The Bechdel Cast - My Neighbor Totoro with Miles Gray

Episode Date: June 9, 2022

Jamie, Caitlin, and special guest Miles Gray head into the forest to befriend the local spirits and discuss My Neighbor Totoro. (This episode contains spoilers) For Bechdel bonuses, sign up for our Patreon at patreon.com/bechdelcast. Follow @milesofgray on Twitter. While you're there, you should also follow @BechdelCast, @caitlindurante and @jamieloftusHELP.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Daphne Caruana Galizia was a Maltese investigative journalist who on October 16th 2017 was assassinated. Crooks Everywhere unearthed the plot to murder a one-woman WikiLeaks. She exposed the culture of crime and corruption that were turning her beloved country into a mafia state. Listen to Crooks Everywhere on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, you're just starting your career. That's where we come in. Think of us as your work besties you can turn to for advice. And if we don't know the answer, we bring in people who do, like negotiation expert Maury Tahiripour. If you start thinking about negotiations as just a conversation, then I think it sort of eases us a little bit. Listen to Let's Talk Offline on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. How do you feel about biscuits? Hi, I'm Akilah Hughes,

and I'm so excited about my new podcast, Rebel Spirit, where I head back to my hometown in Kentucky and try to convince my high school to change their racist mascot, the Rebels, into something everyone in the South loves, the biscuits. I was a lady rebel. Like, what does that even mean? It's right here in black and white in print.

It's bigger than a flag or mascot. Listen to Rebel Spirit on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. On the Bechdelcast, the questions ask if movies have women in them. Are all their discussions just

boyfriends and husbands, or do they have individualism? The patriarchy's effining vast. Start changing it with the Bechdel cast. There you'll be with Totoro, Totoro. It's the Totoro, Totoro episode of the Bechdel cast. Wow. You should throw in some music there, too,

just to really, really hit it home. I'll think about it. I've heard this song a million times. And then it's this sort of thing where it's kind of Miyazaki's It's a Small World, where you're like, I appreciate where this song is coming from, but I do want to walk off a cliff because it's going to be following me around for the next six days. I'm having a good day today, but the rest of the week is going to be rough. I'm fine with it.

I will be fine with it. I just, you know, when you hear like a little earworm like that and you're like, oh, this is awesome, but it won't be soon, but it won't be soon. Yeah. Anyways, welcome to the Bechdel cast. My name is Caitlin Durante. My name is Jamie Loftus and this is our podcast

where we take a look at your favorite movies using an intersectional feminist lens. Ever heard of it? Mm-hmm. Yeah. And we use the Bechdel test

simply as a jumping off point. Most of the time we forget to pay attention to if the movie passes the Bechdel test or not or at least I do this one does it does so much um the end episode over done by the Bechdel test of course being a media metric created by queer cartoonist Alison Bechdel sometimes called the Bechdel Wallace test

in which our version that we use requires that two characters of a marginalized gender have names and they speak to each other and their conversation has to be about something other than a man ideally for a at least two line exchange of dialogue and one that is narratively meaningful yeah or irrelevant not a big deal for for this week because we've got oh my gosh it's it's my neighbor Totoro week it's it's a part of our Miyazaki ongoing series uh we are going to be kind of just like checking in with with Mr. Miyazaki over the course of the next several years so just a quick disclaimer please don't yell at us if this isn't your favorite of his movies that's not our problem yeah we'll get around to the others i do there is sometimes a little bit where you're just like oh my god they're like why didn't you we were talking about this on the

kiki's episode they're like why not princess mononoke i'm like this isn't a personal vendetta against princess mononoke she will be but what if there was what if caitlin and princess mononoke were beefing and so we just princess narrative we quietly don't address it we'll get around to other miyazaki movies these are the three we chose for this year and i think we're ending strong strong movie and a strong guest who can see clearer than he's ever been able to see in his life. I mean that mentally and physically. Yeah. He watched this movie with such clear vision.

And that guest, of course, is co-host of the Daily Zeitgeist and for 20 Day Fiance. You know him from such episodes as The Rock, This Christmas. Yes. What a lineup. It's Miles Gray. Thank you so much for having me. I'm always, always honored and touched when you ask me to be on your very special show. And I hope to, you know, I just hope to continue my streak of good performances uh and good good dialogue with discourse with you both everything's riding on this one i know it's funny you just got so you just got lasik surgery

i did i was realizing as we were introducing you we make it sound like we don't let most of our guests watch the movie with clear vision yeah yeah we we add in an obstruction it's like when you go to a show and you pay less money because you're sitting in front of a pole oh you're like damn why was that on the ticket like wow one half of the phantom of the opera was so good at the pantages that was my experience okay everything that's on stage right so miles let's get right into it what's your history with my neighbor totoro and let's just say the miyazaki expanded studio ghibli world oh man totoro is like one of my favorites i don't know if you guys know this i'm japanese okay so yeah i grew up watching a lot of miyazaki

cartoons and totoro is like one of those ones that came out when I was like four or five so I remember was so big in Japan like as it was coming out and I remember seeing it on like tape I remember seeing it like with my friend's house it was me and a few other like family friends were watching it but Mononoke is like one of my other favorites so yeah I probably would have looked watch do it more't you doing Mononoke? Calling in. But for me, yeah, Totoro is like a very,

it's so pure and I just like that about it. And it's so Japanese. That's another thing I really like about it is a lot of American people don't always get it when they watch it or think it's good, you know, because it's just so different from like what most animation or most stories are about like especially you know western uh american cinema type stuff but yeah it's like it's just one of those things it's like it's fucking disney for

us in japan hell yeah all of it the entire universe but yeah for me totoro is like a thing that i've just i I don't know. I've always like, like when I was a kid, I like stuffed animals. And the scenes are like the scale of Totoro. Like as a kid, I was like, that's all I want. I just wanted a Totoro friend. I just wanted, I want a sentient pillow. Yeah.

I want a big pillow that yells at me and then calls the bus. Oh, Toast Grinder was so cool. Yeah, yeah. And the cat bus. I kind of forgot about the cat bus. Oh, my gosh. When the cat bus comes back around, you're like, oh. Did you guys, when you watched it, were you watching it dubbed?

Are you watching it with subtitles? How do you take it in? So I watched the English dub, like disney one from 2005 yeah the fanning sisters yes but i grew up watching the original english dub which i have a little anecdote about when we get into my history with the movie i watched the first half of it in japanese the other day and then i needed to take a nap, and then I just watched the rest. Not because...

I was just tired. Jesus Christ, Caitlin. Okay. Wow. I was just tired. And then I watched the rest of it in English, but I do want to go back and watch the entire thing in Japanese with English subtitles. I've never never seen the Miyazaki not in Japanese,

which is so wild. When I was, when you asked me to do it, I was like, Oh, maybe I should like, I only know it in Japanese. Like maybe I should just check it out. And part of me was like, no, I'm just going to watch it in Japanese. But yeah so i'm always curious how how people take it in sure i watched it with the dub first and then i watched the uh original japanese version second yeah and i liked i mean i liked them both but i always i mean it's always better to watch a movie not dubbed like even if the dub is pretty good which i thought the fan Fanning's sister dub is like, it's fine. It's cute, but it's always better. Wait, oh, that's what you meant? Wait, what?

