Poor Thingies

(upbeat music) - Welcome to another episode of Base News Network. I am Punk Revolution now here with Sophie, aka Joan of Arca, say hi Sophie. - Hi. - Hello. We are doing, we're actually gonna be recording this episode both with the audio as you would expect, but also we're doing a video. I guess we'll probably put it on YouTube or something. We'll figure it out later. So just find it on YouTube or Instagram or whatever. But regardless, thank you for joining us. We have an episode packed with various thingies. Sophie, how about we start the episode talking about the Bass Pro Shop Alabama Incident? - So a man in his 40s in Alabama and leads Alabama was naked. He jumped into the fish tank of the Bass Pro Shop. Apparently that's a thing I didn't know about. I know that Bass Pro Shop is known for its dioramas, but I didn't know about any fish tanks. Anyway, it's quite deep. He jumped into the fish tank naked. Started yelling and being crazy in there. The police came, I think because you know, he already crashed right into the building or a pillar. I think he crashed into a pillar before he went into the water. - He drove his, he crashed his car into the. - His family wasn't it too. - Oh. - Yeah, apparently. - He crashed his car into the building, into something. He crashed his car into something. It doesn't matter what. The point is he got out of the car, was completely naked and then jumped into the tank. The fish tank slashed aquarium of the Bass Pro Shop. - And the cops came, he got out of the water and like started yelling at them, then dived in again. And then he somehow jumped or fell, jumped or fell out of the aquarium onto the floor where he became unconscious because it's quite a drop. And I'm honestly surprised he didn't have more serious injuries. Could that not have killed him? That is a long drop, but he landed directly on his head, right? It looks like he did. I mean, he went unconscious. - Kind of on his head and face down almost. - Yeah. - Yeah, so. - How did that not. - I mean, I don't think falling, 'cause it looked like like a 12-foot drop. - Yes, but you can fall from. - Can you die from falling for 12-feet? Probably. - Probably, if you hit your feet, right? - Yeah, he hit right. - People fall just standing on the floor. - My friend fell while skateboarding and he almost died. So if you can fall from literally off your own feet, then. - I just think that would. I'm just surprised he wasn't more injured. Maybe he was and we didn't see, but his mugshot came out. They squirted him out. At first, he was like unconscious. They tried to handcuff him and then he woke up and started flailing around. And it was quite a struggle to actually get him handcuffed and they had to like drag him out. It's a pretty crazy scene. And. - So, and this went viral. - Yeah. - Okay, yeah, 'cause that. - That's why we're talking about him. - Yeah, okay, cool. Because this took place in Alabama. And let's be real. - At least a least eventful day in Alabama. - Yeah, that's exactly right. It wouldn't, I mean, yeah, so it sounds like from the police reports. He was on drugs. - I think he had some. His family says he has some serious mental health issues. Clearly, the man is not well. Which makes me feel a little bit bad about it going viral. I mean, first of all, though, how could it not go viral? You know what I mean? That's something that you can't just ignore. It's going to be talked about. But I do, I don't know, I feel sympathy for people with serious mental illness. - Of course. - Like, this is something that when people are suffering from serious mental health issues, especially those that include hallucinations and psychotic episodes, stuff like that, this stuff definitely happens a lot. And I guess, now that everyone has phones, they can just record these moments and then broadcast them on social media. - Yeah. - Which is kind of weird. - It happens a lot. - Yeah. And I don't want to be completely on my high horse about this because I admit that I found the video to be entertaining. The story is just outrageous, so it is mildly entertaining to be like, "Oh, wow, that's crazy." But I do feel a little bad about it. It's just something that is not meant to be seen. - I mean. - Yeah, I feel, and because it always goes viral. And of course, it's going to go viral, but I think it's okay to. Things are going to go viral. It's not like, "Oh, my God, you should feel ashamed of yourself for being entertained by this objectively outrageous clip." But I think you can tell from the way people comment and share on it that the understanding of mental. And it's not just this specific video. It's like so many videos of someone who's clearly having a psychotic episode going viral. And everyone's in the comments like, "OMG, this Karen is so crazy." Or whatever this, you know what I mean? Like, shameful. And. - Well. And I've heard a friend of mine say that Rain Fischer Kwon has talked about this like a couple of years ago. Or I don't remember when she was talking about a bit. She was basically saying that, you know, people these days talk about, like, talk about supporting mental health. But then, when people who are dealing with mental health issues do not adhere to socially acceptable, like, ideas of, like, polite behavior. - Like jumping in a pool of kids. - Like, when this stuff happens, we are reluctant to give grace and understanding to these people because the way that their mental illness is expressed is not something that we can easily maybe even relate to. If we don't have those specific types of mental issues, you know what I mean? Mental illness is not, like, a sanitary, like, easy thing. It comes out in very ugly ways, I think, is her point. - Yeah. - And we got to recognize that. - And of course, I'm sorry. - Yeah. And to be fair, even though it's kind of entertaining, like, we actually don't want people doing this. Like, we don't want people jumping naked into these pools, even though it's kind of funny. Because we want people to get treated before they get to that point. - Yes. Indeed. - So, I mean, and I do want to say, though, something I did enjoy about this is the image of him lying down on the ground. I thought it was, like, strangely beautiful, like a painting. - That's messed up. - Okay. I mean, if there's anything positive out of it, it's like, it's just, it's a really beautiful image. - That is disturbing. - If it were painted, if it weren't real. Maybe if it weren't actually real. I don't know. I found the photo to be, the image to be compelling is what I mean. - Okay. That's