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1:25

what is this voice? I

1:27

don't, well you don't, it's

1:29

like a sexy. Listen, he

1:31

books one voiceover job. I

1:34

know, I just saw like

1:36

it was a little tri-hard

1:38

you were like trying to

1:40

be, you know, like luring

1:42

in. Absolutely, absolutely. Him whispering in

1:44

your ear and you're like, my

1:47

ear is wet from your mouth,

1:49

please, back up. Yeah, and I

1:52

don't know, I mean, and don't

1:54

take this personally, but I like

1:56

a little sugar in the tank.

1:59

Like I like you. You know

2:01

what I mean? Just give me

2:03

like a dangly ear. You know

2:05

I got these soft teeth. I

2:07

can't be having those sugar hyphes.

2:09

Yeah, don't, don't go fall away.

2:11

You know what I mean? Just

2:14

give me like a dangly ear.

2:16

You know what I mean? She

2:18

said, I just won't, what, why

2:20

is that the style? It is

2:22

one dangly earring for any man.

2:24

Why, you know, I dated a

2:26

man that wore a dangly earring

2:29

and it was a little, it

2:31

was a little good and I

2:33

liked it. It was very hot.

2:35

It was stylish. And you know

2:37

what, I hear you, because you

2:39

know what it is, it's giving

2:42

a little roofio from hook, that's

2:44

the second time I mentioned, it's

2:46

like a little feather hanging out

2:48

of his ear, you know? It's

2:50

a feather, yes, it's like, listen,

2:52

if I'm gonna date a man,

2:54

I want one who looks like

2:57

he could be the victim of

2:59

a hate crime. Just a little

3:01

safer. Don't give ya, don't give

3:03

me a man. Give me a

3:05

fine art, like that's what I

3:07

need. Really, because right, with a

3:09

man, you never know what the

3:12

fuck's gonna happen, so back up.

3:14

Like a hey girl, I feel

3:16

a little, I should feel a

3:18

little, and that's you, Dawn. I

3:20

feel like, I feel like, I

3:22

feel like, I feel like I'm

3:25

always holding out hope that you

3:27

and I might still get together,

3:29

I don't know. Wait, wait, wait.

3:31

I hate you for that. Let

3:33

me fix it. Hello, and welcome

3:35

back to Let Me Fix It,

3:37

the podcast that says, You may

3:40

be a thorn in your artistic

3:42

side. A rock in your storytelling

3:44

shoe, but Tyler Perry, clearly ain't

3:46

going nowhere. I'm for Jessica Ramsey.

3:48

I'm an actress, producer, writer, and

3:50

graphic designer. And I'm Delongran. I'm

3:53

an actor, singer, photographer. and a

3:55

writer and sometimes an educator. Class,

3:57

I don't know if you pay

3:59

attention to these reviews on rotten

4:01

tomatoes.com, but the film we are

4:03

talking about this week has critics

4:05

giving it a 54% on the

4:08

tomato meter, which I guess means

4:10

it's rotten. I didn't know that.

4:12

Yeah, like 50% is not fresh.

4:14

Well, that's so crazy to me

4:16

because I think 50% is above

4:18

the mid-point, but evidently you have

4:20

to have these. Are you drinking

4:23

some 50% fresh milk? Listen, if

4:25

you're actually drinking like cow milk,

4:27

something's wrong with you anyway. But

4:29

like, yes, yeah, yeah, we're not

4:31

doing no titty milk over here.

4:33

I'm doing, I'm only doing an

4:36

almond. Right, almond cashew, right, you

4:38

know. Yeah, but, but if we

4:40

were, what if we were talking

4:42

about a cow? 50% would not

4:44

cut it. You're right. If we're

4:46

talking about food that's rotten or

4:48

not, 50% is not a place

4:51

where you want to risk, where

4:53

I'm trying to risk. Exactly. Exactly.

4:55

But I guess over 60% means

4:57

that the review is fresh or

4:59

that the movie is good. But

5:01

there's this thing called the popcorn

5:04

meter, which is the audience reviewing

5:06

metric. This film is giving a,

5:08

the audience is giving it a

5:10

72% so. Well I don't trust

5:12

the audience. The audience is not

5:14

smart. Right that could be paper

5:16

in the audience with that. So

5:19

which group is right? Right. Today

5:21

we are tackling the six triple

5:23

eight which is Tyler Perry's World

5:25

War II drama about the only

5:27

all black female battalion in the

5:29

war. Now Fran, I wonder how

5:31

much of this audience rating is

5:34

reflective of the fact that the

5:36

movie is based on a true

5:38

somewhat. unknown story. Oh, that is

5:40

a good point. I'm going to

5:42

say a hundred percent of it.

5:44

Class, some of this film's plot

5:47

points seemed so over-traumatic and romanticized

5:49

that we had to do some

5:51

fact-checking. The backbone of this film

5:53

is that it is an all-black,

5:55

all-female battalion answered the call to

5:57

serve in the war and the

5:59

war. in the armed services. Now

6:02

what's crazy, but not shocking,

6:04

okay, this is America after

6:06

all, is that their battalion

6:08

of over 800 soldiers were

6:10

not recognized for their service

6:13

until, wait for it, 2022,

6:15

when they were awarded the

6:17

Congressional Gold Medal. What is the

6:19

standard? Like who, how, I, I,

6:22

I, I, I, I got no

6:24

words. What is the standard for

6:26

a congressional medal? Like everyone who

6:28

goes over or serves in the

6:30

armed services, aside from the check,

6:32

should be given a medal. Thank

6:34

you so very much. Yeah, I.

6:36

Yeah, I kind of feel like it's

6:39

almost fucked up to start giving out

6:41

like prizes for war. Like you did

6:43

the thing and you came back alive?

6:45

Like it's almost at this point, it's

6:47

like a participant, not a participation trophy,

6:50

but like why are we ranking who

6:52

did the best? Like that's that's fucked

6:54

up. And honestly, if I were these

6:56

ladies, I'm glad that they were recognized.

6:59

I'll be like, I'll be like, fuck

7:01

y' y'all. I mean, I

7:03

do the math, what's on was 80 years? World

7:05

Two was in a, what, 45? Like that's crazy.

7:07

Though, the ladies that are left are

7:09

so old, now you're trying to invite

7:11

me somewhere, bitch, bring the congressional thing

7:14

to me. Or I don't fucking line. I ain't

7:16

leaving my living room. Do you know where

7:18

it takes to walk up some stairs? Shit.

7:20

No, you better fed X that

7:22

motherfucker straight to my door. True.

7:24

So class, what happened? How?

7:27

Why do critics seem to

7:29

hate it? Yet audiences love

7:31

it. How did this riveting

7:33

story go from a buried

7:35

historical treasure to an unearthed

7:37

artistic cubic circonia? First, we'll

7:39

unpack some of the two

7:41

events, compare them with the

7:43

film, and then do what

7:45

we do best here on

7:47

the pod, and each picks

7:49

how we would fix it.

7:51

So let's dive in. This

7:53

is the six triple eight.

7:55

Let me fix it. Cat. Cat.

7:58

Cat. Cat. Cat. Cat. Cat. Throughout

8:00

World War II, there was an

8:02

open question about what role black

8:04

female soldiers could play in the

8:07

war, or what role the United

8:09

States would allow them to play.

8:11

So for context, there were about

8:13

140,000 soldiers in the women's army

8:15

corps whack during World War II.

8:18

Of those 6,500, less than 5%

8:20

were black. Now, due to soldiers

8:22

shorted during the end of the

8:24

war, 17 million pieces of male

8:26

went undelivered to soldiers, which was

8:28

affecting morale. interesting to me because

8:30

again we are so spoiled when

8:32

I put something in the mail

8:35

it just fucking gets there. I

8:37

don't think about the logistics. I

8:39

mean sometimes the friend sometimes the

8:41

mailman will be at the door

8:43

at like 6 p.m. and I'm like

8:46

you still going? I'm like damn damn

8:48

you've been working all day. Oh and

8:50

here's a thing and I will say

8:52

I've lived in this building for like

8:54

five years. And the mail is very

8:56

consistent, but every once in a while

8:59

I'll get a piece of mail for

9:01

like a neighbor or something of my

9:03

mail won't get in my box. And

9:05

I'll be so fucking annoyed. And then

9:07

like when I watch this movie, I

9:09

was like, oh, got to. Oh, right.

9:12

Somebody has to like physically pick through

9:14

and figure out where the shit is

9:16

going. I mean, it just truly like

9:18

I felt so dumb. So back to

9:20

the story here. At the same time.

9:22

Civil rights activist Mary McClod

9:25

Bethune played by Oprah Winfrey

9:27

in the film which Oprah

9:29

at this point you're too famous

9:32

way to you can't be because

9:34

you're just Oprah right you are

9:36

a one named woman literally okay

9:39

so she was lobbying with

9:41

her close friend first lady

9:43

Eleanor Roosevelt to find a

9:45

role for black women in

9:47

the war overseas enter battalion

9:49

6888 which would become the

9:51

six triple eight central postal

9:53

directory battalion that is a

9:56

fucking it's a lot of words it's a

9:58

lot of words so the six triple 8

10:00

battalion would be again the only

10:02

all black all female unit that

10:04

the army deployed during World War

10:06

two. Let's just give a moment

10:08

for that. And the fact that

10:10

it took us this long to

10:12

find out about them. I didn't

10:14

know about this. I mean, well,

10:16

you know, he who controls the

10:18

story controls the power, right? Yeah.

10:20

Because it's crazy. So this unit

10:23

was led by Army Major Charity

10:25

Adams, who's played by Kerry Washington

10:27

in the film. Major Adams and

10:29

Her Battalion were given six months

10:31

to sort and deliver this backlogged

10:33

17 million pieces of mail, which

10:35

was sitting in these hangars in

10:37

Birmingham England. It only took them

10:39

90 days. Go ahead. Okay? These

10:41

women had to create their own

10:43

index card system for sorting the

10:45

mail. They worked in three different

10:47

shifts, 24 hours a day, seven

10:49

days a week. They sorted 65,000

10:51

pieces of mail a day. Now,

10:53

some of this may seem a

10:56

little fantastical, but it is all

10:58

true, which gives even more like,

11:00

makes me question Tyler Perry's artistic

11:02

liberties that he takes in the

11:04

film even more. Yeah. That is

11:06

a great segue because while we

11:08

were surprised to learn how much

11:10

of the film honors these women's

11:12

story, Tyler Perry's script does water

11:14

down some of this stuff into

11:16

these very two-dimensional archetypal characters at

11:18

times, which seems to be like

11:20

his speciality. You know, Tyler's not

11:22

giving you a well-rounded anything. No,

11:24

he's giving you an eight-by-11 sheet

11:26

of paper, you know. No, he's

11:29

giving you. It's just so over

11:31

the top. It's just so over

11:33

the top. And let's just start,

11:35

you know, right from the top,

11:37

the film's lead character, Lena Derecotte,

11:39

played by Ebony Obsidian. What a

11:41

great name. I had to look

11:43

her up. I was like, I

11:45

changed. Did you change Obsidian? Because

11:47

Ebony Obsidian is, you know, they're

11:49

both too dark. It's very on

11:51

the nose, but it's cool. But

11:53

it's cute. It's very cute. So

11:55

Lena and her white love interest,

11:57

Abrams, declare their love for one

11:59

another just before he departs to

12:02

join the war. Abrams unfortunately dies

12:04

in one of his first combat

12:06

missions and when Lena is notified,

12:08

she joins the Women's Army Corps

12:10

in response. However, you're not sure

12:12

she thinks she can find him

12:14

or if his death and the

12:16

army simply give her an excuse

12:18

to do something with her life.

12:20

The other thing about this is

12:22

we meet him and he does

12:24

I mean they have they have

12:26

three scenes together yes that show

12:28

us how in love they are

12:30

and it's it's unclear because he

12:32

is really pursuing her and she's

12:35

kind of like oh really I

12:37

don't know she's so lukewarm about

12:39

it and then like the next

12:41

scene he's dead and she's upset

12:43

I'm sorry to laugh it's just

12:45

it's so fast yeah I get

12:47

I get it on the one

12:49

hand because I gotta be honest,

12:51

I don't remember how long the

12:53

film was. Long. But, who? It

12:55

was like two hours. Okay, well

12:57

then that kind of pisses me

12:59

off now in hindsight because I

13:01

feel like they could have given

13:03

that, they should have given that

13:05

more because granted how it inspires

13:08

her throughout the film. I just.

13:10

I just didn't really buy that

13:12

they were in love and I

13:14

didn't care. I didn't know who

13:16

he was, I didn't know who

13:18

she was, I didn't know who

13:20

those black ladies at her house

13:22

were. I didn't know what was

13:24

happening. We always do this class,

13:26

we get to the fix early,

13:28

but we can't help ourselves because

13:30

this is what we do. But

13:32

I just to your point, like,

13:34

if we had seen shots of

13:36

them like driving together, or maybe

13:38

they're in some field and they're

13:41

sitting, these two people are in

13:43

love and by like by the

13:45

context of history and the time

13:47

period we would go damn to

13:49

a black man a black woman

13:51

and a white Man, that's gonna

13:53

have, they're gonna have issues. And

13:55

I think he's Jewish, right? He's

13:57

Jewish, right? He's Jewish. So I

13:59

think even that, it's such a

14:01

throwaway when it's mentioned. Because it's

14:03

not purposeful in this. Right, but

14:05

considering the time period. Sure. This

14:07

dude is like, I'm going to

14:09

fight in World War II. Like,

14:11

and they mentioned Hitler a few

14:14

times. Yeah, it's very throwaway. It's

14:16

like, oh, you know, Hitler, that

14:18

guy. Do y'all know what's happening?

14:20

Like, and also, even he like

14:22

picks her up at school and

14:24

there's some like white girl, they're

14:26

like, well, we're mad that you're

14:28

picking up this black girl at

14:30

school. And it feels so like

14:32

no stakes. So low stakes. And

14:34

I'm like, wouldn't y'all be like,

14:36

couldn't she be like killed? There's

14:38

danger around it. Yes. There's no

14:40

danger. He's like, come hop up

14:42

in my car. And they're like,

14:44

bbab, bbab. Like from saying, the

14:47

first part of this film is

14:49

about these two stars. Like that

14:51

is exactly one of my critiques

14:53

of the score just feels like

14:55

it is like a TGIF sitcom.

14:57

It feels like now the strings

14:59

are coming in and now we

15:01

get, I use the term a

15:03

lot, but now we get the

15:05

allegory and everyone has changed, but

15:07

they're better, you know, it's very,

15:09

so like from was saying, the

15:11

first part of this film is

15:13

about these two star cross lovers,

15:15

they're black and Jewish, they're black

15:17

and Jewish. who the world won't

15:20

let be together. Then April dies

15:22

and Lena's purpose in life is

15:24

just to find him. We don't

15:26

know why she, what she wants

15:28

to do with her life. The

15:30

film never really addresses... beyond Abrams,

15:32

what she wants for herself. Again,

15:34

we're getting to the fix here,

15:36

but I mean, I will say

15:38

this, there are multiple conversations that

15:40

her mother and this mysterious woman,

15:42

Suzy, who lives in a- Another

15:44

black lady who lives with her,

15:46

who is she? We don't know.

15:48

They never mention who this is.

15:50

They do keep talking about wanting

15:53

to send Lena off to college,

15:55

but not being able to afford

15:57

it. But Abrams, her deceased lover

15:59

is the only- thing that seems

16:01

to keep driving Lena's character, which I

16:03

don't, I have questions about. Yeah, and

16:05

here's the truth of it, is

16:07

while Abraham was a real person

16:09

who died earlier in his combat

16:12

service, the actual Lena Darakot was

16:14

not in love with him, nor

16:16

was she waiting for his return.

16:18

So in a story about black

16:20

women's contribution to World War II,

16:22

Why are we centering a love

16:24

story with a white man that

16:26

wasn't really accurate? I know, because

16:28

Tyler Perry was involved. And that's

16:30

what he loves, is he Chris

16:32

Sauce? When there's actually so much

16:34

that is true, that's where you

16:37

choose to get creative. And, and, you

16:39

know, again, I'm gonna, I'm gonna

16:41

really get out of my comfort

16:43

zone here. Because I also know,

16:45

as someone who is in the

16:47

process of trying to sell a movie

16:49

right now. the studio loves to come in

16:51

there and be like where can we get

16:53

you know like and so that has given

16:56

me that has given me a little bit

16:58

more sympathy sure in the sense and even

17:00

if and even if you are Tyler Perry

17:02

okay even if you are at that level

17:04

studios love to be like yeah but no

17:06

one's gonna watch this if there's no love

17:08

story there has to be a love story

17:11

you know what I mean like and and

17:13

to be fair She has a love story

17:15

with somebody else later on, but like, you

17:17

know, it's up in the stakes or whatever.

17:19

So I don't know, maybe that's where this

17:21

came from. Well, and like you said,

17:23

like, Tyler Perry is no stranger to

17:26

the process to entertainment, obviously, right? So

17:28

he knows what distribution is, and he

17:30

knows what it what it takes to

17:32

get distributed, and so he's worked with

17:34

Netflix before, right? shopping it around or

17:36

if Netflix kind of approached him about

17:39

it, who knows what the process was.