It's Dakota and Elle Fanning. Dakota and Elle Fanning when they were like 10, like 11 and 7 or something. So this is my other thing with my personal history with Miyazaki stuff. I have no idea what's happening with it in the U.S. Like I don't, whenever i hear about it it's because i'm hearing about it through my cultural pulse in japan versus like how it's happening here so i have no i had no fucking idea that l and dakota fanning were okay yeah good now now i might have to hear it it was i thought l fanning especially did a really really good job as

as may she was really cute okay um and the ur And Ursula the Sea Witch does Granny, Pat Carroll. Pat Carroll. Yep. Oh, shit. Okay. It's a fun dub cast. Yeah, it's reverberating with my American brain now. I'm like, okay, I know those voices, and those are iconic.

That's good casting right there. It's fun casting. Yeah, and then the only other, and then don't it's it's just like very disney casting but they did cast um scooby-doo as totoro and the cat bus yeah frank welker frank welker icon legend okay king scooby himself okay scoops um jamie what is your history in relationship with Totoro? Not very extensive. I think that I saw this movie maybe once or twice as a kid. As I was watching it back, I'm like, no, I've definitely seen this before. I guess I would have been seeing, I don't know.

It could have been either of the dubs because there was a dub done in 93 and then again in 2005. I don't really remember I remember really liking it but I was just such a Kiki's delivery service stan that if we were going to watch a Miyazaki movie Kiki was always going to be my choice but it was really really fun to watch I've never I don't think I'd seen it as an adult and it was fun to go back and watch as an adult it's just like the sweetest most perfect thoughtful movie i don't know i just really love it it's beautiful it is it feels it truly it just feels like uh i don't know a blanket it feels like a totoro is hugging you yeah it does it does it's so wild because it's like oh i sort of associate sometimes

i'm like every time i see totoro i'm like what is there a sale at hot topic because miyazaki stuff is so popular there like i i think of totoro as being in the window of hot topic when i walk by at the glendale galleria right but he's so much more well it's funny because like it was just a when it first came out like they were not really interested in marketing it at all in the U.S. because there was so much that people were like, they're bathing together? Uh-oh. That was a huge thing that a lot of the studios, I think,

wanted taken out in the American versions of it. But as a character, in Japan, Tot like visually so like iconic that it's funny that here it's sort of distilled into like only fandoms of people who are like really into anime and stuff that yeah like it's more of a hot topic when it should be i mean it should be it should be coming down the macy's thanksgiving day parade i mean that's i mean it probably has you know i feel like he should i was like i hope so wait i look into this. Did you know that as far as licensed merchandise sales, this movie has made 1.1 billion US dollars in revenue from licensed merchandise?

Not surprised at all, baby. That's like globally? I think, yeah. Wow. Honestly, I wouldn't have been surprised if it were even higher because I feel like most people who, even if you haven't seen this movie,

you know who Totoro is and what he looks like. Exactly. Yeah, but it is great because it's like the sort of iconography where the story also lives up to it it where the story is so beautiful and we were talking about this with kiki's too but like this era of miyazaki movies are like fantastic but also is very very grounded where it's like oh yeah this is a story about kids trying to adjust

to a new home and having a sick parent like that's yeah just like dealing with really really heavy stuff and then also Totoro and Catbus and it's not like oh my god the the nuclear power plant is coming to tear down Totoro's home and we have to save it which is like what I think most kids store like we're used is like, what's the gigantic fucking behemoth conflict? Right, right. And like, who's the bad guy and who's the good guy? And I think that was, I remember as a kid, like I've seen it with like an American friend of mine

and they just, they did it. They're like, this is dumb. And I was like, fuck you, dude. I mean, it is. It's cool. Stop. There's so much he gave them the umbrella and he didn't even know what to say just true altruism you wouldn't fucking know about that because this country's fucked right there's collective values it's like a it's a character driven story in the way that most children's media or like family

media is not very character driven there's always especially for like american yeah media like intended for like children and family audiences it's always like some yeah some big con like you know you're like fern gully they're tearing down the rainforest kind of thing right i love fern gully though same yeah i mean you know the stories like that are perfectly valid as well but i i do love that of the miyazaki movies i've seen they're all just like kind of quiet character studies that also have really cool fantasy elements and uh mythology incorporated in the narratives and beautiful imagery of course but they're just like and what if we just kind of examine the lives of these two sisters for 90 minutes and it's

wonderful what's your history with this movie yes um i watched this movie every time i went to visit my grandmother and it is the only fond memory i have of spending any time with my grandmother who uh was a terrible person um but it's fine because i have totoro because thank you okay swap it out um but she had it on vhs so that was just like the activity there was to do at my grandma's house. And why did she have Totoro? I'm not sure. That's like just so I guess those things are really interesting to me because I feel like most grandparents, like American grandparents have like the soft box Disney VHS tapes at their house.

You know, like real dirty and stinky. Yeah, exactly. Sticky is just covered in nonsense. Whereas your grandma's like, I'm cultured, man. You want some Miyazaki shit? Which is hilarious because my grandma was also otherwise completely uncultured and a Fox News scary person. I'm here to get my grandma's ass on this episode. Me next.

Me next, me next. But so anyway, that was like my favorite movie that she had on VHS at her place. Because she did have a couple other, you know, I think like Disney movies and stuff like that. But I was like, we didn't have Totoro at home. So I was like, this is my chance to watch it. And I just like fell in love with it. Especially because the dynamic between the two sisters was very similar to the dynamic I had with my sister. I just like fell in love with it especially because the dynamic between the two sisters was very similar to the dynamic I had with my sister I I'm like the older sister I'm three

years older than my sister Sarah and it was like a very similar like she looked up to me the way that May looks up to Sotsky I had to like look out for my younger sister the way that Sotsky has to look out for May a lot of the time. I also lived in a very rural area and was always just like traipsing around the woods and stuff like that. I so desperately wanted to go into the woods and find a Totoro friend and be best friends. And like this was a fantasy I had as a kid. I wanted so badly to ride around on a cat bus like this movie connected with me in a very major way as a kid and then i kind of

fell off of it uh as i got into like my teen years and stuff but i rediscovered it as an adult a couple years ago and i was like oh right this is like the best movie ever made i love it so much um i do have a little totoro enamel pin that i will share and i'm also thinking about getting a totoro tattoo we'll see oh shit yeah okay so you're on a tattoo binge this year she's about that life i'm i'm cool now you get a bunch of tattoos this year yeah what are the tattoos you got i got a titanic one oh dope i got a quote from paddington too okay if we are kind and polite the world will be right and i got the mad max fury road war rig oh shit all within the past year dude and then you need the necco bus coming at the

mad max fury road just straight up head-on collision whatever i don't know look i'm not here to you know that's it's your art man it's your art your art no no no it's done between you and your tattoo artist you know between you and your tattoo artist i'm making the appointment right now i'm sure there's got to be like a miyazaki like a specialist tattoo right because i know there's like shit like that for disney tattoos right yeah i'm sure i'm sure there is okay should i do the recap of my neighbor totoro please do let's do it okay we meet satsuki and her younger sister may they are traveling with their dad. Kusakabe, to their new house in the countryside of Japan. I think the year is like 1955, I read. It's post-war, kind of rural Japan.

