S3 E25: Borat 2 and The Trial of the Chicago 7: Very Naaiiice 2020 Political Moviefilms

12/26/20 • 74 min

In this episode, hosts Juan, Afra and Diaodiao talk to our old friend Lin Santu and new friend, standup comedian Huey (TikTok @drhueyli), about two recent political films starring Sacha Baron Cohen.

The Trial of the Chicago 7 is a dramatized reenactment of the 1969 trial of seven activists charged by the federal government with conspiracy, for their roles in organizing the counterculture protests in Chicago at the 1968 Democratic National Convention.

We talk about the film’s various limitations and how it comments on and relates to the BLM protests this past summer.

In the second half of the show, we dive into acerbic comedy Borat 2. The highly anticipated sequel to Borat may be best known for the infamous scene with Giuliani in the hotel room, but the breakout star is actually Borat’s 15-year old daughter Tutar. Is this the kind of commentary we need in today’s divisive political climate? We talk about these and more in this episode.

4:30 What are we talking about when we are talking about Sorkin?
11:32 The history behind “The Trial of the Chicago 7”
26:00 Police brutality in 1968 and 2020
40:10 “Borat Subsequent Movie Film” is ridiculously relevant and absurdly realistic
47:30 We need to see more of Tutar
53:00 Do we still need Borat in a post-truth world?

Find Loud Murmurs in the iTunes podcast store, Google Play, Spotify, and wherever you listen to podcasts (e.g. Pocket Casts, Overcast)! Please subscribe, enjoy, and feel free to drop us a note and leave us a review.

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Please reach out to us at [email protected] for any business inquiries.

Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/loudmurmurs)

In this episode, hosts Juan, Afra and Diaodiao talk to our old friend Lin Santu and new friend, standup comedian Huey (TikTok @drhueyli), about two recent political films starring Sacha Baron Cohen.

We talk about the film’s various limitations and how it comments on and relates to the BLM protests this past summer.

4:30 What are we talking about when we are talking about Sorkin?
11:32 The history behind “The Trial of the Chicago 7”
26:00 Police brutality in 1968 and 2020
40:10 “Borat Subsequent Movie Film” is ridiculously relevant and absurdly realistic
47:30 We need to see more of Tutar
53:00 Do we still need Borat in a post-truth world?

RSS feed: https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/258327.rss
Itunes: https://apple.co/2VAVf0Z
Google play: goo.gl/KjRYPN
Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2IWNuRB
Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/s?fid=544416&refid=stpr
Pocket Cast: http://pca.st/nLid
Overcast: https://bit.ly/2SL7MNJ

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/loudmurmurs.

Please reach out to us at [email protected] for any business inquiries.

Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/loudmurmurs)

Previous Episode

S3 E24: The Queen’s Gambit: the refreshing fairy tale we need in 2020

The “Queen’s Gambit,” the new Netflix show about chess genius Beth Harmon, has managed to give us some joy amid this long period of listless pandemic-induced depression.

Hosts Ina, Juan and Diaodiao bring you this free-form, overly enthusiastic discussion filled with feminist (and other types of) rage where we try to get to the bottom of why this show is so damn satisfying to watch even with all its limitations. If you are expecting an intellectual, philosophical conversation about the most pressing social issue of our time — this is not it.

But we had a ton of fun. We hope you enjoy listening to this episode as much as we enjoyed recording it.

P.S. Do you ship Benny/Beth or Beth/Benny? ; )

Timecodes:

03:00 - 08:00 Why is the “Queen's Gambit” such a perfect show for women of our time? Why is it important that the show is set in the 50s?

08:30 - 11:00 How does Beth’s relationship with Beltik flip the traditional gender dynamics on its head; why does Beltik remind us of women in Chinese Wuxia novels/films?

11:25 - 15:00 The show’s portrayal of sex and love and Beth’s relationship with Benny and Townes

15:30 - 21:00 Female characters in the show: who is Alma and why her life is a tragedy we can’t take our eyes off of; why her story reminds us of “Why women kill” and resonates with so many middle aged women in China?

21:30 - 25:00 Why the discussion of whether women should work or stay with families is one of the most talked about pain point in present day China; how the show portrays women’s trauma and resilience

25:30 - 27:20 Is the show trying to pit women who conform against those who don’t?

27:30 - 29:00 Why is the portrayal of “tragic and helpless housewives” so offensive in China?

29:14 - 32:28 Is the character Jolene the “deus ex machina” of the show and why the show’s treatment of race draws criticism?

32:30 - 38:00 What kind of actual hurdles did Beth overcome and were they too easy? The reality of gender inequality in chess and other industries in 2020. Why do we say “Queen’s Gambit” is a fairy tale set in an alternative universe?

39:50 - 40:00 Knowing all the limits of the show, why do we still welcome MORE stories like this one?

41:00 - 43:00 Time to shamelessly ship Benny/Beth; Jolene/Beth; Beth/Cleo

44:00 - ENDING Maybe we need and deserve some pure joy in this f-ed up world.

READINGS：

AO3: Queens Gambit fanfics (Oh we support this tag: #Benny watts is bisexual I can tell bcs of his stupid little hat)

https://archiveofourown.org/tags/The%20Queen's%20Gambit%20(TV)/works

Older women on China’s TikTok are being scammed by flirtatious fake celebrities, highlighting a prevalent problem on the platform

https://www.scmp.com/abacus/tech/article/3107118/older-women-chinas-tiktok-are-being-scammed-flirtatious-fake

Chinese fans go wild over dark drama ‘Why Women Kill’ as season one ends

https://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1167371.shtml

Promo：

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Next Episode

S3 E26: A look back at Loud Murmurs in 2020

With a sigh of relief, we’re proud to say that this year has finally come to an end. And what a year it has been! There are not enough words to accurately capture all that has happened this year, and as much we want to forget what this year has brought to us as both individuals and as societies, we shouldn’t. The most important thing to happen this year is the fact that it happened, and we owe it to the past, the present, and the future to remember it for what it was.

In this episode, we invite our two editors, Joshua and Val, to join our four hosts and review what this year has been like for us and for Loud Murmurs, and we share some of our favorite episodes with all of you.

Since its creation, Loud Murmurs gave us an opportunity to chase after the seemingly disconnected and random thoughts we’ve had after binging a TV show or watching a movie. It’s pushed us to dig deeper, challenge our biases and thinking, and do the work and research necessary to understand things we are not familiar with -- and to ultimately share it with everyone of our listeners. Thank you for being with us this past year, and thank you for accommodating us as we continue to learn and grow. Cheers to this year and the many more ahead!

00: 40 Love from the hosts, editors and our listeners

23: 00 Diaodiao’s favorite episode: S3 E22 and E23 Social Dilemma 1 + 2

30: 50 Ina’s favorite episode(s)：All the episodes on first-generation diaspora stories

35: 25 Joshua’s favorite episode: S3 E12 “Becoming” by Michelle Obama

40:02 Juan’s favorite episode: S3 E15 Black Panther and the Green Book with Joshua and Esham

50: 00 Val’s favorite episode: S3 E19 Remembering RBG — Feminist fighter, role model and cultural icon

Find Loud Murmurs in the iTunes podcast store, Google Play, Spotify, and wherever you listen to podcasts (e.g. Pocket Casts, Overcast)! Please subscribe, enjoy, and feel free to drop us a note and leave us a review.