17:41

To your point, he probably was, you

17:43

know what, let me just put this

17:45

in here so I know that we

17:47

can get the movie sold. I truly,

17:49

Delon, I feel like I have these

17:51

new lenses on when I'm watching movies,

17:53

and that does not say I can't

17:55

still be critical of them, but sometimes

17:57

I have these moments where I'm like, was...

18:00

Was that in the script or was

18:02

it different before the studio came in

18:04

and meddled? Did they make that choice

18:06

just for the purpose of, you know,

18:08

getting it on screen and... Something

18:10

recently came out about Netflix that

18:12

they have been pushing this idea

18:14

of second screen Meaning really overriding

18:16

things because they understand that a

18:18

lot of people watching are fucking

18:20

looking at their phones And so

18:22

they're they are instructing writers to

18:25

write in a way where you

18:27

could half listen and so it

18:29

Yeah, they're calling it second screen.

18:31

And I have heard this from

18:33

other writers, but then I saw

18:35

an article about it recently and

18:37

I was like, mother fuck. Because

18:39

sometimes I'm listening and I'm like, why

18:41

are they talking like this? Like they're just

18:43

talking in a way that doesn't feel natural.

18:46

Is it that they're repeating the dialogue or

18:48

something? I mean, not to put it on

18:50

the spot, but... No, it's not that they're

18:52

repeating the dialogue, it's just that...

18:54

they're not leaving things up to

18:56

inference. Like they're just speaking in a

18:59

way, I think a few episodes ago,

19:01

I said like the lines feel bald.

19:03

Is the way that I have described

19:05

it or heard it described in writer's

19:08

rooms. And I, after hearing about it

19:10

from another writer friend and then I

19:12

saw this article, I feel like I'm

19:14

just noticing it more where things are

19:17

written in a way or they're just

19:19

talking in a way that just feels

19:21

a little too direct. they're just

19:23

so direct yeah it feels clunky

19:25

yes and again don't get me wrong I'd

19:27

be looking at that phone I do be looking

19:29

at that phone I know you do but I

19:32

mean sometimes I'm taking notes sometimes I'm

19:34

like looking things up but I'm also

19:36

just I don't know you know listen

19:38

I also want to say let me

19:40

tell a lot of myself I talk

19:42

about these movies we've you know this

19:44

season we're talking all about movies and

19:46

these movies none of them have been

19:49

under two hours that we've my phone

19:51

and I usually text show ass or

19:53

I look something up to your point,

19:55

right? So I texted you in the

19:57

first 10 minutes to me like, yeah.

19:59

to split it up over two days.

20:01

I split it up because I was just

20:04

like, this is, this is just, this is

20:06

long, it's not keeping my attention. And you

20:08

know, if a movie is long and it

20:10

feels earned, that's different versus all of this

20:13

fluff that I'm like, I don't understand why

20:15

we have these things. So look, the real

20:17

Lena Darakort had some interesting things about her

20:19

that we don't actually get to see in

20:22

the film. She went to nursing school, she

20:24

was transferred to an army base in Iowa.

20:26

where she met and married her husband before

20:28

she enlisted in the Six AAA Battalion. And

20:31

that would have been a very interesting part

20:33

of her life to include, you know, but

20:35

if he's not a white guy, maybe it

20:37

didn't, you know. Especially if because, especially because

20:40

she's the... main character. She's like the lead,

20:42

right? So let's just impact some of the

20:44

things we'd like about the film before we

20:46

get into what we didn't like in the

20:49

fix and everything. What do you think worked

20:51

in the film for you, Fran? You know,

20:53

okay, so I looked this up because I

20:55

was so curious to see if Tyler had

20:58

written this by himself, he did have a,

21:00

he did co-write this film. Sorry, white guy,

21:02

I can't remember your name, but... I wonder

21:04

if he wrote, who wrote the second half

21:07

of the film, because the second half of

21:09

the film was a lot better. Like once

21:11

it got to the male part of it,

21:13

it really picked up and it was so

21:16

interesting. There was so much interesting stuff in

21:18

there. And even at the very end of

21:20

the film, they showed like some actual historical

21:22

footage. I wish we had seen that earlier.

21:25

Every time there's a historical film, it kind

21:27

of feels... obligatory that we're going to see

21:29

like who the real people were in the

21:31

credits or whatever how I'm getting to the

21:34

fix a little bit how cool would have

21:36

been to see that earlier I mean just

21:38

because there's so much of this that's unbelievable

21:40

where they got to be fudged some of

21:43

this you know and it's like no this

21:45

is real so I thought that that getting

21:47

see that was really really cool and the

21:49

actual real women was really cool I thought

21:52

the costumes were great why we are the

21:54

so the same I when I was taking

21:56

notes as I was watching it I was

21:58

like well the costumes are good you know

22:01

I don't know those were really accurate and

22:03

when you see to your point when you

22:05

see the footage at the end you're like

22:07

oh where we did that's a good job

22:10

the costumes were spot fucking on those weird

22:12

dumb hats And why you got the brown

22:14

girls in brown? I mean just not a

22:16

flattering color. Right. I did think like when

22:19

they had like the dance scene, I loved

22:21

that scene. I thought that was really interesting.

22:23

I'm the musical theater person for me was

22:25

like, why are we in a musical all

22:28

of a sudden? Because it was so, it

22:30

was too perfect. It was too perfect. And

22:32

it was like, yes. were dropped into another

22:34

world and I wish that either were you

22:37

fixing it right I wish that we either

22:39

went to another world in someone's imagination or

22:41

like they're viewing of it and or like

22:43

create actual conflict in that scene yeah there

22:46

was no there there yes this was another

22:48

example of a scene on its face value

22:50

I had fun in the scene because I

22:52

liked seeing the girls dance and I felt

22:55

like I got to I liked seeing the

22:57

girls in like a more jovial spirit because

22:59

I feel like so much of the film

23:01

is them like going through basic training and

23:04

scowling and this is really difficult. They're just

23:06

you know I just felt like I got

23:08

to see a different side of them which

23:10

I enjoyed. I'm sorry I'm reaching here. Please

23:13

tell me what you like. What worked well

23:15

for you. I did like just I'll start

23:17

with that scene because I forgot about this.

23:19

I really this is like the music lover

23:22

in me. I'm sure that they were just

23:24

acting, but I loved seeing the all-female, all-black

23:26

band in that scene playing. They started with

23:28

them. I was like, yes, I love that.

23:31

Some of the things I liked. I liked

23:33

that the plot points, once we did some

23:35

fact-checking, they really aligned with the real events.

23:37

I was like, okay.

23:40

It just like kind

23:42

of upped the credibility

23:44

of the film. And

23:46

I gave Tyler and

23:49

Now as co -writer

23:51

a lot more credit

23:53

than I had at

23:55

the beginning. And I

23:58

learned something. I really

24:00

learned about these women,

24:02

which we said at

24:04

the beginning, it's crazy

24:07

that I didn't know

24:09

about this, right? One

24:11

of the other things

24:13

that I really enjoyed

24:16

was the film shares

24:18

this historical fact at

24:20

the end that I

24:22

feel like is an

24:25

advent of post -2020 Black

24:27

Lives Matter, George Floyd.

24:31

In 2023 class, Fort Lee, which

24:33

was named for Civil War Confederate

24:35

General, I think Robert E. Lee,

24:37

it was renamed to Fort Greg

24:39

Adams after Colonel Charity Adams who

24:41

was, she became a colonel. She

24:43

was a major when the film

24:46

started, but she eventually became a

24:48

colonel. And she was leader of

24:50

the Six Triple Eight and another

24:52

black U .S. Army pioneer who was

24:54

Lieutenant General Arthur Gregg. Adams is

24:56

currently the only female soldier to

24:58

be honored in this way, which

25:01

I thought was really beautiful. is

25:03

incredible. I wanna just, I pulled

25:05

this up because I do feel

25:07

bad that we haven't mentioned him,

25:09

but the other co -writer of

25:11

the film's name is Kevin Heimel.

25:13

So shout out to Kevin Heimel.

25:15

I'm preemptively creding you for the

25:18

second half of the film, because

25:20

I feel like that's where it

25:22

got better. Right. Dilan, did you

25:24

have any favorite moments? Though

25:28

it wasn't historically accurate, I really love

25:30

the montage of the woman. I mean, I

25:32

love a montage. Like I love, it's

25:34

like my, I call it the pretty woman,

25:36

right? It's like you're trying on all

25:38

the clothes. Yes. Fun and games, totally. That's

25:40

a reference to Save the Cat, which

25:43

we've mentioned in a prior episode. It's a

25:45

great film and TV writing book class.