On the way, they run into some neighbors, including a young neighbor boy who we will learn his name is Kanta. They all arrive at their new house and start exploring. Outside, they notice a huge tree in the nearby forest. Their dad tells the girls it's a camphor tree. Inside the house, they find a bunch of acorns. And they also see a bunch of little black dust bunnies or like dust gremlins that seem alive and sentient. and they scatter when you turn on the lights they're similar to spirited away yes yeah the soot balls in spirited away exactly satsuki and may search for more of these little dust spirits their neighbor granny comes by and

she's like oh yeah those are soot spreaders. And she mentions that their house is possibly haunted, but that that's not like a bad or scary thing. Everyone's excited about them living in a haunted house. We see Satsuki Mei and their dad cleaning the house and settling in. And then one night we see the soot spirits float away into the night sky. The family then heads into town to visit Satsuki and Mei's mom who is in the hospital. She is ill but she's been feeling better and will hopefully be able to come home soon. Then Satsuki goes off to school and Mei stays home because she's not old enough for school yet. So she's just kind of occupying herself around the house.

She finds a trail of acorns, which she follows. That leads her to this little spirit, this little white fluffy thing with kind of pointy bunny like ears. Just a little friend. Just a little friend. It's translucent. It's bobbing around. And May starts following it, but loses it for a moment. But then she sees it again and a bigger spirit bobbing around.

This one's blue and white, and it's carrying a bag of acorns. And May follows them both into the woods and into the depths of this giant camphor tree that they saw, where she meets Totoro. Who is? The Maxim of Totoro. The biggest Totoro. Biggest Totoro you've seen thus far, yes.

The Charizard of Totoro. Yes. He's big and furry. He's so cute. I would die for Totoro and I would kill for Totoro. Holy shit. Every time Totoro is, he does a lot of like,

ah, like he yells a lot. Uh-huh. And every time I see Totoro yelling, I think it's very like sweet. The kids are like not afraid of that. If I was a kid, I would be crying.

With his giant teeth like, not afraid of that. If I was a kid, I would be crying. With his giant teeth, like. Big old. I was like, oh, okay. If May slips even a little. But I was always like, wow, Totoro must have, like, pretty good breath. I'm always thinking about, like, what does his breath smell like? Because even if you're not afraid of the big old teeth, you would think that the breath might not be good.

He was sleeping. But maybe, what does a Totoro's breath smell like? He's fresh. Those are like these weird story tropes that are like reinforced that we like expect, right? Like as kids, we're like, oh, the giant thing is showing its teeth. And in my history of looking at stuff as a kid, I'm like, that means danger usually.

If a big thing shows you its teeth. And I was like, and the kid's not afraid? Okay, weirdo. And then the other thing would be like, P.U. is like the next thing. Like these sort of storytelling habits that we're used to. And I'm like, and that wasn't there? And I'm like, so this big fucker had pleasant breath,

and the teeth were beautiful. They were immaculate, to be honest. They weren't fangy. Straight and clean. Hygiene. Yeah, well, it's because we've seen Shrek. Okay. Shrek keeps coming up these last couple weeks.

Shrek keeps coming up, but there's that scene in Shrek where he's baring his teeth, and he's scaring off the villagers, and you see all this goo come out of his mouth, and everyone's like, ew, gross. And then later, Donkey is like, you need a mint, and stuff like that. Wild. But this is nothing like Shrek. Totoro is fresh. It goes against everything. Totoro, it blows up everything we thought about big creatures.

Exactly. It's true. Pleasant smelling. docile as hell. It's true. And then Mei's just like, all right, I think I'm going to take a nap. So sweet. She becomes best friends with Totoro and the other little Totoros. Totoro's just kind of like napping and chilling.

And yeah, he wakes up and he yells a little bit. But she's like, I love that for you. And we are best friends. She's like, oh, that's your name? Cool. Good night. All right. And then later that day, Satsuki comes home from school and finds Mei sleeping in the middle of the woods.

And she wakes up and she's like, where's Totoro? He was right here. And he's my best friend. And Satsuki and their dad are like, we believe you. And also we should go give the forest spirits a proper greeting. So they go into the woods and pay their respects to the camphor tree. But the opening that Mei had kind of tumbled into where she found Totoro is now closed. And their dad is like, oh, it's probably because the forest spirits don't want to be seen right now.

And then Satsuki is all bummed out because she wants to see Totoro and friends too. Then Satsuki goes to school. P.S. that neighbor boy Kanta is there in class with her and he has a big crush on Satsuki. And then Mei shows up to the schoolhouse i love this part it's so sweet so granny is babysitting may because their dad is i think in tokyo teaching at a university and may wants to be with satsuki so she stays at school with satsuki until the end of the day and then on the walk home from school, it starts raining heavily. Kanta walks by, gives them his umbrella because, again, he loves Satsuki.

It's very cute. And then Satsuki and Mei return home and notice that their dad left his umbrella. So they head out to meet him at the bus stop. They return Kanta's umbrella on the way. And at the bus stop, they wait, they's umbrella on the way and at the bus stop they wait they wait their dad's bus isn't coming but then who does show up but totoro may has fallen asleep but satsuki has a fun interaction with him uh he gives them this little pouch of acorns and then a cat bus shows up and Totoro gets on the bus

that is also a cat and it runs off. Just takes a different line than them. Exactly. Satsuki and Mei return home. They plant the acorns in their mom's garden but nothing grows

until one night when Totoro shows up with his little Totoros and they all raise their arms and their umbrellas and their leaves up in the sky. And then the seeds start to sprout. And another huge camphor tree grows. It's so, that scene is beautiful.

So beautiful. It just looks so beautiful and sounds so beautiful. The music in this movie is incredible. Yeah. And then Totoro gets on this flying top. And he and Satsuki and Mei and the little Totoros fly around and play instruments and the next morning the tree is not there but the little seedlings have started to sprout I just love how whimsical the description is and I'm like

yep I love this like and they take a magical top to the highest tree and they play their instruments under the moonlight you know and i'm like oh man that was fucking great i love that part awesome everything is just like the i don't know like there's there's plenty of moments where in this movie where things are urgent but like how urgency is conveyed in Miyazaki movies is just different. And even with like little things where how granny, granny brings me to school. Cause she's like, yeah, I don't know.

