Episode 89 — Gooby

[DrFancyPants 13]

I never heard of this flick until the podcast and now I have a morbid sense of curiosity to see it. I can see how everyone thinks the flick is from the 80s, the trailer I saw on youtube looked like a bad rip on VHS.

 

The worse part, I have amazon prime this month thanks to a hand me down Kindle fire but it's not available for free under that plan and I don't want to explain to my wife why I spent $2.99 on a crap ass flick.

[StanSitwell 811]

I never heard of this flick until the podcast and now I have a morbid sense of curiosity to see it. I can see how everyone thinks the flick is from the 80s, the trailer I saw on youtube looked like a bad rip on VHS.

 

The worse part, I have amazon prime this month thanks to a hand me down Kindle fire but it's not available for free under that plan and I don't want to explain to my wife why I spent $2.99 on a crap ass flick.

 

It was surprisingly easy for me to find it on torrent sites, I didn't expect that at all

[WEdidITagain 458]

"Gyeubee" - June Diane Raphael.

NAILED IT.

[Michael_Antonetti 0]

This omission falls in line with speculation that Gooby is indeed an allegory for sexual molestation. When we were watching it, we immediately believed that Gooby was an actually an allegory for a boy coming to terms with his homosexuality.

 

First and foremost, when Gooby initially appears, Willy feels compelled to hide Gooby in the closet. The meaning behind this is patently obvious in this context.

 

Willy is always concerned that someone is going to find Gooby, or his secret repressed feelings. When Willy is trying to fit in with the popular kids, he can't take Gooby with him (besides the rated R movie sequence). If he exposes Gooby for what he is, Willy is afraid that he will be rejected by the popular crowd. Gooby spends this time alone, in a shed, far away from where he can be exposed.

 

Several quotes in the movie speak to Willy's struggle. When Gooby exposes himself in public, Willy pointedly says "What makes you think you could COME OUT?" Really?

Gooby encourages Willy to accept what is happening to him. Gooby suggests that they go on a "Voyage of discovery that will change [Willy] forever." A voyage to discover himself through his struggle perhaps?

 

The Dad also struggles to accept Gooby, but ultimately does. In fact, this may be his dad coming to terms with his with Willy's sexuality.

 

There are also a few crude visual cues of Willy contemplating his sexuality. During the soccer match, Willy is more than willing to take a ball to his face. At one point, Gooby scarfs down raw hotdogs like a champion! Dear lord, the kid's name is Willy!

 

There are some more quotes and whatnot that point toward this allegory, but, for the sake of some brevity, I have highlighted the major points. If anyone could stomach watching this again, I encourage you to view it in this context. The undertone of this movie becomes more than evident. I for one say good for Willy and his dad!

[MikeO 6]

I can't stop listening to June say "Gyeubee".

 

I'm very close to making it my default text message alert tone for my iPhone but fear that my wife would leave me.

[MondayCity 194]

"Gyeubee" - June Diane Raphael.

I think that when June says "Gooby," it becomes an onomatopoeia.

[The_Other_MikeD 68]

I watched for free from my public library which has SEVEN copies for some reason.

[Bob Drillboids 181]

If you want to watch Gooby, it's free here http://www.popcornfl...0d-8228cc9280e4

Looks like someone doesn't want to be part of team #irentedgooby

[jesshelga 17]

Zouks calling the film "almost Brechtian" made me cry with laughter.

[seanotron 2307]

Every time June said Gyeubee it sounded like she was spitting the word out because it was literally distasteful.

[PlanBFromOuterSpace 3138]

I watched for free from my public library which has SEVEN copies for some reason.

Is this library like the Canadian equivalent of the Library of Congress or something? That's the only reason I can think of for this even being allowed to happen.

[taylor anne photo 11311]

I know that this episode is done but just in case Paul ever sees this I really need to get this out there.

 

They mentioned a lot of super creepy molestation innuendos throughout the movie and then Eugene Levy's odd fascination with Lewis Carroll. Now they just thought that his mentioning the author was just because he wanted to be famous like him after he wrote the three children's books. But I think it ties in more with the creepy molestation crap. Lewis Carroll was a known perv. He had an odd relationship with the little girl that had inspired Alice in Wonderland that her parents were very uncomfortable with. And then he took many many pictures of children, some of them even in the nude. I have more of a feeling that Eugene Levy's character was way more into kids than they wanted us to believe.

