Episode 134 - Can't Stop the Music: LIVE!

[FisterRoboto 7499]

I really enjoyed:

 

1. The upfront discussion about Caitlin Jenner

2. The Second Opinion theme

3. The audience member who reminded us about Jenner's car crash and the subsequent reaction

4. Paul's attempt at a Czech accent

5. Pete's "takes a village, people" and no crowd reaction

 

I've been out for a while but I feel there's definitely two camps of forum-ers where there wasn't before. This was me earlier today...

 

STOP LEAVING US, ELLEN!

 

It's really just this thread. It's a big influx of non-regular posters that came in just to complain about Cameron. They'll be gone soon enough, and we'll be back to our normal dysfunctional family that talks about comics books and dick pics.

[Amy the Gorilla 732]

Not gonna lie, this movie made me realize that if I were an adult in 80's, I'd totally have the hots for the Gutte.

[EllenM 943]

STOP LEAVING US, ELLEN!

 

It's really just this thread. It's a big influx of non-regular posters that came in just to complain about Cameron. They'll be gone soon enough, and we'll be back to our normal dysfunctional family that talks about comics books and dick pics.

 

I'm halfway through exams right now and after Wednesday, I'll be back, full time in action until next November. After that, I make no promises.

 

Edit: My spelling and grammar was severely compromised after my exam, so I fixed it

[LessfunnySuits 181]

Really enjoyed Cameron talking about being Catholic but Pete Holmes needs to shut the fuck up about being a lesbian every minute.

[jarrycanada 2483]

it just hit me who that gang of old ladys that attacked Bruce Jenner was.

 

[Human 97]

great ep!

 

miss u june

[dask360 126]

Oh I didn't realize Willis left the group DURING the filming of this movie. Wikipedia made it seem like he left of his own volition before. Not that wikipedia is to be trusted.

 

That's pretty impressive that they FIRED the guy who was lead singer and wrote most of their early hits (YMCA, Macho Man, In the Navy, obviously, but also some of the songs for this movie like Milkshake!) for not wanting to be in their big, gay movie. I mean they must've thought this was really going to be HUGE.

 

Oh now I'm going down a rabbit hole about the copyright stuff with Willis. That was only decided last year! Wow! http://www.hollywood...ple-ymca-779420

 

I think I was wrong, actually (those trustworthy internet sources). I think he did leave of his own accord, so only his girlfriend was fired. I can only imagine her showing up on the first day of shooting and someone asking, "What the fuck are you still doing here?" But yeah, it is crazy that the lead singer of a biopic (loose term) isn't in their own movie. Even more crazy that two of their biggest hits, "Macho Man" and "In The Navy" are absent as well (although Valerie wears a Macho Woman T-shirt at the Y)

 

Ha! I love that Willis' big takeaway from that court settlement was,"I'm excited that the world will now know that 'Y.M.C.A.' is all-American, not French."

[Elektra Boogaloo 3371]

I think I was wrong, actually (those trustworthy internet sources). I think he did leave of his own accord, so only his girlfriend was fired. I can only imagine her showing up on the first day of shooting and someone asking, "What the fuck are you still doing here?" But yeah, it is crazy that the lead singer of a biopic (loose term) isn't in their own movie. Even more crazy that two of there biggest hits, "Macho Man" and "In The Navy" are absent as well (although Valerie wears a Macho Woman T-shirt at the Y)

 

Ha! I love that Willis' big takeaway from that court settlement was,"I'm excited that the world will now know that 'Y.M.C.A.' is all-American, not French."

Well I hope Blake Harris gets to the bottom of this for us when that article comes out. I want to know who was fired from this movie and why.

 

Because, furthering the mystery of the "girlfriend" Paul mentioned, Victor Willis was married to a young Phylicia Rashad from 78-82, when the movie would've been in production, right? So was the girlfriend his mistress? Or like just someone playing a girlfriend?

 

Ha! I know, I'm not sure anyone ever thought YMCA was French. I mean, the pronunciation of the letters alone should give that away.

[dask360 126]

I had never seen Tammy Grimes before this film (Sam's former agent), but my ears immediately perked up when she spoke and was unmistakably Molly freaking Grue from The Last Unicorn.

 

[klemjohansen 748]

I love how they never mentioned that every archetype in the Village People were based on male stripper tropes. That's why all the women treat them as sex objects and they they have tear-away clothes.

[NundercoverBrother 174]

I love how they never mentioned that every archetype in the Village People were based on male stripper tropes. That's why all the women treat them as sex objects and they they have tear-away clothes.

Makes perfect sense. I doubt they were aware of that.

[FisterRoboto 7499]

I love how they never mentioned that every archetype in the Village People were based on male stripper tropes. That's why all the women treat them as sex objects and they they have tear-away clothes.

[RyanSz 3140]

This episode had much discussion of Can't Stop the Music being a PG-rated movie, and much discussion of its erotic cake store. But I believe the episode sorely omitted a discussion of the inclusion of an erotic cake store in a PG-rated movie!

 

Although if it can be included in a family-friendly cartoon...