25:47

But the woman were cleaning up and beautifying

25:49

the King Edward School, which is where

25:51

the six triple eight was housed in England

25:53

when they went over to do it.

25:55

And it was just like an example, again.

26:00

Tyler Perry and Kevin Hymel, they set

26:02

up this like run down school where

26:04

that's unlivable with vermin and rats and

26:06

furniture everywhere and the women. It's cold.

26:09

It's cold and the women have to

26:11

like just make it livable. And it's

26:13

just an example of perseverance and I

26:15

was like, look a black woman, look

26:18

a black woman. I just really, really

26:20

dug that part of it. Did you

26:22

have any, what, did you have a

26:24

moment that you were like, this is

26:26

my moment? Favorite. When they started

26:29

discovering how to categorize the

26:31

male, I really loved that.

26:33

Like that was just

26:35

so inspiring and eye-opening.

26:38

And to your point about black

26:40

women, I won't go down the

26:42

rabbit hole here, but like, you

26:44

know, as we know, black women

26:46

are the most disrespected.

26:49

historically and in this

26:51

current present moment. And I was

26:53

watching the film like, of course some

26:55

fucking black women will get this shit

26:57

together. They said, oh, let's give

26:59

it to these negresses. They're not

27:01

gonna figure it out. And they let

27:03

bitch, you know what we will do? Right.

27:06

That, and like, that was just, that was

27:08

really fucking cool. Working 24 hours a

27:10

day, yo. And coming up with all these

27:12

cool like little shifts and being like,

27:14

okay, well, we'll have somebody who really

27:16

knows garmentry really well and she's going

27:18

to look at the fabric and figure

27:20

out where it's from and figuring out

27:23

about the perfume and like where was

27:25

the perfume? You know, you open the

27:27

mail and you smell the perfume and

27:29

they figure out, well, where was that

27:31

perfume from? And then they go to like,

27:33

how did you guys figure this stuff

27:35

out? Like I thought that stuff was

27:38

stuff was really, really, really fascinating. I

27:40

liked Susan Sarandon as Eleanor Roosevelt.

27:43

I thought that was good casting.

27:45

I thought it was good casting. I'm

27:47

mad about those teeth though. I mean,

27:49

I think that was accurate, because every

27:51

picture I see Eleanor's shoes got them

27:54

tawpers. Yes, and this was the pre-braces

27:56

world, but yeah, those teeth were... But

27:58

that's what's her teeth. need to me.

28:01

I was like, okay. That's what Eleanor

28:03

Roosevelt's teeth. Look, you know what, and

28:05

it probably dropped Susan Sarandon right in

28:07

and made her feel like I am,

28:10

I am. I mean, listen, I, I

28:12

mean, look, I'm, I'm gonna skip, I'm

28:14

gonna push ahead. Can we move to

28:17

some of our least favorite? Oh, yes.

28:19

On a related, she always acting with...

28:21

Her mouth and teeth. I think maybe

28:24

her teeth are just a little bit

28:26

for her mouth. I don't understand it.

28:28

It's so, it's very distracting at times.

28:31

I'll also say the Southern accents. The

28:33

Southern accents were, they were all over

28:35

the place. I honestly, and I get

28:38

if they were going for historical accuracy,

28:40

I guess, I would have rather, nobody

28:42

do an accent. Heard. I would have

28:45

rather everybody just, it's a movie, we

28:47

know, you know, you know, the same

28:49

way like when... films go to other

28:52

parts of the world and everybody speaking

28:54

English in the movie. Like we know

28:56

that everyone's not actually speaking English in

28:58

that country. Similarly, I didn't need everybody

29:01

to have an accent because some of

29:03

them were like Elmer Fudd. I was

29:05

just like, what are you, it was

29:08

just too much. It was very weird.

29:10

I agree wholeheartedly and you know, not

29:12

to take anything away from if they

29:15

had a dialect coach, but they need

29:17

a more time for that. Yeah, my

29:19

one of mine, like I said a

29:22

little bit earlier, was like, the wigs

29:24

were a crime. Like, why are the

29:26

wigs always so bad in his movies?

29:29

Did you see Oprah's wig? Oh yeah.

29:31

Okay, well, you're right, but also part

29:33

of me is like, were they trying

29:36

to make it, and this is hard

29:38

because it's Tyler Perry. Like that time

29:40

period, I'm sure, was not known for

29:43

great wigs. Like, do you think everybody

29:45

was giving you natural hair? I mean,

29:47

I don't, listen, looking at the, the

29:49

main characters that we see in Wiggs,

29:52

right? All of the, the black women

29:54

in the battalion. Carries was terrible. Carries

29:56

was terrible. Lina's was terrible. The woman

29:59

who plays Johnny May was terrible. It's

30:01

just like they look like synthetic things

30:03

that are out of some like, you

30:06

know, theater summer stock bargain bid. You

30:08

know? And it's like, it's not so

30:10

much like, we know the difference between

30:13

a lace front and like, what do

30:15

you call the opposite of a lace

30:17

front that has like a hard, like

30:20

that covers the hairline? What they call

30:22

that one. Anyway, at least for an

30:24

is like obviously expensive and a little

30:27

more time, you know, you know, a

30:29

shake and go, you can just pop

30:31

that on your head and go. Yeah,

30:34

I think now the rest of the

30:36

shake and go. They're all shaking goes.

30:38

And they were all need to go,

30:40

just go. For real. So like that

30:43

was a little disappointing to me. You

30:45

know, the. For a movie about women,

30:47

it also didn't pass the Bechtel test

30:50

for me. There were times where women,

30:52

the Bechtel test class, if you don't

30:54

know, is Allison Bechtel created this test

30:57

for media, where the question is, do

30:59

two women in a piece of media

31:01

talk to one another, but not talk

31:04

about men? because oftentimes two women are

31:06

discussing something with men and I just

31:08

talking about men. You know I didn't

31:11

find that that passed the the Bechtel

31:13

test. Yeah there were a number of

31:15

scenes where You know, and again, like,

31:18

on the one hand, I get it,

31:20

especially because we are talking about this

31:22

time period, that this is a very

31:25

gendered experience as women are, you know,

31:27

normally in the armed services. And so,

31:29

like, I get that, but to your

31:31

point about, okay, we could have two

31:34

women talk about something that's not men.

31:36

There is a scene where they're in

31:38

the barracks and they're just... Kind of

31:41

having this discussion about like why did

31:43

you why did you come and like

31:45

this was why did you come to

31:48

the the armed services? And it was

31:50

like a really great opportunity to learn

31:52

something about these women And we didn't

31:55

learn anything about them. Like every single

31:57

person had something very fresh level to

31:59

say or something about a man and

32:02

it just was like a man And

32:04

it was kind of like, well, what

32:06

was the point of this scene? Right.

32:09

Because the scene happened and all we,

32:11

like, like, there was no conflict in

32:13

the scene. There's no raising of the

32:16

stakes. It was just everybody being like,

32:18

well, my boyfriend, my husband, my man,

32:20

I want to meet. And she's like,

32:22

okay. Whatever. but like character really good

32:25

writing is not only character developing but

32:27

also plot forwarding right and so like

32:29

the idea that like to your point

32:32

you have an opportunity to let us

32:34

know more about the characters in have

32:36

us invest have states care about them

32:39

so that when any when things happen

32:41

to them in the story we actually

32:43

feel something right we were not like

32:46

kind of distant viewers where we're in

32:48

the story in some way in a

32:50

different way in a different way yeah

32:53

I think this and i'm gonna blame

32:55

Tyler for this because he has a

32:57

habit of this in a lot of

33:00

his scripts it was a lot of

33:02

show not tell you know a lot

33:04

of a lot of people telling us

33:07

about things that happen instead of showing

33:09

us like even as simple as home

33:11

girl says that Lena keeps saying uh...

33:13

aprons name in her sleep could you

33:16

show us that instead of me like

33:18

you say his name again last night

33:20

girl i've heard you talk about like

33:23

she says like three different times just

33:25

show her and friend or Show us

33:27

her dreaming about like go into a

33:30

dream and show them together I mean

33:32

they had one moment where like he

33:34

shows up and she's in like I

33:37

don't know like um that's another moment

33:39

I hate it He comes to her

33:41

when she's distressed like she there was

33:44

a and basic training they had like

33:46

a gas thing They were going through

33:48

some gas training and she fails But

33:51

then he comes to her and and

33:53

helps her get through it could have

33:55

been interesting if it was fucking consistent

33:58

Sure, but it was just one time

34:00

well they did they were in there

34:02

on the boat going to England and

34:04

she was scared and he popped up

34:07

and did come to her there, but

34:09

you know, but it's also strange again.

