The Bechdel Cast - Home Alone with Tamara Yajia

Episode Date: December 12, 2019

This week, super producers Sophie and Aristotle leave Caitlin and Jamie home alone with special guest Tamara Yajia to chat about Home Alone. (This episode contains spoilers)For Bechdel bonuses, sign up for our Patreon at patreon.com/bechdelcast.Follow @DancesWithTamis on Twitter. While you're there, you should also follow @BechdelCast, @caitlindurante and @jamieloftusHELP Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Trust us, it's out of this world. On the Bechdelcast, the questions asked, if movies have women in them, are all their discussions just boyfriends and husbands, or do they have individualism? The patriarchy's effin' vast. Start changing it with the Bechdel cast. Hello, welcome to the Bechdel cast.

Yay. Oh, we're so excited. It's our last show at the Ruby. Yes, it is. Oh, my gosh. At least at this location. At this location, yes. Because they're so excited. It's our last show at the Ruby. Yes, it is. Oh, my gosh. At least at this location. At this location, yes. Because they're moving downtown.

Yes. So follow them there. Ever heard of it? Hello, my name is Caitlin. My name is Jamie. And we talk about the representation of women in movies on our podcast. That you're watching? Right now.

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And non-allied women clearly hates women. Hasn't heard the show. Until tonight. And now you're here and we're going to you okay so just out of curiosity today's movie is uh home alone who's seen it has anyone like me before a couple days ago not seen it before no okay i'm a dumb ass thank you all right uh i mean i think we can both agree right at the jump feminist masterpiece yeah for sure yeah it has a feminist agenda and we all know that you just gotta really dig down and make stuff up for that to be true which will be a hundred percent of today's show literally what are we going to talk about today? Hard to say. Who knows?

Hard to say. But to join us in that discussion, we've got a guest, as we always do. She's a writer. She's the host of the Chorizo Talk podcast. Give it up for Tam Yahia. Hi. Hello. Welcome.

Thank you. I have my beverages. All two of them? Yes. And I i'm gonna urinate on the stage please i like uh think of the venue as as your litter box really that's nice i was just thinking the other i'm getting a cat and i was like i people should have litter boxes. It's way smarter. I did something really terrible and embarrassing the other day. What? I peed on my dog's pee-pee pad, standing up. What was the motivation?

I don't know. Sometimes things like that make me feel alive. Oh. That's the best possible answer to that you're like you weren't like about to have an emergency you're like oh i can't get to the toilet in time caitlin's really trying to find the rationale i had to walk farther to get to the pee pee path than to the toilet you just okay so you wanted the pee i totally get that impulse pe being standing up is beautiful yeah i understand toxic masculinity every time i pee standing up i'm like oh this it's empowering it's been about okay why also

why can't well i guess i don't know i just think that there is a way in which women could stand up have you ever seen like there is like a complicated funnel that was on the market for a bit that I was like, maybe I'll do it. I owned one. You have one? Wait, what is it called? Okay. They're for camping. Oh.

It's too, it's unnecessary. How long, is it, like, a tubey thing? It's a funnel with, like, a little, like, a skinny penis at the end. Stylin'. Yeah. All right. Wow. Well,

we've all learned a lot so far here today, right? Oh, okay, yeah. There's just like no way I'm not gonna pee in the litter box at some point. Please text me when you're done. I will.

I will text you. See what clumpage we get. We'll figure it out. We'll see what happens. Okay, so, Kaylin wants to die okay i know i just i mean speaking of p home alone am i right no no one p no one p or a sure yeah he's there for a while does he not pee the whole two days he's home alone but then the other argument is like we should have seen him peeing which we shouldn't know so you know the peeing is implied so tomorrow what's your history or your relationship with this film i it's one of my favorite or it was

one of my favorite movies until i just rewatched it yeah earlier this week and I was like ah when I was a kid I think I saw it as like a documentary because I just realized today I've had a weird trauma about getting burglarized uh when left home alone and I I didn't know why. I still have that. I blame it on the movie. Like a goofy burglary or a scary one? No, like an actual one. Oh, okay.

Yeah. And then I was like, it was so goofy. Yes. That's what I thought when I saw it last week. But it was scary when you were a kid. It was scary. And it's still a trauma I have of being alone and like having people break into my apartment yeah i like talk about it in therapy all the time and i i don't know i don't

want to blame the movie but like kind of weird that it's my favorite movie and that's my biggest thing i mean it just goes to show how influential film is which is why we need this podcast. Caitlin. What's your history with this movie? I grew up with it hard. Whatever that means. I was four when it came out in 1990, but I think I probably saw it for the first time when I was like five or six. Watched it steadily dozens and dozens of times

throughout my childhood, probably till I was like eight or nine or so. then I was like I'm older than Kevin fuck this movie now I kind of stopped caring about it at some point and I hadn't seen it since then so it's been a solid 20 plus years since I had revisited it and does it hold out I was surprised that the movie does a lot of things to justify like why they would have forgotten kevin at home like they do try really hard to get back to him right away i didn't remember any of that i was like if his family doesn't even notice he's gone except for that one part where katherine o'hara is on the plane and goes, Kevin!

Which is a cinematic moment. It'll go down in history. It's great. Isn't it horrible that when I was watching them forget him, I'm like, no, that makes sense. Well, there's so many children there. How do you keep track? There's a million, and they all look like, yeah, within two inches of height of the same child and then she sent him to the

dungeon the upstairs the attic i'm like you know what as someone who like my parents did forget me places like once or twice in ways that i feel like were more careless than what katherine o'hara did i don't know but yeah so i have a, I watched this a lot as a child, but not at all as an adult. What about you, Jamie? I didn't grow up with this movie. I don't know why. I was like, I just,

I was on the phone with my mom today and I was like, why didn't we watch Home Alone when I was little? She's like, it's dorky. Wow. I know. I thought it was a lovely romp when I was little. She's like, it's dorky. Wow. I know. I thought it was a lovely romp when I watched it.

But I don't know. My mom thought it was dorky. So we didn't, which is weird because like she has horrible taste in everything, which anyone who listens to podcasts is well aware of. But what the movie I watched a bajillion times was the Jim Carrey Grinch, which my mom is like, now this is film. Which, by the way, Jamie, we should at least spend a little bit of time discussing what you're wearing.

Yeah, it's a holiday episode. Gotta wear my Grinchies. I wore a reddish color, so I'm in the holiday spirit. You know, a tasteful holiday season. Thank you. This is actually a traditional winter solstice outfit, so I'm actually doing a really good job. I'm in white representing God.

Of course. Head to toe. So I feel like we really have some father-son holy spirit energy on stage here. You decide who's who. Yeah, I didn't grow up with this movie. And now I was kind of bummed out because when I watched it, I'm like,

oh, I wish I had. Yeah. It's so fun. It's a beloved movie. It made a bazillion dollars at the box office. It was an instant smash hit. Some thought it was dorky. What year did it come out?

1990. Okay. So I was dorky. What year did it come out? 1990. Okay, so I was born in 83. So how old was I? I can't do basic. Seven. You're like the perfect age to see this movie. How old was Kevin? Eight. Oh, okay.

Love it. This is perfect. And then I think Macaulay culkin was nine yeah right well wow we did the math represented here yes seven eight and nine talk about progressive all right should i uh get into the recap let's recap it feminist masterpiece here we go so the mcallister house which is somewhere in the very wealthy suburbs of chicago is full of people as they all prep for this holiday trip that they're taking as a family to paris which uh good for you right they were rich they were rich very rich and it does not really go addressed how rich they are.

So rich. When the pizza comes at the beginning, they're like $114. You're like, $114 in 1990? Right. They're billionaires. I know. That's crazy. So they're leaving for this trip the following morning. And then we meet Kevin.

That's Macaulay Culkin, of course. He is whiny he's causing trouble he doesn't know how to pack his suitcase but he's not like the other kids right he's uh precocious yeah but his family is like oh man you're so helpless you can't do anything for yourself and then his mom kate katherine o'Hara, and his dad, Peter, played by John Hurd. We meet those characters. We meet Kevin's brother, Buzz. Kevin is like on Buzz, honestly.

And Buzz's tarantula. Tarantula. And his creepy posters. And his Playboy magazine that we find out he has later on. Okay. Tread carefully. Oh, right. A former Playboy employee.

Oh, the worst fact about me. I worked at Hooters, so I get it. Okay. Very true. True story, but it was as a delivery driver. That is 100% also true.

