S2E28.5: Cruella

The stupid thing about The Baronesses whole "You should be selfish and brutal, it's the only way to succeed as a woman in this world" thing being something that Cruella adopts herself is that this is the mentality that killed her mom, ruined Cruellasm's life, and her embracing that should not be seen as #girlboss, it should be seen as tragic and horrible. A cruel system making people cruel, Grend People Grend People. But no, this is supposedly empowering feminist stuff, being a selfish asshole is the way women should liberate themselves. Fucking stupid. Joke as you might, wanting to turn puppies into a fur coat isn't fun, it's repulsive. You can't be genuinely likable and fun while also being evil.

If they had just made this movie a campy gay comedy with the framing device of cruella trying to explain her actions to the authorities and it’s this long meandering ridiculous and obviously made up sympathetic origin story that she’s telling them where she’s bullied as a child for being too much of a fashion icon (which she can’t help; she was born that way, hair and all) and her mother was killed by Dalmatians and the whole world has treated her so unfair and there’s all these gay coded ass characters but like in a “gay ppl made this” way and the whole time the authorities are interjecting like “what the hell does this have to do with you attempting to turn this nice straight couple’s 101 pet dogs into a fur coat” and she keeps being like “be PATIENT darling, I’m GETTING there”

idk if you'll bring this up but theres a couple older live action 101 dalmations movies and the cruella in those is absolutely great i think youd love her. its been a while since i watched "once upon a time" so i dont remember this too well but that show at some point had a cruella character. the backstory they gave her iirc was her evil mom used magic to mind control the dogs to terrorize her daughter to keep her under her control and cruella i think learned to do the dog mind control magic and used it to make the dogs maul her mom to death, and then went on to use them like this for various other evil plots. still a funny backstory but a way more fun one which wouldve made for a way better movie

"Dalmatians are nice" ok to be fair they were originally used as guard dogs for firefighting equipment/horses + to run in front of the horse drawn fire engines to clear the street for them theyre not like golden retrievers lol. i think the funny part about the mom death scene isnt that its dalmations its that they PUSH HER OFF A CLIFF LMAO

Listening to abi talk about Emma stone deserving a cool breakout role after just watching Poor Things, serendipity!

This is coming slightly half cut from a beach in Croatia but, if you’re looking for something interesting films to dip into as y’all take your summer hols then might I suggest Sahara (an adaptation of the Clive cussler novel of the same name) or Raise the Titanic (also a Cussler novel). I enjoy the books as great pulp fiction despite one of them being hugely transphobic (Iceberg, published in 1975) and feel that certainly the two films (like the Jack Ryan series which was largely disavowed by Tom Clancy) the film adaptations of Cussler’s work were also disavowed by him. Equally, he’s dead so it’s “ok” to slander his work. And despite being a fan of it, I’m intrigued and would hugely enjoy the input of “the gang” on two films that sparked interesting thoughts on gender for me. All the best, and keep up the stellar work, Sincerely, Jesse B

The weirdness of it all, especially comparing to the original (which Abi hasn't seen), along with all the voiceover does kind of give the impression that this isn't "the true story" as much as it is the villain telling you their version of events after the fact and trying to make themself look better. This is all just a big misunderstanding! I'm actually the victim here! I didn't mistreat my two... associates. Why we were practically a little found family, weren't we fellas? No, absolutely not, there's never been anything gay going on, perish the thought, and no I'm not going to do any introspection on why I'm so quick to insist that I'm not gay all the time. The coat? Right... the coat... made out of puppies... Well, you see, my mother, god rest her soul...

So I'm wondering if the show is about to go on hiatus or just be about non-US movies since the SAG-AFTRA Podcast rules got updated and they're asking for re-watch/companion shows to stop - https://www.sagaftrastrike.org/podcaster-faqs

Hellmann Hall, seat of the mayonnaise empire

I'd love to see you do Oldboy

i had to pause to go watch the cruella mom cliff scene again. Its so fucking funny

It took me out at the end when Roger and Anita get Dalmatian puppies, because it means that their dogs were litter mates and the 101 dalmatians were products of inbreeding. It also completely nullifies the way their dogs contrive a meet-cute between their owners during the animated film and throws a whole load of that story out of the window if they know each other beforehand, but that’s to be expected from such a distant spinoff.

so glad as a cisish man I can get valuable input on what is and isn't gay in this film. love the podcast!

It's weird that they both have girlfriends named Flex.

Aww, you missed my name in the patron shoutout! 😢😭😂🤣. You just don't want Abigail finding out about me, eh Devon? 😏😂😂

If you want a breath of fresh air after this (not gay) movie, I would recommend Nimona, which does not for a moment pretend to not be queer

I legit cried near the beginning when mom went over the cliff. Kid was too young to be parent'less.

So is it just a feature of lesbianism to equate violence to sex or are these two projecting? Because apart from the violence I really did not see anything sexual between the baroness and Cruella.

I am shocked to learn 101 dalmatians takes place in london. Had to look it up. My childhood memories have it so firmly placed in paris. I am heartbroken. Also my bestie has been trying to make me watch this movie since it came out, but she unironically loves it so its not safe for me to watch it with her. I have to be so careful after she ambushed me with ready player one.

I have literally never heard someone say that Dalmatians are nice dogs. Quit gaslighting me specifically

I think we all remember the 1970s High Street shop "Domme-U-Like"

it's minor, but i find the whole "i hate dalmatians because my mother was murdered by them" thing especially funny given that, in 101 Dalmatians, Cruella doesn't seem to actually hate dogs. from what little we see, her overall attitude is one of complete apathy except when she realizes that dalmatian puppy fur would make a great coat.

ALSO I vividly remember 'the dog who killed Osama Bin Laden' orginating at a TF live show last year although the specific context escapes me.

If you're looking for a better Emma Stone vehicle, PLEASE cover The Favourite. It GAY.

"trying to have it both ways" could be the motto of every single disney live action remake

Wonderful 👏 I watched this when it released and barely remembered any of it. It felt like an absolute fever dream.

This more and less horny than I expected.

If Abby would like to assert her claim to the throne I will fully back her claims.

I live there, if Devon needs anything

You joke about Jasper dropping an f-bomb in 101 Dalmatians, but I distinctly remember Hugh Laurie as Jasper referring to Horace as a berk in the live action version. So no f-bombs, but someone does get called a c**t.

I was looking forward to Rambo 4: Citizens on Patrol, but this will do just fine

Chicagone

Yaaaaaaaaaaasssss. This film came out JUST as I was coming out and set me on a trajectory to couture fashion and being kind of a bitch and I love it xx