 

(Source: I minored in art history and studied the history of photography my last semester. So we delved into creepy photographers like Carroll.)

[seanotron 2307]

I know that this episode is done but just in case Paul ever sees this I really need to get this out there.

 

They mentioned a lot of super creepy molestation innuendos throughout the movie and then Eugene Levy's odd fascination with Lewis Carroll. Now they just thought that his mentioning the author was just because he wanted to be famous like him after he wrote the three children's books. But I think it ties in more with the creepy molestation crap. Lewis Carroll was a known perv. He had an odd relationship with the little girl that had inspired Alice in Wonderland that her parents were very uncomfortable with. And then he took many many pictures of children, some of them even in the nude. I have more of a feeling that Eugene Levy's character was way more into kids than they wanted us to believe.

 

(Source: I minored in art history and studied the history of photography my last semester. So we delved into creepy photographers like Carroll.)

 

Ok, kind of off topic but I just wanted to point out that the 'pervy' interpretation of Lewis Carroll is highly disputed. The child nudes were a completely normal thing for Victorian England, and every one he took was with a parent present. It's not like he was luring little kids into his photo studio with candy.

[Teddesaurus 2]

Yeahhhh.... its time for HDTGM to get back to insane big-budget action flicks and stop messing around with these low-budget B movies that are so obviously garbage.

I prefer this type of movie because it really makes me wonder how it got made. Shitty films with big stars or cool special effects might make money, so I get it. I have no fucking idea how this made it into film, especially with the fairly decent budget it did have.

 

 

 

 

Regardless, did anybody else think Jason says "worry" strangely? It sounds like "wary".

[seanotron 2307]

Regardless, did anybody else think Jason says "worry" strangely? It sounds like "wary".

 

I believe that is Jason's Nahant accent popping out.

[taylor anne photo 11311]

 

Ok, kind of off topic but I just wanted to point out that the 'pervy' interpretation of Lewis Carroll is highly disputed. The child nudes were a completely normal thing for Victorian England, and every one he took was with a parent present. It's not like he was luring little kids into his photo studio with candy.

 

Sorry to stay off topic but I wanted to reply haha. I know that it's widly diputed so I should have put that in my original comment. However, I've read statements where the parents of those children were not comfortable with the attention that Carroll was giving their children. Of course they never said no or stop but it still raises some eyebrows in my opinion. Plus just because photographs of nude children were common in that time doesn't mean that there wasn't something odd about the photographers taking them. Just means they weren't going to get into trouble for it.

 

I am by no means trying to put myself out there as a Lewis Carroll expert or something but like I said I know it's one of those great debates. I just thought it was funny that this movie has that creepy vibe and then they mention Lewis Carroll haha.

[seanotron 2307]

 

Sorry to stay off topic but I wanted to reply haha. I know that it's widly diputed so I should have put that in my original comment. However, I've read statements where the parents of those children were not comfortable with the attention that Carroll was giving their children. Of course they never said no or stop but it still raises some eyebrows in my opinion. Plus just because photographs of nude children were common in that time doesn't mean that there wasn't something odd about the photographers taking them. Just means they weren't going to get into trouble for it.

 

I am by no means trying to put myself out there as a Lewis Carroll expert or something but like I said I know it's one of those great debates. I just thought it was funny that this movie has that creepy vibe and then they mention Lewis Carroll haha.

 

Oh it's definitely a good point, I'm sure it wasn't intentional but it is an interesting Freudian slip given the weird molester-y vibe that Gooby has.

 

What I meant about the photos being common wasn't that it was a gross thing society tolerated, but that it was just an innocent thing that people thought was cute. Like they'd put them on greeting cards. It was sort of the equivalent of the Coppertone Girl (something that wasn't sexual at all but that we've sexualized in a modern context). That's not to say it's impossible some of the photographers were creepers, It's just that people commonly use that as evidence that Carroll must have been a weirdo, when really it was not a weird thing at the time.

[NathanGordon 1096]

Welp, you know what they say: if you want something done, Gooby yourself.