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fixated on leviticus and being a podcast so in love
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Heyy! Welcome to our EPISODE 10 extravaganza!! We dive deep into the romantic horror movie Leviticus and Olivia Rodrigo’s new album, You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love. It’s love as the sickness, the cure, and the feeling we have for our pod 💞 Enjoy!!
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Music: House loops 107 simple mix down tempo.wav by josefpres License: Creative Commons 0
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Transcript
Introduction to Fixated Podcast
00:00:04
Speaker
Hi! Welcome back to Fixated, a podcast with us, Joelle and Ellen. I'm Joelle. And I am Ellen. This is the podcast where we talk about all the media and culture and stuff we just can't look away from. The stuff we just can't seem to get over. And why it all matters so much to us.
Episode 10 Topics: Leviticus & Olivia Rodrigo
00:00:23
Speaker
This episode, we talk about movie Leviticus. We talk about Olivia Rodrigo's new album and all connecting threads in between them. There are more than you think. Yes, we get deep with
Celebrating Episode 10
00:00:36
Speaker
it. We get existential this episode. We get into a lot of things that one might not see coming. look i had a lot of fun i didn't i mean i didn't see it coming had a lot of fun as well perfect perfect enjoy enjoy here we are yeah yes yes yes episode 10 episode 10 double digits we made it we made it this is so exciting this is actually a little bit huge for this it means we're locked in little podcast that could Oh my God. Wait. Yeah. Yeah. I wonder if there is like a threshold, a like commonly held people are like, once you most successful long running something like that, whatever, not to put undue expectations, but you know what I'm saying? Like, you know, a restaurant has survived once it's made past a year and a half. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. I'm going to go with once a podcast makes it past 10 episodes, locked in for life. Exactly. There's no way that it could ever crumble. like that statistic. Exactly.
00:01:33
Speaker
Yeah. So yay. Little like fanfare. yeah Little like, move you know, the things. Confetti. Confetti. Imagine that we're photoshopping in confetti. Right on the cusp of July. oh my
Pride Month Reflections
00:01:44
Speaker
God. Yeah. um being Literally on Pride. On Pride Sunday. Pride Sunday we're recording. Yes. Yes. And what a Pride month it's been. exactly it's yeah been a long month it has been long month which is good but yeah it's been kind up and down i'm ready for it to end it's been mostly down over here um yeah i kind of yeah it's been a lot of ups and downs good because i had a lot of things to do this month and like that's good i guess loki got them done but like
00:02:16
Speaker
oh yeah yeah I've had a lot of bad experiences and spent a lot of money on all of them. So like, I think I'm ready for July. Period. Sometimes it'd be like that. Yeah. Sometimes I do. But what? There's an impossible difference.
00:02:27
Speaker
Exactly. persevere. Yeah. We push on Exactly. Next month will be impossibly different from this month. which Yeah. Can only be a good thing. No. Yeah. Next month is a fun month. I mean, just to like jump
Recording Challenges & Simple Pleasures
00:02:39
Speaker
the. bit is that a word going to be outside of the country for most of it which is super fun and we have a trip planned so the next time we'll be hanging out together in-person episode upcoming maybe who knows perhaps to haves record together literally unknown exactly i think this episode will come out still before we're actually on the trip together right yeah that's true i think you're right super confused about the days now our posting schedule is impossible to understand yeah it's like that full disclosure i'm the type person to be like it's like that tiktok sound and like actually can't quote it for shit like i've always have something a little bit wrong but do you know the thing
00:03:21
Speaker
Well, they're trying to explain something basically that's complicated. And they're like, the sound is someone probably explaining a game. So like, so you have do this. And get three tokens when you go through. That's how I feel about our posting schedule. That's exactly. Even though it's like very easy to understand. And we have a calendar that like, makes it down. Yes. Or our recording to posting schedule. It's confusing to us. It's just the recording schedule is understandable the posting schedule is understandable when you mix the two that's where it gets confusing exactly exactly and being like what we talk about what do we talk about this episode and it's gonna we're talking about things two weeks ago but also i was thinking about this this is another case of me completely again once again over complicating and over intellectualizing everything but it's kind of fun still as a guiding ethos for this show though it just has to remain that like we're going to talk about whatever we want to talk about
00:04:10
Speaker
because the ideas Whenever we want to talk about
Cultural Critiques & Digital Immediacy
00:04:12
Speaker
it. Exactly. Committed to what we're fixated on. You what mean? Like, it's the thing. A fixation for me doesn't end in two weeks. Not a real one. No.
00:04:21
Speaker
It's completely antithetical. And I think, to go even further, to diagnose or comment on the culture, I think that part of what I like about it, what i've taught what I would be interested in embodying is...
00:04:35
Speaker
the actual rejection of immediacy and like a take and an opinion is not worth less because it becomes a few weeks after or a month after or a year after you know like it's not that's not how it works it's had time to build then exactly i'm thinking about it the whole time exactly you've only gotten more information ideally to kind of say something of quote unquote value that's why every week we get smarter when it comes to challenges Yes, two years have passed, but we're building something. We're building something. No, genuinely. Because I've been taking a lot of theory and information about criticism, film criticism specifically. So it has me thinking and theorizing a little bit about what this whole commentary criticism of media really is. And I think there's room to see it like that. better as time goes on.
00:05:23
Speaker
with the digital technology, but we have a real problem with immediacy. We do. and Thinking that we need to like, bah and say things less structured quicker versus more structure. But not us. But not us. Us doing this delayed hosting schedule is actually like a digital critique. Exactly. There's something very, very epistemological about it.
00:05:44
Speaker
How are we building knowledge? We're like cultural anthropologists in a way. We're talking about the past. Yes, yes, yes, yes. and how the past and We're time travelers, dare I say. Oh This is what makes us foremost scholars on everything. On whatever we say. But okay, let's get to the next question of the pod. What non-media thing have you been fixated on?
00:06:09
Speaker
Okay.
Humor in Timothee Chalamet Edits
00:06:10
Speaker
awesome so yeah My thing, a little bit, it's not media, but it's media related. Obviously. Always. Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry. I've just been thinking a lot about, you know, it's just making me laugh to think about because I think it's so silly. I keep getting those like edits of Timothee Chalamet and like the way that he's changed over time. God. And cracks me up every single time. I think it's- hilarious and specifically i saw one the other day of you know because he he used to be young and artistic in French when he was promoting his young artistic French movie and now he's like a bro okay sure y'all whatever but I saw one specifically that had a comment on it that I cannot stop thinking about which was it's like when the capital got PETA and I
00:06:57
Speaker
I cannot stop thinking about it because that shit is so funny because what are you talking about? It gets me. He's just a dude. Like he's just a guy and he always has been. Like not to really comment on it, but like he grew up in New York City. He grew up like exactly this kind of person. And also who cares? like He's a real person, so like let's let him have his vibe. like Yeah, let's have let's let him have his multitudes. A vibe can change, exactly. yeah Let him date Kylie Jenner, let him go to a Knicks game. Yeah, yeah. Whatever he wants to do. i find it so interesting. know I don't even say this to be like dismissive, but i genuinely find it interesting, the like futility of...