That is the best fact about you. Thank you so much. So, Buzz tells Kevin about about their neighbor this older man named marley who buzz says is known as the shovel slayer and he killed his whole family with a snow shovel right so kevin's really scared of him now the family sits down to dinner which is hundreds of dollars worth of pizza i I adjusted for inflation. Does anyone have a ballpark of how much that would be? I pulled up the converter, and then I was like,

I don't want to know. It's too much money for pizza. I would guess $10,000. Is that $10,000 American dollars? I lived in Argentina when this came out, so for me it was $10,000. Oh, sure. Because the Argentine peso is worth shit.

So you're like, oh, these people are fucking billionaires. How much does a pizza cost in America? That's so confusing. So the family, they're having dinner, and Kevin gets in a fight with Buzz, and everything gets spilled, and his whole family's staring at him being like, you idiot.

Look what you did. His uncle really lays into him. Truly. What is the line he says? He's like, look what you did, you little jerk. He hits jerk so hard. And silence. Yeah.

Uncle Frank was cheap also. Yeah, he would not pay the pizza boy who was hot he was he was hot okay he's probably a teenager not now he's like 50 years old now don't persecute me caitlin durant i am so sorry okay so then there's also a cop just inside their house no one notices the cop so weird and we're like okay this family loves cops they're unclear don't love that but he's like standing there and he talks to kevin's dad saying like hey just be careful there's a lot more home burglaries around the holidays like i just want to make sure you have adequate home security. And how rich do you have to be

for the police to show up at your house to be like, there might be crime at some point. Right. It's like, you live in Chicago. Go do something.

Right. There are murders to solve. Yeah. And it's Joe Pesci. And it's Joe Pesci. Right. This is the reason why I picked this movie, honestly. Really? Because of Joe Pesci? Are you a Pesci head? I'm obsessed, but it's Joe Pesci. And it's Joe Pesci. Right. This is the reason why I picked this movie, honestly.

Really? Because of Joe Pesci? Are you a Pesci head? I'm obsessed, but it's dark. Okay. I cannot wait to understand this. Yeah, let's get into it in a bit. Oh, I can't wait.

Oh, my God. So Kevin's dad's like, don't worry. We're going to Paris. We've got alarms. Everything is fine. And then suddenly, Joe Pesci flashes his gold tooth. And this cop seems sketchy all of a sudden. Show your badge.

No one asked to see his badge. And that's not to victim blame, but it was their fault. Not to victim blame, but the whole family should have been murdered. Then Kevin's mom sends Kevin upstairs and is like, Quit causing trouble, you little shit. And he's like, Families suck. I wish you'd all disappear.

So then the following morning, the family is like rushing around to head to the airport because everyone slept in because there's a power outage. And there was like a bajillion kids. There's so many kids. Right. Not to, but there's a lot of kids. Right. And they, but they all slept in. So there's chaos and they forget about Kevin who is sleeping

in the upstairs dungeon and they accidentally leave him behind. Now Kevin wakes up and discovers that his family is gone and he thinks that his like wish was granted. And he's really excited about it. He's jumping on the bed. He's eating junk food. He's watching trashy movies. And meanwhile, outside, two burglars are casing the house. And one of them is the cop from the beginning, Joe Pesci. Joe Pesci.

Joe Pesci. I like that. His wife, Joe Pescici from here on his character's name is harry and then there's also marv uh that's daniel stern's character they go to break into the house because they think no one is home but then like kevin sees them lurking outside so he turns the light on and scares them off meanwhile kevin's mom is on the plane first class first class but they keep like couching it by being like it's the other guy he upgraded us this like mysterious uncle and it's also like the end of the 80s it's technically 1990 so you're like he got this

money in a bad way you know right oh for sure you're like this reeks of like dirty 80 wall street money definitely yeah they did not earn that vacation but this is when we get the moment uh where kevin's mom is like kevin she realizes this immediately and then i'm like oh we have to get back home so they land in paris they're like calling the police being like can you go check on kevin nothing's really working out none of the neighbors are answering and the phone line doesn't work that's another thing that they set up the phone isn't working at their house right right before they leave because they do a decent job of cutting off all reasons they i want to see dystopian home alone i think that's just the movie skyfall remember how skyfall does a home alone

thing at the end yeah okay so kevin puts his hands on his face and goes ah and we're like yes we love this what a happy moment oh i forgot that it was an aftershave thing. I thought he was like, I'm scared. I'm like, damn, marketing is so tricky. And then he goes out to buy a toothbrush. And he runs into the neighbor that he's afraid of. And then he runs into the burglars who have just robbed a nearby house. And now both parties are suspicious of each other. And Kevin's like, when those guys come back,

I'll be ready for them. So he knows that they're burglars somehow. I don't know. They almost hit them with their car. Right. Which I also got. Right here. Yeah.

Who wrote this fucking book? John Hughes. John Hughes. So we're like, what? This is actually John Hughes' least problematic script, probably because there's no women in it at all. Right. So then Kevin pretends there's a party going on at his house

using a bunch of mannequins that his family has for some reason. Don't know. And a cardboard Michael Jordan that was in Buzz's room. So what a fun party. Classic. Right? I want to be invited. I would watch a David Lynch short

that was a Michael Jordan cutout and a bunch of mannequins. So the burglars are tricked by this, but eventually Harry figures out that Kevinvin is indeed home alone that's the name of the movie and he loudly exclaims that they will come back that night at 9 p.m and kevin hears it like burglars do yeah so kevin makes a christmas wish that he wants his family back and he goes into a church he talks to neighbor, who isn't a scary murderer after all. Right, which is like a, you're like, the lesson is if you are afraid of an adult,

you should talk to them by yourself. Unclear on that. Right. But the old guy ends up being very nice. He does. So meanwhile, Kevin's mom has made it to Scranton. Shout out to pennsylvania and she is now getting a ride in a moving truck with a polka band that john candy is the clarinet player for

shout out to clarinets i wish there had been an oboe but there's really no place for the oboe in a polka band. No, it's a little too reedy. Sure. Yeah. But, you know, high clarinet visibility. Yes, yes. And that one, we do respect that. We do. Yeah.

So Kevin returns home where he definitely left the doors unlocked so the burglars could just walk in at any time, by the way. And then he booby traps the whole house. He's icing the entryways. He puts tar and glue different places. Little toys that hurt when you step on them. And then the burglars come back exactly at 9 p.m. sharp, just like they said. That's so weird.

But they slip on the ice. And there's an iron in his face. But they're so determined to get into this house. To steal what? I don't know. I guess VCRs? Pizza money. Right.

It's like in Fast and the Furious 1 where the whole thing is like, we're stealing DVD players. You're like, I guess that that's a good heist for this specific span of three months. Right. Yes. So, you know, the burglars are encountering all these obstacles, but they finally make their way in. There's a tarantula.

They trip over a bunch of stuff, and they're like, I'm gonna get that kid, but then Kevin ziplines to his tree house and gets away they're chasing after him but then they catch him but then kevin's neighbor the nice guy who's not a murderer comes in and saves the day by bonking the bad guys with a shovel and then the cops come they arrest the burglars and the next day is christmas and kevin wakes up and he's like my

family are they gonna be here and then they're not but then his mom shows up but then none of the other families there but then they are and everyone's like and then we're like okay now i know which ones were the siblings and which ones were the cousins the end yes so that's oh also yeah no well it ends with the old man whacks the burglars with a shovel and then he and Kevin make a silent pact to never talk about it. Yeah. He does not report it to the police.

Kevin doesn't say a word. And then they exchange this look at the end that's like, don't tell. It's like, who does it benefit to not tell anybody? Now there's burglars on the loose, but whatever. Do you think Kevin had trauma after this? Yes. He would have had to.

I had trauma and I was just watching it. And then there was Home Alone 2. Yes. With Donald Trump. What the fuck? Yikes. We'll talk about that later. But that's the story for Home Alone 1.

So there you have it. Jamie. What? Would you join me backstage for a minute? i have to tell you something oh my gosh i'm so sorry everybody i don't know why she's doing this caitlin what okay now that we're safely backstage i can tell you about hello fresh oh my gosh what a relief i know especially because I think that Kevin McAllister could have used a HelloFresh subscription when he was home alone and didn't have easy access to food. And if someone was delivering HelloFresh to his home, they would have found out that he was home alone. Good point. It makes you think, Caitlin, we have both used HelloFresh. It's true.