fair. Yeah. No, it's a visually stunning thing. But I didn't like seeing it, though, because I don't like seeing naked people on social media. - True. - I'm tired of seeing penis. Every single day I go on the internet, I see a penis, and we're going to talk more about that. - This being a later episode. - This is a big, big thing we talk about lately. - Yeah. - Every day I open up my Twitter, and I see a penis, and I call Sophie, I'm screaming and crying, saying, "It happened again." - There's a lot of nudity right now, and on social media, probably because X has just gone off the rails, and also, I think, movies are trying so hard to push the boundaries these days. It's getting into cringe territory. - But why are they not showing vagina? - They didn't pour things, which we will be talking about. - Well, we're going to be talking about poor things like that. - They actually have been showing that in the past, but maybe they should just show none of it. - I'm not approved, but they should show none of it. - No, I'm not approved either, it just feels kind of dumb. - So if you name one penis you have seen in a movie that you felt happy to see. - The Bass Pro Shops was a stimulating visual experience. - I was going to say, with the Bass Pro Shop Guy, it's really awesome when people with mental illness who aren't getting the help they need do this instead of shoot a bunch of people. - That's true, because this is. - This is a step in the right direction. - We're pretty innocuous compared to some things that could happen, of course. - No one got hurt at this. - No one got hurt, except the man and his family. - Also the children, if there are children who have to see that, the trauma of seeing that probably is not great, but. - But if they watch freaking a movie nowadays, they're going to see the same thing. - Yeah. - So. - Another Joe Biden win. - Yeah, like I said, this is an average. day in Alabama. This thing could only happen in either Alabama or Brazil or Florida or Florida. Florida someone would have gotten hurt. So thank you, Alabama for existing. People might make fun of Alabama as a state, but despite the fact that they are a fascist state, we still love you a little bit. Yeah. So hopefully this man has been charged with a lot of things. Hopefully he gets the help he needs. Oh, you you sweet sweet summer child. She's not he's not getting any help. What if he's actually a really bad person? That's possible too. I just I don't know. I hope we have we have big hearts. Yeah, I guess. So we see someone like suffering. We feel bad for them. True. It's true. No, seriously. It's like I do hope. I mean, who knows what kind of person this person is. We don't know, but I hope that this person clearly needs some mental health treatment. I don't think Alabama knows what mental health is. Good point. I wonder what percentage of crimes or arrests or whatever you want to call it fall under the category of person with like severe mental health issue having a breakdown and they that crime wouldn't have been committed if they just had enough. Zooloft in their system and therapy. Wow. Well, because I know this. This is a big question is like, how do we stop? Because a lot of times when people go to prison and then they're released, they usually end up back in prison. Yeah. And it's like, how do we, how do we like get them to stop them back to prison? And it's like one thing that's like a lot of people studies like, can we help, can we help them get jobs? Can it get, can we help them get training or whatever? So they maybe can leave prison and then get into the workforce and maybe they'll that'll prevent them from committing more crime and then going back to prison or whatever. And there's not very much success, there's not very many successful stories in terms of like these programs working and stopping people. There's a word for rescinding whatever they're stopping them from going back to prison. Like us, like us, like a cycle type situation. There's a word for when you go to prison and then you we offender, are you offending? Yeah, that works. I've heard that a lot. Okay, but so the one thing that has that there is actual research that shows helps is when the people who enter prison, enter a program of getting cognitive behavior or therapy, because then they can actually work on techniques and stuff like that to help them when they when they encounter challenges in their life to mentally be able to address those problems in healthier and more productive ways. So they're not like just in a constant messed up cycle. So that's actually really good. It's a I mean, it's it's a really good sign that like at least something is working. And when people just talk about like, Oh, America has a mental health problem and that's why there's so much crime in America. Like it's not entirely bullcrap. Like there seems to be something true to that. So obviously, hiring a bunch of therapists for prisoners is like probably like extremely, you know, we need like millions of therapists to do that. I don't even know if that's practical, but it's probably cheaper than like just perpetually having people imprisoned millions of people in prison and then having them leave and then commit more crime and all that stuff. So just something to think about. Somehow we turn this bass pro shop story into something good, something good a little more. I like it. It's a crazy story. Speaking of universal, you know what else is universal? What? The desire to dig tunnels. Every boy wants to dig a tunnel. I don't ignore the girls. We like tunnels too. What ratio of teenagers from boy to girl play Minecraft? Oh, okay, a lot of girls play Minecraft. First of all, okay. Have you ever heard of a secret passageway? That's a girl version of a tunnel. Oh, girls have secret passageways. Yeah. They have chamber of secrets. Yes. They have the chambers of secrets. So every teenager loves tunnels or secrets or chambers or passageways. Secret passageways. Like, oh, like Bridgeterbithia or Coraline. Yeah. Yeah. Like secret room, secret passageway, secret the 13 steps, all that kind of stuff. I would like to formally apologize to the audience for making it about boys when clearly it's about every teenager. But this story does involve mostly men. It does. What? What is this? So there's so we're talking about the tunnels that were uncovered. A dispute about tunnels in the Habad headquarters and the world headquarters of the Habad movement in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. And this is like a community of acidic Jews. Yes. And they