00:07:35
Speaker
commenting on people on how so you know what I mean like yeah it's just like and what if he is what if he did change like okay like I'm sorry that you missed when he had longer hair I don't if I'm allowed to change you're allowed to change like why can't he change his vibe yeah exactly sorry that you had a crush on his old vibe and now yeah it's a different vibe and now I am sorry that sucks but yeah it kind of doesn't do I have his haircut no like i don't like it either i don't like that mustache either but it's none of my business exactly i'm not the one dating him so like whatever gosh again such well-trodden territory as well just like the timmy of it all yeah it's nothing new let it rock he's still a good actor he is At the end of the day, we're talking about the work... I'm still a fan. I liked Marty Supreme. I generally did. I think lot people were kind wishy-washy on it, actually. I think the movie maybe wasn't necessarily for me. It just wasn't my type of movie. But I thought he did a great job. All the performances were really great in that. It's like when the Capitol got PETA. It's like when the Capitol got PETA. But that's also a beautiful analogy. It really is. That's critical cultural analysis right there. Exactly. That's cross-textual. I like what you're doing. Yeah, girl, I'm on your side, actually. I love that. That's a masterstroke.
00:08:53
Speaker
In a certain construction of reality, you're completely right. That's a good thing. What's your non-media fixation this week, Joelle?
Joelle's Porch Fixation
00:09:00
Speaker
Mine's a little... It's both random and, to me, deeply connected to things I've been thinking about. I've just been really sitting out on my porch at home.
00:09:08
Speaker
that's so nice. I guess I just want to applaud the porch. I love a porch. Oh my goodness. That's like, that is, that's not a want, that's a need that's for a future. yeah For a future home. Old people have it. They yeah get it. Sitting on the porch. Sitting on the porch. I'm saying. Like, i need a, I need a good, have a back porch, you see. And I feel like there's a difference with the front porch, back porch situation. We'll take either. yeah um my house only has a front porch.
00:09:41
Speaker
There we go. Very different. and Right. So we have like a little back porch so you can look out on the on our lawn. It's like netted too. So there's no bugs. I think it's like a big thing. Like you're not bothered by bugs. You're sitting on the porch and we have a fan. So I mean, sometimes it's still way too hot to like actually like sit there and chill. So you're in another universe over there. It's just, it's the most satisfying thing. And I always forget about ah it when I'm not home. I always forget about it when I am home and it's the winter. But once it opens up to be spring, summer, and you can be like, gonna go sit on the goddamn porch. That's so nice. And hang out. There's just a few things that are better i win that. wish had porch here.
00:10:17
Speaker
in my apartment it's literal bliss it's literal bliss it makes you feel like you can get a little fresh air and be in nature but not really because i'm not even that naturey for real because it's the bugs and so that's kind of it like i don't know i think i've just been thinking about like being at home and being in the south especially it being like hot and stuff i'm just like this is good here are the small things the mundane things that you realize are like really really nice to have so yeah mine's the concept of a porch like I'm just sitting on my porch. I've been on it so much. That's a perfect super fixation.
00:10:51
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, I feel like this is good. We can just like jump right
Future Episodes & Guest Plans
00:10:55
Speaker
into... I feel like we might both have a lot to say. We don't know if there's any overlap. I know I do. I hope there's overlap because I want to have an actual conversation, but I feel that I'll just be preaching and I'm okay with that. No, but feel like even if there's not overlap, we'll get into it. We shall see. Because that's the other thing. We kind of increasingly have not been like... each other which is not required not at all actually this week I really realized because I've been like wanting to talk about this thing that I want to talk about so bad like there's no reason for me to be doing this and I think yeah this week was actually especially difficult because I really enjoyed this thing that I'm about to talk about and I've been wanting to talk to you about it so bad like I don't think need to be doing this anymore There's no reason for me to be holding myself back. We can just double up on conversation. Yeah, I guess that's the thing. I guess there's a little bit of tension between like, oh, we talk about before, then we could get better and we're used to like articulating it ourselves. No, but then also maybe like more authentic reaction and kind of like question back and forth might be lost.
00:11:56
Speaker
but But whatever, we can both out. It's fine. Actually, that's making me think. You know how like with Marvel movies specifically, I'm thinking they really started to prioritize the surprise aspect over the maybe like storytelling aspect. Maybe that's what we're doing too. And maybe it would be better if we knew what we were about to talk about instead of going through the action where we could actually be able to get a photo before.
00:12:17
Speaker
You're right. So next episode, maybe we so guys don't hold it in anymore. yeah a this I'm letting you guys in on our her practice, which I think is cool. See how the sausage gets made. So yeah, please take the floor. I think you're very excited. Yeah, man, why not? i'm really excited. Okay, I feel like you definitely know what I'm about to say, too. i don't know. You don't? Okay. Maybe. This week I watched Leviticus.
Exploring Leviticus: Homophobia as Monster
00:12:40
Speaker
Okay, that's what I thought. Holy, like, holy crap, Joelle. Yeah? I saw it twice in, think, three days. What?
00:12:51
Speaker
And it was one of those situations where I went with our friend Courtney and I loved it. I thought it was great. And then I got home and I was really thinking about it. And I was like, honestly, like I give it a 4.5 on Letterboxd. Like I loved it. And I was like, honestly, it must have been recency bias. Like there's no way it was that good because I'm not a horror girl. I was like, I don't know. I'm sure it was great, but whatever. Like I'm excited to rewatch it. I saw myself really like knocking it down at least half a star. I was like, it was probably a little cheesier, probably not as well written as I was thinking it was. Mm-hmm.
00:13:19
Speaker
And then I rewatched it and I was like, maybe this is a five out of five. Actually, like, oh my god, it only got better on second watch. Like, it was... Okay, tell me the premise. Like, I think I've picked up a bit. After all, we do share the login to the socials. I've been watching minutes on that fixated account. But I don't completely know how you would describe it Let me see if can give it to you quick. So the plot is there's these two guys, Name and Ryan. It's set in a small town, a small religious town. Name has just moved there. Name and Ryan are just starting this relationship. going to also see how much of this I can do with no spoilers because I don't want spoil it for you. But it's also pretty recently out. And I think the less information anyone has, the better. Pretty much, they're...
00:14:02
Speaker
two characters get sent to not conversion therapy, but like this divination healer, I think they call him. And this healer sets this entity upon them um that is like the goal is to make them straight. um And it it's this entity that takes the form of like whoever you desire the most. And so in the case of these two characters, like it's each other,
00:14:29
Speaker
And oh my gosh, it's just so well done and it's so well written. And honestly, the first like, 30 plus minutes it's just character building it's just world building so you really like are in it with these characters and it's it's a love story more than honestly anything else like there are horror elements obviously it's a horror movie but it is at its core a romance yeah oh my god and it's so good and you really like understand these characters holy crap oh my god
00:15:02
Speaker
Let me actually get my notes because I'm not saying anything. But that's fascinating. I really like that. want to say take, but you know what I'm trying to say Yeah. For the, yeah, kind of like conversion therapy of it all. And then the horror, like i that really, that really works in mind. It's very, really good. I read this um like interview with one of the creators and he was talking about how he wanted to create a horror movie where the monster is like homophobia itself. And so this entity, it's a representation of like shame and fear itself. Mm-hmm. And so they're trying to get away from this, but there's kind of no getting away from it because it is like the societal homophobia. And it takes the shape of like what you also want to run towards. Exactly. That's what I wanted to. That's like part of it, too, because there's this one line um name is like, OK, us being together is not good. We have to be apart because that's part of it, too. They learn that the more time they spend together, like the better, the stronger the entity gets, like because it can act properly. more like the other person, your deepest desire.