I am such a horrible cook, but with HelloFresh, I was able to not feel that way. And I had several delicious meals. So did I. I got the vegetarian option and I cooked the meals up. It was super easy. The recipes that they provide make the whole process so simple and stress-free. And then I had delicious meals to show for it. I had burgers.

I had fajitas. What didn't I have? Oh, my goodness. You can break out of your dinner rut, our listeners that are not at the live show, with HelloFresh's 20-plus seasonal chef-curated recipes each week. There's something for everyone, from family recipes to calorie smart and vegetarian like you were saying, Caitlin. And fun menu series like Hall of Fame and Kraft Burgers. HelloFresh has more five-star recipes than any other meal kit.

So you know you're going to get something delicious, okay? Oh my goodness. HelloFresh is also very flexible and it fits your lifestyle. So chill. So you can add extra meals to your weekly order. You can add yummy add-ons like garlic bread and cookie dough. So you can make cookies for the holidays. Or don't eat the dough. And then you can also easily change your delivery days, food preferences, and skip a week if you need to. Okay, we have to get back out to the show, but I think we can both agree. Kevin McAllister

needed HelloFresh. The story would end so differently. And you can get nine free meals with HelloFresh by going to HelloFresh.com slash TBC9 and using code TBC9. That's HelloFresh.com slash TBC9 with promo code TBC nine. Caitlin, will you join me back in the main room? You bet I will. Tam. Hi. Hello.

We're back. So sorry. Usually we're like, wow, there's so much to talk about. Um, you know, this is just a light episode.

This is really more of a hangout. Yeah. We're just hanging out. Where we discuss. I mean, so I guess where we could start is with Kate McAllister. Sure. Okay. What do we know about her?

She's Kevin's mom. She's Kevin's mom. She ignored him right at the beginning. He had valid points. He went to her bed and he said, Mom, they won't let me do this. And she said, shut the fuck up. And then he said, Mom, they treat me like shit. And she was like, get out.

She shushed him a million times. Yeah, yeah. She was on a work call. Did she work? Oh, great question. It is unclear. I wasn't totally clear. She's on the phone with someone at the beginning,

but I think it's a family member. That's what I kind of thought as well. It is not made ever explicitly clear what her job is if she does have a job, nor is it made clear what Kevin's dad's job is if he has a job. Apparently there are, I don't know if there are Reddit threads

or what's out there but there's like a fan theory that Kevin's mom is the breadwinner of the family. That was not the theory I came across. No, that's a good theory. Okay. I think the only evidence that I found to support this was that

she had the money in her pocketbook to pay the pizza delivery driver. And she's wearing a suit, which means that she has a job. She's a business lady. I feel like in 1990, though, costuming-wise, that does kind of mean something. I don't know. I feel like especially in the 80s and 90s,

female characters are dressed so in an expository way of like, this is the sexy character. This is the mom. And she was dressed like a working mom. Because the aunt is dressed fabulously with like pearls and like, but she doesn't have a job. I felt.

I see. Or at least not like a business job. No. Right. A business job. Yeah, yeah sure the dad was a total schmuck too he was yeah i think that he was like i i think that he he may have worked he may have had a job but i don't think he was on her level no and i would bet that her family was like are you sure about peter i thought that too right yes and then she was like well are you sure about Peter? I thought that too. Right? Yes. And then she was like, well, he's inheriting this really nice house.

I had all these thoughts when I rewatched it. It almost feels the way my family thinks about my husband, who's a musician. Oh. Like, are you sure? And you're like, but it's for love. And they're like, but is it? But it allows me to run the household. Right, it's exciting. It's great. I love to dominate.

I think. And pee on the pee pee pad. That's how you exert dominance over your household. That's actually a great way to dom your household. Just point at the pee pee pad and be like, guess who's that? That's terrifying. I'm going to come on the defense of Kevin's dad. Oh, okay. Hear me out. Sure. Okay, so a lot of movies, especially of this era and especially in this genre,

if they're framing like a family unit like this, they're subscribing to a lot of tropes and the tropes are usually that it's like a shrewy cartoonishly uptight mom and then a very doofy dad right i felt neither of those stereotypes were really played to in this movie i felt that the dad was actually very supportive of his wife. Totally. No, I feel that. Yeah. It seems like they had

an equal parenting relationship. It seemed like they were both doing a lot while someone's got to pay for the pizza, right? But the two of them seem to... I mean, in the few scenes we see them parenting and not dwelling on their failure of parenting, it seems like it's kind of... And they have four kids.

Yeah. And it seems like they're splitting their responsibilities. Yeah. Is it four? Is it five? Is there another one? I feel like there's a hundred. Oh, it might be five.

Oh, wait, because there's little Kieran Culkin, too. He's a cousin. But he's one of the cousins. He's a cousin. Oh. But there of the cousins. He's a cousin. Oh. But there's like, I think the eldest daughter is maybe. I don't know. There's so many kids.

I thought it was two sisters, two brothers. That was my, wait, let me check IMDB. It could be anything. This is a professional production. There are 11 kids total in the household between the two families. But if there's only four kids in the McAllister unit... Wait, there is five. There's Jeff McAllister, Kevin's

elder brother. Megan McAllister, Kevin's eldest sister. Buzz, the older brother. And then Linny. So there's five kids in the McAllister family. I would forget one every time I left the house as well. Honestly, anyone who's coming down too hard on Kate and Peter, consider.

Right. I mean, so like the way that they're acting toward Kevin in the very beginning where they're like, shut up. Just like do what you're told. And like they're frantic. They're dealing with there's 11 children in their house. I would be having a meltdown. But I think that when they're on the flight to their trip, the chaos has died down, and his mom is like,

I can't not do it. She's like, I can't help but feel like I forgot something. And I feel like the dad could have been in a position. It was her least favorite son. He went through the list. I feel like in a lot of movies, the dad would be like,

oh, you're overreacting. Just relax. Everything's fine. But he's like, well, let's go through this. Was it the coffee machine? Was it the doors? He was always very supportive. And he never belittled her or undermined her.

And yeah, I really liked it. They're good people. Yeah. I really do think they were good. I don't know. I was very sympathetic with them the whole time. And I also felt like the opening sequence where Kevin is being talked down to and kind of dumped on by his family, it's a little over the top,

but I feel like that's almost written to be from his perspective. Right. That when you're a little kid, you think, like, I was from a big family, too, and you always feel like no one likes me I don't get the attention I deserve my parents don't want to talk to me because there's too many other kids around like I feel like that is just like heightening

you know that like Kevin is like lost in this mix of kids and he doesn't really fit anywhere because he's not tarantula kid yet the kid we all aspire to be he was the creative if you think about it. Yeah. He was like the, you know, he was kind of

a child prodigy. Like, who does all the, like, the tar and the feathers and the zipline? I mean, yeah. He's a mastermind. He's an engineer, a little boy in STEM, if you will. He does a whole thing where there's explosives?

Yeah, who taught him that? Buzz. Well, he steals the firecrackers from Buzz's porn stash area. Buzz reminds me of Sid from Toy Story. Oh, yeah. Another movie that has a different character named Buzz in it.

The connections. Oh, wait. No no it's buzz light oh my god like did you think it was the dog is that what just happened yes holy shit i think i'm sick okay um i think buzz and sit are both grow up to be feminists. Okay. Okay. We can talk about Buzz for a second. Buzz at 11 doesn't have the best view of women yet. Yet. Can I tell you a fact I've read? Yes, please.

Yes. You know how at one point Kevin pulls out a picture of Buzz's girlfriend? Oh, yes. That's the director wearing a wig because he,'s crazy it's chris columbus in a wig yes he didn't want to make fun of women's looks oh that's kind of endearing is this movie a gift from the heavens that's like such a that's a very roundabout sweet thing to do is like i don't want any like young girl to feel like she's weird looking. You know what's weird looking?

Me, Chris Columbus. Because Kevin sees the picture and he's like, oh, Buzz's girlfriend. Woof. Yeah. I don't hate it. I told you guys, there's a lot to talk about. What a journey.

We'll be here until 6 a.m. This is a sleepover. That's why we're wearing pajamas. No, well, Buzz, you know, Buzz says he has his California Girl posters, his babe posters of the era. You can tell he's a horny young man that doesn't quite understand how to speak of women respectfully. We get the feeling he's being raised by a strong woman.

She'll catch on when she has time. Right. And be like, hey, let's have a discussion. And then she'll give him a Roxane Gay book, right? Yeah. But right now he says, is it true that French babes don't shave their pits? And he's grossed out by women's body hair. Very 1990 buzz.

