Episode 140 - Mannequin Two: On the Move (w/ Steve Agee)

[taylor anne photo 11311]

CORRECTION: Jason thought that the body falling off the bridge was a person, not a mannequin. He makes reference to this after "saving" her.

Actually this isn't true. He knew it was a mannequin, but everyone was freaking out so much that he said he would save her. Then when he was in the water he thought she was alive because of the necklace moving and making her come to life for that brief moment.

[Cameron H. 23786]

Loved this episode!

 

What confused me about this movie is how the movie went out of its way to contradict itself in regard to character motivation and growth. I get the "24 second" rule, but a couple of times the movie just doesn't make sense when it would be easier to just step back and say, "Oh, wait...We should fix that."

 

The first moment that springs to mind is when Jason first kisses the mannequin. Up until this point, Jason comes off as a "real cool dude." He's tossing garbage in a can as he speeds down the road, he "Ferris Bueller's" the parking situation in downtown Philly, and Gayle seems incredibly interested in him from the word "go." However, when he kisses the mannequin, he says something to the effect of, "Why aren't any real women into me?" What are you talking about? Gayle is totally into you! But, when she tells him she is free on Friday, he makes the excuse that they shouldn't take things too fast. It's one date, bro! She's not asking to marry you. Before you dismiss it out of hand, why not just go grab some coffee and see where that goes? And, if for whatever reason you still want to turn that date down, I don't want to hear you bitch about not finding a "real" woman a couple minutes later. I guess I'm just confused. Is he supposed to be a cool guy with beautiful women throwing themselves at him, or is he a lovelorn loser who can't catch a break?

 

As for Jessie, she seems to come off equally inconsistent with how they portray her. They seem to want her to come off as endearingly naive, but instead, she comes off as (perhaps) dangerously, and willfully, ignorant. On their first date, Jason puts her in front of a television camera, and when she sees herself on on the screen, and she freaks the fuck out. She starts screaming, "Save me! I'm trapped in this box!" He pulls her away, accepts her fawning gratitude, but never explains how televisions work. Then later, when she has bought a bunch of crap for Jason on his store account, she is sitting on his bed and watching the TV. She tells him, "Look! Your mother gave me all these lives!" Taking into account how much she freaked out when she was on a TV and the fact that she says, "Your mother gave me all these lives" does she think that the people on the TV are slaves that have been enchanted into this box and forced to provide her entertainment? Not cool, Jessie--especially considering your history.

[Cameron H. 23786]

Congrats, Taylor Anne for being the first forum poster to make the jump from mini-episode to main!

 

[taylor anne photo 11311]

Congrats, Taylor Anne for being the first forum poster to make the jump from mini-episode to main!

 

I literally just got to that when I saw your post and I just

 

[Smigg 1488]

Congrats, Taylor Anne for being the first forum poster to make the jump from mini-episode to main!

 

 

This is cause for celebration

 

[paultab 225]

 

It had to be the little sister, right? Otherwise they were just playing with our emotions introducing that character and I know these filmmakers wouldn't treat their audience that way.

 

Edit: Just to be clear I mean after the sister reached legal age in H-K. Which I think is 25.

 

I thought of that, but didn't say it, because I didn't think about the idea that he might be diabolical enough to wait that long before seeking a new mate. Also, if that is true, then eww, because that would mean that Jessie and Jason were related.

[paultab 225]

Also! "It has no caffeine, no artificial flavors, no calories." "We had something like that in our day, called 'water.'" (not exact quotes)

 

How does Jessie know what caffeine, artificial flavors and calories are?

[ChunkStyle 1160]

 

I thought of that, but didn't say it, because I didn't think about the idea that he might be diabolical enough to wait that long before seeking a new mate. Also, if that is true, then eww, because that would mean that Jessie and Jason were related.

 

Going that far back I think just about all of us are related.

 

And while he may not be diabolical Prince William is the real villain of the movie. I know he was upset about losing his girlfriend but cursing his country to 1000 years of constant rain is really taking it out on people who don't deserve it.

[Cinco DeNio 5290]

I lost it at manne-quim.