00:16:02
Speaker
And so they're thinking like, we'll be safer apart. Like if we just don't spend any time together. And Ryan says, um if this thing is going to be chasing me, I don't want it to look like anyone else. I want it to look like you.
00:16:15
Speaker
yeah Oh, God. Oh, God. Okay, this is actually what whatever you were just saying was making me think. I've seen so many people talking about there are multiple points throughout the movie where Name, the main character, like he sees Ryan. This is the thing. It can only come to you when you're alone.
00:16:32
Speaker
And he sees Ryan and everyone watching is like, that's so clearly like the fake evil Ryan. That is not Ryan. But he wants it to be so bad that he's willing to risk the danger yeah yeah going up to it anyway because he just likes Ryan so much that he's willing to put himself at risk.
00:16:54
Speaker
And ignore like all this shame and fear and everything that's happening because he just wants to be with Ryan. And people didn't like that and they didn't understand it And I think it's just so beautiful. It's so good.
00:17:08
Speaker
Holy shit. Yeah. Oh my God. There is this one part too, which like teeny tiny spoiler maybe. um But the entity, i don't know what else to call it. I guess that's a good enough whatever. Yeah. Evil Ryan, the thing that looks like Ryan that is not Ryan, is fighting Name. It's trying to kill him. It's like got his hands are around his neck.
00:17:27
Speaker
And um Name just kind of like puts his hand on the thing's cheek. And it like pauses. And to me, it was such a because like this thing is a manifestation of homophobia and fear and shame and all of these things. And it's like the only way to get over your internalized homophobia, the only way to stop it is to love it and to love that part of yourself.
Themes in Leviticus: Love & Religion
00:17:51
Speaker
And him showing this thing like tenderness and kindness for the first time. hmm.
00:17:57
Speaker
it like made it pause and it yeah made it stop. And yeah like, yeah, that's what you have to do. You just have to love. Like despite yeah all this danger, you just have to love and that's what's going to stop it. And it, holy shit. It's so...
00:18:12
Speaker
Beautiful. And it's so well done. Yeah. Oh, my God. And there's also this aspect of like, Ryan as a character, he is very aggressive. Like, that's how he's kind of dealing with his internalized homophobia. And he's been in this town his entire life, I'm assuming, whatever name is the one that just moved there.
00:18:30
Speaker
yeah And he kind of has this thing with this other boy, with the preacher's son. And they kind of show their interest in each other by actually throwing rocks at each other, by stoning each other.
00:18:41
Speaker
Like yeah in Leviticus, in the actual Bible. Right, right, right. And they're throwing rocks because they don't know how else to like... There's no other way for them to show their desire for each other, really. That's kind all they know is this aggression and because it's something that they're afraid of.
00:18:58
Speaker
Yeah. This love for each other. And then Name comes to town and he's like just kind and tender. He's more afraid and Ryan is more angry.
00:19:09
Speaker
he's showing Ryan tenderness for the first time in his life. And like, we kind of both don't know what to do with it. And we're both afraid. But they're like learning how to not be afraid with each other because they just want to be together.
00:19:20
Speaker
my god. So it sounds like it was a fantastic write-up Ellen's alley. No, that sounds really good. so good. Now I will see how I can go about watching that.
00:19:31
Speaker
And I would love to break it down with you. I want you to see it too so we can have an actual like back and forth because I also want to get your opinions. yeah that's really interesting i feel like it kind of coincides with some stuff that i've been watching over the last few days which really just kind of that super uncomplicated question of how religion intersects with um queerness yeah um just a can of worms but i was really thinking about depictions of like conversion therapy and um and yeah that kind of like religious thing because i watched for the first time actually the miseducation of Cameron Post
00:20:10
Speaker
Oh, I saw that. Oh my God. I saw that like years ago. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. It's just one of those that I'm like, like I've seen the. Yeah. Just like on Hulu available. Yeah, exactly. exactly For so long. And I remember that you said you'd watched it. And so watched that. And then like earlier this month I watched, but I'm a cheerleader, which obviously has a lot more like satire and parody attached to it. But like, again, at least trying to comment on the absurdity of that.
00:20:32
Speaker
Cameron Post is way more kind of like realistic, sober kind of depiction of God, that was good. um yeah i thought it was pretty good um you know like i was i mean in a way solid just that's what was like solid yeah um and i think that chloe grace moretz really good performance like for some i was like kind had like a gap in my mind of like what else i'd possibly seen her in specifically and so i think appropriately kind of like when and not really thinking of her as any particular kind of actor other than like someone i know or like recognize but yeah like she's done that movie oh my god yeah i just remembered randomly i'll just say it the actress who is playing gabriella in the vampire lestat lestat's um mother is the like conversion therapy evil woman in that she literally like i was like so serendipitous she like appeared and i was like she's stunning but one thing that i'm remembering right now
00:21:27
Speaker
I wonder how the actual, what'd you say, like the divination guy? Yeah. wonder how like he was depicted and kind of like the words and the scenes around that. Because one thing I really liked in Cameron Post that like moved me a good bit and I guess is exposed a lot is kind of the point a bit with But I'm a Cheerleader is like the younger guy who's kind of leading this camp in Cameron Post when like there's been an accident with one of the students and she kind of just like looks at him she's like you guys don't know what you're doing here she's like you don't know what you're doing here and he kind of like breaks down is kind of like I don't have an answer for you because he like the story with him is that he like went through the program himself and like it worked he's kind of like a success story don't know just like stuff like that
00:22:12
Speaker
um So I'm curious. Yeah, I'm curious how in that movie, this type of stuff, and again, coming back to like the religious aspect of it. Yeah. It makes me have a lot of questions and critiques naturally of um the approach of religion to some of these things.
00:22:26
Speaker
Yeah, in Leviticus, it really, they really lean into the like religious aspect of it. It's virtually like an exorcism that he gives these boys and it like happens in the church. Like they bring this guy to the church and he like does this process and he, I don't know, blesses them or whatever. Yeah. But the purpose of it is to make them afraid. And i don't want to yeah I don't want to super spoil anything, but like part of it is that one of the characters that chooses to put their child through this is like, it's such an interesting perspective. This person thinks they're doing it through love. And it's yeah the idea of like, I love
00:23:02
Speaker
you but ah like not in the right way like you don't really love them obviously but like this one person one person dies and i guess the cops say like it was a hate crime virtually because this kid's queer like they died and it was because this like entity got them but so then this other character is like well i want to protect you and so i'm going to like stick this thing on you so that you're afraid of that part of yourself so you don't address it for the rest of your life.
