Deep Thoughts About Stupid Sh*t: A Pop-Culture Podcast

Send us a textWe picked the wrong week to give up horse tranquilizers…The Guy Girls have fond memories of the 1980 comedy Airplane!–specifically, they remember their dad helplessly snort-laughing at this three-gags-a-minute parody of 1970s-era disaster films. The movie still delivers solid belly laughs, but not everything is as funny four decades later. Tracie examines how jokes about pedophilia, misogyny, racism, and homophobia in the movie punch down instead of skewering the powerful and absurd, and the sisters lament the fact that the Zucker brothers (and Jim Abrahams) question everything–except the idea that a woman is a prize. But credit where credit is due–Tracie is able to make Emily lose it with laughter just by describing some of the movie’s funniest moments.Surely you’re going to listen to this episode. I am going to listen–and don’t call me Shirley.Mentioned in this episode:The commentator with gag analysis: https://covell.ca/airplane/Our theme music is "Professor Umlaut" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Learn more about Tracie and Emily (including our other projects), join the Guy Girls' family, secure exclusive access to bonus episodes, video versions, and early access to Deep Thou​​ghts by visiting us on Patreon or find us on ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/guygirls

Send us a textYou know what the difference is between you and me? I make podcasting look gooooood.This week, Emily dives into the remarkably subversive 1997 film Men in Black. Despite looking like nothing more than an entertaining summer blockbuster that merged sci-fi and comedy, MiB actually asks the audience to rethink what they know about immigration, xenophobia, race, policing, government, and even the buddy-cop genre. Tracie and Emily truly enjoy revisiting this old favorite that seems especially prescient in the current political climate. Take a listen and we promise not to use the flashy-thing memory-messer-upper on you!Mentioned in this episode:https://collider.com/men-in-black-unconscious-bias/ https://www.reddit.com/r/Screenwriting/comments/hkolix/men_in_black_and_the_art_of_a_racial_subtext_in_a/ Our theme music is "Professor Umlaut" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Learn more about Tracie and Emily (including our other projects), join the Guy Girls' family, secure exclusive access to bonus episodes, video versions, and early access to Deep Thou​​ghts by visiting us on Patreon. Not ready for long-term commitment but want to support us? Buy us a coffee on ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/guygirls

Send us a textShouldn't you be holding the crucifix? It is the prop for martyrs!The 1996 film The Birdcage offered a revolutionary portrayal of gay love in a mainstream movie. Not only do we see a stable, loving, long-term relationship between Robin Williams’ Armand and Nathan Lane’s Albert, but the film is a funny and joyous celebration of being queer that doesn’t require a side of tragedy. But as Tracie shares with us this week, not everything in this laugh-out-loud farce has aged well: Armand and Albert’s son Val is a straight-up villain (see what I did there?) who pressures his parents hide their true selves, Hank Azaria’s portrayal of Agador, the Guatemalan house boy, makes his character the butt of the joke (not to mention the fact that Azaria is a straight, white, Ashkenazi Jewish man playing a queer Latino), and the shortcuts the filmmakers use to show the hypocrisy of Gene Hackman’s Senator Keeley reify racist stereotypes.The sisters still find a lot to love in this film that asks us to question assumptions about gender performance and family–even if they can never forgive Val.We are family! I’ve got the Guy sisters with me. Get up everybody and listen!CW: Discussions of homophobia and the AIDS epidemicMentioned in this episode:The commentator who named Val THE villain of the 1990s: https://crookedmarquee.com/why-the-birdcage-mattered-and-how-it-came-up-short/#google_vignetteOur theme music is "Professor Umlaut" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Learn more about Tracie and Emily (including our other projects), join the Guy Girls' family, secure exclusive access to bonus episodes, video versions, and early access to Deep Thou​​ghts by visiting us on Patreon or find us on ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/guygirls