have headquarters in Crown Heights. And what it was so that this headquarters is it. I don't know this Habad headquarters. Uh-huh. It had a synagogue. A synagogue. And there was a dispute. Yes, there was a dispute. So apparently according to a Habad spokesperson, there was a group of Yashiva students who they labeled as extremists who were maybe particularly. I think they were punks. I don't think they're extremists. I think they're punks. I mean, I don't know. They were digging tunnels without the laws permission. They were obviously punk rock. Yeah, I suppose so. Look, look, according to this article I have, there's a Sophie and I've been reading a bunch of articles and there's conflicting things. According to this article, they were digging because they wanted to get to a subterranean mikva, which is a ritual bath. Apparently, I don't know if this actually exists. If there was a rumor that there was a mikva or if they knew there was one. So they wanted to dig a tunnel all the way to the ritual bath because they wanted to get closer to the spiritual. Because they were so spiritual. There was like some. I think there's a rabbi that they like really looked up to as like a spiritual leader and apparently he used that mikva or something like that. That's what I've been seeing some places. But we don't really know why this tunnel was made. So we can't. I mean, we can't really make any judgment on the tunnels itself, although like the Habad, like organizations, like not happy about it obviously. Okay. Yeah. Okay. So we should probably hedge a little bit here. There's a chance that maybe once we get more information, maybe this tunnel is used for something like really awful. But I think the chances that are very low and I think it's much more likely. It's probably innocuous and innocent like. Teenagers love digging tunnels. They do. And they love breaking the rules. I mean, it's. I mean, it's not like ideal for like to mess up the synagogue or whatever, but I mean, yeah, it seems like a thing that like some like particularly zealous like teenage boys would do. But a lot of right-wing people online and like conspiracy theorists have been taking the opportunity to create really ludicrous stories about what the tunnels are used for, getting into blood libel. They claimed they that there were bloody mattresses in the tunnels, which is not true. Just like getting into the clinic, anti-Semitic stuff. Don't be anti-Semitic. Human trafficking. Yeah. So there's a lot of that on Twitter. But the reason they were. Oh, I just. Go ahead. I was just gonna say the reason that the police were there is because I think the police came to close up the tunnels and there were some students who were like trying to prevent that and that's what happened. That's how they were arrested. It was literally the most punk thing I've ever seen because the leaders of the whatever you call it, I guess the synagogue, the leaders of the community wanted to close the tunnels because it was breaking the rules. Yeah. So they called the police to they were not happy about it. They called the police. They wanted to fill the tunnels with concrete, which would have been the right thing to do. But then you have a bunch of punk rock, acidic Jews saying no. Saying no to the bureaucracy and saying no to the law and saying we are gonna dig our tunnels. So obviously I support the tunnels for now until we find out more news that might change my mind. Yeah, I don't know. One thing that was funny was that apparently they found out these tunnels because like people were hearing like they were talking in their house or like their apartments. Oh, in the walls. Yeah, I heard that too. That's crazy. So they're clearly like really digging far if they're getting. I think they started during the pandemic. Like it's been a multiple year operation. It makes me really sad that when people see this story, some idiots jump to anti-Semitic conspiracy theories instead of the obvious most likely explanation, which is just which is that we all love tunnels. Yeah, and that like boys will be doing stuff like this. Oh, boys. Just kidding. It was boys in this specific situation. I mean, yeah, I don't know. We don't really know anything about it, but I mean, yeah, it just seems like teenage boys doing crazy stuff, but I do want to like be cautious because I don't know, like some members of the community like like my view this is like being disrespectful or upsetting. - The tunnels? - Yeah. - Because it's disrespecting like they're-- - Religious. - Religious. - Yeah, and they're like synagogue. - Yeah, no, well, obviously, yeah, for sure. There's, I would say this is like an internal dispute I have zero clue about. I'm sure there's acidic Jews who think it's pretty badass and I'm sure there's acidic Jews that I find it really disrespectful. I obviously don't mean any disrespect. I'm just saying, I think tunnels are pretty cool and I think getting into a big fight with the police is pretty cool. - Yeah, I mean, I have to agree with the tunnel. Like I, anytime that the secret tunnel's discovered it really peaks my interest and I get excited about the tunnel. So I'm fascinated by the story just by the fact that there were like, there was a tunnel. - Yeah. - Like that's just, I don't know. If there's a tunnel found anywhere, I'm like, okay, what's going on here? Like I wanna go in the tunnel. - And I hate to say it, but I hate to say it, but I think another reason why this story is so explosive right now is because it seems like the demand for antisemitic conspiracy theories right now is a little bit higher than usual to say the least. - That's true. I mean, maybe members of the hubbottleship are upset too because this is only just fueling antisemitism. - Yeah. - You know what I mean? - Yeah. - Because they put out a statement like talking about their disappointment and stuff like that and like about this in a goggling like vandalized and stuff like that. So they're not happy about it. - Yeah, you know, I hate to say it. This is not gonna sound punk. But if I were, you know, someone who actually had, you know, was actually a part of this community and attended this in a gogg and participated. I probably would not be happy about the tunnels too. - Yeah, I mean, yeah, it's just a crazy story. - It's crazy story. - It's a crazy story. Just like the best pro show. - But, you know, I think, you know, the antisemitism stuff really upsets me. 'Cause like I'm, 'cause I just know, like I just remember my old middle school. Like, or at every freaking school, you know, when there's like always like vandalism, there's always like, oh, we found like a hole in the bathroom wall. It's just like gradually breaking apart for years. - Yeah, I feel like that's like a very innocent, like kind of a like youthful fascination that transcends like communities, you know what I mean? - Yeah. - So like, we don't know, but like to me, well, obviously that antisemitic stuff is bullshit, but second of all, I think it was a pretty like innocent thing, probably, but it doesn't negate the fact that it, you know, kind of mess them stuff up in the community. So, we'll see what happens. - Yeah, I mean, it just sounds so like, I could just imagine like, 'cause it seems like the people who are doing this were on the younger side. - They were with between the ages of 19 and 21. - That's young. - Yeah. - So, I just feel like I could so easily just imagine like a rumor going around like, yo, there's like a sacred like bath that we have to dig to. Like, yo, we gotta like just chip away at this tunnel a little bit. Like that sounds like it just captures your imagination and it sounds so fun. That's all I'm saying. - Yeah. - Yeah. - So stop with the antisemitism and assume good intentions. - Yeah. And I mean, I don't know, the, the mix of the thing is interesting because it's not like, like, that's like a common thing, you know? So, but I think it's special because like, it was used by some specific like religious leader that they really admired and that, like, that was why. - Yeah, I'm interested to see if it is even, you know, like real. - Well, I haven't seen reports of it in every, I only saw the one that you sent me. I saw it in that one, so. - So, who knows? Maybe it's just literally just they got, they just captured their imagination. - Like, I saw things that they're trying to expand this in a dog, but I mean, why? - Because it's fun. - There's something going on. - So we'll see. Well, something interesting and fun is going on. And honestly, one of the most punk stories I've seen all year. (laughs) - Okay. - There's cool videos of them fighting the cops. - It is, it is cool. (laughs) - All right, so. - All right. - Good conversation about some epic tunnels. Now we're gonna talk about another epic New Yorker. - Oh. - 'Cause the tunnel story took place in Brooklyn. - Crown Heights, right. - Yeah. - Well, the honorary New Yorker, Gipsy Rose Blanchard, we have some updates on her since her departure from prison. She has been doing press in New York City. She went to Times Square where she shared some selfies and videos and yeah, she's just been, she's been everywhere and doing everything, talking about, she saw Broadway show. I think she saw, yeah, she saw Harry Potter in the first child. - Why didn't anyone tell, why didn't anyone warn her about seeing Harry Potter? - I don't think she said, she's definitely not aware of the discourse, but I'm sure she soon will be. - She will soon. - Yeah, there's a lot of things you miss in prison. - Yeah. - Anyway, so she's, of course, been dominating the news. I think people have calmed down about her becoming famous thing like I think people have chilled out about that. But yeah, she's been doing tons of press, posting on Instagram all the time, which I mean, I'm enjoying. - Shout out to Ryan. - Ryan's just always there, her husband, just always there supporting her. - Ryan's got a fire D. - Yeah, oh. - So Sophie, I don't know what that means. So explain to me what happened. - All right, so I don't have this pulled up. I actually, I do wanna pull it up. - You pull it up, I'll fill the microphone space with my own nonsense. - So let's talk about how fly Ryan looks in his epic glasses. He looks exactly like Peter Griffin, and there's no reason to deny it. And also, people say it's offensive for me to compare him to Peter Griffin. And I say, what's offensive about it? Literally nothing. If Peter Griffin is an icon, and so is Ryan as far as we know, as far as we can tell. - Yeah. All right, so Gypsy Rose Blanchard commented on a selfie of her husband saying, Ryan, don't listen to the haters. I love you and you love me. We do not owe anyone anything. Our family is who matters. If you get likes and good comments great, if you get hate then whatever, because they don't matter, I love you. Besides, they jealous because you are rocking my world every night. Yeah, I said it, the D is fire. Happy wife, happy life. Clearly she has not been versed in social media. - She's still learning. I mean, good for her, I guess. Maybe a little too much information, but maybe something that could have been said in person or in a text message to her husband, 'cause that is her husband, but it is, it's kind of cute. - It's cute, it's cute. - They're defending each other, you know? - Yeah, it's like those high school couples who were like oversharing on social media and being like really lovey-dovey on social media, to like an uncomfortable extent. That's like who puts like, it's been 685 days with you. And like, you know what I mean? Like those people are like, and they put like the date that they got together in their bio and then like, yeah. - So Ryan's bio on Instagram is literally like Gypsy Rose love of my life. - Yeah, like it's like, and I don't know about him, but it seems like Gypsy Rose Blanchard has, well first of all, she didn't really have a childhood. And then she spent eight years of her life. She was already an adult. She was an adult when she went to prison. I mean, she was, her, she also spent her life thinking she was younger than she actually was because her mother like changed her birth certificate to make it seem like she was like several years younger than she actually was. So she didn't know her real age. She spent eight years in prison into her 30s in prison. And, you know, during this time, she had Facebook when she was right before, she went to prison or she was on there. But you know, that's kind of where her knowledge of social media stopped. So like, she hasn't been online. She's learning, she's not aware of like the customs. - I have a couple things. But yeah. - Okay, so I really hate to say it and be that guy. I really do, but don't you think it's a little bit possible that maybe, you know, marrying someone who you've really only communicated through to, through prison, like letters and stuff like that. And then you come out of prison in your life is like radically different than it ever was. Maybe it's like not like, I hate to be that guy. I mean, so mean, but maybe it's like not the best move. - No, I mean, that is what people have been saying. I