their organs are going into, you know, shutdown and they're like, you know, doing with bulimia or anorexia or whatever it was in order to look like that. And even Jennifer Aniston, and she won't report this widely, has come out in recent times

to say, actually not so much anymore, but for a little while she was saying this and it is true. She had her agent come to her and say, before she got the role in Friends, you're not getting any parts because you need to lose 15 kilos. What? So she lost 15 kilos. 15 kilos. And then she got the part in Friends. And then she had to keep that like.

And then she had to keep that physique. So I for most of my life have thought that Jennifer Aniston just naturally had a body that looks like that. And the reality is no. Yeah. Most people who have bodies like that. She's much fitter now though, isn't she? She's like.

Yeah, yeah, she is. I mean she's still very slimmer. Oh, yeah. But like she's like strong. She looks strong. But I just find that really kind of worrying about that 90s culture. So on one hand you had that frat boy kind of like vibe, movies like Road Trip and American Pie who are like perving on women

and that kind of angry boy vibe. It's just shit that you should go to jail for, like a lot of those movies. Yeah, right. It is, isn't it? And then you have women who are expected to kind of look waif-like and almost disappear. Yeah. And that's not all women.

Like you also had like Sheryl Crow and Lana Musmar said. Yeah, she was there. I think Sheryl Crow was there as I mentioned. Yeah, yeah. And, you know, really incredible women doing amazing things as well. But I just, it's just interesting when you start to look back on it all through a totally different lens. Because to me now, I look at those women and think, God, you are,

that's not, I don't even think that that is something I would want to strive for on any level. You know, I want to be able to do things with my body. The women that I admire are the athletes, like watching the Olympics and looking at these women who can, I don't know, kayak or the volleyballers or the netball kayak or the volleyballers or the netballers or the basketballers or soccer players. They're the women that I see running, not worrying about what they look like, but just being bloody kick-ass and physical and strong. And I really admire that.

I've got to say, you're right. You're right about the Olympics as well. It's been good. What? It's been good. And our son's been really enjoying it. And, you know, it's really cool that you guys have been sitting down and, like, you know, watching it together.

It's been great. Thanks, mate. It has been really inspiring. Hey, well, thank you. That sounds completely fascinating and depressing but also really fascinating. Oh, it's awful. And it's just, like, it's, like, very exploitative of, like, women. Like, I mean, like so many are just topless or body paint just, like,

walking around, which is fine. Like, do whatever you want. But it's, like, people, like, you see so many people getting groped. Like it's just like the entire time in the documentary, you know. Yeah. Yeah, it's just an – it seemed awful. Like I've never been like a big like music festival guy. No, I've been to some good ones.

But like it's just this one I'm just like, oh, my God, I hate this. And it's just – I guess it is a cultural thing, isn't it? There's a vibe that can happen. Because obviously music festivals can be wonderful in places that are really kind of joyful. Yeah, well, they talk about the birth of Coachella out of this, which I don't know that much about and I've never been to. But that happened later that year and it was like the complete opposite.

It was like really clean facilities and open and accepting. Apparently it's like it ebbs and flows in terms of quality. I don't know. I've never been but that was almost a response to this, just this absolute fucking nightmare of a weekend. It's an interesting kind of look too, isn't it, into the logistics of a massive event like that and what happens when you don't provide structure for people.

Yeah, and then exploit people and then basically take away their food and water and then charge them. Like they backlash, like it backfired on them. That wasn't the only reason it went south. There were a number of things going on. I do feel like, and maybe this is me, people getting really good food, being full and having plenty of water. Oh, totally.

Makes a, you know, just like I just think that can weigh like, you know, really calm down most situations. If you can get some food around, you know, I just feel like everyone is a little calmer. Yeah, you're right. In all situations. There is one moment that really made me laugh where it's from the time because Limp Bizkit caused this like minor riot and also ended up setting

a lot of the tone for the weekend. And one of the organisers, I think the one I mentioned who's awful, like blames them specifically for what happened, which isn't true. They were like partially to blame. Yeah. But they were interviewed at the time and they're like, oh, so how do you feel about how the concert went or whatever? And Fred Durst is just like, none of that was our fault.

We didn't do it. You know how a kid does that? Yeah, like a defensive child. When you go to a kid and you're like, hey, what's going on here? And they're like, we didn't do anything. What are you talking about? It's like fucking calm down, Fred Durst. Just immediately on the back foot.

Ah, terrible music. Biscuit, check them out. Oh, goodness gracious. They were Bizkit, check them out. Oh, goodness gracious. They were the biggest band in the world. They were the biggest act of the weekend. And I just look at all the other artists and bands that are there and I'm like, that's right, they were the biggest band in the world. There was like a very brief window where Limp Bizkit

were the biggest band in the world. And they're a fucking joke. Wow. Wes Ballin, though. A lot of respect for Westmoreland. But other than that. Isn't that so interesting? Introducing Uber Teen Accounts,

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All right. I just talked a lot about stock in 1999. No, that sounds really interesting. All right. So I am so excited to talk about this TV show. It's called Starstruck. Oh my goodness. It's from the BBC and it's currently on ABC iView if you're in Australia. It's written by and starring Edinburgh Comedy Award-winning comedian, writer and actor Rose Matafayo who is from New Zealand. I just saw her on, am I to follow her on Instagram? I don't know. Sorry, go on. Oh, yeah, I've just followed her and I've just fallen into a rabbit hole

of watching her on Instagram because she's one of those people that just loves creating. Like she loves to create dioramas and she like crochets and she makes, while she was making Starstruck, she would do like a weekly newsletter and it's kind of like fan art, like a zine and with the images of all of the cast and like little drawings and everything. And then she just does these like hilarious still images of herself for fun with like different outfits and make-up on.

She's just joyful. Like she'll just like do video compilations of gorgeous things she's found on the internet that she loves and puts them on Instagram. Oh, cool, yeah. She's just clearly a really fun, great, creative kind of person anyway. And Starstruck follows the life of her. She plays a woman called Jessie. She juggles between two jobs in order to afford the overpriced apartment

that she shares with her best friend Kate. And then on New Year's Eve she hooks up with Tom. She soon discovers that he's actually a famous movie star, Tom Kapoor. Oh, I think Mason was telling me about this show. Oh, it's so good. Their worlds could be not more different. So it's kind of like a rom-com that's set over I think it's six episodes and fate keeps bringing them together in the most extraordinary circumstances.

So it's kind of like a flipped on its head version of Notting Hill. Yes. In a way. And so Tom Kapoor is the protagonist and he's just your not your usual leading man. Like he's incredibly handsome and the chemistry between them is like so great. But because they're both from like different backgrounds that you don't normally see necessarily in a rom-com, in a Notting Hill. Yeah.

They just add so much more to it. And the cast of characters around her, so her friend Kate is hilarious, but there's also other characters around her too that just came floating around. It's just brilliant. And everyone I've spoken to who's watched it has just instantly fallen in love with it. I watch the show. Yeah.

It's just, it's such a great anecdote as well to the pandemic because there's no mention of COVID anywhere. It's joyful and silly and funny and Rose Matafea is just like a beam of sunshine. She's just so great and witty. But it also kind of goes into interesting places too. Like it shows an extension of when Harry Met Sally, one of my favourite films, right?

Yeah. When Harry Met Sally was made, it was very rare to see like a film like that where you were taught openly about sex really between men and women and that women would get to talk about sex, right, in a way that was real or honest. And obviously Sex and the City kind of furthered that massively and sped everything up from there. And then there was other shows like Girls as well that obviously

were quite explicit. Yeah. And I think what's interesting is that Starstruck kind of sits in this lovely place where it's really light and fun and great while also being from a very female perspective. And so they deal with things like period sex and stuff that is quite, I don't want to say taboo, but just hasn't been spoken about as much because stuff hasn't, you know, a lot of stuff just isn't made from the female perspective.