And then he's like, France has nude beaches, right? And then they're like, it's winter. He's like, oh, tarantulas. Oh, my God. He's just, you know, I like to imagine that Buzz later goes on a journey and discovers some good literature and really gets his act together. It was his friends from school that were influencing him to make him

wear the Letterman jacket all the time. Yeah, they got that Playboy magazine for him. Well, I don't think Peter's hoarding those, but unless he, we don't know. We don't know. What I think is Buzz later writes a blog post when blogs exist so when he's like in his late 20s he writes a blog post it's like letter to my younger self and then he writes about all the toxic things he learned as a child and he apologizes to all the California babes oh wow I love that I love that. I hope that happened.

I think that what we're learning is there's so few female characters to talk about that we're just headcanoning all the children. Well, I think there's a little bit more to talk about with Kevin's, his mom. With Kate, yeah.

Of course. I forgot how much we cut back to the family. I remembered the Kevin thing happening on on the airplane but i didn't quite remember like how often we cut back to her like desperately trying to figure out a way to get home very active very active very active she's like delegating tasks she's getting shit done she's like negotiating with people whether it's like people who work at the airlines or like other customers who were like i will give you 500 i'll give you all the jewelry off my body like

take everything i just i'm trying to get home so she's like doing stuff like i think she's easily a far more memorable character than the dad who's like sure no one remember i mean no maybe some people remember the dad but like he and i think that a lesser movie would have uh given all these tasks to or at least some of the more active tasks to the dad where it's like i feel like she is responding to like the maternal instinct which is like you know rooted in some truth and can sometimes be used as a more tropey thing for a movie but in this movie it makes sense right the dad is supportive of it every step of the way but there is that one moment where like she's at the airport and she's like

i forgot my son at home and he's like well let's just go to paris and see what happens and you're like no one thing i found weird is when they arrive at Paris, she calls the cops back in Chicago. And she says, my son is home alone. My son is home alone. But she doesn't say, I forgot my son at home. Right. True. That was a red flag.

That she didn't hold herself accountable for her mistake. And then the cop says oh this woman's hyper. Yeah. Well I thought that that was interesting too because I'm like would they have acted that way if it was the dad calling? Men aren't called hyper a lot. Right. So I mean she should have said you know like

admitted listen I forgot about my son and I'm in France. That's a bad look but you gotta say it the cops would have gone to the house right right this is all a labyrinth of puzzle pieces that yes but I was very impressive like she is very active she is clearly you know thinking smart in the moment she's thinking strategically. It's very survival-based. Yeah. I don't know.

I think that my impression of this movie, or just like what I've collected over the years, was that his parents were like incredibly careless and stupid, but that wasn't what I felt watching it. I'm like, this is just very unfortunate for this billionaire family. It's too bad. The other thing I found a bit surprising

was that because so many movies especially ones that like have a young boy as the lead character the main relationship that'll be focused on in the movie would be a father-son relationship and in this movie it's far more focused on the mother-son relationship where like that scene with him and Catherine O'Hara at the end is so sweet and I feel like it's so well done by Catherine O'Hara because you can like see she's like please don't remember this too much you know and she loves him so much and it's oh it warmed my heart I have another weird factoid go yes Macaulay Culkin still calls her mom in real life. Weird.

Yeah. Weird. Is it weird or is it nice? I can't tell. No, it's not nice. It's weird. Well, I don't know. It's something.

Wow. They bonded. Yeah. So if... No, so wait. You're telling me Macaulay Culkin, 39 years old, goes on the set of Schitt's Creek. Just to scream. And he says, Mom.

Catherine O'Hara looks up and is like, what? I'd like to think this is exactly what happened. I hope this happens all the time. I hope he drops in constantly. He just calls to say mom and hangs up. That is very... I mean, he's so little in this movie. Like, it's...

Man. And, like, so... I mean, this is not a hot take. He's very talented. Yes. He's so good. I was getting... I saw Jojo rabbit recently and

the kid in jojo rabbit reminds me a lot of macaulay culkin in the same like we were like wow this kid's really got something kind of way but like he's so talented and especially because it's like a kid having to like carry an entire movie yes no easy task yeah and like really the only thing they had to go he was in a different john hughes movie he was in uncle buck right in like a pretty small role and i guess i read there was a if if you love this movie and are interested in the production of it there's a really good oral history of it that was like collected by john hughes's son that like he just talked to everyone who made the movie and I guess that they auditioned

like three million like they auditioned everyone. It was like 200 I think. It was a lot of kids and like John Hughes who like I feel like

listen to our other episodes about John Hughes movies because we don't love him but like for the purposes of this movie I don't really care. Yeah he was like it's gotta be Macaulay Culkin

and Chris Columbus was like ah let's see let'saulay Culkin. And Chris Columbus was like, let's see what these other tip-tapping boys got. And then it still ended up being him because he was that good. Was this his breakthrough? I think.

This was his first starring role. And then we get other classics like The Pagemaster. And then we get other classics like The Page Master. Page Master. And My Girl Came Later. Yes. Yeah.

A couple years after that. He's a star. Devastating movie. He's a star. He's a star. He's unsaved. He calls Catherine O'Hara mom. He's a star.

I don't know. I love it. He's great. I want to talk a little bit about the things that Kevin decides to do while he has no parental supervision. At first, he's doing like normal kid stuff. Like he's jumping on the bed. He's eating junk food, stuff like that.

But then over the span of, I suppose, a day or so, he comes of age. I don't know what happens. But he's like, I have to go out and buy a toothbrush and i have to make sure it's been approved by the american dental association it's so cute and also i have to go buy groceries and use a coupon while i'm doing that and then he does laundry and then he washes the dishes he does all these domestic domestic things yes that we never see boys or men do in movies. Those are only relegated

to women and girls. And it's not made to be a joke. He's just like, I'm in charge of the house now. He's taking care of the house.

This is what I do. But then there's also this weird thing where he's like, I'm the man of the house now. It's ridiculous for me to be scared.

I have to protect my domain. And I'm like, okay. Cut yourself a break. You're eight years old and Joe Pesci's trying to kill you. My dream. Wait.

Just kidding. He overcomes a fear of the furnace, too. He does. Yes. But he really does because the furnace talks to him at the beginning and then it stops talking. Yeah. He scares it.

I was also scared of that furnace when I was a kid. It's very scary. You would have been scared. Yeah, I didn't even register that as him doing traditionally feminine tasks. But he's just like, I'm the care... And he has this very kind of sweet allegiance to the house. He's like, I got to protect the house.

I got to do this. It's like this combination of traditionally masculine and feminine tropes that are all sort of similar. Similarly, to defend his house, he uses a mix of household appliances like an iron and feathers and

Christmas ornaments. What are they doing with all these mannequins and feathers? I don't know. Why were there mannequins in the basement? My headcanon is that Catherine O'Hara's character is the breadwinner of the family, and she's a very successful fashion designer. That's what I choose to believe.

I like to think that Peter likes mannequins. That's my opinion. He uses a mix of like household items and also like a bb gun and a like blow torch kind of thing yeah um he's doing it all there's that moment where the bags break while he's walking while he's walking with the groceries yeah yeah and it while re-watching it that scene got me because i have a frustration of errands and just lifting as we all do yeah but that really i related yeah he knows what it's like to the grind to the grind indeed one thing i felt was missing from the movie is there is no cleaning up montage at the end after the burglars have been arrested because there's tar,

there's glue. We're to believe Kevin cleaned that all up, cleaned it all up by himself and put out milk and cookies and put like, put up the tree, did the stockings, all that stuff. That's a good boy. I would have liked to see the cleaning montage that Kevin did though.

I think that was an important thing that we missed. Old man Marley helped him for sure. Oh, maybe. But then at that, that increases the secret also of like, let's make sure there is no trace. Right.

It's so weird. One thing that, uh, I mean i mean this is so there's so little to talk about in the way of women in this movie but uh kevin has two sisters yes they shit on him relentlessly i liked that in this montage of like just every kid in the house is like kevin's a loser he sucks there was you was no discrimination in terms of gender in terms of who thinks Kevin sucks. Because I feel like a lesser movie would be like

it would have female children be like, no, it's okay. Leave him alone. But everyone's just like fuck you, Kevin. You're the worst. You're a piece of shit. And he's like what is this? And I felt that you're the worst you're a piece of shit and he's like what is this you know so I liked

and I felt that the girls were given the superior burns oh sure the laissez-en-compte laissez-en-compte yes what's up with that

a classy burn she's educated a classy burn a classy surrealist burn yeah I don't know what

why that though? Why that choice? I'm like oh She read You know Three pages of a book Simone de Beauvoir Like yes

Yes So I liked I mean obviously I wish that there were More And the choice of A big brother over a big sister You know

That's You can kind of make it That way you will But I did like that It was an equal opportunity Dump on kevin montage at the top yep appreciated that definitely caruana galizia was a maltese investigative journalist who on october 16th 2017 was murdered there are crooks everywhere you look now. The situation is desperate.