Another connection between this film and the Simpsons is that both this and the Simpsons Movie are two of only a few that were under R rated films that featured male full frontal nudity.

 

Also I don't know the history of the Village People but were they advertised as a "gay band" or just a band that ended up catering to gay culture? Because watching this movie these characters stand out so much, especially the biker who gave the lispiest version of Danny Boy I've ever heard, or the Indian who just walks around New York with his headband and vest, that it almost seems like there was no other reason for this band to exist except for some music executive to key into a certain market.

[KajusX 1807]

I skimmed through this long thread first but may have missed it. Has anyone mentioned that they referenced the song 'We Are the Champions' a few times during the ep, but that song is by Queen? Wasn't sure if this was a mix up or if they were simply tapping into the "songs performed by gay men" reference pool.

 

I would bet it was just a mix up.

[FisterRoboto 7499]

I skimmed through this long thread first but may have missed it. Has anyone mentioned that they referenced the song 'We Are the Champions' a few times during the ep, but that song is by Queen? Wasn't sure if this was a mix up or if they were simply tapping into the "songs performed by gay men" reference pool.

 

I would bet it was just a mix up.

Are you asking if they said "We Are the Champions" was by The Village People? It just came up because Cameron was talking about the theme of liberation after an audience member brought up the subtext of the song "Liberation." And they did a few callbacks to it afterwards. I didn't take it as anyone confusing The Village People with Queen.

[Cameron H. 23786]

Well, it only took me ten hours but I finally finished the episode. I loved it. Definitely in my Top Ten or so HDTGM episodes. I thought both Cameron and Pete killed it and the dynamic they all had as a group was fantastic. I'd very much like to hear more from both Cameron and Pete--either together or separately.

 

I don't have a lot to say about this movie that hasn't already been covered. The thing that really stood out to me about this "Village People movie" was how the Village People themselves come off as the most ancillary of ancillary characters. You could have written them out of the movie completely and it really wouldn't have changed the story all that much. What the movie actually seems to be about is a composer's roommate, who uses her "brains" to coerce her horny ex-boyfriend into giving a bunch of random dudes she meets on the street a shot at super stardom, thereby achieving her roommate's dream for him.

 

Also, this movie not only accepts, but revels in the fact that The Village People were a manufactured group. Gute's mother even says, "My son invented The Village People" and no one even bats a single eyelash! The Village People don't say, "Well, The Village People wouldn't be a thing if we weren't such great dancers and singers," and Samantha doesn't step in and say, "Um...Technically, I invented The Village People; Jack just wrote a bunch of songs he couldn't even sing..." I think, had I wrote this movie, I would have put The Village People themselves at the center of the movie instead of trying to tell a fake origin story. Basically, do A Hard Day's Night, or even Help!, just starring The Village People. Shoot, that movie practically writes itself...

 

I also have a hard time believing that The Construction Worker's dream involves him fighting off the sexual advances of a throng of beautiful women wearing red evening dresses. Nice try, movie. But just like Justin Bieber's entire music catalog--I'm not buying it.

 

 

However, as terrible as this movie was in (many, many) parts, I do have to say I agree with Cameron's take on it. When Samantha says, "Do you know something? I don't judge people. I accept them. There isn't a person who breathes who doesn't have certain peculiarities. As long as it doesn't hurt anybody, it's all right with me" I was very impressed. No, they don't overtly refer to homosexuality in the movie, but it is clearly implicit in almost every scene. Yes, there was a lot of stereotyping, but there was also a lot of "there's no reason to be ashamed of this thing that we are" going on in it as well. For this reason, I think this movie was, in a lot of ways, ahead of its time; and with Samantha's line serving as it's thesis statement, it transforms itself from a silly little movie and transcends into a movie that puts forward a very relevant message of positivity and inclusiveness that, even a quarter of a century later, we would all be foolish not to take to heart.

[RyanSz 3140]

Omission:

 

After watching this movie, I can honestly say that it could have been remade in the late 90s/early 2000s for either Backstreet Boys or N'Sync as their formation stories were sorta the same thing as the Village People, with both bands being made up of five guys who had little to no prior experience working with one another and their resulting band was sold on a mixture of their singing and dancing abilities. So I am dropping the gauntlet to the HDTGM crew to write those movies, since it's apparent that they are never going to get the chance to write a Sharknado sequel or Fast & Furious movie.

[Amy the Gorilla 732]

Omission:

 

After watching this movie, I can honestly say that it could have been remade in the late 90s/early 2000s for either Backstreet Boys or N'Sync as their formation stories were sorta the same thing as the Village People, with both bands being made up of five guys who had little to no prior experience working with one another and their resulting band was sold on a mixture of their singing and dancing abilities. So I am dropping the gauntlet to the HDTGM crew to write those movies, since it's apparent that they are never going to get the chance to write a Sharknado sequel or Fast & Furious movie.

 

The Backstreet Boys already did it.

 

[YOUTUBE]

[/YOUTUBE]

 

 

This is one of a few episodes I clearly remember watching when I was a kid.