And it's just really lovely to see a show like this be so awesome, kind of have come from that elk, you know, like that kind of progression from when we've seen films like When Harry Met Sally and then through, you know, Girls and Sex and the City and, you know, all of those kind of shows have allowed Rose to create something like this. Yeah. And I just love that.

I love to see that because this is exactly the kind of show that I want to see more of. Yeah. That's my genre that I love. And there's also some really touching moments in it too. The chemistry is great, which is always what makes, you know. So like Notting Hill but now. Yeah, Notting Hill but now and better, I think.

Well, funnily enough, I meant to bring this up before, but Notting Hill actually there's a scene where Julia Roberts talks about how she's been on a diet since she was like 19 and she talks about like the surgeries that she's had, like her character. So like that's the only example I can think of of like a mainstream like acknowledgement. Of how much work goes into looking like that. You know?

Yeah, completely. That was really interesting. Yeah. Yeah, actually I hadn't thought about that before. You're right. I love that movie. Yeah, and I love The One on a Hill too. Like I really love it.

It's, you know, a really, really great film. But I just think, yeah, it's just really nice to see. I love Ronan Keating. Yes. He was great at Woodstock 99. Singing that song about roller coasters. Just got to ride it. That's right.

He's always in Australia hosting something. He's like maybe on The Voice or another show. I don't know. They're always like, you're amazing, you're going to go far, and then you never see that person again. Yeah, exactly. I will say too in Starstrike what's so great is that the plot is unexpected. Okay.

So often it goes into places that you don't expect it to go to, which is what I also really like. And randomly as well his manager is played by Minnie Driver. Oh, really? Yeah. She was a rom-com-ish staple. She was. There's just like a really funny scene between him and Minnie Driver.

She didn't just do rom-coms, by the way. She's done a bunch of stuff. No, lots of other stuff. And that was just a delight as well to watch that. The rest of the cast is like, yeah, pretty new, which is also really great or new in that I haven't seen them in anything before. Speaking of new, Claire, I do want to talk about how we can, people can review the show

and that's great. I'm a bit big into that. But you've got a new episode of your podcast, Tons, where you talk with a friend of ours, Gary McDonald, about cyber safety. And it sounds, you might be like, ugh, boo. I know, don't say cyber safety. It's really boring. No, I know. Don't say cyber safety. It's really boring. No, I know.

That does sound boring. It's not about that. It's about like if you've got kids or you're thinking about kids or you hate kids and you want to know something that will destroy a kid, basically he specialises in like how that kind of stuff affects children and he goes into schools and he talks to teachers and staff and kids about how to navigate the internet. And I just thought it was a really fascinating, we've known Marty for 20 years. So it wasn't Gary McDonald. His name's Martin McGarrett. And he actually runs the company

with his sister Carly, who's a psychologist and a mum. And I'm going to be interviewing her in a few weeks as well, because she's got even more insight. Because it started because I have this real fear of giving our son like eye devices because I know, you know, the Steve Jobs, obviously, rest his soul, of the world. Maybe he shouldn't have tried to cure cancer with fruit. All right. Okay. But you know that whole thing where they don't actually give eye devices to their kids because they're so addictive and all of that stuff.

And I just have this real fear, particularly around, you know, social media as well and the impact of that. And because I was speaking to friends of mine who were high school teachers now and seeing the effects of that on our young people. Oh, my God. Like everybody has, every teacher I know has a story, primary school or high school, about this like a kid sending a photo or saying something they didn't. Yeah.

Like it's, I mean, people probably know this, but it's literally everywhere. I know. And what we're really talking about, the crux of it, like Marty started at like a tech kind of. We used to, because he did IT and I did IT for a bit, and we used to like do conferences together. Go to the same conferences, yeah, because he's a Google educator.

