Join Alex and guest host Dr. Lee Golembiewski as they discuss the harrowing true story of a young gay man enduring conversion therapy in the US South in Boy Erased (2018). The film stars Lucas Hedges as Jared, playing a version of Garrard Conley, who wrote a memoir of the same name in 2016, detailing his journey through conversion therapy in the early 2000s. The film also stars Russell Crowe as his pastor father, who ultimately made the decision to send Jared to the harmful Christian ministry, Nicole Kidman, as his mother, who makes a startling transformation during the film, and Joel Edgerton, who plays the ministry's lead "counselor" — Edgerton also directed and assisted in adapting the book into a screenplay. They explore the therapy's practices, religion and spirituality, acceptance, and harm done by these kinds of programs, that to this day, still exist in many parts of the US and the world, because of the view that anything different in sexuality and gender from the norm of cisheteronormativity is aberrant and must be corrected through spiritual healing. While the filmmaking is rough around the edges, the message and themes are powerful ones from a psychological perspective!

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Join Alex and guest host Dr. Melissa Maffeo as they delve into the seedy world of drug addiction in one of Darren Aronofsky's earlier films Requiem for a Dream (2000). The film stars up-and-coming Jared Leto, Jennifer Connelly, and Marlon Wayans, as well as Hollywood great Ellen Burstyn, as four folks who get caught up in their addictions, fueled by their dreams of better lives and fame. In true Aronofsky form, the visuals and filmmaking get you caught up in these addictions, how they manifest and how they actually destroy the dreams of our four main characters. This film isn't for the faint of heart, but represents the dark qualities that wait around the corner of drug use and abuse — perfect for dissecting the models of addiction! Now buckle in and let's watch those eyes dilate!

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Join Alex and guest host Dr. Jacob Miranda as they explore the metascience, confirmation bias, and the nature of faith vs. science in the sci-fi epic, Contact (1997). The film, directed by Robert Zemeckis and cowrote by Carl Sagan himself, stars Jodie Foster as Ellie Arroway, a SETI scientist who helps discover a message from the stars. The film also stars Matthew McConaughey, a religious person who acts as a foil for Ellie's scientifically-oriented mind. Confirmation bias reins in all aspects of this film, but the commentary also includes a a healthy dose of metascience and the open science movement, especially what is part of the current discussion in Psychology — the replication crisis. Take a trip to the stars, or another dimension, and ask yourself the question: do you believe Ellie?

Please leave your feedback on this post, the main site (cinemapsychpod.swanpsych.com), on Facebook (@CinPsyPod), or Instagram (@cinemapsych_podcast) and Threads (@cinemapsych_podcast). We'd love to hear from you!

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Join Alex as he takes a solo look at the prophetic alternate reality in The Circle (2017), a film about a tech company and social media conglomerate that is parts Apple and other parts Facebook. The film, directed by James Ponsoldt and starring Emma Watson, Tom Hanks, Karen Gillan, John Boyega, and Patton Oswalt, explores the chaotic world of a tech company that creates technology to link everyone together and put cameras all over the world. You know, your typical data-farming and unregulated surveillance we've all come to integrate into our lives 24/7. There are a ton of psych concepts easily accessed through the blunt, low-hanging fruit conundrums our characters find themselves. Alex identified five strong concepts presented throughout — and he's going to share them in the episode and then share the episode through ... social media!

Please leave your feedback on this post, the main site (cinemapsychpod.swanpsych.com), on Facebook (@CinPsyPod), or Instagram (@cinemapsych_podcast) and Threads (@cinemapsych_podcast). We'd love to hear from you!

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Join Alex and guest host Dr. Crissa Draper as they discuss the the ins and outs of caring for a person with disabilities and the impact of grief in The Fundamentals of Caring (2016)! The films stars Paul Rudd as Paul Rudd playing a guy named Ben Benjamin, a father looking to make a major change in his life, becoming a full-time in-home caretaker. His first client is irascible Trevor, played by Craig Roberts, who has muscular dystrophy and is confined to a wheelchair. The film was written and directed by Rob Burnett, based on the book The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving. This film is all about disabilities aren't necessarily a death-sentence, it's OK to laugh with folks with disabilities, and father issues come in all shapes and sizes. But let's be honest, we all want Paul Rudd to be our dad, right?

Please leave your feedback on this post, the main site (cinemapsychpod.swanpsych.com), on Facebook (@CinPsyPod), or Instagram (@cinemapsych_podcast) and Threads (@cinemapsych_podcast). We'd love to hear from you!

