Gorillas in the Mist (with guest Martin Darlington)

Explicit content warning

12/10/20 • 99 min

Sean and Cody exchange Thanksgiving leftovers for Rwandan mountain gorillas and join forces with History by Hollywood podcast host Martin Darlington for an in-depth look at Gorillas in the Mist, the popular biopic of legendary primatologist Dian Fossey. In this 1988 film based on her memoirs, amateur naturalist Fossey (Sigourney Weaver) begs bigwig anthropologist Louis Leakey for a slot on a junket to Africa to count endangered gorillas. When she gets in-country she begins an obsessive one-woman war against poachers, zoo headhunters, amorous graduate students, wayward National Geographic photographers and anyone who stands in the way of “her” gorillas. Environmental issues discussed include species conservation, poaching in Africa, bushmeat and its relationship to economies and disease, the world wildlife conservation business and a repeat grudge match with our old friend the White Savior Complex.

Was the real Dian Fossey a saint and a savior, or an out-of-control monster who did more harm than good? Who might have been responsible for her still-unsolved 1985 murder? Should Westerners from developed countries go to Africa to save wildlife, or is that another form of colonialism? Are poachers always bad? What was the Congo Crisis and what does it have to do with this movie? Why would you want to put a chimpanzee into a gorilla suit? Are there actually any real gorillas in this picture, or are they all people (or chimps) in suits? How did Teddy Roosevelt set out to save the environment by shooting up the landscape with a shotgun? Is Sigourney Weaver’s agent secretly subsidizing the production of Green Screen? After the racist Götterdämmerung of King Kong, why are we talking about gorillas again? All these questions are beating their chests and screeching to be debated on this Very Special Episode of Green Screen.

Big thanks to Martin Darlington of History by Hollywood, with whom this episode is a joint production.

Gorillas in the Mist (1988) at IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095243/ Gorillas in the Mist (1988) at Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/film/gorillas-in-the-mist/

Next Movie Up: Batman Returns (1992)

Additional Materials About This Episode

Big thanks to Martin Darlington of History by Hollywood, with whom this episode is a joint production.

Gorillas in the Mist (1988) at IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095243/ Gorillas in the Mist (1988) at Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/film/gorillas-in-the-mist/

Next Movie Up: Batman Returns (1992)

Additional Materials About This Episode

Previous Episode

The Ice Storm

Glad to be back on Earth after their confusing adventures on Arrakis last episode, Sean and Cody sit down to Thanksgiving dinner and an extra helping of 1970s moral and environmental confusion as they analyze this Ang Lee-directed period drama from 1997. In The Ice Storm, set in Conn-ECT-i-CUT over Thanksgiving 1973, the loveless marriage of boring white guy Ben Hood (Kevin Kline) and his moody wife Elena (Joan Allen) is spiraling the drain while their neighbor Janey (Sigourney Weaver), her son Mikey (Elijah Wood) and the Hoods’ daughter Wendy (Christina Ricci) are all trying to hook up with various people. The gravy really gets spilled when a freak ice storm catches everybody at their worst and sets up poor Frodo for some shocking shenanigans. Environmental issues discussed include the history of weather, the real life Ice Storm Felix that inspired the novel the film is based on, design oddities in mid-century New England and the environmental aspects of the traditional American Thanksgiving feast.

How and when did the real Storm Felix turn Connecticut into a skating rink in 1973? What’s the “Glass House” and what does it have to do with this movie? Is Thanksgiving turkey really bad for the environment, or is there another side to that story? Who was the little girl who got napalmed in Vietnam in that famous photo? Why was Thomas Jefferson’s handwriting so small? How did Puritans in the 17th century react when they got naughty thoughts at night? How did Katie Holmes get into, and out of, Scientology? What’s wrong with creative writing workshops taught at Ivy League graduate schools? Is the Talking G.I. Joe doll quoted accurately in this film? Why is Ang Lee’s The Life of Pi definitely not on the list of future episodes? All of these questions and more are served up at the carving station on this special Thanksgiving episode of Green Screen.

The Ice Storm (1997) at IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119349/ The Ice Storm (1997) at Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/film/the-ice-storm/

Next Movie Up: Gorillas in the Mist (1988)

Additional Materials About This Episode

Next Episode

Batman Returns

Flush with the Yuletide spirit, Sean and Cody leave the mountain forests of Rwanda for the gritty streets of Gotham City in search of the Caped Crusader—sorry, the Dark Knight—who is to be found only sparingly in this 1992 superhero blockbuster. In Batman Returns, fed up secretary Selina Kyle (Michelle Pfieffer) suffers the ultimate #MeToo moment when her megalomaniacal boss (Christopher Walken) pushes her out a window and unwittingly transforms her into the vinyl-clad Catwoman. Meanwhile, sewer-dwelling crime lord Penguin (Danny DeVito) is terrorizing the streets with an army of Juggalos. Looks like a job for Batman (Michael Keaton), if he ever manages to show up. Environmental issues discussed include the history of sewer and sanitation infrastructure in modern New York, the rise of cats as America’s most popular pets and the ecological consequences of that popularity. Oh, and Christmas, as this is ostensibly a “Christmas special” episode.

What happened to your poop in 19th century New York after you flushed it? How many miles off the coast of New Jersey was it legal to dump sewage sludge in the 1980s? What did Ronald Reagan and austerity economics have to do with the rise of cats as apartment-dwelling pets? Under what circumstances will your adorable feline fluffball transform into a cold-blooded killer? Can zoo penguins go feral? What was Batman's involvement with Japanese-American internment during World War II? How did Michelle Pfeiffer put on that skin-tight suit? What did Michael Keaton need the money that he made from his movie to pay for? Why are these films so dark, meaning, why can’t you ever see anything? How did the McDonald’s Happy Meals made to sell this movie turn into a big sad for parents and their kids? What’s the definition of a “Christmas Movie” and does Die Hard qualify? Why does this picture make so little sense? Is Adam West still the best Batman? All these questions and more are riding the Batmobile in this holiday-themed episode of Green Screen.

Batman Returns (1992) at IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103776/ Batman Returns (1992) at Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/film/batman-returns/

Next Movie Up: Great Expectations (1946)

Additional Materials About This Episode