[taylor anne photo 11311]

Steve Agee has such an infectious laugh. Gosh he is so damn delightful!

[Herself 107]

Yay, Steve Agee!

[HotSaucerman 2051]

Just the other day, I was thinking how much I like late-80s/early-90s Kristy Swanson. Maybe I'll be able to tolerate watching this movie.

[FisterRoboto 7499]

Steve Agee has such an infectious laugh. Gosh he is so damn delightful!

I haven't listened to the episode yet (Mondays are a heavy podcast day, and right now, Blank Check's Cameron Crowe series is more exciting to me), but I can't fucking believe Steve Agee hasn't been on before now. I had to go check the episode list on Wikipedia to be sure. It's kind of like when Mulaney was on; it's such a natural and obvious guest that it's insane they haven't been on already so you convince yourself they have.

[NathanGordon 1096]

Why has no one addressed the mannequins perfect understanding and speaking of modern american english though she was supposed to be German. I think it would have been funny for her to come alive confused and screaming in german,

To be fair, the very first thing spoken to her is German. She sneezes, and our hero says "Gesundheit".

[Smigg 1488]

I haven't listened to the episode yet (Mondays are a heavy podcast day, and right now, Blank Check's Cameron Crowe series is more exciting to me), but I can't fucking believe Steve Agee hasn't been on before now. I had to go check the episode list on Wikipedia to be sure. It's kind of like when Mulaney was on; it's such a natural and obvious guest that it's insane they haven't been on already so you convince yourself they have.

 

Yeah, Monday for me has podcasts from Bill Burr, Jay Mohr, and Shaq (depending on the guests the latter two have). So HDTGM coming out on a Monday can leave me with four podcasts to listen to.

[tomspanks 9039]

Possible correction - Paul said that Jason took Jessie to a souvlaki stand, but they ended up grabbing some Philly cheesesteaks (because Philadelphia). On the drive there, they did pass by a Souvlaki restaurant, but it was not a street vendor.

[taylor anne photo 11311]

Just to comment on Hollywood - I don't think it's him that's offensive to LGBTQ people. I think it's how everyone else responds to him that's offensive. In the first movie the security guard calls him names and imitates his voice while talking to Andrew McCarthy and he just flat out says, "Oh I'm sure it'll be better than working with a bigot," which made me go "YAS! DRAG HIM!"

 

But throughout both movies he gets called "pansy" "fairy" etc etc and that makes me cringe every single time. There are fem gay men, and there are certainly over the top gay men in real life. I loved Steve mentioning Tituss from Kimmy Schmidt because he's the modern version of what I assume Hollywood to be and I think it's still very important for this to be represented.

 

I can definitely see why the gang thought this was presented as a caricature of gay men considering the time this came out, but I didn't actually take it that way. Especially since the heroes of these movies came to his defense and were really close to him!

 

I love Hollywood! He's definitely my favorite part of these movies!

[tomspanks 9039]

Slightly OT question to all the mole people who might be reading this - why do you keep your mole hairs so long? A couple of days after watching this movie, I saw a guy with a big mole on his neck with several black hairs growing out of it, each at least 3 inches long. Why do this? I'm genuinely curious why is a thing.

[firsttimecallerlongtimelistenr 3590]

a couple of things about the curse. it's the sorcerer put it on. he curses the necklace to freeze Jessie forever so she can't marry the prince. the queen tell us this when she says "it's not me dear it's the work of spretzle". but then the prince challenges the queen by asking her to take his life instead so she says "all right since you're such a romantic .. 1000 years ORRRR she meets a true love from another land, only then can the cursed necklace be removed" ... so now the queen is in control of the curse??

 

and then the prince tries to take the necklace off but gets a shock or something and the queen asks "is it a deal?" to which the prince replies "yes, but you have cursed your kingdom for a thousand years!" .. and it starts raining ... so now he's able to curse the curse ... was everyone magical back then? and if so ... why do you need a sorcerer??