00:23:31
Speaker
And it's so like, like thinking that you love someone and doing this to them, like obviously that's not yeah love. That is not love, but it's, yeah I don't have a real way to analyze that. I haven't yeah really like put it together quite into words. But the healer aspect of it is so interesting because it's like, it's a very religious process as they're going through it. It's like he's, yes praying to God and in the church and they really leaned heavy into the like God aspect of it. Yeah. Troubling, troubling, troubling. There's been like also conversations I've had in my personal life as of recent, more recently than not. Yeah. Yeah. Really brought up that question specifically about
00:24:11
Speaker
god and religion like loving despite but not really and you know gay people in general like hate and love the center thing yes and you know that's it's interesting because in conversation i'm kind of inclined which i don't like regret to like kind of not like go along with it but like to have a conversation like say my piece about it too and try to like deconstruct whatever we're really like talking about here I'll say it this way. I'm also grateful for having those conversations with people who think very differently from me because reflecting on it only makes me ah more certain about how I actually feel about it. Like not in some abstract way, but you're like, okay, i had a conversation and it actually was like almost confusing, but like productive and constructive, least on my side. Oh, like now I can have clarity actually being like, I personally really don't have patience for that shit. It's just like, and you can it's how I feel. I really don't have patience for it. Because this is, it's the logic that leads to something like.
00:25:08
Speaker
The thinking in Leviticus of like, there's no hate the sin, love the sinner. It's you love the person as a whole. That's yeah You either love them or you don't. Yeah. And this character who's choosing to put this person like in danger and fear for the rest of their life. It's like, that's not love. You don't love that person.
00:25:22
Speaker
Sorry, this really reminds me, this is kind of flipping it, but part of what I have to bring a little bit, not what I was really going to mainly focus on talking about. I've been reading some James Baldwin. I watched um this really long, like two hour conversation with Nikki Giovanni that he had some time in the 60s. I haven't seen that incredible overlap. Oh my God. Yeah, right. <unk>s I'm going to have to be looking into this. Yes, it's really, i mean, I think it's really worth watching. i think it's really interesting. They're talking about a lot about like gender and stuff specifically in the black community at the time, contextually, like little bit like civil rights movement and all that kind of activity and like black thought and black writing at the time.
00:26:01
Speaker
And they're kind of, they kind of take on representing two different generations as well. Not only like the difference between gender, but also between generations. And so it's really, it's quite interesting. So there's that. but in a different conversation actually when he was talking with Maya Angelou he kind of like says this thing I hope I can like paraphrase correctly it's very as as it goes with James Baldwin very moving she kind of asked him this question about what is his like response of people being like the like subject matter that he writes about or something like that and he kind of has this little um like right before he's kind of being like
00:26:33
Speaker
people don't know about like what life is beyond the labels basically he says all I know about human life is if I love you i love you and if I love you and I duck it I die and you're just like okay how much simpler could it be at the end of the day that's it actually genuinely like how much simpler could it be Yeah.
00:26:55
Speaker
You love um person or you don't love the person at all. Yeah. Like that's the thing. So like, I guess it does work for both sides of that equation. Like I think he's obviously saying it way more like in an affirming nature for like people loving who who you love. But I think there's a way you could also interpret that for, yeah, kind of like what is, what is like the false mode of loving someone is like you are somewhat ducking at yourself yeah if you're trying to change them. don't know, maybe that's a reach, but like it makes me think of that, like all this kind of mangling and trying to manipulate what it is actually in front of you. Yeah, and who a person is. and Yeah, it's either you love it, you honor yourself and them by like loving
00:27:35
Speaker
Or you don't. really love that. Holy shit. Yeah. Like who would have thought that James Baldwin. Who would have thought James Baldwin was spitting. Yeah, literally. Who Yeah. That makes me, actually doesn't really make me think. I just, I remembered I have one more thing I want to say about Leviticus. That's not, I guess, the most connected, but like without...
00:27:56
Speaker
really going into detail because I don't want to spoil it. Like the ending for me, I was watching a lot of like people talking about it online. A lot of people didn't necessarily like the ending. I loved it. i thought the way it ended was so perfect.
00:28:09
Speaker
It just kind of says to me, like there is no getting away from homophobia and societal fear completely. And kind of like once it's in you, it's in you. And like you can't completely avoid it. But like, you can choose to love anyway, you can choose to love despite and you can figure it out. Like you, yeah you just have to make that choice. And you have to be yourself and you have to lean in and you have to love and that'll keep you safe. And that's enough.
00:28:35
Speaker
And it's so so beautifully done and it's so good. Okay, i really want to watch each other They love each other. oh my god. And they love each other despite, like, anyway.
00:28:48
Speaker
They're actively making all the choice to love each other despite the fear and despite the danger. And yeah they just want it to be each other. Like, they just want to be together. Despite all this other stuff that's happening. Literally need that. So good. Yeah. And actually, i learned this weekend, the I think like the production house of it maybe is the same company that did the movie of an age.
00:29:08
Speaker
o Oh, my goodness. Another like, it's beautiful queer movie. And it's very different from Leviticus. Yes. It's not a horror movie.
00:29:20
Speaker
but is it um a little bit maybe also that one is really good i remember just watching that and just being like and we both were like taking it back yeah like holy shit we weren't expecting to be that good it was so good it was beautiful it's crazy it's about it's about this like he's like a young like closeted but like you know what i mean he's not even like i don't know if he even is like aware that he's queer exactly right like teenage dancer and he's like running late to his dance competition or something and so his friend's older brother yeah his friend's older brother is driving him to the competition and it's just like they in a day they like build this little not even a relationship but like i guess relationship is the way to put it a bond exactly they bond um romantic style exactly it's kind of like a one-day love story situation and i yeah love those Yes. It's yeah so good. Beautiful genre in and of itself. It is. And then kind of like flashes to the future and kind of you meet them at another point in time. Yeah. It's very.
00:30:16
Speaker
Love that pull. I'm so happy you mentioned that. So yeah, the same people made it. um So if that gives you an in to how freaking good this movie was. Okay. Called Causeway Films or something. Shout out to them.
00:30:30
Speaker
y'all, big fans. of Loving your work. That was my. Yeah. major fixation of the past week and a half leviticus and i'm gonna watch it again i'm gonna watch it multiple yeah i'm gonna look up in what way i could watch it soon i might be disappointed by the answer but we'll see we'll see if nothing else we will find a way to watch that in london together mama oh that's exciting yeah well thank you for bringing that to the table exactly of course if we can't watch leviticus together maybe we'll just have to watch challengers again o Oops. Like if we gotta, we gotta. Okay. Swell. My media fixation this week is more music based. o I feel like it's like a fun time.
00:31:12
Speaker
Question mark. okay Fun time? Fun because music is good and fun, but... Do I know what you're about to say? i don't know. Okay. I have i have to like just do the like requisite shout outs. Brian Beatty, new album. Yep, yep, yep, yep, yep. Sweet Fortune.
00:31:24
Speaker
I have listened to it through maybe like twice. Really liking it. But for some reason, i just haven't really been able to like really form thoughts on it entirely but it's still really good music and very different vibe wise from calico which is low-key in my list of like just absolutely stunning fantastic for some reason this week i've been on a big calico kick i've been listening to that album on repeat and i i knew the new one was coming out and i haven't touched it yet um i mean i love ryan bd yes so love that because i love him i love his songwriting bubble ah everywhere he's um he's great and he's really good live and i just think he's such like a modern day crooner You kind of introduced him to me, at least you introduced Calico to me, but there's one song that I got really into during COVID, which is a song God in Jeans.
