Beyond Bechdel

OH NO WHITE MAN PRIVILEGE ALERT!

Correct, this is an episode about a TV show produced by a white, straight, male showrunner, BUT it's different, we promise. The Premise is a new comedy anthology on Disney+ (shocking) looking at our pre-conceived ideas about gender, morality, race and sex and turning them on their heads to hopefully bring empathy, education and thought to our polarised times. Contrarah was blown away at the quality of the writing, directing and star power involved, but, even with a huge array of female talent on board, it doesn't seem to have hit the collective consciousness. Shout out to Jia Tolentino, Darya Zhuk, Lillian Yu, Josie Duffy Rice, Alexandra Ruddy, Dina Hashem and more!

Come for the recommendations and laughs, stay for the...butt plugs?

Have thoughts? Email beyondbech@gmail .com, tweet @Beyond_Bechdel or message on BeyondBechdel.com

We f***ing Love You!

We're back! And here with a look at the new age of Hard Sci-Fi. Is it new? Is it good? Is it female-friendly? How hard, is hard? 

We answer all these questions and a whole lot more in the episode focused on Denis Villeneuve's new movie and Apple TV's new series, based on not-so-new IP. 

Please rate, subscribe, review and always USE THE VOICE!

We invite back the delightful and witty Courtney Hodgkiss (https://twitter.com/courtneyishere) to talk movies that are so awe-inspiring, breathtaking, maddening and emotional that you can't stop yourself shouting about them to anyone who'll listen.

We came up with ten, count em, TEN movies that fit the bill - using various weird sub-categories and went to town talking about the joy and pain of the stories these movies tell. 

Let us know what we missed.

Because visual-storytelling is what makes us human.

You're minding your own business, watching classic movies, movies that won Best Picture at the Oscars, and then you stop, and think...does this film glamourise child prostitution?!

Nick and Contrarah take a look at three classic films from yesteryear examining them through a 2021 lens. They are well-made and were financially and critically successful, but the plots and focus on social convention displayed are WILD! 

Get to know Gigi, Fanny, Iris and Betsy with us.

Have thoughts? 

Email us @ beyondbech@gmail.com

Tweet us @Beyond_Bechdel

and we're now on Instagram so follow and comment on @beyond_bechdel_

We are back in the cinema with a big, bold action movie that celebrates sound and champions hearing loss - A Quiet Place: Part 2. 

Join Contrarah for an episode about what the film represents, if it's any good and how Millicent Simmonds is its runaway star. This episode contains SPOILERS in certain places, so please consult the running order below if you don't want to be spoiled.

00:00 - 01:25.  Intro

01:25 - 11.46.   Spoiler free recap and review

11:47 - 25:25.   Full plot summary BURSTING WITH SPOILERS - listen at your peril!

25:25 - 34.36.   Millicent Simmonds discussion, celebrating hearing-impaired actresses.

Impaired NEVER means lesser!  

This episode delves into Hollywood history and the fascinating back story surrounding the 1977 Oscar-winning movie Julia. Based on the memoirs of playwright Lillian Hellman and starring Jane Fonda and Vanessa Redgrave, Julia is a strange and thrilling story about Hellman's real life brush with espionage and German fascism...or is it? 

After the film was released and won 3 Oscars (including for Adapted Screenplay) it was suggested by Hellman's rival Mary McCarthy that Hellman may have inserted herself into the narrative, and the 'facts' may actually be a fiction, or worse, taken from someone's else life story. And the story is all set around WW2! 

Contrarah and Nick look at the moral implications of fabricating film plots, the role of male screenwriters in writing believable female friendships and the 'she said, she said' nature of professional female rivalry.

Truth is stranger than fiction, but what exactly is the truth?!

Ah 2020, a great year for health, positivity, movies.... in the immortal words of Thor, is it, though? 

Contrarah researched what movies we went to see at the cinema and on streaming services, and some interesting trends emerged. 

Did we choose movies to watch because they were the best?

Or because they were the best available?

Or because they were simply, available? 

Let us know what films you most loved from last year by mailing us at beyondbech@gmail.com, tweeting @Beyond_Bechdel or on beyondbechdel.com.

To celebrate and commemorate LGBTQ History Month (in the UK) we take a look at lesbian cinema, focusing on movies that put gay relationships front and centre. Join Contrarah and Nick as they discuss what's good and bad about films made in the 1960s, the 2010s and right now in 2021, and the complexities of putting queer stories about women on screen. 

We turn our attention to Wandavision, the mystery box show that everyone is talking about and nobody fully understands.

If you have a passing interest in the new Disney+ show but don't have the energy to find out what's happening, let Contrarah do the hard work for you. She sets out why it's such a female-friendly show, then gives an episode by episode recap for the first five episodes (both parts are spoiler-free), before moving to a full on geek-out investigating all the spoilers, all the theories and all the wild speculation as to what this show means for the MCU and beyond.

Timecodes:

Part 1 - Celebrating Wandavision:         02:46 - 15:10

Part 2 - Episode 1-5 Quick-fire Recaps: 15:25 - 40:00

Part 3 - Full SPOILER and Speculation section: 40:30 - 1:17:00

This is for you...and For The Children

Welcome to a new era...of (hopefully) better, kinder government. 

The film industry has seen its fair share of political scandal and Contrarah wonders if we can learn lessons from movies, especially those made many years ago. We discuss 5 movies spanning a period of worldwide political upheaval from the 1940s all the way to end of the last century, and find an uncanny resonance with what's happening in 2021.

Join us for a trip down memory lane just before a new US inauguration. 

In Part 2 of this series, we're still to determine whether David Fincher is the greatest closet feminist of all time? 

In this period Fincher starts to utilise a range of female characters, takes a view on disability and even hires some (read: a few) people of colour.  But we cannot deny that the brilliantly dark auteur treats people as people, and that's to be commended. 

Come listen to our amusing analysis, where Fincher's dark soul tries to reach for the light!

David Fincher - friend or foe of film feminism? The jury's still out...

Is David Fincher the greatest hidden feminist of all time?

Unlikely, but his movies appeal to all of our darker desires.

Join us on a poorly lit but beautifully sounding journey through the director's back catalogue, and then decide for yourself:

Fincher - friend or foe of film feminism?

You know when you feel all the feelings, including thinking two alternative beliefs at the same time? Like....

Me: I hate this show, it's so trashy/horrifying/boring!

Also me: I love this show it's the best ever, I can't look away!!

That's what this episode is about.

Send us your conflicting opinions:

https://twitter.com/Beyond_Bechdel and beyondbech@gmail.com and beyondbechdel.com

While we work on season 3, let's look at some things we love, and some that we loathe...

Half-way through the year 2020 and who knows how far into the devilish reign of COVID-19, Contrarah asks if we're getting film fatigue? She and notorious series-hater Nick debate project length, subject and what two decades can do to our perception, and wonder if it's ok to simply enjoy programming, or should we also endure it? 

One thing is for certain, even with a mind at work, we haven't completed Netflix, have you?

Give us your easiest watches at:

beyondbech@gmail.com 

@beyond_bechdel.

Movies have long helped us to live out our best and worst fantasies. And what better way to cope with stressful times than by social distancing in the safety of your own home while watching famous, beautiful people do all the hard work. 

In this second part of a two-parter, we look at the films that really went viral - and not in a good way...

But can films about GERM WARFARE actually help us during the coronavirus pandemic? Listen as Contrarah and Nick break down the (sometimes) invaluable advice found in  7 of these 15 disaster movies.  

STAY HOME. STAY SAFE. WATCH MOVIES.

Movies have long helped us to live out our best and worst fantasies. And what better way to cope with stressful times than by social distancing in the safety of your own home while watching famous, beautiful people do all the hard work. 

But can film actually help us during the coronavirus pandemic? Listen as Contrarah and Nick break down the (sometimes) invaluable advice found in 15 disaster movies.  

STAY HOME. STAY SAFE. WATCH MOVIES.

The last decade saw some fantastic movies and some big steps forward for women in film, but no one told Nick that, he just loves himself some MAN movies full of MEN. Thank goodness Contrarah weighs in with some big time, money-making, award-winning female films.

Contrarah and Nick continue their review of cinema from 2010 to 2019 - this time looking at 2014 to 2017, and they may have finally found some common ground. Do you agree with these choices?

The last decade saw some fantastic movies and some big steps forward for women in film.

Contrarah and Nick review their tastes in cinema from 2010 to 2019 - each with a wildly different focus. Did your movie make the cut?

What is Cinema?

Scorsese thinks he knows, but does he? Nick with his TV industry work knowledge and Contrarah debate this question focussing on art, entertainment with a segue into what exactly is a human being? Plus, do we want our Netflix content even faster?

Bonus Drinking Game: Take a sip every time someone says Transformers!

Tell us your definition of cinema at: beyondbech@gmail.com or https://twitter.com/Beyond_Bechdel

It's easy to look back at films from 20 years ago and cringe hard, wondering, "what were we thinking?"

Yet the 90s brought us so many good things, including a new a golden age for the romantic comedy - a genre sometimes frowned upon today. Writer/director/producer Just Jen thinks we shouldn't dismiss 90s romcoms as featherweight, when the lessons they're bringing are more empowering than at first glance. 

The 90s romcom heroine as feminist Trojan Horse. Who knew?

Learn more about Jen's thoughts on culture @JustJen_02 on twitter and her own filming work https://www.instagram.com/sassyjamproductions/?hl=en on instagram

Tell us about your fave romcoms @Beyond_Bechdel

Remember old-school nurses? The white-starched uniform, kind bedside manner and comforting, feminine presence? Cinema remembers. A movie was made that sought to turn that stereotype on its head. 

Nurse Ratched is widely known as the most deliciously heinous member of the nursing profession. She's also - according to our guest Audrey Fox - a Trojan Horse, standing out as a powerful women in a world full of dangerous men. 

Contrarah and Audrey discuss Louise Fletcher's magnificent performance, as well as life behind the scenes on the set of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.

Tell Audrey all of your medical problems https://twitter.com/audonamission

Tell us we must be crazy to make a podcast in a looney bin like this: https://twitter.com/Beyond_Bechdel

Thanks as always to https://andrewevansmusic.com/about/ for our theme tune.

One of the best modern sci-fi action films in recent years, Edge of Tomorrow purported to be a Tom Cruise vehicle, but really it brought us Emily Blunt kicking all kinds of alien ass! 

This is our first 'Trojan Horse' of the season and boy is the Angel of Verdun a goodun! \

Come join Nick and Contrarah as they dissect the action role of a lifetime. 

Got a better action hero slipping her away into a "man's" action flick? 

Let us know on twitter @Beyond_Bechdel or beyondbech@gmail.com