Manage episode 521169577 series 3493147
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Well, that was absurd, let's eat dead bird!
Just in time for Thanksgiving, Tracie brings her deep thoughts about the 1995 "romantic" comedy Home for the Holidays. Although the dysfunctional dynamics of the Larson family makes for realistic and funny storytelling, the romance between Holly Hunter's Claudia and Dylan McDermott's Leo seems to imply that women are just lacking a handsome man's tongue down their throat, no matter what they claim. (To be fair, Leo was simply following pop culture expectations of romance of the mid-1990s, but his actions seem pretty gross when analyzing film tropes in 2025.)
Still, the film offers lovely commentary on the nature memory, joy, and family connections. Tracie and Emily conclude that even the actions of the biggest asshole in the film--Tommy, played by Robert Downey, Jr.--make sense within the context of his family's homophobia. The naked polaroids ain't cool, though, dude.
Whether your family is more or less dysfunctional than the Larsons, throw on some headphones and listen in!
Mentioned in this episode:
https://womenshealth.obgyn.msu.edu/blog/memory-telephone-game
This episode was edited by Resonate Recordings.
Our theme music is "Professor Umlaut" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Learn more about Tracie and Emily (including our other projects), join the Guy Girls' family, secure exclusive access to bonus episodes, video versions, and early access to Deep Thoughts by visiting us on Patreon or find us on ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/guygirls
We are Tracie Guy-Decker and Emily Guy Birken, known to our family as the Guy Girls.
We have super-serious day jobs. For the bona fides, visit our individual websites: tracieguydecker.com and emilyguybirken.com. For our work together, visit guygirlsmedia.com
We're hella smart and completely unashamed of our overthinking prowess. We love movies and tv, science fiction, comedy, and murder mysteries, good storytelling with lots of dramatic irony, and analyzing pop culture for gender dynamics, psychology, sociology, and whatever else we find.
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Chapters
1. Setting The Stage And Why This Film (00:00:00)
2. Expectations Vs Rewatch Reality (00:02:23)
3. Plot Postcards And Core Themes (00:04:40)
4. Synopsis: Claudia’s Bad Week Begins (00:08:41)
5. Family Arrivals And Tommy’s Antics (00:13:15)
6. Dinner Blowups And Homophobia Exposed (00:18:15)
7. Leo, Coercive Romance, And The Kiss (00:22:30)
8. Sister Rivalry And Old Wounds (00:27:10)
9. Dad’s Films And Memory’s Slipperiness (00:30:30)
10. Accepting Without Acknowledging Queerness (00:34:20)
11. Why “Funny” Doesn’t Excuse Harm (00:38:00)
12. Coping Mechanisms And Character Motives (00:41:30)
13. Bechdel Wins, Romance Icks (00:44:30)
14. Craft, Direction, And Place Confusion (00:47:20)
15. Takeaways, Gratitude, And Closing (00:50:20)
120 episodes