think that's why she made that comment. - Yeah. - She's saying screw the haters 'cause it needs fire. - I mean, yeah. I agree. None of us actually know what the relationship is like. I mean, they've been communicating for multiple years and through prison. Any prison relationship is probably difficult to maintain and develop for obvious reasons. And you're right. Like, she is released from prison and then is immediately made a celebrity. And I'm sure that could put a strain on on any relationship, especially one where this is like the first time you guys have been like two gather together in person, you know? So it's probably quite challenging and I'm sure this like, I know we were kind of critical of people being overly annoying about her, of people talking about her on social media and like treating her like she's famous, but I'm sure like if she's not careful or people aren't careful, her arm could be done. I will say, you know, this is the thing that's kind of surprising to me is that, yeah, I feel like Gypsy's release from prison is like, it's actually living up to and exceeding the hype because she, because everybody was excited about it, but it could have just been like a fun thing everyone talks about for a day where she's released and that's fun. But no, she is actually genuinely a very entertaining media figure. It's so because she's such an interesting prison, because you're right, she's like her maturity is like somewhat stunted. Yeah, she's, she's adult in many ways, but I'm sure like her pop culture knowledge and like social media knowledge must be like super stunted. And also too, she has a little bit of like, like she, it's, you know, it's not like she lived in a bubble and she was in prison. Like she made friends in prison. She picked up like prison, lingo and body language. And like she picked, like she is someone who's also deeply shaped by like going to prison in a, like in a, in a serious way too. So it's not like she's like completely just eight years disappeared from her life. No, no, you're right. It's just, I mean being in prison is a very unique experience that she says she felt more free in prison, which being in prison is unique. Her childhood is obviously very unique. And her, her life outside of prison is obviously very unique. Right. So it's, to me, it's a kind of like amazing that despite all these weird things, like whenever she's posting on social media, it's stuff that's actually juicy and entertaining and funny. And I'm enjoying it. I think she's definitely gotten some media training. She knows what she's doing. Like I think people are helping her with that. Good. I think that's good because. Yeah. I mean, as a person of her caliber and with, you know, being kind of isolated, like that is probably a good thing for her to have. But she's doing all this press primarily to promote her new docu-series coming out for a lifetime. The prison confessions of Gypsy Rose Blanchard. And she's also releasing, I think it's an e-book, it might be a physical book too, about it, conversations on the eve of freedom. I kind of want to watch it. I don't know. I don't know what is going to be said. I'm interested for sure. I mean, obviously the story of her use is very, that's what is talked about a lot. But I guess it'll be interesting to hear from her about like what it was like in the aftermath and like how she's moving on. She wants to be an advocate again, like for mental health and much housing by proxy and stuff like that. I feel like there's a part of me and I'm sure you and like a lot of people watching who are really rooting for her. You know, like they want her to just be as happy and successful after prison as possible. And because, you know, obviously because of what you went through and you want people to just, you want good things to happen in life, right? And I think the first impression with her out of prison is like, it looks like she's having a lot of fun. And you know, and it feels like it just feels like it's like a almost like a wholesome feel good story in a really weird way like this part that post her. And we'll see how long it lasts. Yeah. Hopefully forever. Well, I hope she can she's able to make a difference, you know, like, you know, I mean like like what she wants to do is to help victims and people who are suffering from unshowsons by proxy and help victims of mountain chosen by proxy. So I hope that like she's able to to really get into like the advocacy work that she says she wants to be doing. I hope I hope she moves to Brooklyn. Oh my god. Well, people are making jokes about her being in like the heaven by Mark Jacobs campaigns before before way before she was released. Well, now it's time to do it. Now it's time. And like mechala, I feel like she'll be there. Like I want her to have those maybe just for my own selfish desires to see that. I want to see Ryan walking down the street in like Ecoslada and like wearing like a like a cowboy hat. Oh my god. They moved to Boschwick. Yeah. Oh yeah, she's hooked up with some tabbies. Yes. And she's wearing like Rick Owens. She's like yeah, I started a nonprofit to help abuse victims and I started a poetry collective where yeah, we get together in my poetry. Yeah. And it's like also gallery and art space, collaborative, complex, collective. Yeah, we meet at Ryan's cafe every Sunday. Yeah. We have like CBD diffuser. Ryan's definitely doing CBD. Ryan is doing a lot of CBD. He doesn't play about. Ryan does not play. I still am not convinced it works, but maybe it does. That's a good question. All right. We're going to, we also, we're going to, as our final topic, we're going to review the movie port things. But before we do, is there any other things on Gypsy Rose that you want to check about? Not particularly. I don't, I think like the main updates here is she's doing a lot of press. Her thing is coming out, her docky series. And yeah, she continues to dominate pop culture. Is it sad that I have like New York City pride that she chose to come here? Yeah, I mean, it was Times Square that like Times Square is awesome. Times Square is awesome. I was just there. It's crazy. I mean, I feel like, I mean, mind you, like she did do some traveling when she was under the care of her mother, like through like make a wish foundation and all these like donations and like trips and stuff that her mother got for her. And we'll them for her for mother got for herself. Let's be honest. But anyway, like she's been around, but this is probably her first time, like really traveling and experience, like being a tourist on