My name is Manuel Delia. I am one of the hosts of Crooks Everywhere, a podcast that unhurts the plot to murder a one-woman Wikileaks. Daphne exposed the culture of crime and corruption that were turning her beloved country into a mafia state. And she paid the ultimate price. Listen to Crooks everywhere on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your

podcasts. To listen to new episodes one week early and 100% ad-free, subscribe to the iHeart True Crime Plus channel, available exclusively on Apple Podcasts. I felt too seen. Um, dragged. I'm NK, and this is Basket Case. So I basically had what back in the day they would call a nervous breakdown. I was crying and I was inconsolable. It was just very big, sudden

swaps of different meds. What is wrong with me? Oh, look at you giving me therapy, girl. Finally, a show for the mentally ill girlies. On Basket Case, I talk to people about what happens when what we call mental health is shaped by the conditions of the world we live in. Because if you haven't noticed, we are experiencing some kind of conditions that are pretty hard to live with. But if you struggle to cope, the society that created the conditions in the first place will tell you there's something wrong with you, and it will call you a basket case. Listen to Basket Case every Tuesday on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This summer, the nation watched as the Republican nominee for president was the target of two assassination attempts, separated by two months. These events were mirrored nearly 50 years ago

when President Gerald Ford faced two attempts on his life in less than three weeks. President Gerald R. Ford came stunningly close to being the victim of an assassin today. And these are the only two times we know of that a woman has tried to assassinate a U.S. president. One was the protege of infamous cult leader Charles Manson. I always felt like Lynette was kind of his right

hand woman. The other, a middle-aged housewife working undercover for the FBI in a violent revolutionary underground. Identified by police as Sarah Jean Moore. The story of one strange and violent summer. This is Rip Current, available now with new episodes every Thursday. Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I want to talk a little bit about other comparable movies of this era, like late 80s into the 90s, the like children and family movies from this time, because of the popular ones that are still remembered and beloved, most of them are very male driven stories. Most of them have male protagonists, including Home Alone.

I think with holiday movies in general as well. I would say so for sure, yes. And just all movies. Yeah, and also movies. But it extends to children and family movies as well, unfortunate as that is. So movies like Home Alone, Hook, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Sandlot, The Mighty Ducks.

There's a bunch of sports movies like Space Jam, Little Giants. There was Free Willy, and we don't know if Willy was a man. Does Willy identify? I don't know if they gendered Willy. Does anyone know? We don't know. We'll cover it. Wait 10 years, we'll cover it.

Heavyweights, a goofy movie, an extremely goofy movie. Be careful. Are those cartoons? You haven't seen a goofy movie, an extremely goofy movie. Okay, be careful. Are those cartoons? You haven't seen a goofy movie? I feel like you would really love it. Goofy scares me a little bit.

Really? Yeah, I don't like him. He gives me anxiety. He's too goofy. You know what? Skip it. I'll watch it for you. So, you know, there's all these beloved movies from this era,

but so many of them are just, like, very male-driven. Of the, like, ones that are more female-driven, they're kind of few and far between. There are things like Matilda, Harriet the Spy. I mean, those are the two that people normally cite, and those are, like, two little white girls, too, from upscale family. And, you know, like we talk about this a lot when it comes to like family and teen movies specifically, where there's a giant class gap. And most teen or family movies don't work if the families are not upper middle class at least. Like, yeah, there's a huge gap in representation.

And I mean, all entertainment, but like family entertainment especially. For sure. And then just a couple other ones. There's, you know, things like Hocus Pocus or The Witches because women be witches. Or there's like princess movies like Beauty and the Beast, Little Mermaid, Little Princess, Anastasia, because women be princesses. So there's a much narrower idea of what female characters are allowed to be at the helm of a female-driven children's family movie,

whereas ones that star boys or men are allowed to be swashbucklers and adventurers or athletes. All kinds of different stuff. And again, that always goes back to who is behind the camera and who is working on these movies. Because there is not a woman to be found in the primary production team for Home Alone. Which I'm sure comes as a surprise to basically no one. But it was directed by Chris Columbus. Written and produced by John Hughes. primary production team for Home Alone, which I'm sure comes as a surprise to basically no one, but

it was directed by Chris Columbus, written and produced by John Hughes, who has a so-so history on his portrayal of female characters at all, and this he opts for nothing. And so something that we try to touch on as well is that normally if there's

a problem in front of the camera, it's because there's also a problem behind it. Because Kevin could very easily have been a little girl. Definitely. There's nothing, which is kind of a cool thing in the writing too, because he doesn't really strike you as a kid that is curdling under toxic masculinity. It could very easily be a little girl.

What's really kind of fucked up too it's like the thieves at one point don't care about money anymore is what i realize they're just trying to kill a kid right okay can we talk about joe pesci now yes can you tell me about your book joe pesci thing i have a third factoid we i already told the two of you. Joe Pesci is a fucking method actor on this movie. So he got so into the role that he didn't talk to Macaulay unless the camera was rolling and he bit his fucking finger to the bone

during one of the scenes. Macaulay Culkin's finger, right? Yes. He got that into the role that he fully chewed his flesh. Oh my gosh. Can you believe Joe Pesci thought this was Raging Bull? His chindler's leg. I can't.

It boggles the mind is he like i'm gonna get an oscar for this like what was he like what is the motivation like i feel like every time someone goes method which i hate i think it's the most annoying thing and it's always men and it's always men who just are already obnoxious and want to be obnoxious and get paid for it like it's just uh anything besides some choice daniel day lewis but like but like the whole documentary about like i'm jim carrey and i want to be annoying at p you're like fuck you dude that's what i feel like fuck you fuck you and because with. Because I'm like getting lightheaded thinking, it makes me so mad. Yes. But it's like women,

it's very hard to find an example of a female actor of any amount of fame going method because there is a huge stigma of women being divas and women acting unprofessional. When that is method acting, is being unprofessional and being hailed as a fucking genius for it. I hate people.

I hate people. But I do think it's really funny that Joe Pesci went method acting. Well, here's what kills me is that I had Joe Pesci on a pedestal and now the pedestal has been rocked to the ground and Joe Pesci's on Fallen. One other thing is I used to love the ground and Joe Pesci's fallen. One other thing is,

I used to love the idea that Joe Pesci's a singer, but I never heard his music until I was taking a bath before coming to this. What is his music like? I had a full panic attack. He sounds like, it's like this. Oh, I love you, little baby. I swear.

Yeah. The song, his latest release is called, like, Little Baby. When did it come out? In 2019. Please listen. It's on Spotify. Joe Pesci. What?

He's a singer. He dropped Little Baby. It's like, it's like my little baby. I don't know. It's something with the word baby. Okay. What? I don't know what that is. To recover from this. Okay. What? I don't know what that is.

To recover from this? That's worth the price of admission right there. Yeah. I need to teach a college course on Joe Pesci. A dissertation. Well, there were times in the movie where I was finding myself almost on the burglar's side because getting back to the extreme wealth and upper middle classness of this movie i'm like yes it's a class they should steal from the rich and redistribute their wealth so i was like no this is

child this is a child i i found it very disturbed i mean i know that it's critical for the movie to work but the amount of like it almost begins to look kinky for them. Yeah. Like, how much they love being, like, just physically. Destroyed. Destroyed. Like, would have killed them a million times. Yeah. Like, concussions.

They would have died on the steps. I mean, Joe Pesci has, like, third degree burns on his head and hand. And he's like, I'm going to steal this VCR if it kills me. It's good. Did I already say that when he robs the house before, they don't even care about robbing it. He's looking at a kaleidoscope. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's called Baby Girl.

It's Baby Girl. It's called Baby Girl. Should we play it? We should probably play it. It came out Oh my god It literally came out Last week Ah

The world premiere This is the world premiere We may be different Prepare Oh good The intro's very Latin What if I take off All my clothes

I'm wearing like glitter all over my body With a picture of Joe Pesci on my bush When I'm away from you I know what to say and do But every time you're near What is this? What is he going for? I don't know if I'll get through What is this? What is he going for?