She just like, won't stop. She just wanted to come to school. Sorry. And I was like, Oh yeah, I guess why not? And then the teacher is just like very sweet about it.

It's like, yeah, come in. And like, it just, these things that, again, I think Miles, you're totally right. I would just like these sweet about it it's like yeah come in and like it just these things that again i think

miles you're totally right of just like these story conventions you don't even realize that like yeah you expect of something being a big conflict and then it's like no let's just deal with it our instinct is like oh no like you can't have your sister at school right and then like it's completely inverted and the teacher's like their mother's really sick you know and it's a terrible situation please everyone be really kind to them okay yeah and everyone and all the kids are like yep and then they are like man we get bullied to shit i feel like in most western movies it would have there would have been like some kid with frosted tips that was like, your mom is what?

Yeah, pours glue on her head. Right, right. You're like, what the fuck? It's like, no, most kids are pretty sweet. That's very thoughtful. And then they get a telegram from the hospital. Their mom was supposed to come home that weekend, but she's not feeling well so

she can't come home anymore which really upsets may and satsuki satsuki kind of takes out her upset on may and calls her a baby and tells her to grow up and then may sets off without satsuki knowing presumably to go to the hospital to take their mom an ear of corn to make her feel better which is so sweet and then when satsuki realizes that may is gone and like lost she starts frantically running around trying to find her the whole village is looking for her everyone's worried that may might have died and then satsuki goes to totoro's tree and asks if he can help her find may and totoro is like of course i'll accept without using words but he is more than happy to help yeah oh thank you he totoro summons his cat bus friend and Satsuki gets inside cat bus and cat bus is like

next stop May and then they race across the countryside until they reach May she and Satsuki reunite it's really nice and then cat bus takes them to the hospital where they kind of watch their mom through the window

and she's doing fine and then Satsuki and Mei ride back home in cat bus. And there's like a few kind of like credit images of like their mom returning home and them all spending time together and Totoro's doing stuff in the woods. Granny's relieved. Everyone is happy that Mei's safe. Yes. Yeah. And it's's beautiful and that's the story so let's take a quick break and we will come right back to discuss

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Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And we're back. Man, Caitlin and I were texting before we started recording. We're like, I liked everything there starting with I mean the and this is something because this is our third episode on Miyazaki movies you know we again we have girls centered in the story and specifically in this one I think it's kind of like an a bonus because it's like two sisters relating to each other and you know they are in conflict almost constantly because they're siblings and that is how that works um but you

can also tell like there's this huge genuine love between them like there's it's it's just so like i don't know presented matter of fact it's like effortless how Miyazaki is able to center kids and kids stories and them relating to each other and also like prioritizing girls, which is in a just a very matter of fact way where this could have easily been brothers or a brother and a sister or kind of any combination of siblings. And yeah, totally. I think it's great. Perfect. No notes. combination of siblings and yeah totally i think it's great perfect no notes um yeah and especially the relationship between the sisters it felt again so authentic it felt very reflective of like the relationship dynamic between me and my younger sister although i was far less patient

and supportive of my younger sister as a kid, because I was a little asshole. But I love that you see like a version of a sibling dynamic where the older sister is very patient and is very supportive. And the younger sister clearly looks up to Sotsky. But again, this is not without conflict. And the conflict that does exist between them feels very authentic, and everything is just happening very organically, despite there also being, like, forest spirits that they are always on the lookout for, and, like, hoping to meet and

interact with, and I remember, like, the part where they go to pay the respects at the camphor tree and the idea of like your younger sister getting to see something or do something before you, the older sibling. And like when Satsuki's all like, oh, but I want to see Totoro too. And I was like, oh, I know what that feels like. Because anytime like my sister got to do something and I didn't, I was like, oh, what the fuck? Yeah. Right. Fucking saw Totoro, you fuck. But it's just like, it's these little moments that are captured in the movie

and just like watching the way the characters handle them and just like showing these just everyday moments that are just like so familiar and beautiful and cool. Things like the corn. Yeah. And like the, like, mom's going to sleep in my bed and like brush my hair. And like just like those little. And like, wait your turn.

Yeah, it's competitive. You know, it's like, there's an order. Get in line. Okay. Mom's brushing my hair first. And plus it's wavy like hers used to be. Asshole, sit down. Yeah.

But yeah. It's so great there yeah there is something just the the pacing of very japanese too you know of just gonna set the table set that just so you like really anchor it wherever you are and for me like you're saying there are a lot of familiar things that you saw me spending so much time as a kid in japan like in the summer too yeah, where a lot of this is taking place was really fun to see. And there's so many of these, like, little moments that he shows that are, like, are really just even from animation are sense memories. Like, when they're going up to the attic to go up the stairs, like, the way Mei comes down the stairs, like, slowly, or they go up them climbing them is because staircases are so steep in japan

they're like fucking ladders basically that like when you're a kid like you don't have the fucking balance to be like confidently walk upstairs you're gonna like crawl step by step to get up because you could fall down like i remember falling down stairs as a kid because it was they were too steep and like watching you know the kids navigate the steps was like a thing that i'm like oh shit like yes like you know especially as i watch it again because it's been at least 10 years since i've seen this after like until i re-watched it recently yeah um or them like falling asleep in the summer like on like the tatami floor just like passed out because you're hot and you're a kid and you just fucking just pass and just knock out because it's hot and the long playing of like the cicadas like just sort of you know singing

those are just such like very you know specific things but they're done so like you know they're very effortless and it's just like and here we are just showing you these slices of life but each single one like every i don't know that're, they're really efficient in what they convey every single time. It was like not a wasted frame really in that sense. Right. Yeah. And yeah, I love that attention to detail to some like very specific Japanese things,

but that like also feel familiar to anyone watching the food again there. We talked about this in Kiki's as well but anytime that there's food prepared in a miyazaki movie there it there's just like such attention to detail and you get hungry yeah you're like oh i could i could hear those vegetables being chopped properly like oh yeah like when they crunch down on the cucumbers. Oh, yeah. It's so good. And I was watching it with my wife. And when they were putting the- His wife? His wife.

You know my wife. Wow, it comes back around. Full circle. Full circle. And she loves cucumbers. But for me, there's a very folkloric image in Japan of like putting vegetables in a cold stream. Like that's like a very like it's like even used in marketing there. Like this how fresh these vegetables are, man.