Send us a textWhat's this? What's this? There's overthinking everywhere!This week’s episode of Deep Thoughts takes a closer look at Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas (which was actually directed by Henry Selick) to see what unintentional lessons the 1993 Hallow-Christmas classic taught us. The film serves as a fascinating metaphor for toxic masculinity and it makes an excellent point about the difference between cultural appreciation and appropriation. Also, Tracie raves about the agency and badassery of Sally, who uses her knowledge and skills to literally sew herself back together–but the sisters lament that this amazing character is relegated to the status of love interest. And of course, the music, artistry, and delightfully bizarre humor is still enjoyable and iconic more than 30 years later.Throw on some headphones to feel like your old bony self again!Mentioned in this episode:Nightmare Before Christmas as a parable of toxic masculinityhttps://www.theodysseyonline.com/the-nightmare-before-christmas-and-toxic-masculinityOur theme music is "Professor Umlaut" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Learn more about Tracie and Emily (including our other projects), join the Guy Girls' family, secure exclusive access to bonus episodes, video versions, and early access to Deep Thou​​ghts by visiting us on Patreon or find us on ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/guygirls

Send us a textWe’re gonna need a bigger podcast…Join the Guy Girls this week as Emily geeks out about the most tightly-written and well-crafted summer blockbuster ever made: Jaws. This film taught us the importance of keeping the monster hidden until the third act (which only happened because the mechanical shark broke down), features the most chilling four-minute monologue (telling the true story of the U.S.S. Indianapolis), and gave Emily a framework for understanding why officials might focus on profits over safety (which she needed during Covid). While there is no such thing as a perfect film–Jaws barely passes the Bechdel test and relies on the sexualized-young-woman-in-peril trope–this masterpiece comes pretty darn close.Put on your headphones…but don’t go in the water!CW: Discussion of violent/fatal shark attacks and child death.Analysis of the film:https://lithub.com/on-the-endless-symbolism-of-the-best-summer-movie-ever-made-jawshttps://www.thejc.com/life-and-culture/the-real-meaning-of-jaws-bjkgf9ryOur theme music is "Professor Umlaut" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Learn more about Tracie and Emily (including our other projects), join the Guy Girls' family, secure exclusive access to bonus episodes, video versions, and early access to Deep Thou​​ghts by visiting us on Patreon or find us on ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/guygirls

Send us a textBright young women, sick of swimming, ready to podcast!In 1989, 13-year-old Tracie and 10-year-old Emily got to witness the Disney renaissance in real time when they saw The Little Mermaid in the theater. The Guy girls were captivated by the unparalleled animation, the show-stopping musical numbers, and the unexpected sight of their stepdad tearing up at the end. But underneath the beautifully constructed film was the uncomfortable lesson that Ariel gave up her voice for a man. But as Tracie shares in this week’s episode, that’s not the only way to look at this adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale/allegory for unrequited gay love. The sisters talk about how Disney gave Ariel the happy ending that Andersen couldn’t imagine in his lifetime and that many trans GenXers and Millennials saw themselves in the mermaid who dreams of being human. The film still has problems with consent, fatphobia, and underage marriage–but contextualizing the movie makes it feel better to sing along.Don’t be a poor, unfortunate soul! Take a listen to this episode!TW: discussions of parental abuse, nonconsent, and fatphobia.Mentioned in this episode:The commentator who defended Ariel by saying she gave consent by proxyOur theme music is "Professor Umlaut" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Learn more about Tracie and Emily (including our other projects), join the Guy Girls' family, secure exclusive access to bonus episodes, video versions, and early access to Deep Thoughts by visiting us on Patreon or find us on ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/guygirls