34:11

I think because we saw so little

34:14

of them to at the beginning when

34:16

he pops up I'm like oh right

34:18

oh that's that oh that's him okay

34:21

great yeah to your point I just

34:23

to you know pull that thread knit

34:25

the sweat a little bit even more

34:28

about like show not tell to your

34:30

point if she's having a nightmare and

34:32

she's yelling Abrams name all you have

34:35

to do is show old girl Johnny

34:37

May looking over or old girl Johnny

34:39

May like calming her down. That's all

34:42

you need and have her mention it

34:44

later, you know, but it's that subtle

34:46

and you could have saved some damn

34:49

screen time. Yeah, and also just gotten

34:51

a chance for us to see a

34:53

little bit more of who these girls

34:55

are and it just, again, we just,

34:58

and who knows, again, I'm trying to

35:00

be gracious here, like maybe that did

35:02

happen and it got cut. I just.

35:05

It was just hard, especially because later

35:07

on we have so many dramatic moments,

35:09

like for example, you know, there's a

35:12

truck explosion and two of the girls

35:14

die and it's when it happened, it

35:16

was like shocking to me. I was

35:19

like, whoa, didn't expect that. But it

35:21

didn't pull up my heartstrings because I

35:23

was like, I don't know those girls.

35:26

I don't know what other names. I

35:28

didn't know who they... were and again

35:30

don't kill off Lena because she's a

35:33

big character but like if it had

35:35

been her I would have been like

35:37

oh shit but but at the same

35:40

time I still don't really know that

35:42

much about her like you know um

35:44

well do you were there any stand-up

35:46

performances for you uh I forget what

35:49

her name was but she was um

35:51

carries like Sidekick. Oh, I loved her

35:53

too. I really liked her. She didn't

35:56

have many lines. I don't remember her

35:58

name, but I've seen her in other

36:00

things and I thought she was she

36:03

was great. I mean, like I said,

36:05

I liked Susan Sarandon, but I think

36:07

maybe that could be have like a

36:10

little teeth blindness. I feel like the

36:12

teacher really helping her sell it. for

36:14

me. What about you? I didn't think

36:17

Kerry Washington did a bad job. I

36:19

just thought she was kind of Delta

36:21

bad hand. I just felt like she

36:24

was like yelling at the scream in

36:26

a bad side of her accent for

36:28

most of the film. But I think

36:30

she's a good actress. Like she really,

36:33

you know, I think she got better.

36:35

I think she got better. Like I,

36:37

I, and I think you're right, like

36:40

she was Delta bad hand in that,

36:42

like she didn't. really have anywhere to

36:44

go like she was this mean hard-nosed

36:47

you know sergeant and then she kind

36:49

of has a turn and towards the

36:51

you know later half of the film

36:54

I just but we also sorry yeah

36:56

we also know sorry I interrupted you

36:58

the I think the theme that we're

37:01

talking about is like we didn't know

37:03

why she loved the army so much

37:05

and how the hell did she fucking

37:08

get there talk about it talk about

37:10

it. We had no investment in who

37:12

she is, so all the things that

37:15

she's fighting for were like, okay, well,

37:17

you kind of just seem like a

37:19

bitch sometimes. I know it's the army,

37:21

but like, you just kind of seem

37:24

mean, right? Yeah, yeah. And then because

37:26

of that, again, we needed our Save

37:28

the Cat moment because we see her

37:31

be so mean to the girls, and

37:33

then later on, you know, she's dealing

37:35

with racism and sexism and sexism from

37:38

her higher ups. And I were supposed

37:40

to feel for her, and I of

37:42

course do feel for her as a

37:45

black woman, but I also just wanted

37:47

to like know a little bit more

37:49

about like why she really, you know,

37:52

like, not this, but like, is she

37:54

really patriotic? Does she really think that

37:56

if they prove themselves that this will

37:59

help advance the civil rights movement? And

38:01

that that that if we you know,

38:03

if we really serve our country, they

38:06

have to see us as Americans. I

38:08

don't know, but like, something like that,

38:10

just even, it doesn't even have to

38:12

be like a big drawn out scene.

38:15

It's like the moment between, you know,

38:17

she's yelling at the girls and she

38:19

says to them, like, do you... Understand

38:22

this is a bit leading, but what

38:24

did you? Think about the historical accuracy

38:26

around like the overt and the kind

38:29

of blatant racism I really thought it

38:31

was heavy-handed despite like the context of

38:33

the army the context of America being

38:36

Racism you said you said that you

38:38

felt it was heavy-handed I don't know

38:40

I I didn't think it was heavy-handed

38:43

I thought it was fine it felt

38:45

accurate to me Again I think the

38:47

thing that I was missing was like

38:50

really getting to know these women in

38:52

a way where like when those moments

38:54

happened that I would be like enraged

38:57

along with them and again I was

38:59

in the sense of like fuck this

39:01

this sucks but like to me it

39:03

just kind of felt like yeah well

39:06

I could buy this like this this

39:08

feels like what happened you know yeah

39:10

I hear you and I think now

39:13

that I'm speaking kind of out loud

39:15

in response because I think my my

39:17

feeling like it was heavy-handed had something

39:20

to do with the fact that we

39:22

know racism we know it's blatant but

39:24

like I also know that it's subtle

39:27

I know that it's systemic right and

39:29

and so I guess there was a

39:31

power structure but it just seemed like

39:34

it just seems like it was racism

39:36

for the sake of racism in terms

39:38

of moving or creating context for the

39:41

story but it wasn't about It was

39:43

less about like these characters surmounting it,

39:45

right? So one of the other things

39:48

I thought about was that this film,

39:50

have you seen Men of Honor, starring

39:52

Cooper Gooding Jr.? Man, in my house

39:54

we grew up on this damn film.

39:57

Ooh, my God. So it stars Cuba

39:59

Gooding Jr. and Robert. and it's about

40:01

one of the first master divers in

40:04

the Navy. So master divers, I can't

40:06

remember what era this was in, but

40:08

master divers were people who get into

40:11

the entire suit and they dive into

40:13

the water to usually save some kind

40:15

of equipment or save submarine men who

40:18

are like go. go down underwater for

40:20

submarines and submarine accidents. So they're like

40:22

paramedics for the water, right? Essentially, if

40:25

I could put a... Anyway, so it's

40:27

Cupa Goating Jr. dealing with Robert De

40:29

Niro who is above him and Robert

40:31

De Niro's racist, but they come from

40:34

a similar place in terms of their

40:36

economic background. How these two men... not

40:38

only Bond, but how Robert De

40:40

Niro's character changes and Cuba Gooding

40:42

Junior's character surmounts the racism, right?

40:44

So the racism is used to

40:46

keep him in a place and

40:48

you see him over and over

40:50

and over again having to surmount

40:52

it, having to be the best.

40:54

And Robert De Niro's character just

40:56

giving it to him, giving it

40:58

to him, giving it to him.

41:00

But you realize it's not only

41:02

the systemicness of it, but it's

41:04

also like you see Robert De

41:06

Niro's character change because he sees this

41:09

guy who is not giving up, who

41:11

is the fucking best. And so

41:13

like that, though it's more than

41:15

racism, it's racism used to... as a

41:17

change agent, right? And I guess I'm

41:19

looking for the hope part of it,

41:21

just not like context in the background.

41:23

This just kind of was like, yeah,

41:25

well, you know, this general is saying

41:27

like, are you women? Are you black?

41:29

You can't do it. Move on, right?

41:31

And I didn't see like, I didn't

41:33

see the general, there was this general

41:35

named General Holt, I guess, in the

41:37

story class, and General Holt was, uh,

41:39

normally gave the six triple eight this

41:41

task with the 17 million pieces of

41:43

mail that it he didn't think they

41:46

could complete but he also like you know

41:48

didn't give them resources and we're

41:50

like y'all have to live in this

41:52

broke down ask school or whatever if

41:54

we saw a general halt I guess

41:56

there might have been one like one

41:59

he was like Oh, okay. But if

42:01

we'd seen him change, I would have

42:03

been like, oh, okay, it's used differently.

42:05

I know that's not how racism works.

42:07

I guess they try to do that

42:09

at the end when they're like, they're

42:11

leaving the train station and somebody's like,

42:14

hey, I got this extra boy. And

42:16

they're like, yes. And I'm like, great

42:18

job. And they're like, okay, I guess

42:20

they like you now. Like, you know,

42:22

I think that was them. That was

42:24

them trying to do that, I think,

42:26

because it's like, we're never going to

42:29

acknowledge you again. This is the most

42:31

you're going to get. We're going to

42:33

clap for you now. And then exactly,

42:35

when y'all are at 100 years old,

42:37

then we'll say something to y' y'all.