They're in a bamboo basket in this like stream. Like that's like, you know, like the version of like in America's like the heartland type stuff. Like in Japan, like this cooling stream has brought these fresh vegetables out and she was like is that that's that's real i'm like i mean if you live by one yeah for sure it's like i want a river cucumber and i'm like yeah we all do we all do but it's so refreshing someday and the way even like the granny is like oh i think they're ready like they're what like there's even a perfect time that you like i thought we're just cooling them off in the stream okay granny knows yeah she does granny's awesome a couple other things about the relationship between the sisters that again just like felt

very grounded and relatable and authentic i guess just the idea of like satsuki kind of having to take on a somewhat like mothering and caregiver role for both her younger sister may and their dad and i feel like that's such a relatable thing for a family dynamic like that where the mom is absent for whatever reason and it's like the eldest sibling's responsibility to kind of take on a lot of that maybe like domestic chore stuff and because we see yeah satsuki you know preparing lunches for everybody and again just always looking out for may you know bringing dad the umbrella he forgot kind of thing because we talk about like female characters doing domestic things in movies especially in like american or western movies

and the way that's often presented as a way of like well of course because women do domestic stuff but in a story like this the way it's's presented, it's just like, well, of course, like these things need to be done. And Sotsky is the one to do them because she, it just like, that's just kind of what makes sense. Although I guess you could make the argument that like, why isn't their dad doing more stuff? And why does he always seem to be not knowing where his kids are?

But I sort of thought that like, I do think that some of that, it has to do with like the 1950s of it, where I like, where i sort of thought that like i do think that some of that it has to do with like the 1950s of it where i like where it kind of like pings for people of our generation to be like why are these kids just wandering around right but i'm pretty sure all of our parents were like just allowed to wander around but this is before the internet and everyone was like everyone's a murderer right right they're like just be back by sunset which i'm just like wow that you all made it good for you uh because seems risky but um

but i i thought that they threaded the needle of the dad sort of having to operate as a single dad for a period of time i thought pretty pretty realistically where it's like he's definitely not killing it where it's like and they add it in those moments of like he forgot about lunch and like he's trying to about like he's it's single parent stuff single dad stuff that you don't see often on screen anyways and also I think that it's like especially i mean i think you usually see it with single mothers but like the single parent portrayed as like a superhero too and it's like no it's like fucking hard and you know things are going to be dropped and that's not fair to either of the children certain like certainly not satsuki who has to kind of pick up the slack. But I did, I mean, you do see the dad trying. He's doing laundry with them.

He's cooking some of the time and then like kind of phoning it in other times. It just felt like a thoughtful portrayal. And also it's like, of course, he wouldn't have been used to doing everything because we know that it's a relatively new situation that their mother isn't well. So it's like he's getting used to it.

And patriarchy out there, man. Gender roles are fun. That too. Even now, like in Japan. I mean, it's not, you know, those roles are pretty defined. So like in that way, like, yeah, I'm sure their dad was a little bit like, oh boy, cooking? Yeah.

Whereas like I feel like the modern version now would be like i'm just gonna go to the convenience store where i can get everything pre-made and like and like when you see like modern sort of like japanese dramas of like bumbling dad kind of thing it's like everything's bought at the store like that just has to be microwaved is the version now because men don't got no cooking skills but their dad's also like so sweet and wonderful with them and there's one trying yeah he's trying a scene that really struck me was the scene where where may has just befriended the totoro's but then like falls asleep and when she wakes up she's kind of closer to the house and the Totoro's are gone and she's like I swear I saw them they were right here and I'm not

lying this is not a lie and both Sasuke and her dad are like we believe you and in fact probably the reason they're not here anymore is that they don't want to be seen but let's go pay our respects and then they go to the camphor tree and to the the shrine and they say thank you for looking after may and again we are so conditioned by american media where if this happened in a western story it would be like no i swear i saw totoro and the elder sister and the parent would be like, no, I swear I saw Totoro. And the elder sister and the parent would be like, yeah, right, you silly little kid. You fool. Those things aren't real.

And we don't believe you. And it would take so long into the story. You'll see. Right. And then she comes home. She's like, Totoro's my boyfriend now. Totoro just got out of jail for stealing catalytic converters. And he got a teardrop tattoo because he had to shank a snitch.

Like, what? Yeah, and I'm hooked on jewel pods, dad. What now? So it's like euphoria? Totoro at euphoria high? I mean, and that goes back to the very beginning when both of the kids are like we live in a haunted house and dad is like awesome i love haunted houses in my dream right yeah it's like this parental like jujitsu where it's like the children's energy like i or like aikido like

i'm gonna just redirect it right back at you in a positive way. Because I think, again, it's almost like as a Western writer, there's no way you'd write a scene where a little kid sees a mythical creature, tries to tell the adults, and then they're like, oh, wow, cool. Right. That's great. It's normally like, that's like this habitual storytelling thing we're used to. It's like, well, this is what happens when you tell the adults about the mythical thing they don't fucking believe you and in fact they're gonna tell you they're gonna ridicule you yeah and gaslight you and be like that's not what you saw or you know

whatever yeah which is so interesting to see like over and over there are these moments i'm sure if you're watching like only watching like western cartoons or storytelling like you see this and like what the fuck was a supporting ass dad and teacher and fucking classmates right it's so refreshing yeah it's it's really nice so nice and then i wanted to jump back to part of what especially worked for me about like the even though satsuki has to take on some kind of like caregiver slash domestic chores, you know, picking up that slack. That worked for me, especially because she's still allowed to be a kid in so many of the scenes. And like the story doesn't make her into this like that, you know, precocious child thing

where she's wise beyond her years and she's abandoned any semblance of being a kid because she's still like wants to see the spirits and she gets to see them and she's young enough that she's able to because it's implied that like adults can't see yeah the totaros or the cat bus or anything like that they just like perceive it as a gust of wind when the cat bus is running by but she's young enough to be able to see and you're like oh is that what polar express stole it from is it polar express stealing cat bus starting a beef but yeah she's like she she has this you know like childlike curiosity and imagination and all these you know childlike qualities that are appropriate for her age and even like her parents comment on like yeah she does act super grown up but like you know she's

still just a kid and um we see that scene where they learn about her their mom not being able to leave the hospital and they're both really upset by it. But like may responds in a way that's the tracks for a much younger, like a four year old where she like cries and, you know, doesn't really know how to comprehend this because she had this idea. Oh, mom's coming home and I'm going to get to see her where Satsuki has a clear understanding of what must be going on,

but she's still upset by it. And she ends up kind of like catastrophizing. She's like, well, what if mom's already dead? And I'm going to yell at my younger sister and call her a baby and tell her to grow up. And it just like, again, a very like appropriate reaction for whatever, like a nine or ten year old, however old Satsuki's supposed to be but like i don't know i just love that like she was able to like still be a kid and like her her choices and actions and behaviors still attract for the kid that she is so yeah i just loved it yeah i mean it's like in watching her finally reach that breaking point and like then another aspect of this movie that i really love is the like community aspect where it seems like class-wise i was like oh this is interesting i i should have done more research

on like the exact moment that this is depicting um but it you know they're kind of like a i guess like middle class to some extent family they've um moving into a uh countryside sort of lower income area the only way that attention's really called to it is that on um like harvest days some of the kids who go to the school have to work so there's no school and um satsuki doesn't do that she's she's like new here and doesn't really participate in that area of it. But that's how they end up meeting Granny, who immediately just like becomes this extension of their family. Yeah. In a way that's like, and I really loved that when Satsuki does reach her breaking point, that like it's granny who's there for her and like hugs her

and is like don't worry i'll stay and it just uh what an angel i loved granny and i just loved in general how their community is there to support the girls kind of like no questions asked yeah where again it's like in in western media i feel like you would get more slammed doors um and that just doesn't happen oh your sister's missing chasing a totoro yeah all right kid good luck with that shut like that's what it is hi i need help fuck you that's kind of the dynamic we're conditioned to i I need help. Fuck you. Fuck you, kid. Yeah. Now it's like, I need help.