Send us a textI myself am strange and unusual.On today’s episode of Deep Thoughts, Emily shares her thoughts about the ghost with the most: Beetlejuice. The Tim Burton film is aesthetically gorgeous, unapologetically bizarre, and legitimately funny–but the character of Beetlejuice relies on sexual predation to indicate his awfulness and Michael Keaton’s performance is so sleazily charming that audiences revered the creep. It’s a shame that we remembered the villain, since the film does offer a positive message about rejecting zero-sum thinking and introduced an entire generation of viewers to activist and musician Harry Belafonte.Put on your headphones, turn on the juice, and see what shakes loose!TW: Discussion of sexual predation of minors and sexual assault and suicidal ideationMentioned in this episode:Emily's article about Beetlejuicehttps://www.fastcompany.com/91189134/the-hidden-money-lessons-in-beetlejuiceDeep Thoughts about Nightmare on Elm StreetLearn more about Tracie and Emily (including our other projects), join the Guy Girls' family, secure exclusive access to bonus episodes, video versions, and early access to Deep Thoughts by visiting us on Patreon or find us on ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/guygirlsOur theme music is "Professor Umlaut" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Send us a textAll he'd wanted were the same answers the rest of us want.The 1982 science fiction classic, Blade Runner, was a favorite of the Guy girls’ father. Mainstream media critics can’t ruminate about how a loved one’s relationship with a piece of problematic pop culture affects the way we view it. Luckily, we aren’t mainstream media. In this episode, we peel back the layers of misogyny, unhealthy sexual politics, dubious consent, toxic masculinity, and xenophobia that surround this truly breathtaking mash-up of neo-noir, science fiction, and dystopian future-casting. Blade Runner asks important questions about the nature of humanity while simultaneously denying humanity to women (the only female characters who appear are manufactured). The Guy sisters bring some deep thoughts about why that is, what changes could have addressed it, and how their dad could have missed it. Throw on your earbuds and have a listen before all of our deep thoughts disappear like tears in the rain!TW: discussion of violence, sexual assault, and rapeMentioned in this episode:The person who suggested Rachael giving “tears in the rain” would have been more powerful:https://screenmayhem.com/blade-runner-1982-has-an-inexplicable-gender-blindspot/More feminist analysis of the film:https://trinitycollegestage3media.wordpress.com/2014/03/26/blade-runner-feminist-reading/Our theme music is "Professor Umlaut" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Support the show at ko-fi.com/guygirlsLearn more about Tracie and Emily (including our other projects), join the Guy Girls' family, secure exclusive access to bonus episodes, video versions, and early access to Deep Thoughts by visiting us on Patreon. 

Send us a textI crap bigger’n you!The 1991 film City Slickers holds a special place in the Guy sisters’ hearts because of how much their dad loved it. When Tracie and Emily took him to see this film in the theater for Father’s Day, they had no idea this gentle comedy-Western would offer a nuanced look at the meaning of masculinity, male friendships, and figuring out what matters in life. Although the film’s portrayal of women does not completely stand up to 2024 scrutiny–it falls victim to lazy tropes about ball-busting wives and attractive women as prizes–City Slickers gives the audience realistic and non-toxic blueprints for embracing a masculinity that includes nurturing, affection, protection, and gentleness.Throw on your headphones and find your smile with us! Our theme music is "Professor Umlaut" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Learn more about Tracie and Emily (including our other projects), join the Guy Girls' family, secure exclusive access to bonus episodes, video versions, and early access to Deep Thoughts by visiting us on Patreon. Do you get value from Deep Thoughts, but aren't ready to commit to patronage? We feel you. Commitment is hard. Leave us a tip instead: ko-fi.com/guygirls

Send us a textIf you build it, he will come. What better vehicle for the Guy girls to meditate on their relationship with their late father than a movie they once watched with him about a man’s relationship with his late father? With Field of Dreams, the 1989 magical realism baseball film starring Kevin Costner, Tracie brings some deep thoughts about parents and children, gender and emotion, and baseball and race. The filmmakers transformed JD Salinger, a real-life white author featured in the source material, the novel Shoeless Joe, into the fictional Terence Mann (James Earl Jones), a Black icon of sixties counterculture. In so doing, they opened a door to talk about race and racism in baseball and in America, but they never walked through that door. And while much of what was charming about the film 35 years ago remains charming, there’s also a great deal that feels downright unsatisfying.Go the distance. Grab your earbuds and come with us into an analysis that straddles both the intimate view from the dugout and the big-picture vista afforded by the nosebleed seats. Mentioned in this episode:On the movie’s role in expensive stadiums:https://reason.com/2023/04/01/the-expensive-seductive-nostalgia-of-field-of-dreams/On the flawed portrayal of the father-son relationship (and a bunch of facts they got wrong): https://www.nbcsports.com/mlb/news/field-of-dreams-is-absolutely-terribleOur theme music is "Professor Umlaut" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Learn more about Tracie and Emily (including our other projects), join the Guy Girls' family, secure exclusive access to bonus episodes, video versions, and early access to Deep Thoughts by visiting us on Patreon.