42:39

Jeepers, creepers, creepers. Was there anything that

42:41

surprised you? I

42:44

mean, the true storyness of it,

42:46

just this, the whole conceit was

42:49

really eye-opening to me. And it,

42:51

I gotta be honest, it also

42:53

frustrated me because I'm like, God

42:55

damn, why is it that in

42:57

2025 we are still having untold

43:00

black stories? And it just made

43:02

me think about. you know, the

43:04

circumstances of our current world where

43:06

they are literally trying to, or

43:08

they are, dismantling black history programs.

43:11

I mean, there's already so much

43:13

that isn't common knowledge and they're

43:15

just trying to get rid of

43:17

it. Like that really, again, I

43:19

just think of myself as like

43:22

a very learned, well-read person. And

43:24

I'm like, I can't believe I

43:26

didn't know about this. Like that,

43:28

you know, that was wild to

43:30

me. And again, I will also

43:33

say like... kind of like we

43:35

talked about this other film recently

43:37

I didn't hate it I mean

43:39

it wasn't it wasn't great it

43:42

was just fine but I I

43:44

I was surprised by the end

43:46

that I got emotional I really

43:48

did and I think it was

43:50

again my own personal life what's

43:53

happening in the world and just

43:55

the the recognition of like damn

43:57

if you want something done right

43:59

black women will fucking come through

44:01

and we will I'm trying to

44:04

put you on the front line.

44:06

I tell you what. They really,

44:08

they really really do. And I

44:10

was just like, wow, like we,

44:12

man, like the way we are

44:15

disrespected, but like we still fucking

44:17

pull it together is heartbreaking. It's

44:19

inspiring. It's beautiful. But it's also

44:21

like, God, yeah. Like, where do

44:24

we get a fucking break? What

44:26

surprised you? I guess it works.

44:28

It's too many words. Similar to

44:30

you. I didn't hate it. And

44:32

I kind of went in thinking

44:35

I was like, I was like,

44:37

oh, here we go. I think

44:39

that's the subtitle of our movie

44:41

season. I didn't hate it. We've

44:43

hated some of these. But nothing's

44:46

really been like, oh, wow, that

44:48

was good. It's like, ah. I'm

44:51

not going to hate it. Well, I

44:53

class, I promise, there will be at

44:55

least one or two that we love.

44:57

I probably... We got to get some

45:00

good ones in here, please. The other

45:02

thing that really kind of, which started

45:04

my emotional end, watching the film, that

45:06

really got my heartstrings. You talked about

45:08

the footage of like Charity Adams and

45:11

all of the soldiers, but they, class,

45:13

they ran the names of all of

45:15

the women in the Six AAA, and

45:17

it was like, you know, over 800

45:20

names. But the other thing was crazy

45:22

was like, you see like these old

45:24

timey names and how often people name

45:26

people the same thing from different parts

45:28

of the country. There were all these

45:31

haddies and dollies and choras and Gladys

45:33

Mays and hazels. And I was like,

45:35

oh shit. I were wound it again

45:37

to watch it again. I was like,

45:40

damn, that's a lot of these old

45:42

timey names. It was kind of nice

45:44

to see the history there. That is

45:46

so funny. Yeah. There's definitely generational. names

45:49

because I I think I know like

45:51

one hazel but it's like my mom's

45:53

friend like I don't I don't think

45:55

I've met a hazel our age or

45:57

like a hatty A Hattie? Hattie May?

46:00

No. And here's what I also think

46:02

about when I, because I associate these

46:04

names with older people, it's hard for

46:06

me to think of like a baby

46:09

named Hattie. I know. Like Hattie is

46:11

somebody's grandma. That's not a child. But

46:13

a Hattie had to be a child

46:15

at some point. Right. I also think

46:17

about like, because when we were young,

46:20

there were a lot of like Barbra's

46:22

who were older, from my mom's generation,

46:24

but like I can't imagine naming a

46:26

baby Barbara. That just seems like such

46:29

an old... I think if your name's

46:31

Barbara, your Barbie as a kid. Oh,

46:33

I did. I did know a Barbie

46:35

growing up. Yeah, your Barbie. And then

46:37

as an adult, your Barb. You know,

46:40

your Barb in the office. That just

46:42

seems like a Midwest mom Barb. Yeah,

46:44

you work at a front desk somewhere.

46:46

You know, you look like Peggy Bundy.

46:49

Oh, one thousand percent. Yeah, yeah, yeah,

46:51

yeah. All right. Now that we've gone

46:53

over the Six AAA. It's time for

46:55

us to fix it. Don, is it

46:57

okay by your first? Patty, go ahead.

47:00

Okay, thank you. So something that I

47:02

really kept thinking about, this idea of

47:04

like the love story and You know

47:06

at the very beginning of the film

47:09

we do see some like letters that

47:11

get stained with blood and you know

47:13

that don't get to people and I

47:15

think they were trying to and I

47:17

went in blind I didn't know what

47:20

the film was about so when I

47:22

was watching that I was like I

47:24

was like why are they showing this

47:26

to us I don't get it and

47:29

then later on I was like oh

47:31

okay that was one of the bloody

47:33

letters but again it's by it's like

47:35

halfway through the film before that connection

47:37

happens so I'm thinking What if, because

47:40

Lena and Abram are star-crossed lovers, the

47:42

time period, he's Jewish, she's black, they're

47:44

not supposed to be together, what if

47:46

instead of being together they write each

47:49

other love letters and they pass little

47:51

notes to each other and that's how

47:53

they communicate and so we learn about,

47:55

they live in the same town or

47:57

whatever, but the only... that they're able

48:00

to share their love is through these

48:02

letters. I love it. And then when

48:04

he goes off to war, the fact

48:06

that he stops writing is very arresting

48:09

to her because she's like, he wouldn't

48:11

do that. He really, you know what

48:13

I mean? And so maybe she doesn't

48:15

know that he's died, right? Because... It

48:18

happens again so fast. Maybe he does

48:20

get one letter to her and again

48:22

we get to see their love story

48:24

through the letters. Maybe he talks about

48:26

times they've snuck away or how much

48:29

he wishes he could kiss her and

48:31

in the letter we get to see

48:33

them kissing or whatever like really build

48:35

up that love story. So then we

48:38

understand why she wants to go. Maybe

48:40

she really does think she might run

48:42

into him out there. and then it

48:44

will drive home when they get this

48:46

letter thing as their as their mission

48:49

why she suddenly realizes oh my god

48:51

he probably has been writing to it

48:53

just went up mistakes love that friend

48:55

absolutely she would just be way more

48:58

invested and it would pull the pieces

49:00

together and I just in my mind

49:02

could see all of these beautiful montages

49:04

where, and you love a montage, where

49:06

she's envisioning her letter reaching him and

49:09

what it's like and what the letter,

49:11

you know, what the journey of the

49:13

letter is, and then she gets the

49:15

reality of, they open that giant thing,

49:18

and she's like, holy fuck, the letters

49:20

are all sitting in there. Like, it

49:22

would just make it. I think it

49:24

would just have made it land a

49:26

little bit more for me. I love

49:29

that. To add on to that as

49:31

we always do, I can see when

49:33

they're in school and they're just writing

49:35

notes back and forth. What if they,

49:38

because it's kind of forbidden, right? Because

49:40

of the race thing, class, they're in

49:42

Pennsylvania, but still America, right, in the

49:44

40s. What if they have like a

49:46

little notch in a tree that he

49:49

carved out, that they put notes in

49:51

back and forth, and then when he

49:53

goes to war, they enlisting to war,

49:55

So like she's still getting letters, right?

49:58

And to your point, if she's waiting

50:00

for letters, waiting for letters, and let's

50:02

say she automatically gets five letters, and

50:04

then she reads them, and she's like,

50:06

oh my God, he's been writing me

50:09

to this, writing to me this whole

50:11

time. And then somehow, I don't know,

50:13

she hears about the backlogged letters and

50:15

she goes, well, I want to help

50:17

those people. And that gives her more motivation

50:20

to actually enlist because we never really beyond

50:22

like. I don't know, again, does she want

50:24

to find him? Why does she list? You

50:26

know? It's not clear. It's not clear. And

50:28

I think you're right in the sense of

50:31

like, I want to help. There's something about,

50:33

you know, this 18-year-old kid that just goes,

50:35

I'll do it. It's like, girl, what

50:37

are you talking? Like, you're not, there's

50:39

no way, but then it's like the

50:41

amazing thing of like. She really does

50:43

fucking do it. And it's like the

50:45

thing of like, I'm gonna do it.

50:47

And the reality of how hard it's

50:49

gonna be and like all of the

50:51

things that kind of get in the

50:53

way, I think that would have just

50:55

been really beautiful to see. The other

50:57

thing I really would have liked is

51:00

maybe do, because we're really, well, there

51:02

is an A story in a B story,

51:04

but I would have loved charity to.

51:06

really be a strong B story in

51:08

the sense that at the same time

51:10

that Lena's love story is happening at

51:12

the very beginning of the film, let's

51:14

meet charity. And let's see her rising

51:16

up the ranks and say, you know,

51:19

committing that she wants to lead this

51:21

battalion or whatever and learning a little

51:23

bit about her and then they meet

51:25

in the middle. And by the time

51:27

they meet in the middle, we start

51:29

the male storyline and then we're like,

51:31

okay, I'm invested in both these characters.

51:34

I understand how they came together

51:36

and I'm rooting for both of

51:38

them. And even like with the

51:40

friends, like, again, this would make the

51:42

movie long, but. I feel like if we

51:44

had just gotten to see a little

51:46

bit of their lives before, because when

51:48

they all come out and they're like,

51:50

well I'm a mortician, well I'm a

51:52

blah blah blah, it's just like very

51:54

convenient. Like everybody's got a job that

51:56

helps, okay, but if we had seen

51:58

a little bit of them. You know and

52:00

I don't know how they could have

52:02

done that a montage a montage But

52:04

like you know even you just like

52:07

they're all in the train. They're like

52:09

I'm so and you think I'm what

52:11

but I'm actually mixed. Well, I'm so

52:13

and so. Well, I'm so and so.

52:15

Well, I'm so and so. Well, don't

52:17

talk like that. I'm a preacher's daughter

52:19

and I don't talk like that Well,

52:21

and there was, I know, like, there

52:23

was this whole storyline that looped in

52:25

Eleanor Roosevelt where this mother wasn't getting

52:27

letters, this random mother whose name you

52:29

don't even really hear. You see her

52:31

waiting for letters from her sons who

52:33

are both in the war. And she

52:35

goes to the White House and she's

52:37

standing outside in the rain and then

52:39

Eleanor Roosevelt realized, like, why does that

52:42

woman out there and that compels her

52:44

to do something about it, right? But

52:46

even that was like... I guess it's

52:48

why couldn't Oprah's character who played Mary

52:50

Bethune why couldn't she just do what

52:52

this what actually happened in real life

52:54

and lobby Eleanor Roosevelt like you could

52:56

have done that in two scenes and

52:58

given to your point more more airtime

53:00

and more scene work to the other

53:02

characters who we spend more time with

53:04

right and develop their characters yeah I

53:06

I feel like they tried to do

53:08

that at the very beginning again with

53:10

that Those early letter scenes, but because

53:12

we never saw those people ever again

53:15

and it was a bunch of like

53:17

voiceover like Yeah, so was so dear

53:19

right right that it was just so

53:21

disconnected that I as the viewer in

53:23

hindsight I was like oh I see

53:25

what they were doing but as it

53:27

was happening. I was like what is

53:29

going on? I completely forgot about that

53:31

yeah, it was it just felt like

53:33

an afterthought of sorts. What's your fix?

53:35

Yeah, I have a few. Just because

53:37

I'm like, the thing that's stuck in

53:39

my craw is that Lena Dericot really

53:41

didn't have a motivation beyond Abraham to

53:43

enlist in the army. Like, I just

53:45

wanted to see something and this doesn't

53:48

pass the Bechtel test either, but like,

53:50

what if her... was like really a

53:52

patriot what if her father because we

53:54

never hear about what happened to her

53:56

father we just say they just her

53:58

mom and random lady Susie who lives

54:00

with him, said, you know, your husband

54:02

didn't come back, you know? So like,

54:04

what if her father was really a

54:06

patriot or he died in a World

54:08

War One would have been a little

54:10

bit too far an age to make

54:12

him a World War One veteran, but

54:14

he could have been in the army

54:16

and had an accident happen to him

54:18

or so I would have loved to

54:20

have seen her maybe invested in becoming

54:23

a patriot in another way. And I

54:25

wonder for a father, a familial connection

54:27

could have helped with that went off

54:29

and served that passed away. I don't

54:31

know. The other thing that I think

54:33

was is really historical that I thought

54:35

is a missed opportunity is that these

54:37

women went to Birmingham England to and

54:39

sorted this you know male in the

54:41

90 days where they were given six

54:43

months and then they also went to

54:45

Rhone France and did the same thing.

54:47

And in France some of that mail

54:49

was backlogged as far as three years.

54:51

So there's a whole another they continue

54:53

to do it. What challenges did they

54:56

face in Rhone France? I would have

54:58

loved to have seen that part of

55:00

it, right? Because my thing is, fuck

55:02

the love story, I know it matters,

55:04

but like, to your point, I was

55:06

interested in the system they created, the

55:08

world they created, the work that they

55:10

did, how they discovered, you know what

55:12

I mean? That was the interesting part

55:14

to me. Yeah, and I wish that

55:16

we had seen some of that stuff,

55:18

and maybe that would have made the

55:20

film more expensive, but like, show me

55:22

like... the pieces coming together and like

55:24

you know all that stuff I think

55:26

would have just been so interesting to

55:28

see on screen I think again like

55:31

I didn't hate it I think they

55:33

had a lot of really good they

55:35

had all the right ingredients for like

55:37

a great meal and then like the

55:39

meal was just decent and it was

55:41

like it's gonna be and you were

55:43

hungry you sat down you were hungry

55:45

I really was and I was just

55:47

like man you had so many great

55:49

elements here that this could have been

55:51

really fit. Like this should have been

55:53

Oscar B. And I think that they...

55:55

thought it was going to be. It's

55:57

a historical, it's a little known black

55:59

history. There's, you know, there's some big

56:01

names in it. Susan Sarandon, Fuckin' Oprah,

56:04

Kerry, Washington. Sam, he's in the movie

56:06

for two god-dant seconds. But like, and

56:08

even the general, I can't remember his

56:10

name of the guy for the freaking

56:12

bad. I did like, I mean, I

56:14

thought he was good. He was kind

56:16

of doing like a little, hey, oh

56:18

my fool, who, but like, but like,

56:20

but like, but like, but like, This

56:22

should have been a contender. It really

56:24

should have been it really should have

56:26

been it really should well, you know

56:28

I will say this it did get

56:30

an Oscar nomination for best saw Diane

56:32

Warren for the song is called the

56:34

song called journey plays at the end

56:36

I couldn't tell you you sings it

56:39

but Diane Warren her sings it her

56:41

sings okay. Yeah, yeah, I mean the

56:43

song was fine. It was just I

56:45

don't know I feel like when songs

56:47

get nominated for films like this it

56:49

feels kind of like a God it

56:51

feels like a pity nomination because nobody

56:53

watches the movie and goes, God damn,

56:55

that song really got me because it's

56:57

at the very end of the movie.

56:59

You don't see who's singing it. It's

57:01

not, it's, it is scripted. It's as

57:03

the credits are going and so it's

57:05

like, you guys are just. You just

57:07

you just need to fill out the

57:09

category right that that's 1,000% why and

57:12

and names right dying Warren is attached

57:14

to it and it also like it's

57:16

also marketing right it gives it gives

57:18

the film something to say Literally on

57:20

Netflix. It says Oscar nominee and I'm

57:22

like that's a that's a direct friend

57:24

Yeah, it really does. Oh y'all shouldn't

57:26

have given like costumes Like that would

57:28

have been an easy nom. Yeah. Well,

57:30

are wigs and costumes? Because I have

57:32

you, I have notes. Oh, yeah, yeah.

57:34

That'd be so funny during the Oscar

57:36

albums, they're like, costumes, but not the

57:38

wigs, not the wigs. Like they say.

57:40

Literally, except for me. Not to beat

57:42

you to death, whoever did those wigs.

57:44

But you know, y'all need some... Oh

57:47

yeah, they're definitely listening. Yeah. Clearly. Now

57:49

it's time for everyone's segment that glow

57:51

up, where we give props to those

57:53

who've turned themselves around without our help.

57:55

But first, let's take a quick break.

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terms and sweeps details. So I'm giving

58:50

mine to like two and one. I'm

58:53

giving it up to empathy. I know

58:55

that seems to be lost in the

58:57

world, but I think what I teach

58:59

when I teach acting is empathy and

59:01

I think I'm pushing it and Jane

59:03

Fonda at the SAG Awards on Sunday.

59:05

I'm going to read the quote that

59:07

she gave because I think it's so

59:09

valuable and what we need. She said,

59:11

empathy is not weak or woke. And

59:13

by the way, woke just means that

59:15

you give a damn about other people.

