Pop Rocket Ep. 204 From Dafoe’s Van Gogh to Hayek’s Frida: A Look at Hollywood’s Attempt to Make Art about Artists

Explicit content warning

12/14/18 • 55 min

How right, but mostly how wrong, does Hollywood get it when it comes to capturing artists in film? Margaret Wappler asks these very questions of her esteemed panel. And this, the panel is comprised of LA Times staff writer Carolina Miranda, who covers visual arts, culture and architecture, media scholar and TV critic Sarah Kessler--filling in for her under-the-weather wife Karen Tongson--and Cal Arts professor and visual artist David P Earle, who is better known to Pop Rocket listeners as father to Silas and husband to our very own Margaret Wappler.

From Mike Leigh's Mr. Turner to Antonio Banderas's Golden Globe-nominated performance in Genius: Picasso, the crew highlights all the tired tropes Hollywood can’t resist when depicting artists. They’ll tell you about the films that get it right, and the films that get it deliciously wrong. Plus, why are all the portrayals of Andy Warhol on the big screen so...different? Was the real Andy Warhol more like Crispin Glover in The Doors or David Bowie in Julian Schnabel's Basquiat? Does Salma Hayek really do Frida justice? And which actress nails the stereotype of the insufferable, pretentious artist on the head? Join us as we try to suss out: is art about art art, or t-shirt at the giftshop bullshit?

All Abouts

Sarah is all about Valerie Solanas's SCUM Manifesto with forward by Michelle Tea.

Carolina is all about narco-novelas, in particular Netflix's Narcos: Mexico starring Diego Luna.

David is all about his algorithmically generated list of top songs of 2018 from Spotify.

Margaret is all about the 18th century period piece The Favourite, a feminist reimagining of Queen Anne's court starring Rachel Weisz, Emma Stone, and Olivia Colman.

That's My Jam

Sarah - Laura Branigan - Gloria

David - Saba - LOGOUT

Carolina - The Bucketheads - The Bomb! (These Sounds Fall into My Mind)

Margaret- Katzù Oso - Crazy4luvinU

With Margaret Wappler, David Earle, Carolina Miranda, and Sarah Rebecca Kessler.

Did you know that you can now call and leave voicemails for the show? You can! If you want to comment on an episode, give us any feedback or just call to get advice from a panel member, the number is: (530) 237-4108

You can let us know what you think of Pop Rocket and suggest topics in our Facebook group or via @PopRocket on Twitter.

If you haven't already, follow us on Instagram.

Produced by Laura Swisher for MaximumFun.org. Edited by Shana Daloria.

All Abouts

Sarah is all about Valerie Solanas's SCUM Manifesto with forward by Michelle Tea.

Carolina is all about narco-novelas, in particular Netflix's Narcos: Mexico starring Diego Luna.

David is all about his algorithmically generated list of top songs of 2018 from Spotify.

Margaret is all about the 18th century period piece The Favourite, a feminist reimagining of Queen Anne's court starring Rachel Weisz, Emma Stone, and Olivia Colman.

That's My Jam

Sarah - Laura Branigan - Gloria

David - Saba - LOGOUT

Carolina - The Bucketheads - The Bomb! (These Sounds Fall into My Mind)

Margaret- Katzù Oso - Crazy4luvinU

With Margaret Wappler, David Earle, Carolina Miranda, and Sarah Rebecca Kessler.

You can let us know what you think of Pop Rocket and suggest topics in our Facebook group or via @PopRocket on Twitter.

If you haven't already, follow us on Instagram.

Produced by Laura Swisher for MaximumFun.org. Edited by Shana Daloria.

Previous Episode

Pop Rocket Ep. 203 Bravo’s Dirty John & Our True Crime Obsession w/ Sarah Kessler

Guests: Karen Tongson Wynter Mitchell-Rohrbaugh Sarah Kessler

We're getting down into the down and dirty story Dirty John, the new Bravo show based on the LA Times and Wondery podcast of the same name. Joining us in the discussion this week is media scholar and TV critic Sarah Kessler who happens to also be married to our very own Karen Tongson. Dirty John is the true crime story about Debra Newell, a successful Orange County businesswoman who seemed to have everything going for her except when it came to love. In her middle age, she began online dating and met this guy who her two daughters found extremely shady. Obviously, throughout the course of the limited series starring Connie Britton and Eric Bana, she and we find out why.