her own, on her own terms. As a free person. And the D is fire. And the D is fire. I mean, all I can say is good for her. She's kind of living the dream now. Yeah, like what else do you need? Fire D, check, famous, check. Times Square. Times Square, check. Then boom. Lifetime series. Check. Check. All right. All right. Four things. Review. Poor things. So Sophie, what is poor things? Poor things is a film by a director. He's a Greek. Who's Greek? I have trouble pronouncing his name. It's, I think it's Yorgos. Did it come out in 2023? Um, I think so. Maybe it just, it came out very recently. All right. Well, technically 2023. But it's a new film. It's still in theaters. It is a film from Yorgos Lentimos. I actually kind of got to write anything. He is the director of some movies such as The Favorite and The Killing of a Sacred Deer. Two movies that I do really like, especially I like The Killing of a Sacred Deer. And The Lobster. And The Lobster. Have you seen it? No. Okay. All right. So yeah. Killing of a Sacred Deer is quite good. It's, I found that, um, well, he's known for having like really wild movies. That's his weird, weird, strange movies. This, this poor things felt a bit different because, from his other films, because The Favorite is also a period piece. It's based on, uh, Queen Anne and her political advisors. Like, they have like a lesbian love affair. And well, kind of thing is like drama and craziness. It's like a dark comedy. Like a lot of his movies are dark comedies. They're usually disturbing. Again, it's a period piece in the sense that Queen Anne was a real person. The characters were real people. Like some, most of them, some of them were real people. But unlike poor things, they do their, the costumes are, and like the set is relatively historically accurate. And then his other film, The Killing of a Sacred Deer takes place in modern times. And it's a lot, it's a lot more, same with The Favorite, like muted in color. Kind of gray. Well, the first half of, oh, yeah, poor things was in black and white. That's right. It actually, it actually, the first half of poor things reminded me of a decent amount of eraser head. Oh, that's a good point. Yeah, I didn't even think of that, but that is a great observation. Because this black and white takes place in like a steam punk environment that maybe is sort of based off like 100ish years ago, but it's clearly also not a really place because it's like a little bit fantastical. So yeah, it's about a freaking - Four things. - Four things. It's about a, well, I don't think this is too much spoilers. It's about a certain, we're gonna spoil some stuff. It's about a surgeon who finds a woman after she had committed suicide, but she was pregnant with a baby, and the baby was still alive. So they took the brain out of the baby and put it into the grown woman's body and brought the woman back to life. And-- - As the baby's brain. - With the baby's brain. So it's a baby's brain in a grown woman's body. And from there, it's kind of like, Sophie uses it as like a Frankenstein story. I think it's a good way of putting it. - Yeah, it's a Frankenstein story. It's a very like twisted surrealist coming of age story. - Lots of gore 'cause of the surgeries and stuff. - It takes place in like an alternate like universe of the like Victorian era the 1890s. But again, like the costumes and the set design is like very surreal and fantastical and not completely historically accurate. Mind you, I do not really care if it's going to be a surrealist film and it's like technically a period piece. I do not care if you are not historically accurate. So like that didn't bother me. I mean, the fashion was kind of his like the big sleeves and stuff like that is accurate. It was like a fun reimagining. It was like a fairy tale. - It was steampunk. - It was quite steampunk. Yeah, so my favorite, like something I really enjoyed about it was the set design and the costumes. - Yes. - It gets, it gets very thorny. - It gets very, it gets horny and weird very quickly. - Very quickly. - Much too quickly for my taste. - Yeah. I think, well, I mean, Sophie and I both enjoyed the movie. - Yeah. - It was really fun to watch. - It's a very entertaining. - Definitely would recommend you watch it. - It's a very, it's a whole adventure story. The thing though is like if you go on a letter box, you're gonna see the reviews are very polarizing because it's an awesome movie. Lots of people giving it five stars. It's so weird and disturbing and fun. And it's supposed to be disturbing. But like a core part of the movie is that the character Bella, who's the baby's brain inside of a grown woman, is a lot of her character growth and her adventure is driven by sex and like sexual adventures and her running away and having a lot of sex and even becoming a sex worker and all this stuff. And obviously it's outrageous, you know, 'cause you have a baby's brain having sex with grown men. - And a baby's brain, also like a baby's understanding of the world and like full neurobility of a baby, the lack of understanding of what's happening to you and like what's appropriate and what's, you know. So it's very disturbing because you're basically seeing like a very young child essentially be a taken advantage of. And it feels very uncomfortable. - And the thing that's gonna be clear though is that the character Bella is like really, really, really horny. So it's like a horny baby. And clearly in the movie it's supposed to be, it's supposed to be disturbing and it's supposed to be evocative. - And maybe even a critique of men who are like into that idea of like an innocent, like naive girl and like taking advantage of her, like really turns you on. - The men in the movie liked her more when she was like a baby brain than when she got more mature throughout the movie. Because they love the idea of a beautiful woman with a baby brain that they could just have a lot of sex. - Yeah, that's the ideal for like a lot of men. - So it's interesting 'cause a lot of people are saying through that perspective it is a very feminist movie. - Right, but there's also a lot of other people who are saying, why is it depicting her being essentially taking advantage of as something that's like an enlightening experience that's liberating? - And also like you said this earlier, she really doesn't display a lot of fear or disgust or, you kind of said the movie was sort of sending the message that women inherently want to be taken advantage of because sex is a pleasurable thing. But the fear of it or the personal