[Elektra Boogaloo 3371]

Also, this movie not only accepts, but revels in the fact that The Village People were a manufactured group. Gute's mother even says, "My son invented The Village People" and no one even bats a single eyelash!

What I learned from my earlier wikipedia rabbit hole, is that a producer of this movie was Jacques Morali, who was the Lou Perlman-like founder of the Village People. Also the co-writer of most of the songs (the one Victor Willis doesn't dispute was involved per the copyright articles I read earlier.) Anyway, his idea for the band was based on gay dancers at disco clubs.

 

The Steve Guttenberg character--Jack Morell--is him. Or an Americanized version of him. Basically, he produced this movie about himself. And then when Hollywood wanted it to be less overtly gay that is probably why they added the model character and her love interest, beefcake Bruce Jenner.

 

I think no one disputes the line in the film--even though Sam should--because she's basically speaking for Morali there.

 

https://en.wikipedia.../Jacques_Morali

[RyanSz 3140]

Question:

 

How did the Leatherman eat anything with that monstrous mustache of his, I mean that thing had to have caught everything that he tried to eat. I mean I have a full bear and mustache now and find it problematic at times either eating or drinking and getting food caught or liquid in my mustache, I can only image how much more it's amplified with that steroid ridden caterpillar across his upper lip. Additionally, does anyone else think that Gutenberg would be better suited to offer the backing tracks to the music of Alfie from The Apple, similar to the Macklemore/Ryan Lewis partnership?

 

Also, it would make sense that Jenner was asked to be in Airplane as it was at the time of Police Squad having a celebrity guest every episode which transferred into the Naked Gun films. You also had random cameos on shows like the Love Boat and Gilligan's Island, which apparently Jenner had some roles in as well.

[americancrank 20]

Yeah, I won't lie--this episode was *very* hard to get through.

 

Cameron Esposito was not a good choice.

 

Here's the thing--I actually like that she was able to give a different perspective about a subculture most straight white dudes know nothing about...except this isn't 1992. Exactly what was going down in San Francisco in the late 70's is not exactly a trade secret. I *really* felt like she was handing down some golden knowledge that these sweaty men were in the complete dark about, and then got resentful when they didn't react the way they expected.

 

She managed to screech the entire night to a halt twice with her very unfunny comments.

 

She managed to somehow interject two personal stories with only tenuous links to the discussion on the podcast. Unfunny stories, too. And, again, when no one else reacted the way she wanted them to, she pouted.

 

She somehow shoehorned a "women make less money" comment into a mike-dropping bit. I say "comment" and not "joke' because it, again wasn't funny. She also somehow shoehorned a "woman in the White House" comment into another bit, apropos of nothing.

 

More debatable was a lot of the Caitlyn/Bruce talk. Some of it was genuinely interesting and respectful, but when she shot down the audience member about Bruce saying he was a Gemini, and the audience's nervous, lengthy reaction...I mean come on, we all understood the subtext, and, if nothing else, within the context of 1980 that wouldn't be particularly out of place, let alone now. I'm being generous and saying it was sort of a joke, but it certainly had the feeling of a college kid giving her 80 year old uncle a stern lecture for using an insensitive pronoun. And that whole segment about Bruce not wanting to be naked? Come on. That's an old, tired trope from decades past. That's not some magical subtext-grabbing scene with far-reaching ethical ramifications.

 

Now, I'm a Big Boy. I can listen to things I disagree with--and I don't necessarily disagree with a lot of what Cameron said. What totally irritated me about this was how unprofessional she was.

 

Now, let's be clear--Paul and Jason and Pete Holmes interrupt a lot and push a lot of boundaries. They tell unrelated stories and digress into vulgarity. In fact, I would say Pete interrupted more often and was more annoying than Cameron. But at least he was funny most of the time, where even if his behavior was grating it was salvaged by being amusing. Cameron, however...was not. Every time she opened her mouth, it seemed like everyone in the room, hosts included, had the oxygen sucked right out of them.

 

There's nothing wrong with her topics or identity or anything like that--she was just downright unprofessional. In a podcast that regularly brings up jerking it to inanimate objects, to come across as unprofessional takes a particular brand of horribleness.

[ChrisMcKinnon 1]

all of the guests did their job and do what they do. All of the guests I often find amusing and would pay to see their respective live shows. As an ensemble, in this format, it didn't gel. No big deal.

[Elektra Boogaloo 3371]

I guess we'll all just have to

[Amy the Gorilla 732]

I personally think Cameron Esposito and Jason played hilariously off each other, the other guy...meh. Now if they had the woman who guested on Blood Sport (Her name is escaping me at the moment...Edit: Nicole Byer) back along with Jason and Cameron... minds (and maybe a few other things) would have been blown!

 

Edit: I feel like this will come in handy at some point in this thread, if it's not already needed.

 

[flaccidental overdose 36]

Ah man, I felt tired the whole episode.

 

Carmen has lots of awesome insight and analysis in her but I felt it all fell to the wayside. To me, she came across as so confrontational to everyone and it felt like a "us vs them" situation constantly. By then end I felt like I was blugeoned by a hammer.