gigi-tastic

So I haven't had a chance to see the movie yet. I know they go to Samoa but are they going to the country Samoa or the American Samoa territory? Fun facts the country of Samoa has no military and should they need an army relies on New Zealand's military. Ironically the American Samoa territory has the largest U.S military enlistment than any other state or territory. However citizens of America Samoa cannot vote for President, and are not considered nationalized citizens at birth. It's truly fucked up.

I'm fighting a weeklong migraine and misunderstood who Vanessa Kirby is. For some reason ( meds. Full on hardcore meds) I thought they were talking about Vanessa BAYER from SNL. Vanessa Kirby: Vanessa Byer: Two VERY different women. I'm not going to lie though I loved the idea of Hobbs and Shaw with Vanessa Bayer more .

Paul Paul! PAUL! Love yourself enough to hope for more than to get things out of a hamper.

And about the greatest gift Casey ever got her! Hint it involves a pizza but no music in the harsh Sunday light of day.

THE QUEEN RETURNS!!!!!! May I be the first to welcome you back and offer you my still beating heart?

These actually made me like the movie more? I would have preferred this version of the film. It even made Mickey likeable

I mentioned it in the other thread but I loved Spice World as a kid . I don't think it's a masterpiece of cinema, it's absolutely perfect for this podcast, but I was sad that they didn't seem to get its fun kooky vibe. I thought I would be in for a fun happy time of tomfoolery ala The Room or any of the other ridiculous but fun movies we have seen. It's not a gem like Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night 2 but I did think that they seemed to not get the vibe. It's camp! It's fun! It's Spice World! Now if anyone needs me I will be blaring Say You'll Be There and other works of musical genius out of my TARDIS like tour bus.

Truly it's the only course of action anyone should ever take.

While I agree no one should trust a mall concert it seemed like she just wandered over there to catch her breath and get away from Fred after the restaurant fiasco?

I like how our sides now have official bands. We need to draw up official other things as well and just fully commit to this very odd version of the Jets and the Sharks we got going on here.

Fucking Fred would love the Sex Pistols and their nihilism. Team Sanity however prefers The Clash because we want our punk music to stand FOR something not just be against everything.

We all need to come together and play football in tuxes to heal this rift!

So out curiosity what's your Drop Dead Fred of the movies we have covered or a movie that we should cover! Mine is Spice World. I fully think it's crazy but it's a FUN crazy that they seemed to hate. I don't know if it's because I loved it so much as a child but I was really disappointed by how they saw the movie. Fun fact I had a Spice Girls birthday complete with Spice Girls cups, plates, napkins, WRAPPING PAPER... the whole works. I got Posh and Baby Spice barbies as a gift I seem to recall.

There's usually an element of silly playfulness though. What's playful about making someone feel wanted and loved only to realize they aren't?

I'm Team Sanity because I think Fred is a real individual separate from Elizabeth.I think that the invisible friends are real magical beings who are supposed to help children. I think he was trapped in the Jack in the box for years and couldn't move on to another child, which he eventually does. I also think think that Fred is an awful friend and a total asshole. I think he was somewhat helpful when Elizabeth was a child and he let her find an outlet for her rage and taught her the value of rebellion but I also think he endangered her and encouraged her to do things that she shouldn't simply for the thrill of destruction and chaos. as Elizabeth's adult friend he's fucking terrible. He hurts her physically and emotionally, hurts or tried to hurt those who she loves and who love her back ( Carrie Fisher and Mickey), tries to ruin new relationships with people she really likes ( Mickey), absolutely will not listen to her when she says no or asks him to stop , frankly I don't think that Fred would know consent if it smashed his head into a fridge door. I categorically do not approve of Charles. He's a useless, abusive, dull witted, boring fuckboy who most likely only fucks in missionary ( maybe he lets his partner on top of he's feeling spicy) who only thinks of himself and if he wasn't married probably would have his mom do his laundry because there's no way that entitled fuckwit has ever done anything of value in the home. Or anywhere for that matter. Guaranteed both Annabella and Elizabeth are faking their orgasms. I also agree that the mother is abusive. I don't think she's a good mother per say but having lived a similar experience I can say I understand her and I have a little empathy for her. Add for the nurse it's not uncommon to have to restrain a patient. I don't think that what she said was called for though. If Elizabeth was in need of that level of care she should have been in inpatient.

If we go with the option of Fred being real think how cruel that is. He KNOWS how much she wants to get back together with Charles and I feel like he knows about her abandonment issues as well. So to do that it's not a silly prank, it's activity hurting her and it's awful. There's no payoff for anyone but him.

I feel this deep in my bones. Second hand embarrassment causes almost a physical sensation of pain for me. I can't watch Curb Your Enthusiasm because of that. It's just too much. The Office and I go back and forth.