Let me strip down to my very traditional Japanese underwear and get the bamboo poles out because we found a sandal by the pond. Yeah. And I guess that's what's so interesting, too, is like I grew up. It's interesting to have these dualities even in my mind. I grew up very much thinking like a raised Japanese where neighbors look after you, you help each other. It's very community-oriented. It's always about putting the group before yourself first, obviously to detrimental levels at times societally.

But the other side, which Americans so much like, you got to take care of yourself. You got to figure it out. We figure stuff out here yourself up by your bootstraps and yeah and like not to say that there's no sense of community but the way our stories are told it's usually about an individual triumphing despite everything it's not always like look at these people come together and think this is how life is for us like it's always like no man despite all the fuck yous they figured it out and that just shows you how strong you got to be because everyone's gonna say fuck you right like on your way there and in in the u.s so that was very true

right right and then in this story it's about like a community rallying together and like everyone's looking for may in the third act of this movie and then you have totoro i was like totoro is an extension of that community too like the spiritual community like also shows up for them in this like no questions asked kind of way fucking mutual aid group you know what i mean it's like let me hit up the neko bus fucking faction real quick they're really good at finding lost people great group of activists they'll be here in a second don't worry about it don't worry about it we protect us okay satsuki we protect us that's how this works and totoro is part of the community because everyone respects there's no fear the spirits yeah and the community because everyone respects the spirits.

And the Totoros and the Kappa. Everyone's just like, yeah, it's awesome that this house is haunted. And yes, we have to go pay our respects to the spirits who look out for us. There's even a line, too, that's like, again, this was like a Pixar film, right? There would have been a boy or child who cried wolf moment if someone got lost and the community got together and even bothered to look. They're like, it's not even her sandal. Ah, what the hell? I could have blah, blah, blah. And there would have been a lot of grumbling.

Gotta go watch the football game. Yeah. Exactly. Like the next time you needed help, that would have been a barrier to that character to been like, well, I can't ask because the last time because there is in the japanese version there might be in the the subtitled or dubbed version where they're saying like it's okay you know that's just what we got to do like it could have been anybody right and like that was like the sentiment that the group it like yeah there was some frustration but at the end of it they're like nah it's all right like whatever like this is what we got it is what it is there is that part where someone's like when it turns out to not be may's sandal in the pond someone's like

it's okay granny just got carried away again it's like oh that made me sad yeah you're like that they're like treating this older woman you know this hysterical old woman like that she's still missing like what do you wear what they They're like, oh, my God. Right, like, she was right to be concerned. All right, did you call Cat Bus? Okay, then why are we? You didn't call Cat Bus? That's the first call you make.

The first call you make, a missing kid, you call Cat Bus. Wasting my fucking time. Oh, my God. All right. I love Granny. Granny fucking rules and i feel like granny and totoro are like the two strongest allies of the girls in their neighborhood but everyone's their ally in the like it it is like such a canta you know canta i love i that okay let's let's let's switch to

canta world because i thought that that was yet another thing that in a, you know, he has a crush on Satsuki. It's really sweet, but it doesn't like it just kind of is like there doesn't need to be in a way that felt like really age appropriate for those characters. That would be whatever, like fifth or sixth grade aged where it's like, I have a crush. I'm just just gonna act weird and be helpful and like uh-huh and satsuki also clearly doesn't know what to do with it and it's just like okay that's gonna be a very sweet friendship like i just uh i loved it yeah yeah i like too that like the male character in this is in the beginning just reduced to grunting and groaning like this motherfucker doesn't even have lines he's like for granny from mom like okay bro it's just like the silent baker

husband in uh kiki's delivery service where at the end you're like oh he can talk wow okay yeah like and great i love that because he doesn't need to do much more than that. Like, we get it just from his very efficient groaning and, you know, one word, simple sentences. Yeah. Here's your umbrella. Bye. And she's like, thank you. Thank you.

You're so kind. She's like that reminds me so much of like yeah my like best friend growing up where we just like had crushes on each other but we were also just like never mind and then we'd just be like all right see you later right oh my god like shake hands or whatever yep uh let's take another quick break and then we'll come back for more discussion. From LinkedIn News and iHeart Podcasts. When you're just starting out in your career, you have a lot of questions. Like, how do I speak up when I'm feeling overwhelmed? Or, can I negotiate a higher salary if this is my first real job? Girl, yes.

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Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And we are back. Shall we talk about another way that this movie kind of inverts Western tropes that I am conditioned to expect, which is how the mom is treated in this movie.

I thought, again, just like a very thoughtful and interesting way of having because we most movies that you know if you grew up watching disney renaissance movies you're used to a mother's absence but in a way that is barely acknowledged and it's almost like she was just like bloop like her absence is i don't know Like that's like the tropiest thing in the world. We've talked about it to death on this show. In this movie, you do have a mother who is mostly absent. They do not kill her off, but she is sick.

Which you're bracing for, I think, as a western story watcher is like when's the mom gonna die because you know that's how the characters become interesting or i was always like i think ever since bambi i'm like the mom's gonna die the mom's gonna die being a mother is a huge liability in children's media it's just like you can't you're you're fucked. But but in this I I love how it's handled where I think that like story wise what their mom's absence brings out is the fact that their dad isn't quite ready to be a single parent doesn't really know what he's doing but it's like trying his best in a way that like subverts. I think usually in the Western trope, you see the dad double down on having to be a single parent by being really mean and really aggressive and very like, I'm going to destroy your grotto full of forks or whatever the fuck. Right.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And this not only is the mom alive, but her relationship to her children is like i thought really well developed and like i really loved her and then at the end they're like she's gonna get better and you're like oh she gets to live a mom never lives mother yeah it's weird that that feels like such uh not even necessarily like a deliberate subversion of, because like, you know, like Miyazaki is Japanese.