00:32:10
Speaker
of that's It's so good. Everyone look it up. Another like queer yeah religious vibe. Okay. Like, yeah, we're kind of a theme today. The theme for the episode. Yeah. Low key. I mean, the thing that I like mainly want to talk about is very little to do with that. Except there's some lines. Anyways. Oh, and then obviously like new Phoebe dropped. Oh my God. Right. People mentioning Phoebe. Yeah. Had our Phoebe experiences. We did. And I thought it was getting like interesting reaction from people in terms of whether they liked it or not, or just like how they felt about it. But personally, I i mean, look anything, it's a very catchy song. It is. I like it. I think I have fallen on the side of being like, I like this. Yeah. Very curious how it will fit in with the project as a whole. And that's the thing, because I was at the MSG concert. hey She played that first, Lost Boys, and I did not really like it. I didn't vibe with it. I wasn't obsessed with the lyrics. I wasn't obsessed with the way she sang it. But I i am gathering from like the way you've talked about it, the way some people online have talked about it.
00:33:05
Speaker
I think she sang it a little differently at MSG than she did at some of her other live concerts could be incorrect about that obviously because who knows with no phones like there's no way to actually compare but it does seem like that was the case and i really wasn't in love with the way she sang it at msg like i just don't think i was really gonna like the song that much something about it i just didn't like she sang it very slow and very acoustic and i don't know why but it really just wasn't for me and then i heard it once yeah on like the actual produced version and i was like oh, I get it now. I enjoy this. I can get into it. And now I've listened to it a bunch more. And I really, really enjoy it, which is funny because every single person I've talked to post MSGF and like, I really liked all the songs except for Lost Boys. And now yeah I feel like a liar. I do think that there's like, one of our friends was saying that she didn't respond to it as well. she didn't really like like the lyrics or the lyrical content really as well. And I caught wind of like some other people in line.
00:33:59
Speaker
Saying similar, just even just on the level of like the Peter Pan metaphor being a little bit like, okay, sure. at least for me, the Peter Pan-ness of it all was a little Ben there, done that. um Right. think that was my main issue with it. yeah At least to MSP. Really fair, but it's kind of like holding two things at same time. I was like, I definitely do that, but also, okay, I kind know, it's pretty good songs. Yeah, but still very exciting just to kind of like... be revving up for more phoebe and i was kind of like speculating about like i feel like she kind of has a track record even if you just look at the boy genius of it all of being kind of like tongue-in-cheek in a sense like critical questioning <unk> etc etc with like masculinity and like boyness and stuff like yeah And so I kind of wonder if this like as a single signals that that will be more of an actual thing. Like even with as I expect some of the stuff is going to be about her dad. And she has like oftentimes alluded to her relationship with men and relationship to men as an idea. So that's what I mean like I'm curious it's going to fit in. Like I could see maybe that being a thread throughout But we'll see. Yeah, definitely. I'm very excited. It all comes
Olivia Rodrigo's Album Analysis
00:35:13
Speaker
together. But yes, but then the big thing, the big thing I want to talk about, Olivia Rodrigo's album.
00:35:17
Speaker
Oh my God. so did This pretty sad for a girl. So in love. I forgot it was out. I have been bumping that. i have been bump in that I think it's interesting because it was kind of given to me by homework by my dear friend Ryan. Shouts out. He is big Olivia Rodrigo fan. And he was like, you need to listen and like let me know what you think. And I think I was already planning on listening. But I also don't have like a super strong relationship with her and her music. I have listened to everything, yeah funnily enough.
00:35:43
Speaker
I did watch High School Musical, the musical the series. Right. So I did know about her. I have known about her for a while now. Generally like her, but I didn't have like i don like a very strong relationship. But there's definitely like songs that I've liked a lot throughout her discography thus far. And I kind of see what it is. She's got going on.
00:36:00
Speaker
a little bit of me is my ageism, which we know I have, which is like a whole complex, I think. Just being like, she's younger than me, which doesn't mean she's like not worth attention in general. But I struggle sometimes to like really lock in because I'm just like, yeah.
00:36:13
Speaker
I don't know like but also you get older and you realize you're like you know what I'm gonna have to start sometimes like younger than you and you're gonna be more talented than you and as you get older that number is gonna go up yeah I think it's because I've always been the youngest person in my class in general I have this weird distance between like people who stage wise are younger than me anyways this album is I feel like inarguably like her best thus far like okay exciting That is seemingly the like consensus in my mind. also not in... She has such strong stan-ness, which is also why I feel like I don't have much to say. So who knows? There might be discourse over on Olivia Rodrigo's stan about which one is their favorite. In my opinion, i stepped into this very open and like happy to see what was going on to do my homework. And... I just think it's like, Loki like brilliant. Like she just did a bang up job. And like the idea of it, it's a bit of a concept album.
00:37:06
Speaker
Can I be stupid because I'm not a music person? What does that mean? What is a concept album? A concept album? I wonder how people would like actually accurately define it. There's just something that's supposed to be like tying all the songs together more deliberately. So there's just like a running theme through it all.
00:37:22
Speaker
Yeah, but I guess it's also maybe about like how it's like very purposely constructed as X, Y, and Z. I'm sure there's people who would be like, yeah everything's a concept album or nothing is, know, that type of thing, like absolutists. But how I would think, like if you were trying to tell like a deliberate story, which she's kind of doing. Okay.
00:37:39
Speaker
or really, you know, this is something that is actually really relevant right now, but not my circus, not my monkeys. There's like drama going on with like Halsey and this like Anthony Fontano person, but whatever. Halsey's like one album, she was almost doing like double concept where she was like very directly referencing, like singing in the style of different singers for like each song. Oh, cool. Okay. Something like that. So that's what mean. It's like something like deliberately. That makes sense. Okay. Purposely being delivered through the medium of an album. Okay.
00:38:06
Speaker
Y'all fight in the comments if I define that correctly. But with this being a concept album, what Rodrigo said like kind of happened is like as she was riding through her life in this one relationship, which she found herself doing, it became like this arc of the relationship very specifically. So she like wrote all of these songs as she was like falling in love and she was getting into the relationship. And apparently like that was a lot of where the album was going to kind of like settle in.