 

maybe that's why the curse didn't freeze hollywood for 1000 years. it wasn't the sorcerers curse that jason broke it was the queens. all the sorcerer did was curse the necklace so it would freeze anyone wearing it. it was the queen that did everything else. and thats why jessie was able to curse the count ... cause she also has some magical powers ... cause everyone from medieval times had magical powers!!!

 

and as a bit of a correction, i don't think the count took her to america so he could be the love from a foreign land. the count says "she was to be mine tomorrow, ive spent years calculating the precise moment of her reanimation" ... so i think he kept this a secret from the current rulers ... dastardly count ... why else would they allow her to leave the country just as the curse was about to expire? the count kept it a secret so she would wake up, fall in love with the him and live happily ever after in Bermuda or wherever ..

 

anyway ... thats just my 24 seconds worth of thought .. my brain hurts

[firsttimecallerlongtimelistenr 3590]

the hair on that mole was so thick and so long i think it should be classed as a wig ... i think it deserves a place in the HDTGM wig cannon

[Cameron H. 23786]

Also! "It has no caffeine, no artificial flavors, no calories." "We had something like that in our day, called 'water.'" (not exact quotes)

 

How does Jessie know what caffeine, artificial flavors and calories are?

 

That really bugged me too. What also bugged me is the waitress says, "We don't have 'yak's milk" and then gives her a Diet Pepsi. Look, I don't know if they thought "yak's milk" was a literal request or the name of a drink, but if I ever ordered a drink, and my request is obviously something cream or milk based, and the waitress brought me back a DIET drink, I'd be pretty Goddamn insulted. What are you trying to say, lady?

 

I haven't listened to the episode yet (Mondays are a heavy podcast day, and right now, Blank Check's Cameron Crowe series is more exciting to me), but I can't fucking believe Steve Agee hasn't been on before now. I had to go check the episode list on Wikipedia to be sure. It's kind of like when Mulaney was on; it's such a natural and obvious guest that it's insane they haven't been on already so you convince yourself they have.

 

TRAITOR!

 

[firsttimecallerlongtimelistenr 3590]

do you think the 3 dumbass body guards ... arnold, sylvester and jean-claude ... were the inspiration for the three little pigs from the shrek movies?

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jILGhMX36Bo

[NathanGordon 1096]

I would hope that we could honor June's wishes by not discussing the mole.

 

Just to comment on Hollywood - I don't think it's him that's offensive to LGBTQ people. I think it's how everyone else responds to him that's offensive

I agree; I don't think it's problematic, especially given how campy everything is in the film. It IS a dated trope by 1991 but it's not mean-spirited, there's no jokes made at Hollywood's expense. I think there's a more nuanced academic reading of that particular character type, but this is a film in which every single character is a silly caricature.

[SevenDollarsWorthofHoobastank 226]

I also did get a legit laugh when Montross told Spretzle he should put some beads on his mole.

 

I want to see a scenario in which a building is burning down near where Jason parked his jeep at the beginning of the movie and no one can find the fire hydrant because he hid it to be able to park there. Then he comes back to his car only to see "Backdraft" happening yards away from the closest possible hydrant that he covered for his selfish and lazy reasons.

 

Edit, I also think Paul F. Tompkins and the cast of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia would take umbrage with all the Philly bashing!!!!!1!

[HeyDumDum 39]

Dad has ADD already touched upon the fact that the original was in Philly and not New York (thanks, man! Was driving me nuts my whole commute listening to this episode), but I would argue that Hollywood has still taken a major step down, career-wise, since the store in the first movie (to the best of my recollection) was in downtown Philly, whereas Germantown in the 90s was pretty skeezy.

 

I actually have personal experience working with mannequins in Germantown: I'm originally from California but went to college in Philadelphia, quite near the Germantown neighborhood, and at one point had an internship at the 'Germantown Historical Society,' where I helped with an exhibit that tied in to the big hit movie at the time, Titanic (yes, this was a while ago). At one point, having put an 80 year-old dress on a mannequin, another intern and I were lowering the mannequin onto the rod that holds it upright, which essentially goes straight up the mannequin's ass. The other intern said "just relax, sweetheart." Did I unwittingly participate in sodomizing a German Princess, and if so, how can I go about making this right?