We’re investigating a supremely entertaining work of garbage this week and, honestly, thank goodness—we needed some laughter around here. CRUEL INTENTIONS (1999) has it all: one of the most despicable romantic heroes in teen film history, ~tension~ between step siblings, a perfect Sarah Michelle Gellar performance, and a Counting Crows needle drop that offends Maggie but reverts Marin into a sentimental tween. We rant, we cackle, we reflect, we put this movie in conversation with some of the most influential art ever made (because this is our show and we do what we want). Enjoy!    

Secondary texts referenced:

Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

Hannah Gadsby: Nanette (2018) dir. Madeleine Perry and John Olb

“Introduction to Les Liaisons Dangereuses” by Alfred Mac Adam (Barnes & Noble Classics edition) 

“Pure Heroines” by Jia Tolentino (from Trick Mirror: Reflections on Self-Delusion)

MILLER’S GIRL (2024) was panned by critics and didn’t recoup even a fourth of its budget at the box office, so, naturally, we had to talk about it and dare to ask, “Is it really that bad?” The movie is fundamentally about a student being groomed by her teacher, so there’s a lot at stake in terms of how it addresses victimhood, villainy, and power—and our feelings about the outcome are complicated.

Secondary texts referenced:

Bunny by Mona Awad

My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell

The Room (2003) dir. Tommy Wiseau 

Jade Halley Bartlett interview with Forbes: “Miller’s Girl As a Villain Origin Story”

We wade into the world of documentary filmmaking with Sandi Tan’s SHIRKERS (2018), which reflects on Tan’s teenage experience of making a movie with her friends and losing the footage after their teacher steals it. The movie’s “layers of aboutness,” as we writerly types love to say, are plentiful—and get into as much as we can wrap our heads and hearts around: magical realism, punk spirit, youthful determination, and how to live a life that is in service to your art. 

Secondary texts referenced:

“Lessons of the Line: Charles Simic and Me” by Dana Levin (from the Yale Review, spring 2024 issue)

“After the World-Breaking, World-Building” by Vanessa Angélica Villarreal (from Magical/Realism: Essays on Music, Memory, Fantasy, and Borders)

The day has arrived: Maggie vibes with a movie much more than Marin does. The movie in question? Claire Oakley’s MAKE UP (2019), a surreal and sparse story about a teen girl’s coming-to-desire on the Cornwall coast. Maggie offers a compelling analysis of characterization which invokes the spirits of Dashiell Hammett and RHW Dillard (our beloved former professor), Marin argues that the film is at least horror-adjacent, and we discuss the symbolism of the sea (original, we know), the implications of “straight-baiting,” and the staying power of memes about men who don’t furnish their apartments.

Secondary texts referenced:

The Awakening by Kate Chopin

Syzygy, Beauty by T. Fleischmann

The Glass Key by Dashiell Hammett 

Magical/Realism: Essays on Music, Memory, Fantasy, and Borders by Vanessa Angélica Villarreal

Claire Oakley interview with Little White Lies

Claire Oakley interview with AnOther Magazine

Did you ever work a soul-crushing service job that sometimes sent you to the bathroom crying? Then we have the episode for you! Andrew Bujalski’s SUPPORT THE GIRLS (2018) is a lovely and loving film which follows a restaurant manager and her all-female staff as they try to make it through the day. We talk about its authentic approach to solidarity, the dynamic ensemble of characters, our own hellish work experiences, and the significance of the film’s male writer-director. 

Secondary texts referenced:

Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (1974) dir. Martin Scorsese

“Grip” by Joy Castro (from Island of Bones)

We’re tackling religious upbringing this week with Laurel Parmet’s THE STARLING GIRL (2023), a phenomenal film about a teenage girl’s coming-of-age in her Christian fundamentalist community—and we’re having necessary conversations about modesty culture (and the violence it inflicts), predatory relationships, and the work of protecting each other whilst living within systems that thrive precisely by not protecting our livelihoods. 

Secondary texts referenced:

Holiday Country by Inci Atrek

The Dream of a Common Language by Adrienne Rich

Interview with Laurel Parmet

It’s finally time to talk about a teen comedy! Marin’s pick this week is Natalie Morales’s PLAN B (2021), which follows two South Dakotan teens as they try to obtain basic reproductive healthcare and endure lots of bullshit along the way. But the movie is also a funny and tender depiction of friendship and growing into yourself. We discuss its smart and empathetic use of humor, why its romantic subplots work, the logistics of its South Dakota geography, and the possibilities—and limitations—of art as an agent for political change. (Audio note: apologies for the muffled sound at parts—we recorded this episode while wearing masks in an attempt to avoid illness!)

Secondary texts referenced:

Forever… by Judy Blume

Long Live the Tribes of Fatherless Girls: A Memoir by T Kira Madden

Courtesy of Maggie, we are finally talking about a movie from this decade: Maggie Gyllenhaal’s directorial debut, THE LOST DAUGHTER (2021), which is also an adaptation of Elena Ferrante’s novel. We marvel at Olivia Colman’s face acting. We use the word “boundless” a lot. We remember the ways our girlhood-selves terrorized our mothers. We have a lot to say about mothering, art-making, and terrible men who are, nevertheless, alluring. Thankfully, this movie has a lot to say, too. 

Secondary texts referenced:

A Life of One’s Own: Nine Women Writers Begin Again by Joanna Biggs

Women, Race, & Class by Angela Y. Davis

The Lost Daughter by Elena Ferrante

Transforming Girls: The Work of Nineteenth-Century Adolescence by Julie Pfeiffer

Flash Count Diary: Menopause and the Vindication of Natural Life by Darcey Steinke

Letterboxd review by @ducournau

NANCY DREW (2007) was one of Marin’s favorite movies as a child. Does it hold up? Not really! But Maggie hypothesizes why it makes sense that Young Marin would be smitten with this movie. We also talk about the movie’s depictions of danger, perfection, and violent /clueless/entitled men/boys—all of which leads us to wonder: are we over-thinking this PG movie?

Secondary texts referenced:

Tasting the Sky: A Palestinian Childhood by Ibtisam Barakat

“‘Nancy Drew’ Revisited” by Barbara S. Wertheimer and Carol Sands, Language Arts

Incorrect Logline: Warner Bros.

Early into this episode, Marin likens watching Baz Luhrmann’s ROMEO + JULIET (1997) for the first time to “seeing God,” so, yeah, we loved this. We discuss the film’s tenderness towards its characters and its refreshing portraits of girlhood and masculinity, particularly via the gaze of the camera itself. While Maggie’s prowess as a high school literature teacher is on full display, Marin connects the film to not one but TWO teen dramas. Also, we introduce a new closing segment!  

Secondary texts referenced:

“Elizabethan Street Fighting” by Shakespeare Unlimited podcast, ep. 24

“The Female Gaze” by Alexis Loftis, Sartorial Magazine

“Jenny Han Explains How Pop Music is Central to The Summer I Turned Pretty” by Malia Mendez, 

Los Angeles Times

Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare 

The Summer I Turned Pretty, season 2, episode 2

Dawson’s Creek, season 3, episode 14