Ok so outside the Team Sanity vs Team Fred discourse did this movie give anyone else anxiety? If you just simply watched it and were a experiencing this never ending deluge of destruction and gleeful violence... It made me very uncomfortable. I don't like watching someone break something just because they can and upset someone or pull mean pranks for the same reason or because they think they are funny. I don't mind a gleeful prankster vibe. I love Jason and he plays that role a lot in stuff and I adore it every time. None of Fred's "games" were fun to me. For the most part it felt like they punched down not up. I understand why they did things to the mother but he hurts people Elizabeth likes and are kind to her. I think the thing that bothered me the most was he didn't listen, even when it mattered to her. When she said no or stop he kept going and pushing the joke. Like her date with Mickey. She really likes him, and thankfully ( I guess) he's a fucked up person who gets off on public outbursts. I was horrified by that scene. He took away her agency and control in a physical way vs what we had seen her mother do psychologically. As an adult it felt like he only wanted to cause chaos. In her childhood I could see him showing her care and affection. If felt like he lacked that once he was freed. I don't know. To quote Miss Coco Peru " It BOTHERED me! "

Uh are we the same person? So many parents hated me! I was also very imaginative and played alone a lot because I also had a hard time making friends . We moved a lot because my mom would get a better job in another pharmaceutical or blood banking company. I think that I only went start to finish in 4 grades without moving. (2,5,6,8th). We've always came back to spend a lot of time with my grandparents who lived far out in the country so I guess in a sense we were an isolated family as well. Thankfully I have always loved to read so I was never that alone and in middle school a girl I originally hated became my friend and we've been best friends ever since. Even though we live in different states ( why must all my friends live elsewhere?!) We talk every day and are going to the Chicago show together! She's new to the podcast and I'm so excited to share this with her.

I'm not going to lie there was a moment or two when I thought to it's "... Oh no can Drop Dead Fred Get It? I'm going to have to bury whatever this feeling is deep inside of me because I'm not emotionally capable of dealing with the ramifications of this." Is Drop Dead Fred the new Bad Ernest you guys?! My therapist and I WILL be discussing this movie don't you worry. It's been a slow week for me and frankly this movie left me rattled. I can't be attracted to Drop Dead Fred I REFUSE. It's gonna be this and the fact my friends are buying fanny packs and it's confusing me because I'm not filled with loathing. So maybe not such a slow week after all?

So I'm about to get very personal. I saw myself in this movie. I've always suffered from mental health issues. I now know I have extreme anxiety, depression and slight OCD . As a child my mom as a single mother and was working a very stressful high profile job as a quality auditor for a blood banking company. She would be gone for a week every other week traveling around the country. When she was home she worked late. I had a really hard time regulating my emotions and dealing with outbursts and fits. Some of it ( most of it) was my anxiety and some was acting out for attention. My doctors ended up putting me on a bunch of medication that caused me to hallucinate and I had to be detoxed. I saw my mom in the Mothers frustration and it reminded me of when she was at the end of her rope because I had been sobbing uncontrollably for over an hour because she said " I love you more than the sun, the moon, and the stars " in the wrong order at bed time . I saw myself in Elizabeth making the mud pie in the time that I tried to make my paternal grandmother lemonade before she woke up with the lemons from her backyard by dumping everything in the kitchen together . I was like 8 I should have known how to make lemonade, and I knew enough to wait for her. It's the only time she's ever yelled at me. To me the movie could be viewed as a the story of a person whose on the spectrum, has adhd, really any number of mental illnesses or is neurodivergent. I don't think that the mother in this movie is evil, I think she doesn't understand how to parent a child who is different . In her mind Elizabeth is deliberately trying to hurt her and be destructive. She sees only malice and is at her wits end. Everything she has tried with her child to get her to "behave" and be "normal" has failed and she's as unruly as ever. We also have to look at her parenting through the time period. Elizabeth's childhood takes place in the 60's it's still very much a conservative time where children, especially girls, are supposed to listen to their parents and the idea of kids having agency is ridiculous. Hitting children was considered a normal punishment and no one would bat an eye. In fact people in her neighborhood probably thought her mom wasn't harsh enough. The methods her mother used out of anger and frustration are wrong. She is not a good mother, I'm not saying that. I'm simply saying that I understand her. Just as I understand Elizabeth. I know exactly how it feels to want to destroy everything in your reach because you can and it's the only way to make the adults in your life suffer as much as you are. I'm not sure it's healthy but God do I understand it.

I assume he was there for a child custody case?

I think that the people who are awful in the new little girls life are her nannies but I agree

I'm not 100% sure Carrie Fisher has cut ties with her because she seemed pretty jazzed by that giant insurance check. She also seems to be dating Mickey which as I've said before seems really unhealthy. She's meeting his daughter so it looks like they are serious or he's an asshole who just let's any lady he dates meet his kid. So now she's got that relationship to work with too. Plus the fact his daughter has inherited Drop Dead Fred ( furthering my belief that Fred is an individual) so now she's never going to be free of him but the instead of him being on her side he's probably going to see her as the enemy as most children view their parents new partners . She's fucked.

Yrs!!! I even yelled " Get the fuck out of here with that gaslighting bullshit Charlie! "during the first scene of the movie! He was an utter shit. He very clearly had been gaslighting her for the entirety of their relationship, belittles her, and looks down on her. Honestly I think that the best ending for Elizabeth would have been if she learned that it's ok to be alone and had no boyfriend at the end. If she and Mickey had just been friends. She's very clearly frightened of the idea of being alone and that's why she's stuck with Charles even though she knows he's a piece of shit. That's also part of why she lets her mother take control of her life . The fear of being alone in life and on her own. Being truly independent.