boundaries are a learned thing and not natural. Which you know what I mean? - Yeah. - Which say just like a woman inherently are craving sex. - Yeah. - Which is sure women crave sex, but they want sex all the time, even if they say they don't want sex. - I feel like the movie treads a very fine line between it's supposed to be disturbing, it's supposed to be shocking and it's supposed to also send a message that certainly has truth to it that women are repressed sexually or whatever. But I feel like it just goes a little bit into the territory where it's sending an implicit message that actually the only reason women aren't going around and having a ton of sex with strangers because of social pressures, without acknowledging actually there's actual genuine fear and anxiety of being taken advantage of and to depict an extremely naive baby as someone who's super excited to have sex with every stranger. It's a little weird. - And your whole journey is viewed through the lens of her sexuality. - Yeah. - I guess her relationship to sex changes that she grows more intelligent and mature. But it's still, people saying that this film is feminist, I understand why they say this because as I was watching it, I was definitely picking up on feminist ideas. Like we mentioned earlier about how men are interested in baby-brained women, basically, as sex objects. That is true for sadly, I think a decent portion of men, to some extent. But again, this film was written and directed by men. - Yeah. - And when that's the case, I struggled to latch on the idea that this was an explicitly feminist film. You might be able to, I think there were elements of that where that was intentional. They were intentionally trying to comment on that or include elements of feminism throughout the film, but I don't know. When no women were involved in the writing and directing, and this isn't about a representation thing, it's just like the people who are writing and creating the movie are men. So who's this, can they really make a feminist film? That's what I'm trying to say. - Yeah, I mean, if you kind of take a step back 20 feet, like this movie could have been an amazing, excellent movie with zero sex in it whatsoever. So why choose to write a movie where the primary vector of growth and the thing that drives the plot is sex in the first place? - I can't remember it exactly and who said it, but. - Abraham Lincoln. - Yes. Abraham Lincoln once said that men make fun of women for looking at themselves in the mirror and for being vain, but that man is also the artist who paints the woman naked and enjoys looking at her as he paints her. - Yeah. - So when you see the creator of the film, I know this quote doesn't exactly connect, but when you see the creators of this film make a movie that has some feminist undertones, but also shows her having a lot of very explicit sex scenes, by the way, they're not just sex scenes, they're very long and pornographic. - They're long and pornographic. - Yeah, you see like Emma Stone's front completely naked. - Yeah, and men too, you see it a lot of-- - You see more penises. - Yes, it's true. And you see stuff in the brothels. So you see a lot of really really kinky, horny stuff. You see basically almost everything you can see with sex. I mean, not everything, but you know what I mean? - I saw everything. - You saw everything. It's all in there. And sure, there are some feminist undertones. Maybe they're critiquing the ethics or morals of sex. But they're also the ones showing it a lot. - Yeah. - And it's like, you're taking a voyeuristic pleasure in writing these scenes. - It feels horny. - It wants to watch the scene. - It feels horny. It's like, how could you simultaneously write a scene that feels like it's supposed to honestly depict exploitative sex, but then also kind of make it like horny as well. It's like a little bit weird. - I'm critiquing it, but I'm also like putting it in 'cause I think it's, I'm enjoying it. - I can't help it. - That's kind of how it feels when you're looking. - And I'm a fan of the director by the way. I can't help but wonder if that was a part of the decision. I don't know. - Yeah, well, I think like the conversation-- - That's a lot of stories, by the way. - Yeah, true. - Stories written by men that women resonate with because there are-- - Mario movie. - Sorry. - I haven't seen it, but that's what helps you understand. Minecraft movie coming soon. - With Jack Black. - Jack Black. That's gonna be the feminist movie of the century. - True. - But like, yeah, so anyway, like there are a lot of stories that art that like women resonate with, even when they are created by men because you know, you feel that they depict elements of the female experience really well. But then what usually happens is, and it's usually has to do with sex, that there's like some, something that's just like, oh, I really like this, but this part really makes me uncomfortable and I feel like this is. anti-a woman, you know, but like you relate to the story in some ways, but then it's like ruined by like some scenes that are really openly sexualized and feel exploitative and like horny in a bad way. Well, I mean from just from reading Twitter, I know that sex work and like how feminists should talk about and think about sex work is like one of the most controversial and debated topics and feminism and the fact that it's like a bunch of men who are kind of like jumping right into it and saying sex works in power. Sex work is in power. It's like that coming from men is like a little bit, you gotta be a little critical of that. Yeah. In my personal opinion, I think that sex work is portrayed as something that is easy and kind of a glamour. Like start only fans. They'll make money in two seconds and you know, you can pay for your mother's house and stuff like that. Like it's portrayed as a very glamorous, get rich, quick scheme. When in reality, it is a super for many women a very dehumanizing, challenging career in which you're ostracized from your family and friends. You are judged by you are simultaneously someone who people find sexually desirable. You're like an object of someone's fantasy, but at the same time those men judge you for being a whore. You know, like men look like look at naked videos of you, but they'll at the same time like they'll judge you as a whore. You know, it's it's both things at the same time. Diseases abuse go on like sex work and like pornography is not an easy career. It's a very challenging career and there are a lot of negative consequences. This is not to