00:38:33
Speaker
And then the relationship ended up going sour. And as she just like kind of naturally kept writing, she like extended the idea of the album to kind of like go through this arc. Hopefully I'm explaining this correctly. And then kind of had the ability, having written through this whole arc of the relationship into its dissolution, was able to kind of like go back and look at the like happier like love songs that she wrote and kind of Like make them, I think as she was like describing it, like make them a little bit darker and almost like ominous. Kind of like make sure that those like ties between the two halves of the album, it becomes very like distinctly two halves of the album where songs very much like mirror each other to kind of show this like really interesting arc in a relationship. And like both a little bit in my interpretation and what I've like watched, like I watched her like podcast interview with the like New York Times people have the like happier songs reflect a little bit more of the like tumult and sadness that is still kind of existent within oneself when you're kind of like falling in love and hence the title. You seem pretty sad for a girl so in love. Yeah, I just think it's like so well executed. It's really re-listenable. I think in that being the conceit of the album, there's like a real groundedness. I don't know. I think it's really neat. I think fair or not, I do have this like conception of her, which is one of the things that also kind of like limited my true engagement with her music before this. With, yeah, like the breakup song writer, basically. Okay. Which I think she like claims and owns and i don't think there's anything like objectively wrong with that, but just for me and how I roll. Just not not been explicitly the kind of like content matter and like themes and in my own opinion, like a little bit repetitive and stuff like that. And I always liked her songs that were actually a little bit outside of anything that was relationshipy, like- on Guts I really love making the bed just think that song is really like good it's just like everything I'm complaining about everything that I feel like is wrong in my life like I'm making the bed like I'm the one who's like set this up for myself and they played it in one scene in the summer I turned pretty really smart I liked it a lot and I think that
00:40:29
Speaker
with it being this like fuller arc that's like not just breakup songs but kind of do like really interesting sad love songs like love songs like a lot of tension in them and then going into the like breakup songs that are still more like this kind of like mature reflection overall especially the song of the cure which is kind of very evidently like the thesis of the album of being like Like love's not gonna like fix me. It's not the cure. Not exactly. or like you like specifically. A lot of this has to do with like me and how I am.
00:41:01
Speaker
And don't know, I guess I just think it's like really accessible and interesting and like mature. And I think a lot of the love songs, I think still funnily enough, like a lot of my favorite songs on the album are the ones that are the love songs. They're just fun, first of all. But I thought about them in the context of summer. They're like summer songs that can still be like a little twinge of sad. Again, like have this really interesting tension. I think that the song Stupid Song, second one on the album, is just like fantastic. There's something that's so like frenzied and kind of like how she sings the lyrics everything the delivery you're just like this is exactly how it feels to be like feeling a little bit crazy and like upset about it that's the thing this goes to like my main thing where I'm like I think that it is a great representation for those of us who are anti-crush right okay which i famously very much am this is what i'm gonna say not literally but very literally because my thing you hate a crush yeah yeah i kind of do hate a crush i don't like feeling crazy don't like feeling crazy i love a crush because i love yeah i like it's control issues of course but like i love being anti-crush and of course i'm bored right now and i would love to have a crush yeah so think it's boring but on principle yeah i have to stay And I think there's like a lot of her like love songs as like the central idea of the album. I just like how even like the lead single like Drop Dead, you know, that's like a first meeting first date. But I just love the language and like the idea of like keeping the start of being like, I like this so much. It's gonna kill me. It's gonna kill me. And I feel out of control. And I feel wrong. And I feel crazy. And I feel sick in the head. just think that's like perfectly accurate, actually. Like it is like well, well observed, but so well carried through the like the other side being like all these things that I feel wrong and that keep me up at night. And it's a little bit you, but it's also little bit me. And you are also a person who couldn't quite be what I needed and we did not work out. And I like that it's like so concise as well. It really made me think about, again, not that I'm like a true student of like pop music criticism, but It made me think about how dominating women in pop are being. And I think a large part of that, sign of that, et cetera, et cetera, is how much they're just killing these albums. And they're so precisely constructed in great music. It reminded lot of Hit Me Hard and Soft, Billie Eilish, which is also a great album. You just go straight through it, and it's so coherent. And the stories, the connecting symbolism that's being weaved throughout also reminded me a bit of Claro's album, Charm. in a similar sense okay I feel like that one maybe less like exactly like trying to get across but sonically it's just so easy to listen to and like appreciate the like artistry there and then the last thing that I was thinking about it I really appreciate her as an artist who is very like referential and I like talked about this a lot in the podcast interview so again kind of like pulling from that I also think like automatically she like Varys explicitly doing some of that, like the song The Cure. In the first song, she references Just Like Heaven by The Cure. She has the lead singer of The Cure on another song, which is so good. And, you know, it's been, I think it's been part of her story also, whether it was for like misery business and how she had to retroactively give credit here and then like Joseph to it all, whatever. yeah but just to say that like this thing of her having very clear reference points for her music I think is really interesting and this album she's done in the past I think she was a lot of like a student of like pop rock kind of like pop punk stuff along with her like nice piano bells stuff yeah but I think when she's in her rock bag which I love that she's like truly like a rock a rock star like I think that's so sick But this one, she kind like took a step back literally in time wise and is so clearly referencing kind of this like 80s, maybe like 70s to 80s to early 90s bands like The Cure and like new wave-y stuff, which I'm kind of like picking up from what read and watched and a little bit of what I thought. I think she's just so deliberately like using these sounds and these like textures of sounds I really recommend listen to because you'll know what I mean like there's things that like sound a little bit like the Sundays and there's things that sound a little bit like don't know what to say like almost like dream pop kind of like I just think it's great I think it just adds like a whole other level to the feelings of the album I think it just it made me think a lot about this like general preoccupation that I definitely have for whatever reason and maybe also because of the soup that we're
Creativity: Originality vs. Inspiration
00:45:30
Speaker
cooking in. So by way of culture of like this conversation about like taste and originality and stuff. I guess in one hand I understand where it comes from. I think a lot of it comes from what I've seen and I've been really interested about writing about this. I think it makes sense because people usually do it in reference to like algorithms and kind of feeling like everything gets super like standardized and homogenized and stuff and people's opinions. And even just like the like act of discovering anything new for you kind of is something that's actually served up to you in algorithms. So how do you figure out like exactly your own taste and your own points of reference and like all these types of things? don't know, I think there's just like the potential to overemphasize still the like how you need to be optimizing. Like there's a little bit of like optimization culture, I think, in it of being like, you need to be original.
00:46:20
Speaker
Like you need to be making sure that you're original. And this is something that kind of like nestles itself in my brain because of whatever my issues are. um And it made me think about like the research process, actually. When I was writing my thesis and right now I'm working on research, one thing that like I think is actually very constructive in that process is people like reminding you that like you actually don't need to reinvent the wheel.
00:46:42
Speaker
Part of developing something new is, first of all, that new thing can be as big or small as it needs to be but you are definitely drawing on things that have come before like you can't actually make it up out of nowhere and with the example of of your rachiko if you're like hopefully people can understand the connection i'm making i think that her approach to things which is to be kind of evidently and obviously and very like happily, proudly like referential to the things that she likes that inspires what she then creates and it doesn't make it feel contrived. like What she does with it is very fresh and still very much imbued with her own spirit and her own artistry. I think she's just a good example of like that process.
00:47:25
Speaker
of being like it doesn't have to be like you estranging yourself from everything that has like possibly existed for you and trying to be a something completely new and completely distinct because that's just like not how that works like you are often very much inspired and drawing on things and i guess the idea with this like taste discourse is people being like yeah but you have to find your own reference points and i hold that and I respect that and I agree but I guess I'm really interested in problematizing the originality aspect of it and being overly concerned about being original and something completely new because I think it also like feeds into a like mythos of like creativity that it is something that is like very much for like the the extremely gifted few who can like come up with something out of the blue and be like I am a completely new thing and I have completely new ideas Maybe this is going to be me like talking out of my ass a little. But that's making me think of the thing where it's like every story has already been told. And like every love story is one of three. Like Odysseus and Penelope, Romeo and Juliet, or Eurydice and Orpheus. And the way that you're saying this, sorry. That's okay. Like every story is a story that already exists and that's okay because we can tell a thousand and one iterations of every story and it doesn't make it any less, I guess. Yes, because you brought me up two things. One of which is a callback to, again, James Baldwin. Okay. I think this was in this Nikki Giovanni and Baldwin conversation yeah that I watched.