So we started this business as a side hustle alongside his teaching, kind of to educate parents and teachers and kids about how to use technology in the classroom effectively. And he thought, you know, how to use Garage in the classroom effectively and he thought, you know, how to use GarageBand and MovieMaker and, you know, all of that fun stuff. And then a bit about cyber safety, you know, just the do's and don'ts online.

That's kind of where he started. And what's happened is he's had to bring in his sister who's a psychologist because really what they're looking at is the prevalence of pornography and how easy it is for kids to share dick pics and stuff. And get twisted. Yeah, and twisted. A concept of sexuality and how to treat people and how people treat you.

Yeah, and we're kind of sort of talking through it quite fast now, but, I mean, there was stuff. I thought your episode was too short, to be honest. I was like, no, I'm serious. I was like I could have done with more of this because I know you are going to get him back to talk about more stuff, but there was stuff that I could have done with more of this. Because I know you are going to get him back to talk about more stuff. But there was stuff that I could have kept listening to. Oh, that's so nice of you.

Because I think it's only like an hour 15 or something. Yeah. But it felt like it didn't feel like that. I listened to it this afternoon. Thank you. Yeah, I loved it. I thought it was great. I think it's such a good show, like in general.

But, yeah. That's so lovely. Anyway, Gary McDonald, check him out. He's on Twitter. Anyway, he does, check him out. He's on Twitter. Anyway, he does say some stuff that I thought I knew about this stuff. And then the stuff about TikTok and just OnlyFans and then just the follow through, just so many stories he has from schools about what's happening with kids.

And I know we're kind of talking light about it. It's also really serious and scary. Oh, no, I'm dead serious. Yeah, but he also gives what I loved about it, which I don't know, this is a hard thing to say, but I loved all of the practical stuff. Yeah. He had all these little, because otherwise you watch Doom and Gloom.

Yeah, because you're just like, kids, you're looking at pornography. What do you do? Like the social dilemma or something. You can't just like take everything away. And we can't get rid of our iPhones in a lot of ways because they're so entrenched now in our social networks. And I want to, and maybe we could down the track, but is it realistic to expect that our kids won't be using

iDevices? Probably not. But how do we navigate that? Oh, yeah. So he gives really practical strategies that you can put into practice. And so I can't wait to talk to his sister as well because I think she'll have a whole lot more kind of insight into the psychological effects of this and what we can do because that's at the crux of it, right?

Yes. What the bloody hell can we do? I think he's got some really good, not to, you know, get into them here, but he's got some really good responses. And since I've left, which is five, six years now, so much has changed. Oh, my gosh. But, like, schools are trying but they often don't know. I remember, like, a girl came across a picture of like somebody

in a bikini or something. Like it wasn't a big deal. And now my thing was like if you see something, just turn your monitor off, just come and get me. Like it's fine. You know what I mean? You're not going to get in trouble. It happens.

And so that happened and then, you know, it was fine. No one's in trouble. You know, I told the principal about it or whatever because, you know, because you've got to speak to the parents and whatever. And then he was like, Oh, what are we going to do about this? How do we stop kids? Like finding, do we like, do we like, you know, do we put more filters? Do we block Google or whatever? And I'm like, it's going to happen. I'm like, it worked like the method that we were using at the time of like, just come and get me.

It worked like that's, yeah, it's like, it sucks, but but like that's the reality of it, you know what I mean? Yeah, I mean and there are filters and things you can put on. There are but look – But at the end of the day. We had them all, you know, or whatever was available then, you know, but it's going to happen, you know, and it was – Yeah, and so yeah.

I know I'm glad I don't do it anymore because it's real stressful. I'm sure it used to be much more fun. Yeah. But I just – yeah, the stuff that their schools are having to deal with, because really most of it comes from kids having iDevices and laptops, but mainly iDevices like iPhones and iPads alone at home. Yeah, exactly. And like in a click of a button can be exposed to a whole lot of stuff.

Anyway, enough of that. So that's taunts. Colleen's will link it below. But did you know, speaking of linked below, if you're looking at your phone or your iDevice right now and you're like, I wish I could review this, but how? Guess what you can. See an app.

And Emu Turtle has given us five stars, which we really appreciate. It says, good. Love the show, the banter. Love the love between the two hosts. I really enjoy Claire on the Weekly Planet, and I think her being a third with Mason James is great. I'm constantly recommending to my female friends who already love Do Go On. So there you go.

Helps out the show. If you can give us a rating and a review. Maybe you want to send us an email or an audio email. Correct, exactly. A voiced memo. To suggestapod at gmail.com, just like this person has. Are you ready? I'm ready. I'm listening. Here we go.

Hi, James Sinclair. My name is John Scripp, and I am from Minnesota. Sounds made up. I'm currently outside with my two dogs, so if you hear barking, that's why. I'm an avid listener of both this and James' more successful podcast, Do Go On, I mean, The Weekly Planet.

Oh, it's really fun. And I am a great fan of everything that you guys do. My recommendation is the book Paddle Your Own Canoe by Nick Offerman, who is one of my favorite actors. It's very funny and witty and just dry and great. It's very funny and witty and just dry and great. It's just a nice book written by a nice man who isn't terrible, which I know is something that James enjoys, not terrible people. It's true.

Thank you both and continue being awesome. Bye-bye. Thank you so much, Scrip. John Scrip. John Scrip. John, thank you so much, John. Sounds like a made-up name. Sounds like a way, John Scrip. Anyway, thank you.

And I love Nick Offerman. The best. Oh, my gosh. Thank you for the kind words. He's a made-up name. Sounds like it was John's script. Anyway, thank you. And I love Nick Offerman. Oh, the best. Oh, my gosh. Thank you for the kind words. He's one of my favorite shows, Parks and Rec. Yeah, really good. So good. Yeah, and great recommendation.

I've actually been meaning to read that and I just haven't been around to it. I'd never heard of it, so that's good to know. One of us should read it. The other one can't read it then because that's content, isn't it? Exactly. I know. It's so annoying. Anyway, yeah, thank you so much.

And you can also get a voice memo on the show just in-app. Send it to suggestapod.gmail.com. Or a regular email. Or just a regular one too. But we have to read it in a funny voice. Tell us what kind of funny voice you want us to read your email in. Correct. It could be Cockney.

Hello, Weekly Planet. Hello. Hello. Hello. And now all of the British listeners have turned on. I don't know if you're familiar with our Tom Holland impersonation who plays Spider-Man. Hello.

I'm Tom Holland. No, it's like this. Hello, I'm Tom Holland. No, I can't post it. Hello, I'm Tom Holland. Oh, Mr. Feige, don't fire me from Spider-Man, please. Don't send me back up the chimney. That's not what he sounds like.

We just think it's really funny that he's like a little British boy. I do know that. I'm just trying to navigate Hollywood. It's our favorite bit. I've seen that in the animation. Yeah. I love that. I love that so much.

All right. Okay. Thank you as always to Roar Collings for editing this episode. Love it. Well, I've been James. He's been Claire. Believe it. We flipped it.

Thank you, Greg. She's flipped it. She's flipped it. I've flipped out. I've flipped off. Anyway, I'm going to. He's been Claire. We think you're great. She's flipped it. She's flipped it. I've flipped out. I've flipped off. Anyway, I'm going to go and watch the basketball in the Olympics because it's so great. And I'm going to continue making my Luke Skywalker video,

which I won't spoil here, but it's very niche and no one will care. All right, goodbye. You don't. Goodbye. Bye. This podcast is part of the Planet Broadcasting Network. Visit planetbroadcasting.com for more podcasts from our great mates. I mean, if you want.

It's up to you. Hi, I'm Jessie 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.