59:17

And it was so, we need to

59:19

come up from white people, we need

59:21

to become a from white people, that

59:23

age. And Jane is the, Jane is

59:25

the motherfucking real deal. She's the old

59:28

gee protester, okay? You know she's been

59:30

arrested, I got to work with her,

59:32

I got to work with her, I

59:34

got to work with her, I got

59:36

to work with her, I got to

59:38

work with her, I got to work

59:40

with her, I got to work with

59:42

her, I got to work with her,

59:44

I got to work with her, I

59:46

got to work with her, I got

59:48

to work with her, I got to

59:50

work with her, I, I got to

59:52

work with her, I got to work

59:54

with her, I, I, I got to

59:56

work with her, I, I, I, I

59:58

here for celebrities. and why people in

1:00:01

this instance, not to give out too

1:00:03

many cookies, but like that's what you're

1:00:05

supposed to use your privilege for. Like you

1:00:07

have a microphone, you have a stage,

1:00:09

and look, it did the job because

1:00:11

the quote is being circulated, everybody's talking

1:00:13

about it. It was really, really powerful.

1:00:16

Yeah, and I mean, it's, what

1:00:18

it does is like, it just

1:00:20

reframes that conversation, right? Half the

1:00:23

people who claim woke is a

1:00:25

bad thing, don't even, you asked

1:00:27

them what it means, and they

1:00:29

have no fucking idea, they just

1:00:32

think it means black people or

1:00:34

marginalized communities, which. It's their new

1:00:36

n-word. Yeah, totally. That and DEI,

1:00:39

right? And trans people, like crazy.

1:00:41

So, like crazy. too. Some days

1:00:43

like mine is a detriment, you

1:00:46

know, because I care so much about

1:00:48

what other people need and think and

1:00:50

feel. But it's so important and I'm

1:00:52

hoping that it really has a glow

1:00:54

up but Jane put it on front

1:00:56

street so I'm giving up to empathy

1:00:59

and Jane Fonda. Go ahead girl. What

1:01:01

about you? What's yours? Well, I'm

1:01:03

doing something different this week. Instead

1:01:05

of a glow-up, I'm saying glow-on.

1:01:07

And I'm saying glow-on to Joy

1:01:09

Ann Reed. I don't know if

1:01:11

you heard that her show has

1:01:13

been canceled. And I'm saying, you

1:01:16

won't glow on, girl. We are

1:01:18

Team Joy in this house, and,

1:01:20

you know, Fuck MS NBC. But

1:01:22

I will say, I have been

1:01:24

really impressed and inspired by Don

1:01:26

Lemon's pivot to social media. He

1:01:28

now does a daily live stream

1:01:30

that is a few hours on

1:01:33

YouTube. He's fucking killing it. Really? And

1:01:35

those YouTube checks. I mean it's not

1:01:37

going to be MS NBC money, but

1:01:39

I could see Joy doing something in

1:01:41

that world where she starts her own

1:01:44

thing. A lot of journalists are moving

1:01:46

to sub stack and are charging people.

1:01:48

And if you have a sizable audience

1:01:50

already, sub stack is doing these like

1:01:52

incentivized programs where they will pay

1:01:54

you to bring your audience over

1:01:56

there. And again, it's not going

1:01:59

to be network. money, but I

1:02:01

think especially in light of like where

1:02:03

we are right now with this administration

1:02:05

and the way that Trump is going

1:02:08

after journalists and is in his and

1:02:10

everybody's bending the knee, we are going

1:02:12

to have to get more creative about

1:02:14

independent media sources. Yeah. And I think

1:02:17

that this is the time for it

1:02:19

and I believe myself and so many

1:02:21

other people are going to be behind

1:02:24

joy. This sucks. but she's going to

1:02:26

glow on. She's, her light cannot be

1:02:28

dimmed. She has, and the reality is,

1:02:31

they're fucking scared of her. She always

1:02:33

keeps it fucking real. She's not afraid

1:02:35

to speak truth to power, whether it's

1:02:38

calling out her bosses or calling out

1:02:40

the president or, you know, calling out

1:02:42

misinformation. She is so bold. And... They

1:02:45

are afraid of her. And unapologetic, right?

1:02:47

When you are bold, to use your

1:02:49

word, and unapologetic, and that fucking smart,

1:02:52

and that are, and able to like

1:02:54

talk circles around people in terms of

1:02:56

like making your point and debate, yeah,

1:02:59

they're scared to her. And one thing

1:03:01

I would add is like, you know,

1:03:03

I obviously follow Joy on social media,

1:03:06

and so whatever the algorithm, however it

1:03:08

goes, they show me her content a

1:03:10

lot. And that's what I mean she

1:03:13

is fucking, and she's good. She's been

1:03:15

killing it on social pre-election, post-election. She's

1:03:17

been killing it. And so I have

1:03:19

no doubt to your point that she's

1:03:22

going to glow on and I can't

1:03:24

wait to subscribe to whatever comes next

1:03:26

for her because there is space for

1:03:29

her. There has to be space for

1:03:31

her. It's just also crazy to me

1:03:33

that you know I'm an MBC watcher.

1:03:36

I have been I unsubscribed from a

1:03:38

lot of my news sources. So I

1:03:40

catch it on on Tik-talk. I catch

1:03:43

it on you know YouTube sometimes when

1:03:45

I'm cooking when I'm cooking or whatever.

1:03:47

black faces on MS NBC other than

1:03:50

joy a let a pause there's a

1:03:52

weekend I forget what what the weekend

1:03:54

show is but they do have some

1:03:57

Sanders Townsend and then they do have

1:03:59

Michael Steele right so they have a

1:04:01

show with Alicia Menendez so three of

1:04:04

them it's called the weekend and now

1:04:06

they're moving it though it'll be moving

1:04:08

to Joy slot because they I guess

1:04:11

their ratings are up but like in

1:04:13

prime time during the week there there

1:04:15

weren't there was only Joy holding it

1:04:17

down yeah and so I just like

1:04:20

it just it's It's not shocking to

1:04:22

me, but it's like, oh, this is

1:04:24

also part of what's happening in the

1:04:27

landscape. That's gonna be, she's gonna be

1:04:29

the first one y'all cut off. Got

1:04:31

it. Okay, okay. Yeah, and again, I

1:04:34

know that it is, that it's hard

1:04:36

and I know that she's upset about

1:04:38

it and, you know, I, I, my

1:04:41

heart goes out to her, but I

1:04:43

will also say that. When we look

1:04:45

back on this moment, she's going to

1:04:48

be one of the people that we

1:04:50

are like, you know what? She didn't

1:04:52

give a fuck. And she stuck her

1:04:55

neck out and history is going to

1:04:57

remember her. And if, you know, history

1:04:59

is not kind to her, the way

1:05:02

that she has cemented in black people's

1:05:04

hearts, like that's not going to change.

1:05:06

And that's where I know, again, watching

1:05:09

this movie, watching how black women have

1:05:11

shown up for me recently, like, we

1:05:13

fucking God joys back. And so like...

1:05:16

I don't know what's going to happen,

1:05:18

but we got you girl and you

1:05:20

are going to glow on. So that

1:05:22

is my new spin on the glow

1:05:25

up. glow on joy. And speaking of

1:05:27

like the history books in writing class.

1:05:29

Have you seen Six Triple A? Did

1:05:32

you know about the story? Because friend

1:05:34

and I were blindsided by this shit.

1:05:36

We knew nothing about it. If you

1:05:39

did, either way, please get at us

1:05:41

on social. You know what they are,

1:05:43

but also, if you have a TV

1:05:46

show, a Saleh, a brand, do you

1:05:48

want us to fix? In a future

1:05:50

episode, I'll tell you what it is

1:05:53

just as a gift. Instagram is at

1:05:55

Fixapod.com or email us, let me Fixapod.com.

1:05:57

can see our beautiful faces unedited YouTube.com/at

1:06:00

Fix it pot. And if you enjoyed

1:06:02

this episode, please be sure to give

1:06:04

us a rating over on iTunes, Spotify,

1:06:07

Amazon Music, or your favorite podcast app.

1:06:09

I'm Francesca. And I'm Delon, and this

1:06:11

was? Let me fix that! Hey

1:06:19

Ryan, that was a fast trip,

1:06:21

it was like you teleported. Yeah,

1:06:24

just got in. I'll get all

1:06:26

my expenses logged, I promise. Oh

1:06:28

no, you're okay. SAP concur uses

1:06:30

advanced AI, so your expense report

1:06:32

will practically write itself. Quite the

1:06:34

breakthrough. It's like we've been teleported

1:06:36

into the future. Oh right. So

1:06:39

just curious, would you give us

1:06:41

written permission to convert your matter

1:06:43

into energy patterns and reassemble you

1:06:45

at, say random travel destinations? Market,

1:06:47

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1:06:49

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1:06:52

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1:06:54

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