He's telling stories from his Eastern perspective. I don't think he's like looking at American media and being like, I have to consciously subvert this. He's just like telling stories from his culture and point of view. It just better storytelling. Right. Yeah. But it just like feels from a Western point of view, just better storytelling right yeah but it just like feels from a western point of view like wow you can have stories without all this contrived conflict and it still works as a

compelling narrative right and that's what watching all these Miyazaki movies that's like been my experience covering them and watching them it's just oh, you can have a compelling slice of life story about girls and their relatable struggles and their adventures that also often incorporates elements of fantasy, much of which is rooted in East Asian and Japanese mythology. Like there's a lot of Shinto symbology in My Neighbor Totoro, which I don't know an awful lot about. But based on some research I was doing, you know, that's a big part of Totoro and, you know, the narrative that plays out. But yeah, like we've talked about on other Miyazaki movie episodes we've done recently, it's just so refreshing to watch these stories that are both culturally specific and universally

relatable because they are about girls experiencing life and they're learning and growing and making mistakes and discovering their strengths and navigating the world around them, and forming bonds, and making friends, and having sisters, and having families, and all the stuff that everybody experiences. Yeah. And I like that you get a little moment of the parents talking to each other, too. It just felt like a rare, nice look into their relationship. And their daughters are watching their parents like love each other and watching their, I mean, I just feel like for children of divorce,

you're like, well, great for them. Sure. Sure. Miyazaki movie. Yeah. Yeah.

That totally happens all the time at my house too. But it was just so sweet to like have that moment of their kids see that mom is doing better and that they're getting along, and it's just such a gentle conclusion to the movie. I really loved it. Yeah, and I think it's like, you know, for when Miyazaki grew up, he was born in 1941, so in a way this kind of reflects his own childhood i'm sure because they talk about how his own mom like really informed a lot of the characters because his mom had like long-term illness and was in the hospital and then came home so like i think there

there's like some biographical sort of energy to that portrayal but yeah there there is i think and like i think just in like growing up you know my mom was born in 1947 like growing up like right after world war ii in japan was like you know it's like it was on an upward trajectory because you're basically rebuilding the country after the war uh but i think on some level you wanted like nice stories or you there is something about you know this yearning for. Like escapist media. Yeah.

Like for a pleasant ending to things, especially through a child's lens when you're probably looking at a lot of adults who have a ton of, you know, been through a ton of shit just from everything that's happened like in the country. But yeah, like I think all of those, they're so realistic, even though like for me, like, you know, my parents, well, marriage wasn't the most pleasant thing. But like you kind of see those moments like, yeah, no, that's that does feel real, even though I may not have seen it. But that feels like real and is nice. Other people have experienced that, I'm sure. Yeah, I mean, many other people have.

But I'm like, wow, fantastic. Giving me the imagination for something. Wow, so good for them. Does anyone have any other thoughts about the movie? No, I just think that this is like a really beautiful, thoughtful, sweet movie that, I don't know, like just everything that is great about this movie is, I feel like has everything to do with it being so effortless and like just letting what, what I've loved about this chunk of Miyazaki movies that we've covered is that they're all sort of centered around letting kids be curious and like taking their curiosity about the world around them seriously.

Even though it's like, sometimes, you know, if you watch it back as an adult you're like oh i can see how you know like this is like could be a metaphorical projection of a b and c but you also also can watch it as a child or an adult and be like this is all real like it just is so cool that i love that he just like and and that he i guess that um i was reading a little bit about his writing process and that May was like pulled from his own nieces sort of attitude about the world and just like that.

I just think it's great. And it's even better to see young girls curiosity centered in a movie because it doesn't happen a lot without it coming with like a really tacked on love story or like their curiosity starts as curiosity, but then it somehow ends in marriage. Yeah, suddenly she's living with a beast in a castle even though she wanted to explore. Yes, boy needs save, boy needs save. Right, right.

Boy not needs save. And that's like the only place that a woman's curiosity can leave yeah lead is fixing him or it leads you to a place that now requires boy need to save you look what you did getting all curious and shit right right but yeah how dare you i feel this like same way you know it's it as a child it captured me because it presented no obstacles to me narratively like in terms of being like man man, and who knows, man, one day you might fucking find a Totoro. This thing didn't reflect back to me that it's dangerous or not going to happen or adults are going to treat me with contempt for wanting something to happen that might not be real and then even as an adult watching it again i was like even more touched because i really then be i i saw like all of the real nuance that you miss as a kid like as a kid

i was just taking it and it's like this is like a really fun frictionless like journey that just feels good and i can feel all kinds of great emotions and then as an adult i'm like this is so like this is just so good to watch you know like it's it's so you're you know if we like conflict is negative this is like just taking in so much like positive energy even with like the you know the like the dramatic elements of it but it just feels i don't know nourishing in this very strange way that i didn't find watching it like, you know, as a kid. Right. It does. Yeah. It does sort of make you think like,

Oh wow. There is like, when you see a truly beautiful piece of kids media, you're like, damn, I spent all that time watching movies about terribly CGI talking dogs with being like, Hey,

what I can, I mean, also an incredible genre, but it doesn't hold a candle look who's talking now to the beauty of a movie like totoro that's true um the last thing i want to say is cat bus facts oh with caitlin okay how many nipples we talking well there's some math involved okay okay based on those arms right so if cat bus has 12 legs which is three times the number of legs as a regular cat and if a regular cat has eight nipples if you multiply that by three 24 cat bus

has 24 nipples. Ever think about that? That's cat bus facts with Caitlin. Thank you for indulging me. I love it. Does this movie pass the Bechdel test? Oh, hell yeah. Oh, yeah.

Oh, hell yeah. With groany boy, with the barely speaking voice. I like that Miyazaki goes the extra mile and actively removes the voice of at least one male character. Yeah, you're going to have a hard time, Kanta, just doing the basics. This is what my man, can't even give an umbrella. Oh, he's so sweet.

Yeah, yeah, you got Mei and Satsuki talk to each other about a bunch of stuff. Mei and her mom, Satsuki and her mom, Satsuki and May talk to Granny individually. The teacher, I believe there's an example. Satsuki talks to her new friend from school. Oh, yes, I do love that the movie goes out of the way to give her a friend. We don't really learn anything about the friend aside from her name. But but you're just like man satsuki she can do it all yeah even then like it wasn't the dad even like what you made a fucking friend she's like yeah i gotta go

i'm out yeah i'm satsuki i'm awesome yeah i'm gonna be jocking my hairstyle for years to come but yeah lots lots of combinations of characters that pass the Bechdel test, and the movie is almost constantly passing. Especially because I would argue that even though Totoro and friends are, I think referred to with he-him pronouns, they gender Totoro as male, and Totoro is voiced by a male voice actor. A male Scooby.

A male Scooby do. I would argue that Totoros are genderless. Yeah. I think so. They're sentient pillows. Exactly. With great breath. Yeah.

You don't need to gender a mutual aid pillow. That's a genderless entity. Totoro is the concept of mutual to gender a mutual aid pillow. That's a genderless entity. Totoro is the concept of mutual aid as a sentient pillow. Like that's planting community gardens. I mean, this person's a fucking legend, Totoro. And then the point being, when Satsuki and Mei talk about Totoro, they're talking about a genderless icon. I think it absolutely passes the Bexel test to talk about Totoro. they're talking about a genderless icon so I think I think it absolutely passes the

Baxill test to talk about Totoro absolutely yeah and then that brings us to our nipple scale zero to five nipples based on how the movie fares when examining it through an intersectional feminist lens I think this is five nipples I cannot think of a reason why it deserves any less. I think it's a five nipple movie. I love that. And this is a common thread of all the Miyazaki movies we've covered so far, that it centers girls in a way that like just presents them as being very authentic and just exploring their lives and choices and and behaviors and actions in a way that tracks so much better

than basically every other story I've ever seen that focuses on girls which as we've discussed is like kind of surprising considering these movies are made by a man. But when, you know, someone like Miyazaki just has a vested interest in it, actually like authentically representing girlhood on screen, like it can happen. It works.

He six, he pulls it off. I love the characters. I love the relationship between the sisters. It works. He pulls it off. I love the characters. I love the relationship between the sisters. It's five nipples. I want to give one to Satsuki, one to May, one to Granny, one to the cluster of Totoro's, and one to their mom. Love it.

I'm going to go five as well i totally agree i i think this movie is so like beautifully done and i love how it brings in spirituality in a way that is like very again just like matter of fact the way that um miyazaki is able to bring in like fantastic and grounded elements is just like a fact of the world is like so it seems so effortless but like having seen other movies like it's really hard to do it's so beautiful um the only thing that i would say so i'm completely on board with everything you're saying caitlin the only thing that really pings for me is more just like behind the scenes stuff of like this is a beautifully told story about uh childhood and about and i guess about girlhood specifically um so you would hope to

see more women uh in prominent roles behind the scenes at a movie like this true which uh you know we always try to be mindful of as well unfortunately in in this case it does appear that all the at least the top titles unless i'm missing something listeners let me know i would love to be wrong but it seems like it is mostly men which is a systemic issue but also you would think miyazaki would have some say in uh his crew so there is that but in terms of like story-wise and presentation i just think it's like fucking incredible uh across the board so five nipples and i'm giving them all to cat bus hell yeah yeah miles what about you i mean i don't know if i can give five uh just because we arrived at such

a great number which is 24 nipples and i think this deserves 24 nipples for all of the reasons that were stated plus the criticisms which are very valid overall I think the other thing too which is really I really don't didn't even really think about is I never thought of this as being about like a gendered story that this was like it's about two girls right you know like and i was never as a partially like in real time being he brained boy in the 80s and 90s could still look at this and be like yeah like it had nothing to do like because it wasn't present you know why because i think it wasn't hitting any of these like weird in my brain, which was meant to go, this is supposed to happen. This trope is present.

The story means this. And it allowed me to really engage with something that was just about being curious and innocent and a child. That plus just all the nostalgia for me. Yeah, it's fantastic. So I'm going to split the 12 nipples, 12 to the concept of mutual aid in the form of Totoro, and then 12 to Necrobus. Hell yes.

So you're giving the movie 24 nipples. Okay, I see what's happening. Yes, yes, yes. I'm just saying if we can take the five and multiply them by five, I'm trying to divvy it up. So it would- No, I support this. At the conversion rate of nipples, this would be a five nipple film. I'm just to divvy it up. So it would... No, I support this. At the conversion rate of nipples, this would be a five nipple film.

I'm just using a different... I'm using a crypto or nipto currency. Not nipto. Nipto currency is tanking right now. You've got to be careful. Oh, no, not mine. Jamie, I told you you should have got in. You should have got in early when I told you.

I gave my Totoro slurp juice, and now there's 800 of them. Oh, yeah. No, no. I don't fuck with the Slurp Juice. Straight up Nipto. All Nipto. Well, here's what happens.

If you give the smallest Totoro a Slurp Juice, you get two more, including the Scooby Totoro. Oh, great. Yeah. Okay. Well, okay. I'll think about it. We'll offline about it. We'll offline.

Look, it's an investment. Think about it. Nipto coin. Yeah, yeah, great. Yeah. Okay. Well, okay. I'll think about it. We'll offline about it. We'll offline. Look, it's an investment. Think about it. NiptoCoin. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, look, dude. I mean, if you want to come to the moon with me, let me know because I got room on the spaceship. I got room.

No pressure, but you're probably going to want to. I'm not going to be greedy about it. Anybody can get in. Unlimited slurp juices. Miles, thanks for coming back oh thank you for having me it's always again a pleasure and honor to talk to the both of y'all about film because i don't i don't know as much but you you ask me on the ones i can speak relatively well about so i appreciate that miles you absolutely crushed it i mean you've covered three very different genres here

you've done an action movie a holiday movie and a children's movie yeah all up my alley I was like The Rock I'm like yep uh pretty much you're like uh his wife of course of course was that the movie that inspired you to get married yourself absolutely wow when I saw how much purpose it gave him to stand over a gravestone that said his wife yeah I was like that's i want that that's what's missing in my life i want what they have yeah that's why i'm not committing acts of domestic chemical terrorism on alcatraz oh god that movie oh goodness anyways where can we find you on online miles and where can we listen to you just find me at miles of gray at miles of

gray wherever there's at symbols uh also daily zeitgeist every day and if you like trash reality shows check out 420 day fiance with sophie alexandra and i hell yes yeah and then you can check out us on twitter and instagram at bechtel cast you can check out our Matreon at patreon.com slash Bechtelcast, where you get two bonus episodes every single month, plus access to the whole back catalog of over 100 bonuses. It's a darn delight, if I do say so myself. You can also check out our merch at tpublic.com slash the Bechdel cast. And you can follow us online wherever you find us. I don't think there's anyone impersonating us.

We're not on that level. So don't worry about it. Yeah, you're unique. Yeah, don't sweat it. With that, I got to get on this cat bus because I got to go save my sister. Vroom, vroom. We out. Bye. Meow, meow. out boss because i gotta go save my sister we out bye daphne caruana galicia was a maltese investigative journalist who on october 16th 2017 was assassinated

crooks everywhere unearths the plot to murder a one woman wikileaks she exposed the culture of crime and corruption that were turning her beloved country into a mafia state. Listen to Crooks everywhere on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, I'm Gianna Pradenti. And I'm Jermaine Jackson-Gadson. We're the hosts of Let's Talk Offline from LinkedIn News and iHeart Podcasts. There's a lot to figure out when you're just starting your career. That's where we come in.

Think of us as your work besties you can turn to for advice. And if we don't know the answer, we bring in people who do, like negotiation expert Maury Tahiripour. If you start thinking about negotiations as just a conversation, then I think it sort of eases us a little bit. Listen to Let's Talk Offline on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. How do you feel about biscuits? Hi, I'm Akilah Hughes, and I'm so excited about my new podcast, Rebel Spirit, where I head back to my hometown in Kentucky and try to convince my

high school to change their racist mascot, the Rebels, into something everyone in the South loves, the biscuits. I was a lady rebel. Like, what does that even mean? It's right here in black and white in print. It's bigger than a flag or mascot. Listen to Rebel Spirit on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.