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Join Alex and guest host Dr. KatieAnn Skogsberg as they discuss the fascinating story inspired by a true one, about a man who regains his sight after being blind for decades, in At First Sight (1999)! The story follows Val Kilmer's Virgil Adamson, as he receives cataract surgery and begins to "see", exploring a whole new world of visual sensations, all for a woman he met massaging, played by Mira Sorvino. The story mirrors the real life struggles of Shirley Jennings, a blind man who underwent a similar surgery and told his story to Dr. Oliver Sacks. It's an interesting romantic tale, chock full of really great sensation and perception concepts! In fact, you'll get so much vision information, it's probably best you're listening to the episode!

Please leave your feedback on this post, the main site (cinemapsychpod.swanpsych.com), on Facebook (@CinPsyPod), or Instagram (@cinemapsych_podcast) and Threads (@cinemapsych_podcast). We'd love to hear from you!

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Join Alex and guest host Xiaomeng (Mona) Xu as they discuss the multiverse romp Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022), a film by writer-director team Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (the Daniels), starring Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan, Jamie Lee Curtis, James Hong, and Stephanie Hsu. They explore self-expansion theory in identity formation, across the multiverse, as well as the central theme of the film: relationships within the immigrant experience. There's a lot of silliness to be had here, so wear that googly eye while you listen to this engaging episode, doing your laundry and taxes!

Please leave your feedback on this post, the main site (cinemapsychpod.swanpsych.com) or on Facebook (@CinPsyPod). We'd love to hear from you!

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Join Alex and returning guest host Dr. Molly Metz as they jump into the pink land that is Barbie (2023)! There's so much in this episode that they crammed in, and they didn't even get to everything. Alex and Molly explore gender expression, gender identity, masculinity, femininity, queerness, relationships, and of course, the role Barbie has had in Western/American culture since her debut in the 1950s. There are lot of great nuggets of info and a lot of laughs, and that's just in the podcast — imagine what's in the movie!

Check out these links if you want to know more about Barbie, the film, and gender studies: BinaryThis, Fortune, The Mercury News, and AutoStraddle

This is the podcast episode Molly mentions in the episode: American Hysteria's "Blame it On Barbie"

Please leave your feedback on this post, the main site (cinemapsychpod.swanpsych.com) or on Facebook (@CinPsyPod). We'd love to hear from you!

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Join Alex and guest host Dr. Chelsea Robertson as they discuss the tragedy and the triumph of a mother and her 5-year-old son in the heart-wrenching book adaptation of Room (2015). They explore the social and cognitive development of Jack, the little boy, who for five years, has only known the inside of a shed that they call "Room." We also explore the role of trauma in both Jack and his Ma, Joy, as they navigate their life inside and outside of Room. It's a tough book, it's a tough movie, and of course, it's going to be a tough chat with hard-to-discuss topics — take breaks if you need to!

Check out East Tennessee State University's Strong BRAIN Institute!

Please leave your feedback on this post, the main site (cinemapsychpod.swanpsych.com) or on Facebook (@CinPsyPod). We'd love to hear from you!

Don't forget to check out our Paypal link to contribute to this podcast and keep the lights on! Don't forget to check out our MERCH STORE for some great merch with our logo!

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Join Alex and guest host Dr. Sy Islam as they discuss the smash-hit from 2023, Oppenheimer! Christopher Nolan's three-hour peek behind the creation of the team that formed the Manhattan Project and the literal fallout from the creation and dropping of the first atomic bombs, featuring the amazing performances by Cillian Murphy, Robert Downey Jr., Florence Pugh, Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, and Josh Hartnett, among many many more others. The pair discuss the formation of the "Physics Avengers" from an Industrial-Organizational Psych perspective, while exploring how they prevented the bias groupthink from pervading the critical decisions. It's a wild ride!

Follow Sy on Twitter/X or on BlueSky!

Check out his recent book on Amazon about the other kind of Avengers: Leaders Assemble! Leadership in the MCU (Exploring Effective Leadership Practices through Popular Culture)

Please leave your feedback on this post, the main site (cinemapsychpod.swanpsych.com) or on Facebook (@CinPsyPod). We'd love to hear from you!

Don't forget to check out our Paypal link to contribute to this podcast and keep the lights on! Don't forget to check out our MERCH STORE for some great merch with our logo!

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Go to this link to read a transcript generated by Whisper AI Large V3 Model. Disclaimer: It is not edited and may contain errors!