Matthew McConaughey & 'Greenlights'

Explicit content warning

11/18/20 • 48 min

How in the world did this happen? We’re breaking the Pop Fiction Women rules by covering non-fiction written by a man, but Matthew McConaughey flips the script in his memoir, Greenlights. ** The actor could have told behind-the-scenes stories from movie sets or dished about his famous exes, but instead he chose to share narratives that are typically reserved for women: he’s been objectified, held his tongue to be nice, been the victim of a sexual assault, and dreamed of being a father since he was a child. We deconstruct these narratives, how he sticks to the script, what he changes, and what doors he opens. (04:52) ** On a turbulent gap year after high school in Australia when McConaughey felt lost we were surprised to read how he turned to controlling his body to cope and made himself small, played nice and kept his mouth shut. That is, until he exploded. You can only hold your tongue for so long....we’ve all been there! (08:03) ** We can’t ignore the dream McConaughey shares about finding “the one” and becoming a father and the very feminine things it taught him about letting go, surrendering, paying attention to his intuition, and following the signs. In fact, tuning in to intuition is what Greenlights is all about. (16:42) ** In the spirit of this podcast, McConaughey falls in love with a beautifully complicated woman. In fact, her contradictions and dimensions are the very thing that attracts him to his now wife Camilla Alves. While initially afraid to marry and lose himself, once he does, McConaughey parents and husbands in an incredibly active way. (20:47) ** We loved hearing McConaughey’s down to earth perspective on the real work of marriage, and in yet another flip the script moment, how while he sometimes has to make himself have sex, afterwards everything in life is just that much better. (29:15) ** Being a dad has been McConaughey’s dream since he was eight years old, but his reasons seem very masculine to Kate while Carinn totally relates. (31:16) ** Being a father, parenting, and even life, are verbs for McConaughey, and hearing him talk about his family as his core has us hoping that both men and women will feel free to express their own truth about their ambitions, their family and what it all means to them. (36:28) ** McConaughey is a complicated guy, a Scorpio, who has spent a lot of time alone, digs deep, manifests his goals, cherishes his faith, embraces his hometown of Austin, and supports social justice. An outlaw philosopher for sure! (43:16) Follow us on Instagram and Facebook @popfictionwomen and on Twitter @pop_women. To do a full deep dive, check out our website at www.popfictionwomen.com. Stay Complicated! We’ve launched a platform at patreon.com/popfictionwomen to keep making the podcast you love -- and to make it even better. For a one time contribution to support this episode, use venmo @carinn-jade. Thank you for your support and enjoy the show!! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Previous Episode

The Queen's Gambit Recap: Episodes 5-7; Chess Lessons as Life Lessons

The Queen's Gambit Recap: Episodes 5-7, Chess Lessons as Life Lessons ** After gushing about the cinematography, the music and the fashion, we delve into Episode 5 and the return of Harry Beltick. Harry is more than your average nice guy. He helps Beth through a hard time, but also stands up for himself and leaves. Spending time with Beth allows Harry to realize he doesn’t love chess and to glimpse the demons Beth’s wrestling inside her brilliant mind. (03:32) ** If things with Harry were too cold, then things with Benny Watts at the U.S. Open Championships are too hot. Their connection is dizzying and it’s not just based on their shared passion for chess. (10:33) ** Episode 6 brings Beth to New York City to live and train with Benny where they play “serious” chess and Beth comes into her own. It’s here that Beth meets Cleo who will set off her undoing in Paris. (13:42) ** We are back at the beginning of the series with Beth crawling out of the bathtub in Paris after a night on the town, painfully hungover while losing to Borgov. She returns to Kentucky, buys her adopted parents’ home and appears to be getting her life together. But Carinn wonders if perfectionism isn’t the same device as the alcohol: a way to numb and not feel all the pain she has not yet processed. (19:38) ** Episode 7 starts with a flashback to Beth’s mother telling her she is going to leave her and we wonder whether it is possible that Beth’s life has been altered for the better by her mother’s suicide. We understand now where Beth learned never to ask for help. (26:27) ** Jolene is back and is a breath of fresh air! She takes Beth to the orphanage where she tearfully realizes that Mr. Shaibel was like a father to her, proudly following her achievements through-out the years. This realization, along with one of our favorite scenes between Jolene and Beth, allows Beth to begin to understand that she really does have family. (32:15) ** Beth arrives in Moscow, defeating grandmasters she has revered her entire life and setting up her rematch with Borgov. Townes returns, which gives Beth the resolve to face herself. Beth knows she can work out a chess problem, but in this turning point moment, she realizes that she herself is a problem to work out and resolves to stop busying and/or numbing herself. (35:28) ** Carinn and Kate both have all the feels about the scene where Townes hands Beth the phone and she discovers that all her old chess friends, including Benny and Harry, are on the line ready to help her dissect her game against Borgov. Kate talks about how moved Beth is to realize that she is not alone in this world, while Carinn feels the relief that Beth had always been searching for in the pills -- and how she can see a new way. (42:22) ** We’re back to the final match against Borgov. Kate’s sports-minded brain was rooting for and reveling in the win, while Carinn wondered whether Beth’s blind desire for victory could be her undoing and whether a draw couldn’t have taught her important lessons too. (49:23) ** Clearly the writer (a man) has given us a three dimensional character (a woman), but Carinn sees even more than their initial Pop Fiction Women inquiry. The ending represents both a masculine hero’s journey (a singular triumph) as well as a feminine journey (the triumph of community, a group effort to overcome a singular obstacle). Carinn connects this to a favorite of ours, Brit Marling, and her writing on the masculine and the feminine in the hero’s journey. If you’re interested in more, read the opinion piece here: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/07/opinion/sunday/brit-marling-women-movies.html. (57:46) Follow us on Instagram and Facebook @popfictionwomen and on Twitter @pop_women. To do a full deep dive, check out our website at www.popfictionwomen.com. Stay Complicated! We’ve launched a platform at patreon.com/popfictionwomen to keep making the podcast you love -- and to make it even better. For a one time contribution to support this episode, use venmo @carinn-jade. Thank you for your support and enjoy the show!! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Next Episode

'28 Summers' & Elin Hilderbrand

**Can secrets make a person complicated? We discuss Mallory and Ursula in light of our complicated women criteria. (08:10). **What's Your Damage, Heather? In this book it all revolves around ideas of love and marriage. Does Mallory love Jake? Does Jake love Ursula? We have controversial opinions. (30:15) **What She Said. We discuss Elin Hilderbrand, the author, creative mind and business woman. (49:30) **Crystal Ball. Carinn uses inspiration from the Taylor Swift line, "if one thing had been different, would everything be different today?" and imagines alternate futures for Jake and Mallory. (58:25) **Who won the book? (67:55) **Takeaways. Carinn and Kate discuss the idea behind "Same Time Next Year" and whether the set-up is ideal, a dream come true or a total cluster waiting to happen. (71:15) Follow us on Instagram and Facebook @popfictionwomen and on Twitter @pop_women. To do a full deep dive, check out our website at www.popfictionwomen.com. Stay Complicated! We’ve launched a platform at patreon.com/popfictionwomen to keep making the podcast you love -- and to make it even better. For a one time contribution to support this episode, use venmo @carinn-jade. Thank you for your support and enjoy the show!! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices