Roseanne Barr is now known as a reactionary cancel-culture warrior, but she was once a beloved comedian and champion of working-class politics. What exactly happened? And, in the middle of her rocketship ride to the moon of superstardom, she co-starred in a movie with Meryl Streep! What?! And the movie is really good????
Laci and Matt tell the story of She-Devil (1989), director Susan Seidelman's black comedy that pits Barr against Streep and Ed Begley Jr., with Barr as an avenging angel for neglected and forgotten women everywhere. It's a very funny and poignant comedy that critics largely dismissed at the time. Especially British critics, who compared it unfavorably to the 1986 BBC miniseries adaptation of The Life and Loves of a She-Devil. That's right, this all starts with a seminal work of feminist literature by author Fay Weldon. We also tell that story, including her 2017 legacy sequel to She-Devil and her sad eventual evolution into a TERF.
Then, we dive into She-Devil the film, heaping endless praise of Meryl Streep's hilarious physical comedy, Ed Begley's smarmy nice-guy evilness, and Roseanne's up-and-down performance in her first film role.
Next week's episode (Feb. 13, 2026): When Harry Met Sally... (1989)
Time stamps:
- 00:03:00 — History segment: Original She-Devil author Fay Weldon, an important British feminist writer, and her later unfortunate turn toward TERFdom; director Susan Seidelman's career and experience working with Meryl Streep and Roseanne Barr; career overview of Roseanne Barr, from early working-class comedy roots to sad turn toward reactionary pro-Trump politics and cancel culture warriordom
- 00:52:06 — Movie discussion
- 01:58:07 — Final thoughts & star ratings
Sources:
- "Fay Weldon: 'Feminism was a success, but then you lose a generation'" by Claire Armistead | The Guardian (2017) - https://bit.ly/4kfFIAx
- "She-Devil returns: Fay Weldon writing 'transgender' sequel to feminist classic" by Sian Cain | The Guardian (2016) - https://bit.ly/3YVLiOt
- "Transgender people become women for 'fashion or clothes', says novelist Fay Weldon" by Niamh McIntyre | The Independent (2017) - https://bit.ly/4qzcL4D
- "Fay Weldon: transgender people become women for 'frivolous' reasons such as 'fashion' and 'clothes'" by Rozina Sabur & Olivia Rudgard | The Telegraph (2017) - https://bit.ly/4k2zOSW
- "Desperately Seeking Something: A Memoir About Movies, Mothers, and Material Girls" by Susan Seidelman | https://amzn.to/4a3C6ww
- "Roseanne: My Life As a Woman" by Roseanne Barr | https://amzn.to/4roXRya
- Review of She-Devil by Roger Ebert | The Chicago Sun-Times (1989) - https://bit.ly/4k3EtnT
Artwork by Laci Roth.
Check out Laci's coloring videos on YouTube! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-kKLhWb2g0bKA-RrvvLh0Q/
Matt has a monthly spin-off podcast covering the James Bond films! Check out PodJob: A James Bond Podcast on Apple Podcast (https://bit.ly/4jRL2K1), Spotify (https://bit.ly/4a8jM6E), and YouTube (https://youtube.com/@podjob007).
Music by Rural Route Nine. Listen to their album The Joy of Averages on Spotify (https://bit.ly/48WBtUa), Apple Music (https://bit.ly/3Q6kOVC), or YouTube (https://bit.ly/3MbU6tC).
Songs by Rural Route Nine in this episode:
- "Winston-Salem" - https://youtu.be/-acMutUf8IM
- "Snake Drama" - https://youtu.be/xrzz8_2Mqkg
- "The Bible Towers of Bluebonnet" - https://youtu.be/k7wlxTGGEIQ
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