00:48:54
Speaker
Another part that gets circulated a lot, which is once again brilliant is he's kind of talking about like writing and writers and reading and he says essentially that you think that you're like alone in your suffering and then you pick up a book this is paraphrasing and you realize that like someone basically has like been through all of this before and you're you're suffering which I would also expand to say like your experience is a bridge it doesn't isolate you Nothing is truly original. Like nothing is new. Like we've all, everything has happened before. Everything has been done before. Exactly. Exactly. Again, it's one of these favorite things that I love to say. Paradox. Where it's like, but it still means that you are like somewhat singular. Like you can still kind of like exist. And you can have your own interpretation and your own story. And like, just because someone has told something similar or like that the bones of it already exist, doesn't make it yeah any less meaningful and any less true to you or anyone else. Exactly. Yes. Someone needs to hear that story. I love that. It's like funny because even like yeah if you think about Leviticus, that is a reference to a Bible story. You know what mean? all these like intertwined. Everything. Uh-huh. And like the Orpheus and Eurydice, I watched Portrait of a Lady on Fire.
00:49:58
Speaker
and my God. I had seen it before and like remembered in the moment that like they do their own version of that. Yeah. they have their commentary and use that as a kind of like organizing like story as well in their own right.
00:50:11
Speaker
And I was like, brilliant. Yeah. So yes, your point, yes. Wherever I was going with the Liv Rodrigo thing, I think it's cool. I think it is, in fact, the key to opening up a lot of creativity, which, again, it's a small critique and problematizing, whatever, this whole taste and originality discourse. Because I understand where like the good faith argument there is. But I think it's the i think it's the key. And I think that's what, a little bit like for this podcast I feel like now in the 10th episode maybe a great time to like reflect a little bit as we have been one of like the interests I feel like in like talking about this like whole why they matter so much to us thing and what we kind of are interested in talking with guests in the future and like between us a little bit more is Yeah, exactly that. Just that pipeline from like the things you take in and you really like and why they matter to you and kind of like what they the effect inspire you to do in return, in response. Yeah. And I don't I like with ah things that way because I think that has been really, really like guiding me to a certain extent throughout my own life. Thinking about like my guitar sitting right here. and like I tried to teach myself guitar when I was like much younger, when I must have been like 11 maybe 12 that seems so young that's so baby i didn't know that i think i was in how are you middle school that's so cute little baby i think i was middle school tiny you holding a guitar was on that big ass guitar sorry there's like a much bigger guitar that was really hard for me to play i'm picturing you this big and the guitar like triple your size oh my god But when I picked it up again like 2019? Yeah. Was after seeing Hozier. And I kind of had this thought where i was like, you know, if I had to, I think it was like pre-concert when I was listening to Hozier, like being like, damn, I'm going to go see Hozier. Like I was a fan, but I wasn't like locked in. But I was like, you know, I feel like if there was like any type like music that I would like want to make, it'd be something that was like Hozier like. Yeah. I remember having that like very clear thought.
00:52:08
Speaker
And we went to see the concert and I was like, love met the guy love obsessed locked in yeah whatever incredible yeah it was like sch shortly thereafter that i kind of was just like feel like i should like just give this another go like learning how to play the guitar yeah and then on top of that and as much as i've like written songs before on the guitar like especially after you get through the initial like learning the basics and stuff i feel like naturally you just start like messing around and i always found it like really fun to like think about writing in the style of you know what I mean? yeah yeah and I feel like that must be how a lot of people like approach these things more variations on what trying to say about like really how important inspiration and citing your sources are and how yeah I just think it makes like the idea of being like creative way more like accessible and open and kind of interesting like to actually engage with And I think Olivia Rodrigo is really cool for being that kind of artist. cool. Very happy to give her kudos. I think she's awesome. I'm a big fan at the moment because the album is really good. I will have to lock in on that. Yeah, I think you'd love it. Like, I think I think i probably there's stuff yeah in there that I really I'm like same vibe. Like, I really am a fan of hers. I'm just not a stan of hers.
00:53:16
Speaker
So I don't really know that much about her, but I really enjoy everything I've listened to. I think something you were saying kind of a minute ago, this is a reach. It's not the most like aligned, but like reach grow reach reach where I can about like the pop girlies dominating rock and roll right now. and kind of like women and male dominated fields. I guess it's for I saw Supergirl the other day. oh okay. And like, listen,
00:53:40
Speaker
I'm a superhero girl. Like greg we know this. I love a superhero. I love a superhero movie. Like that is my shit. And I was so excited for this movie and it was so disappointing. And it made me so mad because I hate when they do that. It's so irritating. Like there's no other word. It is so disappointing and so irritating when they seemingly don't give a female led movie, specifically like a superhero movie. I've seen this happen multiple times. The care and kind of effort that they give to male-led superhero movies it is so annoying it's one of those things where it's like anytime a man does something wrong that man is bad at it but anytime a woman does something wrong right women are bad at this right think you call it misogyny exactly Yeah. It's that specific thing where like because this female-led superhero movie was not that good, like we're never going to get another one. And it's not her fault. Millie Alcock, who played Supergirl, was incredible. She was so good. And the movie just, it didn't suck. It just like was boring and it was something I've seen a thousand times before. And the best scenes in it were exact replicas of scenes from Superman. They took multiple scenes and just remade them in this movie. And Superman from last summer was incredible. That It one my favorite beer. It was so good. It was so well done. and It was done with care. And it like had something to say. And it was beautiful. And it was incredible. And it was joyful. And it was colorful. And this movie was none of these things. So disappointing to hear. It was so disappointing. And it was a different director. Mm-hmm.
00:55:11
Speaker
It should have had some... I was so upset, honestly, because I was so excited to see it. And the absolute worst part for me, because I hated realizing this and I hate having to say it right now, but they're making me it, Joelle. Yeah. The best parts of that movie were the like 2.5 scenes with David Cornswit as Superman where he appeared. And I don't want the best moments of the Supergirl movie to be the moments featuring Superman. That is horrible to say. But like, those were the only real moments with like heart.
00:55:46
Speaker
Why? Yeah. I'm so annoyed. She deserves to be a fun and good character. She is. Like that character is awesome. And when she was in Superman for two seconds, she was great. Yeah. Yeah. That was so much fun. And this movie deserved it to be fun. They just didn't actually. They did kind of nothing with it. It was like she adopts a child and goes on a John Wick moment.
00:56:05
Speaker
Right. to like event her dog and so it should have been full of heart because those are two fun things i guess a kid and a dog it kind of felt pointless to me it didn't really make that much sense like the right plot of it what they were doing and why this kid was there just didn't make any sense and like it was so boring jason was in it and he was great but super girl was kind of giving nothing and she like yeah truly a great performance yeah the script she had to work with was just like yeah i was so anno interesting And she was in a same skirt, which like, obviously, whatever. i I'm not surprised by that. I knew she going skirt. But come on, it makes me mad every time. why is she in a skirt? Like, give her freaking leggings if Superman can wear leggings. She's trying to get to business. It was just meh. And I hate when they do that.
00:56:50
Speaker
Can we please put the effort in with a female-led movie sometimes that the male-led movies are getting? I really wonder. My first thought without having seen the movie, Tavia, female-led versus male-led. It's like, I guess, what is their expectation for how audiences receive a woman? A woman-led something, a woman in that position? Like the fact that it was bad had nothing to do with the fact that it was female led. Oh yeah yeah. That's the annoying part. Like they just keep giving these dumb stories. Right. Right. Movies where the main character is a woman. And it's like, one yeah why can't she get a good story too? Superman was incredible. Give her a story like that because she deserves it. She's a great character. It's a great actress. I would love to watch a movie I actually enjoy a character that I also like that also happens to be a girl. Like, yeah please yeah so annoyed that i didn't like it it wasn't even bad it was fine and i wanted to love it yeah wanted to whatever what you gonna do smh i think my like last thing i wanted to shouts out especially since it's a sunday few comments on the latest in the vampire list please do it so yeah glasses on Sunglasses on This is our cunty, slutty little sunglasses for our TVL Vampire List Out interview with the Vampire Corner. I like your glasses. Thank you. These are great other commercials.
00:58:11
Speaker
like yours. Yeah. We're like speaking now with the last episode was of episode episode three. and Tonight's episode episode four. Much excites. It's chugging along brilliantly. It's so good. I love this show so much. I'm sorry. I just like locked in a again. I was like, wait, yes. Episode three was the really fantastic one. Okay, awesome. I don't want to go into like all this like summary and synopsis stuff. But the lead thought I have is that the showrunners, the like writers, the everything, the everything, especially with the season with how like music is being incorporated. I love how dynamic and versatile it is in the like tools they use for storytelling. I mean, Yeah. This episode was like thus far the best example of what I mean. The season in general is like admittedly using a bit more tools again. I feel like mainly i'm i'm referencing the music.
00:58:56
Speaker
Seasons one and two didn't have this like whole thing of Lestat being on tour being a rock star. But also we're fantastic and at it their own right. And we know this. Just brilliant stuff. But this episode was just like mix of like kooky, crazy, weird stuff. Almost just like hysterical in the very like little sense. We're just like, what is going on? With the like noir elements i guess like louis doing his thing going and like messing people up like killing people and there's like flashbacks and i don't know it's just such an immersive experience watching the show and especially for the music they're doing such a good job like i have like an interesting with like like in universe music for shows and movies it can be a toss-up we know this sometimes it's like this music couldn't possibly exist on well seriously you know what i mean like there's where it's bad i'm sorry there's times where it's and that's fair isn't that i'm so tempted to say something but wait but i have i have a question and this is as someone who's incredibly not caught up on the show maybe it just is to me maybe i was thinking this i don't actually know if this is a critique anyone really had on the show isn't that like part of the thing too like it's difficult to make art as a non-human like you need humanity as part of making art and listat is not human and so he's not actually good at making art right or am i
01:00:08
Speaker
imagining this? Is this a critique I'm having the shoulder that watching? I'm not nervous. I'm not nervous entirely because I think two thoughts about that. I think overall, maybe not. i don't think that's like what they're going for that is interesting because I think with Lasat's character... it's so much more that like the emotion and reflection and like truth in this kind of wound up way because he's such like a kind of show pony type of person he's always kind of like diverting and having like the mask of like performance and stuff but i think then again in this weird paradoxical way where like the songs and the lyrics and stuff are very kind of emotionally true more so i think that's how they're like using that but i do think that they do have like a funny approach in the first two episodes i think they like mess with this where he's being like maybe my music does suck like people you are kind of like bringing that up don't know like there's yeah some like vampire people who are trying to kill him and they're like i don't like this song but maybe that one's not too bad and he's like shit is this song really bad that's funny Overall, for the music and the show, I think it's like potentially... I haven't gone out of my way to listen to it, but I'm like more inclined than I would expect to be to do it. i just find it's genuinely like such an underrated show on TV. I keep on saying it, but like it really is like... I think they do such a good job. And it only means episode three where they have all these different elements of like stop playing mind games, but then also having like intense flashbacks and this more explicit like acknowledgement of trauma. And then there's like the Louis stuff and the this and now Armand's back. And I was like...
01:01:35
Speaker
This season might once again blow my socks off. But they're just crazy. They're just crazy. They have such crazy stuff in that show. And I feel like there's a way that it like almost can be too much, but then so isn't. And it works in my opinion. And so i love the show.
01:01:49
Speaker
Okay, good. These glasses are awesome on you. Me? Thank you i really like staying with them so much. I cannot decide if I want them up my nose or down my nose. I really like them. Thank you. But yeah, that's the TV. I'm taking my glasses off. yeah, glasses off. Okay, that's exciting. That's awesome.
01:02:04
Speaker
I still need to get caught up, but I've got too many other things to watch. and I'm so excited. I'm so excited for you specifically. Oh, and don't even talk about the like queerness and religion thing. Exactly, there's queerness and religion there too.
01:02:17
Speaker
I mean, it starts on an awkward, doesn't it? Yes, exactly, right? Because have seen the first season. Me pausing was exactly me, like, thinking about that first episode. Stopping my tracks once again. Ah, shit. You're Wogan. Let me get to work on catching up there, because I'm going have to restart from the beginning.
01:02:33
Speaker
And lucky you. Lucky me. I would love to go. I have the time. Where's the time in the day? Exactly. need to make a longer day for movies and shows. They're going to call it movie day. Yeah, exactly. Make every day 30 hours and make those extra six hours only for media consumption. And you can also consume in the other 24. Yeah.
01:02:51
Speaker
yeah The extra six exclusively for movies. would luck I think that's a good idea. Who can we talk to? a Patent pending. as a Talk to Mr. Time. Anyway, don't know what I'm talking about. That seems like I should be the end of this. We've been going for so long. I think that a beautiful episode. Yes, our 10th episode of Xtrataganza we talked about... Do you guys remember? Somebody tell us what we talked about.
01:03:21
Speaker
Well, that's fantastic. Thank you for being here for 10 episodes thus far. We can celebrate 10 episodes. We've been working along and so have you. We're in this together. yeah yeah We'll see you next time. yeah the next one. um Until then, follow us, fixated.pod on all socials, like and c yes subscribe, whatever. Tell your friends. Go don't watch a movie. Even though crushes suck.
01:03:49
Speaker
go get a crush she also has like a line in there that i feel like is super good to end on this is kind of the counterpoint in the song you plus me equals heart forever however you're supposed to say it she says like they say modern love's cruel endeavor and to that i say fuck it whatever love and i think that peak on it to a lot of what we were saying Somewhere along the line in there we were saying something basically just like that. Threats and thesis for this episode, I guess. Yes. So yeah much love. Much love. Have love in your heart.
01:04:21
Speaker
Goodbye!