this is not a critique of women who go into the industry. So nothing there's nothing wrong with the women who decide to go into this, but I think the industry itself and a lot of men who who buy into it. I think it's a predatory, a largely like predatory system and needs some serious reform and this I'm not anti sex work. I'm just anti like industry. If that makes sense. Well, when I go to the brothel, I am a gentleman, I am the gentleman of the gentleman. I whenever I go to a brothel, I always say, here's $1,000 for every lady in the office. They can have it and I am doing absolutely nothing. And also, I'm going to tell all the fellow men in the city to do the same thing. And that's basically what poor things is. And then at the end, poor things, she becomes a socialist, the end. Yeah. And I thought, okay, that's just very like, okay, poor things has gone woke. But anyway, one part of it that I actually did quite like was the scene. There's a part of the film where Bella becomes acquainted with her mother's past because she is living in her mother's body, but she has her own independent brain. So she gets to know like who her mother was because she doesn't know this because first of all, she didn't even know like how she came to be. And then once she finds out she like encounters her mother's husband, who is technically like because of her body, she's in her her husband. Anyway, she goes to like be with him for a bit and she realizes how awful he is and abusive he is. And it's kind of like, I don't know, maybe as women, you, you, you recognize that your mom goes through a lot and you, you know, your mother as your mom, you don't really know much, you hear, you hear stories, but you never really really know who was my mom before I came to be. You know, I mean, and like in her own like when she was a person before she like, fulfilled the singular role as like a mother, you know, I mean, or a wife, her as like a more independent person, I guess. Well, this is definitely a part of the movie to where it gets a little bit trippy because it's like, she is both her mother and herself because it's like, she's sort of going back to the life she already had, but it wasn't her life, it was her mom's. I can relate to that learning like as I get older, as I begin to like resemble my mom or an age and appearance and I get to understand like. And also just getting older like becoming more mature and like learning things about my mom's life, I begin to understand her more and like the thing she went through. And I thought that was like a very interesting idea. That's just how I like related to that scene, I guess, or that that part of the film of being like, you don't you're not you don't know when asks to be born, you know, you're just and that's kind of what happened with Bella, like, Bella, without her mother's consent without her consent, she came to be, you know, and I mean, we all have to live with that. Yeah, that's so actually interesting because they do they do portray them bringing Bella into existence as an ethical dilemma because it lacked consent, but like it's so true, every person's brought to existence without consent. So yeah, I don't know. And you also like and you do in a lot of ways inherit your parents, physique and mentality and stuff like that, you know, if you read it like that. You know, you are in many ways like becoming your parents. Yeah, so I'd say with this movie, even though Sophie and I had a lot of weird icky strange feelings about it and there's a lot of weird things to critique. Ultimately, it was a very entertaining movie and also very thought provoking. So that altogether makes it like a movie we overall give a thumbs up. And like, I there are a lot of really funny moments too. And like, I really I really enjoyed watching it. It's a really fun watch and I loved seeing her do all her shenanigans and like get more mature and like learn things. I had a really fun time with it. I just it's like one of those movies. I think I talked to about the handmade in like this where I like love them. I like and I love most of the movie, but the sex scenes feel really like horny and exploitative and like. Like, it's supposed to be a little bit pornographic male gazey. I hate to use that term, but like male gazey. It's a term for a reason. Yeah. And a male and the male gaze is like more accurate. Like it's the term was used to describe film. Specifically today. How do you even respond? Um, so that that term was was created in reference to film specifically. And now it's used in like real life. So it doesn't really make sense. People using it wrong all the time. But it's made to describe film. So me using the term male gaze actually plots here. They feel male gazey there. They they feel like they are there to sexually excite the male viewers or even the creators of the film itself. Well, yeah, and I have and also some movie I love. Massive movies. I really like it. Yeah. And they're great. Yeah. Handmaiden's great. This movie is great. And I would say we recommend you watch it. And I would say even if you don't feel like watching it, but you should. Go on the poor things letter box and read the reviews because you're going to see half star reviews and five star reviews. And it's so it's so entertaining because you're going to see paragraphs and people with half star reviews saying it's like the most misogynist garbage you've ever seen and five star reviews saying it's like the most beautiful feminist masterpiece ever. I always find it fun when I watch people on the internet, lose their minds. You're about to see some of the worst takes of all time on letter box. I mean, as usual, letter box like reviews are usually hot. Unlike the very useful sometimes. Sometimes they're insane. The nuanced base news network take, which gives it a thumbs up. Yeah, I would say overall certified fresh overall certified with a little bit of a little bit of like I would say we like like 75% of it. Yeah. And we would be down to watch it again. I kind of do want to watch it again, but just because I enjoyed watching it and I want to think about it more critically. But it is a long film, but it is a very like visually stunning fun movie to watch. So I recommend the recommended. All right. Well, I think that is the episode. All right. Well, thank you guys so much for listening or watching this podcast episode. Make sure to check out our Patreon for future Patreon content. And yeah, anything else Kyle? Nope. All right. This has been base news network. Bye. [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO]