EXCLUSIVE EPISODE: Villain Therapy — Miss Trunchbull from Matilda

something I love about the actress who plays Trunchball's performance as a Brit, is the constant mocking of the kids accents lol. If you're evil, hate children AND are English, the only thing more annoying than a child is a child with a sing song American accent

This was the wrong episode to watch while eating

Sometimes the Trunchbull is a parent. That love gets twisted from a lifetime of abuse, but, the love is often still there.

Not me watching this and not realising or remembering that Trunchbull was a murderer and there were mentions of suicide in the film lol. 90s children's movies got dark hahaha.

Miss Honey was my first crush as an itty bitty lesbian who had no idea why she was so pretty and I just wanted to watch it again and again. 😍😍😍

There's a scene where you first meet Trunchbull, when Danny Devito's character is selling her a car. The get to talking and Trunchbull states that she was glad she never was a child. I think this scene changes the nuance behind her character just a /little/ bit. She is treating the children in the movie horribly because she wants them to grow up faster, and stop being children, because she herself never got to be one. I think this adds to the scene shown in this episode where they talk about how Trunchbull says her ideal school is one with no children in it. I'm not a professional in either writing nor psychology, but that is my thought on the character. ((Sorry if this was already pointed out somewhere!))

This episode was fantastic; y’ll continue to hit it outta the park every time! Would it be rude of me to point out that technically Trunchbull didn’t shot-put kids but actually hammer-throw them? Different track & field sport, but I’m not sure it’s actually done anymore. Anyway, y’ll are STILL awesome, and I couldn’t be happier to help contribute to the “Get Alan & Jonathan to Hobbittown” fund

You guys have to react to the musical version! Emma Thompson as Trunchball is awesome! The songs allow insight into the thoughts of the characters - the character of Matilda also comes across as quite autistic (especially in one song: Quiet) which would be interesting to get both Alan & Jono's takes on...

Who was responsible for the *Mommy Trunch* comment JAIL TIME IMMEDIATELY

Any chance you’d look at Emma Thomason’s take on this role

Apparently compassion focused therapy has research supporting its use in forensic settings. Strong boundaries are definitely important. According to CFT for a lot of them, they haven't their trauma addressed and so not only what they've done that's harmful is something they're dissociated from, but also what was done to the them may be too. Boundaries are absolutely critical particularly for general public, but Im pretty sure there should still be a compassionate space for them to process trauma. This can be done while simultaneously holding the victims in mind. I worry that without incorporate the trauma work and only using a behavioural approach, it would just be re-enacting their childhood dynamics. *idea is if they process the trauma and understand what happened to them wasn't okay, they'll be able to process and understand the harm they've caused from a place of guilt rather than shame. Guilt means I've don't something hurtful and shame is that they're bad. The idea is if they feel guilt, they'll be motivated to change their behaviour whereas the shame will leave them thinking they can't will continue to use the maladaptive defenses which got them there to begin with. Without them understanding themselves, it's going to be hard for the them to access the guilt emotions. Of course easier said than done.

What if you’re married to a trunchbull type ?

Just to add the praise of Pam Ferris, she is exactly who I imagine Lady Felmet from Terry Pratchett’s Wyrd Sisters being like.

"If you have telekinesis, definitely do some hauntings. It is the correct move." Love the fun commentary in addition to the more technical stuff.

Pam Ferris is a genius. She nails the over-the-top cartoonishness, but in pretty much every clip you've shown, she's simultaneously doing these subtler physical details that make her performance more convincing than most similar characters, and that makes her all the more viscerally terrifying because she is not a caricature even though she's going all out. What she's doing with her eyes, especially, is amazing. How is she going big and small at the same time with the same body part?!? And when she's afraid, there's actually nothing cartoonish at all! It's big, but it's nuanced.

ive been in therapy for ~3years now, and while I am there in my own free will, my therapist can rip me a new one when i try to be stubborn or unyielding for no apparent reason… so that happy feeling that Jono described? you can also get it from none-courtordered patients ;) thank you so much for doing these analyses, and for always being so… open? happy? real? entertaining? (all of that! :) )

I think I saw this movie close to 30 times! I've consumed the VHS when I was a child ahah I loved you did 2 episodes on Matilda and I joined Patreon just for it! (side note: what's up with the subtitles? ahahah there where a couple of full screen "Ooooo" and "Hee hee hee" subtitles, on top of some mistakes and missing sentences/words. I'd be more than happy to do the subtitles for you guys if you need it!) Thank you very so much for all your content, it's very inspiring and reminds me (too) many times that I should start therapy.

1st of all, I joined your guys’ patreon for this episode cuz it’s my fav movie ever, 2nd of all, Alan’s British accent is so good, and 3rd of all, Miss Honey is so beautiful😭😭😭

Once I started seeing this actress in many other roles (Like Sister Evangelina in Call the Midwife), I realized how amazing of an actress she is. Like being able to play the TRUNCHBULL and also play one of the most beloved characters in a drama series.

On the name badge to family reunions thing....ummm...I have 50 first cousins. Name badges should be mandatory at our family reunions.

You know, before watching this, it never connected in my head that the Trunchble killed Ms. Honey’s mother too. I suspected that Trunchble killed her father, but not her mother.

Amazing love this! New Patreon here and already getting 2 videos in one day! Also side note: I would love to see a reaction to a new movie on Netflix called Leo. I think you guys would enjoy it.

Awesome. I enjoyed this movie as a kid. Miss Trunchbull made a grown woman feel like a child. smh thx so much for the shoutout at the end Jono! 😁🤗

If we're eating something my kids are unsure about, all I have to do is say, "Much too good for children!" and they immediately want a bite. That movie is timeless and she's the best-worst villain. 😂

At first dyslexic glance I thought it was an update for the super villain tier lol

Have y'all watched RED? It is one of my favorites.

Let's face it. Pam Ferris kills in whatever she is in!

Alan - I did watch this when I was 6, and that is exactly how I felt, too. In my 30s I still feel that way 😭 though it is slightly muted.

I worked with someone like the Trunchbull once, but I had no tribe- not anywhere near there, anyway. (I work in a huge school, by the way). She was the new teacher in our classroom after the old teacher retired. I was the assistant in a SWE classroom. She bullied me relentlessly, using the same excuse the Trunchbull did with Ms. Honey ("You'll see one day that everything I've done is for your benefit," or however the quote goes). That, and she was fond of saying "I'm the teacher! I'm the teacher! Defer to me!" I swear, she was one step away from using physical violence- or, it felt like it. She's gone now, thank goodness. But how can I be stronger next time? How do I stand up for myself without escalating the situation? (I did report the bullying after it reached a certain point, but what can I do before that? If you could give me some pointers, I'd be immensely grateful. Also, seeing Jonathon unleash his "cold" side (stern, or however) would be a sight to see (as long as I'm not in the patients' chair).

The movie actually just about covers everything the book gives you on the Trunchbull! It's impressively done.

Interesting theory from Jono that Matilda chose one path and Trunchbull chose another. I can also see that in my life, where when I was a Marine at first I didn’t know how to lead because all of a sudden I had power and control over others. It is a heady thing to have rank and the ability to order other people around. It was towards my second decade when I started learning how to relate to other people, and learn leadership instead of just enforcing discipline and rules. So good to get a double feature today! Almost like a double session of therapy 😆 once at noon during lunch and again at dinner 😊

I wrote a chaper of my dissertation on the women in Matilda. Love this! ❤️

Double feature!!!!! Yeeeess!!!!

This was interesting and really got me curious about how effective therapy can be for convicted criminals. I know Matilda is a bit cartoonish but I'd love to see you explore other villains, and how they're rehabilitation might look. Always fun guys!

I’m so excited to watch this!!!!

Thanks for the bonus content! 😄

Jonathan -- how does court-ordered therapy work? Do you sign up as a therapist to receive these clients from the court? Is that how a newer practice would stay afloat with guaranteed income until their client base grows?

Omg Jono I LOVE that song!! ('Rude' by MAGIC!) For anyone who missed the reference -- here's the song link: https://youtu.be/PIh2xe4jnpk?si=eNApNwdJ-KbJ4b7S

I am 100% sure that Matilda read the complete works of Edgar Allen Poe and knew how to scare someone like Trunchbull because of the similarities.

Bro the double feature!? THANK YOU!!

Whoa! By dropping soon you meant that we get two in one day?!?!? What is even going on, my heart can’t take it 😂

Uploaded already! Yes!!!!