I told you, I don't like him anymore. Do you hear how he... Oh, my God. Guys, I'm going to start jerking off right now. I'm starting to feel horny. Do you hear how he hit it? Are you horny? I'm kind feel horny. Did you hear how he hit me? Are you horny? I'm horny. I'm kind of horny.

I'm horny. Well, before we get sued for copyright infringement. What if Joe Pesci literally sued us? That would be the best press we've ever gotten. True. Joe Pesci sues feminist podcast would be a boon for us. Keep it going. What if he was backstage and I plotted this whole thing and he's my dad?

My name's Tamara Pesci. The best long con. Joe Pesci does a good job in this movie. Does he do a biting a finger to the bone baby girl job? We don't know. Should we talk about Daniel Stern a little bit? The other one? Sure.

Do you have thoughts on it? He's tall. Here's the thing about him tall he's the narrator here's the thing about him he's the narrator for the wonder years oh i'm smart you are thank thank you aka i read a buzzfeed list before doing this but that's it about him oh yeah there's not much to say he contributed a lot to the oral, which indicated to me that he doesn't have anything going on. Because it said Joe Pesci couldn't be reached. Oh, wow.

I know. It's not great. Something, I mean, this has nothing to do with women or their portrayal. Sure. But there were some things about this oral history that I thought were interesting or charming. So this was one of Chris Columbus's, I think maybe one of his first movies that he directed. He had previously written Gremlins and The Goonies.

So he had a lot of considered 80s classics under his belt. And then he goes on to be kind of a famous children's movie director specifically because he directs the first two Harry Potter movies. Anyways, so I guess that he and John Hughes had been trying to work together for a while. And Chris Columbus almost directed National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation,

which we will probably cover at some point because it's... Yikes! But then, okay, it's just a quote about the time that chris columbus met chevy chase and was afraid of him so quote i went out to dinner with chevy chase to be completely honest chevy treated me like dirt but i stuck it out and even went so far as to shoot a few scenes with him. So basically he says that Chevy Chase verbally abused Chris Columbus into quitting what would have been a huge break in his career when he was like 26.

Is Chevy Chase known for being a dick? Oh, yeah, yeah. Really? I had no idea. Yeah, I guess he's just like a vile man. Wow. He's a really bad guy. I think that's why he got kicked off Community too is just because he was just such a vile man. Wow. He's a really bad guy. I think that's why he got kicked off Community too

is just because he was just such a horror to be around. Is the street Chevy Chase named after Chevy Chase? I wonder this often.

Could that possibly be true? Is there another Chevy Chase? Does anyone remember him now? I mean like I think we do but like what

does a teenager know who Chevy Chase is? It seems impossible. I feel like Community jump-started his career again. But just season one? No, he's on it for a while. How long? He's in like four seasons?

Four seasons. Oh, wow, he got stands in the front row. Was he in The Three Amigos? He was. Is that movie good? No. My husband loves it. People love it and I'm sorry, but you're wrong.

I hate that movie so much. Isn't like Donald Duck in that movie, not to digress too much? Oh, I don't know. No, there's a different version of the three. No, that's the three Caballeros. That's what I'm thinking about. And his various friends. Okay.

Good call. I recently decided that I think the Donald Duck style nudity is the funniest style of nudity. I'm attracted to him. I think that Donald, yeah. I'm just like, you go for it. Just a crop top and like his duck penis.

And again, it's gender neutral because Daisy does the same thing. Yeah, that's true. I love no pants cartoons. Another no pants cartoon is, of course, Paddington. Paddington wears a coat, but it's decent enough to cover most of his body. I've never seen an end. Those American cartoons, they're commando.

Speaking of Paddington, Kevin's dad is wearing a Paddington-like duffel coat throughout the entire movie. It's the wrong color. It's tan, but otherwise it's identical. It's a coat, Caitlin. It's Paddington's coat, but a different color. Tell me that Alfred Molina couldn't play Kevin McCallister. Oh, my God. Imagine with a blonde wig.

Tell me you couldn't do it. Before we devolve into this too much. Before we melt into the ground. I do just have one actual last point to make. Sure. And it's just kind of tapping back into the discussion of family movies, especially of this era and even to some extent today, just so much focus on a white nuclear family unit,

both parents hetero, still together, still married, parents with white-collar jobs, upper-middle class, living in suburban America, especially for, like, holiday movies, I focus on, like, Christian Christmas. I mean, I think that just, like, goes back to the whole, like, family teen movie thing, too, where it's just, like, so few movies even attempt to address anybody else because it's just like the assumption that that is first the norm,

which it isn't. And second, that that is like the only thing people are interested in seeing, which it isn't, but everyone who makes this movie is from that background. And so they, you know, the problem because those are also the people who are privileged enough to make movies

and have funding to be in charge of getting movies made and stuff like that. I mean, like, even, like, I lived in, like, in, like, a blue-collar family, rural, you know, like, working-class family. And I almost never saw myself represented in any family movies when I was growing up. And that, like, fucks with kids' development.

In a way you don't even realize. Yeah. When you're little. One thing I felt, I remember feeling this as a kid. When it came out, I was living in Argentina where I was born. And we were really poor. And I remember being really mad at Kevin for missing the vacation. Wow.

Right. The same way, this is a different movie, but the same way I was mad at the Little Mermaid for not enjoying her sea royalty and wanting to be, you know. Missing the concert. Yeah, because I was just like, we kept moving and we didn't have money and wanting to like be, you know. Missing the concert. Because I was just like, we kept moving and we didn't have money. And I was like, enjoy your fucking trip to Paris.

Yeah. But yeah, they don't appreciate their wealth when they have it. Yeah. Like stop playing with like popcorn or whatever he was playing. Like go, like hug your parents and be happy right get it together jesus come on i mean it goes without saying that families of color poor families working class families uh you know kids with disabilities uh queer kids i mean still it's very very very rare to see and it's also i think like worth mentioning that when families that are not the ones that you just described are shown it's often portrayed as tragic or lesser and

it's not portrayed and it and it that sucks because it's like when you when you grow up in a family that's different than kevin mister's family, you still have fun. You still enjoy, you know, and it's like, it's not perfect. It's different. Sure. And there's different setbacks that you can portray in a movie,

but it doesn't need to be like sad violin over, you know, a family that like, this is their life. Right. And so it would be, it would be good to see more family movies that don't just portray families that are not upper middle class white people but is also just like portraying this as like this is a normal thing

and like this is like families can be very happy um when they're not upper middle class white people living in the suburbs of chicago yeah you know for sure. One thing I'll say that I think is a positive for this movie is it's an original story that was, because I feel like we're in this weird age of movies where original stories

getting funding are less and less and less. Everything is franchised and all that shit. But this is an original story that super, super paid off where this movie had an $18 million budget

and it made $476 million. I didn't realize how huge this movie was when it came out. But it's the top grossing movie of 90, it out-earned Goodfellas, take that Pesci. Maybe he was right, Pesci owned Pesci. You know, like he, maybe he was right to chew through that finger. How much did Pesci make for Home Alone? That was my, do we know?

Oh, good question. Ballpark. I'm going to say. I'm naked. What was the total? 18 million? 18 million. Yeah.

Did Pesci make a million? No, that's crazy. I feel like that's too low. Oh, there's crazy. I feel like that's too low. Oh! There's a disagreement, gentlemen. I feel like, well, who's the most famous person in this movie at the time? I feel like it's Joe Pesci. Because he was in Raging Bull.

Shit, who came first in the names that come at the beginning? I can't remember. Oh, who's not billed? I feel like it's Macaulay Culkin for some reason. But this is before Catherine O'Hara is super, super, super famous. I think so. It is. I'm pretty sure she's mainly known for SCTV at this point.

Let's see. No, it just says Joe Pesci. Okay, this is very cryptic. Joe Pesci has earned salaries up to $3,500,000 for his acting. My cousin Vinny was maybe that one. Oh, maybe that was a big one for him.

I'm a Joe Pesci psychic. People also ask, whatever happened to Joe Pesci? He's in The Irishman as we speak. Well, yeah. And he just released

Baby Girl last week, honey. True. Wake up, sheeple. Joe Pesci's dropping music right now. Speaking of other movies, I just have a couple things to say. Sure. Now, the famous scene in Home Alone, when Kevin is standing in front of the mirror,

he's talking to himself he's like i just took a shower i washed all my crevices i used actual soap i used adult formula crevices he does say crevices yes did i creep black that out because he says crevices and i don't like children saying i agree but he's like talking about all the products he's using. He's like, yeah, I use soap and adult formula shampoo and then a cream rinse for that just washed shine. And we see him like putting on deodorant and then putting on the aftershave.

And then he does the, ah. That scene very closely resembles the scene in American Psycho where Patrick Bateman is like looking at the mirror he's like and then I use an almond scrub and then I use a facial cleanser that doesn't have alcohol because alcohol dries your skin out and then I use a blah blah blah and and then he like peels the mask off his face and it's basically identical I'm saying that american psycho ripped off home alone i fully agree thank you so much and then there's a very what i think is a very direct reference to raiders of the lost ark when joe pesci grabs the door when alfred million and the tarantulas but there's i'm talking about a

different thing uh when joe pesci grabs thenob and then has to stick in his burning and he has to stick his hand in the snow and then there's the it's like the imprint of the doorknob is burned onto his hand and the same thing happens

to the Nazi in Raiders of the Lost Ark. Thank you so much. Thank you, Caitlin. That was really good. Oh, wow. Wow. I'm fully

I have a master's degree in screenwriting. I came across a theory. Oh, yes. That Kevin is dead. What? What? Wait, is this the fan theory you said from earlier?

Yes. Okay. I thought you were about to say Kevin is dead. No, but I want to hear this. Okay, so this is good. And it's actually written by feminist icon Erin Gloria Ryan, who I'm a big fan of. She wrote this piece two years ago. It says, Home Alone is good, and it's actually written by feminist icon Erin Gloria Ryan, who I'm a big fan of. She wrote this piece two years ago that says,

Home Alone is so much better if Kevin McAllister is dead. It's a hot take, but bear with me. I'll read a bit from it. I was compelled. Quote, In the dead Kevin version of Home Alone, the reason the extended family has gathered in the Winnetka house is that the next day they're going to fly to Paris without Kevin

so they can get a little peace and quiet. Leaving him home was deliberate. No one actually thought Kevin would join them on the trip to Paris because he is a spirit who's tethered to the house. Kate McAllister is the only person who reacts to forgetting Kevin the way a normal person would to forgetting a child. Her husband Peter is oddly calm, as are Aunt Leslie and Uncle Frank,

who try to comfort Kate by telling her that he forgot his reading glasses. Kevin has an aversion to both the third floor of his house and the basement, where a menacing furnace calls his name. It doesn't take a first-year Tisch student to point out that this pair of aversions represent Kevin's refusal to leave the physical world of his house and ascend or descend to the afterlife. What?

It's Dante's Inferno, but Home Alone. It's incredible. Later, as an emboldened Kevin attempts to leave the edge of his yard for the first time, he is thwarted by old man Marley, who appears practically out of nowhere and scares Kevin back inside where he's safe. Marley also appears where Kevin ventures past the edge of his yard for the first time the next day, as if to scare him back home again. On the night the bandits plan to rob Kevin's house, Marley tries again to keep him safe, trying to teach him old man lessons in a church. And it's old man

Marley who is finally able to fell the bandits with his shuffle after Kevin leads them through a series of hellish physical ordeals. So, okay. The theory goes on. It also says that Joe Pesci

and the other guy are immortal. Oh. But basically, Kevin's a ghost. Marley is his protector. Like guardian angel? His angel that is trying to get him to stay in the house where he's safe and decide to ascend or descend. That's why they don't tell anyone anything happened.

Because no one's going to believe a ghost. So there's no point in reporting it. This is beautiful, but not what it was. Are you sure? Can we be sure? I don't think it's real, but my mouth was agape. This is insane. It's amazing.

I'm glad that someone thought of it. Same. It's my favorite fan theory I've ever read. That is quite good. Kevin McCallister is dead. An RIP. RIP. Rest in power.

What if everyone in the movie was dead? Let's go there. They were all just dead people confused. It's like the last episode of Lost or whatever the fuck happens in that show. What happens in that show? No one knows. I took a class on that in college. Shut the fuck up. Can you believe that? No one knows. I took a class on that in college. Shut the fuck up.

Can you believe that? A whole semester? A whole semester of some fucking loser being like, it makes sense. And then I was in debt for a decade. Can you believe that? I took a semester of Don Quixote, and I just realized that you can watch the Yale lecture for free online.

Oh, no. Don't go to college. It's a scam. It's such a scam. Okay. I have a master's degree. Anyway, I am in so much debt. Please join our Patreon.

Okay. So does anyone have any final thoughts? No. We had more to say than I thought. Truly. I'll be honest. It always happens. I thought this would finally be the episode

where we just sat out here like, ugh. We don't know. Turns out we talk a lot. It's a feminist masterpiece. I think we have a few moments for a couple questions or comments from the audience

if anyone has anything to contribute to this lively, important discussion that we just had. In this dense piece. Yeah. Come on down so we can hear you in the mic. I would just like to point out that there are many

adults that fail to realize this kid is walking around by himself. He goes to the grocery store. The police are like, oh, we tried knocking and no one answered, so I guess he's fine. It's like he's. And, you know, no one answered. So I guess he's fine.

It's like he's eight. Yes. And you know he's in there. One lady comes close. Yeah. But she doesn't. She's like, are you by yourself? Yeah. It's when he goes to the supermarket the second time.

He goes to a church. Yeah. He goes to a church. He goes to a church by himself. He's walking around by himself. I have expected him to talk to some. Why doesn't Marley be like, why are you at church alone?

Why aren't you at church? I'd say it's incompetence. Incompetence by all the adults. He's the most competent one. I think it only makes sense that he's dead. I mean, that's a common theme of children's movies where it's like,

the children are so much smarter than the adults. And then this movie also plays into the fantasy of like, yeah, our families suck and we just want to be home alone forever. Jimmy Neutron. Oh, I haven't watched it. I'm so sorry. We're going to cover it tomorrow.

Are there any other questions? Yeah. I rewatched it this morning and I just thought it was interesting how John Candy offered to, like, give her a ride, and him and his polka band, like, rented a bus, but Kate didn't think to rent a bus. She just kept buying tickets all over.

She didn't think to, like, rent a car or anything until, like, a man showed up and was like, you know, let me help you. Right. That's very true. Good point. Because I like Catherine O'Hara so much and the character she plays, I'll excuse that.

Mom, sorry. I'll excuse that away of just her being so frantic over this crisis that's happening in her family that she isn't using her logical brain as effectively as she could. I would guess that she had already bartered all her jewels. Oh, she went bankrupt. She had no, or maybe nothing left on her. I don't know. But that could have easily been an oversight to just be like,

well, we want John Candy in the movie, obviously, which was a delight. His lines were all improvised is another fact I found out. Oh, interesting. I feel like he's playing the same character he plays in Trains, Planes, and Automobiles. He's just on that journey. He's like, oh, I'll give you a ride.

I'm on a bus this time. Or a van. So those scenes with him are not very long, right? But I read in the oral history that I read, apparently they had a full 12 hours of shooting with him. What?

And he fully explored a character. I mean, there was a whole, Catherine O'Hara says in this oral history interview, she was like, yeah, I just remember it was a really long day. I think that she improvised fleshing out her character quite a bit. John Candy created this whole narrative for the polka band and they were on hard times, but now they're doing better, but they're not as successful as they once were.

Sure. And it was this whole thing. And then at the end of the day, Chris Columbus was just like, well, that was all basically unusable. Kind of like calm down. Like, you know, how much? Right. I'm like, but they did. It's somewhere.

Maybe. Somewhere. That footage is somewhere. Can we get our hands on it? I would love to see a 12-hour cut. Well, speaking of 12 hours, that's about how long it takes to drive from Scranton, Pennsylvania to Chicago because I did Google Map It earlier today.

So she was in that van for 12 hours. I mean, and it was snowing, so maybe they had to go slower. I don't know. Did they stop for meals? Probably. Bathroom breaks? No, there's no peeing in this movie. No pee-pee. I don't know. Did they stop for meals? Probably. Bathroom breaks? No, there's no peeing in this movie.

No pee pee. No pee pee. That's a great observation. Coming right back around to the pee pee mat. That was a callback to the pee mat thing. To Tam's pee pee pad. Yes, we have a question in the back. Let's do one more.

There is that whole discussion earlier in the movie about the cousin or the son that wets the bed. Oh, yes. So your listeners are going to be like, no, there's peeing in this movie. the cousin or the son that wets the bed. Oh, oh. Yes. So your listeners are going to be like, no, there's peeing in this movie. There's an entire discussion.