We take a deep dive into what it is that titillates and draws us into the dark and disturbing world of true crime. The panel takes a look at podcasts like Teacher's Pet, Serial and Bear Brook, among others, as well as shows such as Making a Murderer, Lifetime’s A Woman Scorned and the sensational, made-for-tv accounts of the most notorious serial killers. What does true crime tell us about women and what does it tell women to watch out for? Find out!

List of All the True Crimes Stories Referenced in the Episode

Serial Bear Brook Teacher's Pet Atlanta Monster Star 80 Fall of a Titan: The Steve McNair Story In the Dark Crime & Scandal: Chris Watts

All Abouts

Wynter Mitchell-Rohrbaugh is all about the interpersonal dynamics at play at H.W. Bush’s funeral.

Sarah Kessler is all about My Brilliant Friend on HBO based on the bestselling series by Elena Ferrante.

Karen Tongson is all about a recent stand-up set she saw of Aparna Nancherla.

That's My Jam

Sarah Kessler - Stereolab - Outer Accelerator

Wynter - Grace Jones - Slave to the Rhythm

Karen Tongson - Juliana Hatfield - A Little More Love

With Karen Tongson, Wynter Mitchell-Rohrbaugh, and Sarah Rebecca Kessler.

You can let us know what you think of Pop Rocket and suggest topics in our Facebook group or via @PopRocket on Twitter.

If you haven't already, follow us on Instagram.

Produced by Laura Swisher for MaximumFun.org. Edited by Shana Daloria.

Next Episode

Pop Rocket Ep. 205 The Pop Rocket Holiday Playlist Spectacular

Happy Holidays, everyone! Wynter and Karen are joined by special guest panelists Tre’Vell Anderson (Director of Culture and Entertainment at Out Magazine) and 'Who Shot Ya?'s' Alonso Duralde to create the ultimate holiday playlist. Each panelist created a top ten list of their favorite holiday songs, out of which they’d select twenty for inclusion in the official Pop Rocket Holiday Playlist. Well, that was the plan, anyway. In practice, when faced with making the tough choices, they flopped. Whose version of "Sleigh Ride" should be on the playlist: Andy Williams’s, Ella Fitzgerald’s or TLC’s? Spoiler alert: They couldn’t decide.

Plus, the panelists describe their holiday family traditions, and if you’ve ever been curious what the most popular Philippine Christmas song is, resident scholar Karen Tongson reveals the answer.

From Ella Fitzgerald to Donny Hathaway, from the Morehouse Glee Club to Quad City DJs, the variety of musical stylings in this episode will get your feet tappin'.

All Abouts

For the last All Abouts of the year, each panelist picked one thing in 2018, that they could watch, listen to, read, or consume, OVER & OVER again.

Alonso is all about the Amber Ruffin segment on Late Night With Seth Meyers - 'Amber Says Why'

Karen is still all about the series finale of The Americans.

Tre’Vell is awed by EVERYTHING about Cardi B, but especially her recent appearance with James Corden in Carpool Karaoke.

Wynter can’t stop watching Mission Impossible: Fallout.

That's My Jam

For this week’s jams, each panelist picked a song that best summed up the year that was 2018.

Karen: Sound of Music Soundtrack - So Long, Farewell Tre’vell: Fantasia - Lose to Win Alonso: Lizzo - Good as Hell Wynter: Drake - Nice for What

Did you know that you can now call and leave voicemails for the show? You can! If you want to comment on an episode, give us any feedback, or just call to get advice from a panel member, the number is: (530) 237-4108

You can let us know what you think of Pop Rocket and suggest topics in our Facebook group or via @PopRocket on Twitter.

If you haven't already, follow us on Instagram.

Produced by Laura Swisher for MaximumFun.org. Edited by Shana Daloria.