You just saved us from being added to death. Thank you so much. Oh, you guys forgot about Kieran Culkin peeing every time. Oh, did you remember Kieran Culkin pees?

That's a huge part about this. I love Twitter so much. It makes sense. Thank you. Thank you for that. That's a great point. Life is amazing. Only love Twitter so much. It makes sense. Thank you. Thank you for that. That's a great point. Life is amazing. Only one character piece and Macaulay Culkin's dead. Kevin's dead.

Macaulay Culkin's alive and well and calls Catherine O'Hara mom. Yeah. Any other questions or comments? We got one more. We'll repeat it. So the question is how do you think we can uh encourage and support more diversity in film give opportunities to writers creators directors etc any uh creative minds who have like influence over story and stuff like that um i think it's

like and it's a lot of just like demanding it from people who have power right now, where I just dumped on Twitter because everyone, you know, will point out pee pee things. But the great power of social media is you do have like direct connection to powerful people and to let them know how you feel. And so like there is such a failure of powerful people right now to give opportunities. And there's that mentorship complex that I feel like we've discussed on the show before where it's like mentors so often are,

you know, like there's so many like rich white guys in power and they'll mentor people who remind them of themselves. And it's just encouraging people who have power right now to mentor people who are not just them to prioritize giving opportunities to people from backgrounds that aren't their own and to diversify. And conversations like this too, because as we're sitting here, I'm like, shit, thinking of myself as a kid in Argentina watching this,

it's like there's a story to be told in that. I just never thought it was anybody cared, you know? Sure, but we do. We care. We do. And then I think one of the main things that consumers can do, because money speaks very loudly in this industry and all industries, but make sure you go to see movies in theaters that are created by and star, you know, diverse casts.

Yeah. And look for them, too, because they're not marketed as heavily as fucking Joker and shit like that. Right. And don't see that movie. Yeah, bravely don't see Joker. That's the way to encourage diversity.

No, but I do think it is just because people from any sort of marginalized group, their movies and projects are not prioritized and marketed as heavily as things from, you know, old school rich white guys. It's like you have to seek it out and support it and, you know, support your friends. And it's a climb, but it's, you know, it's getting better. Yeah.

We're trying. Progress is slow. Yeah. Thank you for. We're trying. Progress is slow. Yeah. Um, thank you for all your questions. Yeah, that was a great question. Hey,

does this movie pass the Bechdel test? No, uh, it does not. There are more interactions between women than I expected there to be. Cause I remembered none of these, but like Kate McAllister talks to the French airline lady about trying to get on a flight back home,

but she is not named, and the whole context is, I have to get back to my son. My son. And Irene, the old lady that she offers all the jewelry to. Yes, and she is named, yes, but the whole thing is still like, Please, please, I must get back to my son.

My son, my husband. And then her husband comes up and he's like, we're boarding, get on the flight, Irene. And then the mom talks to various of her daughters and I think it's her sister-in-law, Leslie. But again, the whole thing, it's like even though the conversations might not have a-

They're all very passing, like passing conversations. On paper paper because like they don't necessarily mention a man's name but the whole context is still like we have to do these things to get back to kevin right and then the mom talks to the female police officer but again same thing with the context so i don't think it passes no it doesn't pass i had i have to say more thing, and then we'll let everyone go home. Okay, so one of the sisters, the actor who plays Megan McAllister, she goes on to represent the United States in judo at the Olympics three times. Good for her. I know.

I think she actually ends up doing the best. I think she ends up doing better than Macaulay Culkin in many ways. She's remembered for being a judo champion. I just thought that was very impressive. Shout out to her. Shout out. We'll never do that. We'll never do that.

I'm so far away from being an Olympic judo person. Does anyone here think they even have a shot? Does anyone do karate? Well, that's why you're not Megan McAllister um but yeah yeah that does not pass no uh let's rate it on our nipple scale zero to five nipples based on its representation of women oh boy oh um well I do appreciate but what's the number I know I always don't's the number? I know. I always don't say the number first. Until, yeah. I like to give a long preamble.

Because she's deciding while she's talking. It's true. She's giving herself a long, wrong way. I'm going to say one and a half. Okay. I think that's pretty fair. I will also say that. And I'm not going to let the audience influence me this time because I also

do that every time where people are like, you're wrong. And I'm like, oh, what should it be? I'm sorry. Women don't apologize anymore. I think one and a half because the one female character we get to know is

while we really only know who she is as it relates to being a mother, which is a reductive thing, she is, I would say, on par and maybe the second most active character in the story. She is driving the mission to get home to Kevin. She is not the negligent mother that I feel like history has remembered her as.

She's got a lot on her plate. It appears, even though it should be more explicit, that she may be the breadwinner of this family. She's costumed as the breadwinner of the family. And she got way more screen time than I thought, just based on the way this movie had been described to me. So it's the classic, you really only get one female character, even though you see others.

She's the only active female character. But I liked her, and I feel like it's easy to plug yourself into her situation, and she's a very empathetic, active character, which I appreciated. But then, there's only men,

other than that. one and a half one and a half it's also just an extremely as we've discussed white movie an extremely upper class movie it doesn't give a shit about anyone who does not fit this like idyllic American dream type of family and villainizes the people who are trying to eat the rich. So, you know. If you have $100 for pizza, yeah, no, it is very of its time in the ways

that it portrays families and the way that it portrays the ideal family in sort of every regard. Yeah, for sure. I'm going to give it a nipple and a half. I'm going to give one to Catherine O'Hara, and then I'm going to give half to Kevin,

because he's dead. Aw, that's so sad. He died. I'm going to give my one and a half nipple to the tarantula. Ooh! Who, tarantulas do have zero nipples, but they have eight legs, and that's tarantula do have zero nipples, but they have eight legs,

and that's tarantula facts with Caitlin. Love it. Tam, what do you think? I'm going to give it two nipples. Yeah. Because I have two nipples. All right. That's the entire reasoning.

Okay, sure. That's the best reasoning I've ever heard. You pee on your floor, and you have two nipples. What if we were like, this episode has been brought to you by Baby Girl by Joe Pesci. Download it today. I think maybe we can bump it up to two nipples

just strictly because, did he name his song Baby Boy? No. No? Oh, wow, yes. Feminist icon Joe Pesci. Feminist icon Joe Pesci is prioritizing the representation of women. That's true. But he's also infantilizing them, so that's not good.

Well, but he could be singing about a baby. That's true. We can't understand the lyrics. It's impossible to know what he's saying. Oh, my baby, baby. He's Scooby-Dooing. We don't know what he's saying. Yeah, true.

I hope everyone goes home and listens to this. Privately. Thank you so much for and listens to this. Privately. Thank you so much for that gift. Yes. Because. My pleasure. I didn't. It was his first release in 23 years.

I feel like I'm Joe Pesci right now. You know? Yes. Yes. Thank you. Thank you for sharing that. And thank you for being here. Give it up for Tam.

Thank you. Thank you guys Thank you for sharing that. And thank you for being here. Give it up for Tam. Thank you. Thank you guys for having me. Where can people follow you online, check out your stuff? Find me online at joepes.com. I'm just kidding. I have a podcast called Chorizo Talk where me and my sister talk about our life as kids and now. Great. And we eat a sausage, a different one every time.

Except we forget the sausage every time. So that's just the thing. Yeah. Amazing. And I'm online at Dances with Tammies, the worst fucking Twitter name ever. But it's a classic. It's a classic based off of

Dances with Wolves by Kevin Costner, which I've never seen. Oh, it's very long and quite boring. Thank you so much for coming to the show. Give it up for yourselves. Give it up to Jake for recording for us. The whole Ruby staff. Give it up to the Ruby.

Bye-bye. Thank you. Have a great night. Kay it up to the Ruby. Bye-bye. Thank you. Have a great night. Kay hasn't heard from her sister in seven years. I have a proposal for you. Come up here and document my project. All you need to do is record everything like you always do. What was that?

That was live audio of a woman's nightmare. Can Kay trust her sister? Or is history repeating itself? There's nothing dangerous about what you're doing. They're just dreams. Dream Sequence is a new horror thriller from Blumhouse Television, iHeartRadio, and Realm. Listen to Dream Sequence on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Curious about queer sexuality, cruising, and expanding your horizons? Hit play on the sex-positive and deeply entertaining podcast, Sniffy's Cruising Confessions. Join hosts Gabe Gonzalez and Chris Patterson Rosso as they explore queer sex,

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