Episode 3

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Published on:

18th Sep 2025

My Life As A Dog - Celebrating Virgo Season with Robby & Kurt Vonnegut's Favorite Film

Two of our hosts are Virgos so to celebrate we are watching their favorite film, and breaking down their stories. First up, Robby's favorite film– "My Life As A Dog, which is also Kurt Vonnegut's favorite film! While often remembered for its sweetness and childlike perspective, the film is in fact a darkly introspective work about childhood displacement and resilience.

Such a poignant (sad, dark, introspective) story made for an unexpectedly fun episode.

Must listen moments include:

00:00 - Cold Open

00:28 - Why We Chose To Discuss "My Life As A Dog"

02:09 - What You Need To Know Before Watching "My Life As A Dog"

13:46 - Did We (Jaclynn) Like It?

17:27 - Sketch: Shout Out To An Ex!

19:42 - Why Robby Loves "My Life As A Dog"

23:35 - Cole's Reaction & Comparing It To "My Dinner With Andre"

27:25 - No One Says "I Love You"

28:02 - Sketch: Cathartic Company Holiday Party

29:50 - Sexual Content Warning // Discussion

31:30 - The Film's Many Metaphors

36:19 - Our Favorite Robby Story

39:26 - Favorite Lines


Key Credits:

Director: Lasse Hallström

Writers: Lasse Hallström, Reidar Jönsson, Brasse Brännström, Per Berglund (adapted from Jönsson’s novel)

Cinematography: Jörgen Persson


Cast: Anton Glanzelius (Ingemar), Tomas von Brömssen (Gunnar), Anki Lidén (Ingemar’s mother), Melinda Kinnaman (Saga)


Awards: Won Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film (1988); Nominated for two Academy Awards (Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay); Winner of Guldbagge Award for Best Film; widely recognized on international critics’ lists.


Cultural Impact:

My Life as a Dog was a breakthrough moment for Swedish cinema in the 1980s and for director Lasse Hallström, who went on to a long Hollywood career. The film established a model for the “memory movie” subgenre, using a child’s heightened perspective and vivid production design to translate trauma into visual metaphor. Its balance of levity and despair influenced later coming-of-age films, particularly in how stories of childhood can be framed as both whimsical and devastating. The film also broadened international awareness of Swedish filmmaking and remains a touchstone in conversations about resilience, displacement, and the unreliable nature of memory.


Episode Summary:

We celebrate Virgo season with Robby’s favorite film—My Life as a Dog (1985), directed by Lasse Hallström and adapted from Reidar Jönsson’s novel. With cinematography by Jörgen Persson and a breakout performance by Anton Glanzelius, the film became an international success, winning the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film and earning Academy Award nominations for Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay.


Our discussion frames My Life as a Dog as a “memory movie”: a story told through the lens of a child’s perception, where bright colors and circus-like design choices mirror the distortions of memory. We compare Ingemar’s dislocation to the fate of Laika, the dog sent into space, emphasizing the boy’s sense of being “tossed around” by forces beyond his control. The conversation examines the film’s tonal balance—how it cloaks devastating material in humor—and debates whether Ingemar is a typical child or unusually aware of his difficult circumstances.

Finally, we consider the film’s cultural impact. Beyond its role as a breakthrough for Swedish cinema and Hallström’s career, My Life as a Dog continues to resonate as a meditation on powerlessness, resilience, and the search for belonging. Its influence can be traced in subsequent coming-of-age films that weave levity into trauma, and in the enduring discussions it sparks among filmmakers and audiences alike.

Transcript
Speaker:

Is Virgo season a thing?

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It's a big thing, a total thing.

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You know what's amazing is

we are recording this at the peak.

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No joke. Literally right now

it's happening.

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The peak of the Virgo

full moon is like, right now.

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This is a powerful podcast.

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*Children chanting

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in Swedish*

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Robby and I, for our respective birthdays,

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we brought these two movies

to the three of us.

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I chose My Life as a Dog because you said

choose your favorite movie.

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It's exactly the type of.

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It's exactly the type of movie or play

or whatever I want, I want to make.

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And you saw it at 16.

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Yeah.

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I saw it at 16.

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Did you like it then? I loved it.

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Our next guest of Live At Five has sweetly

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said to me that I should speak slowly

because he speaks another language.

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And so we'll try to do that.

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We went to the Detroit Institute of Arts

to see it with my parents

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and my friend Keith.

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I didn't know anything about it

like I'd seen foreign films before.

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And I grew up in a pretty sheltered

environment, but it was packed theater

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and there was laughter throughout, but

I don't remember reading the subtitles.

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Before you made the movie, before it

came over here, did you know that

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America has a tougher time, accepting

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a movie with subtitles or dubbed?

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Yes, I know that,

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Everyone

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are talking about, American,

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who don't like movies with subtitles.

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And this is very profound

because I also had

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never seen, like, a movie

that was like that,

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like it was about nothing,

and it was about everything.

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And so well done.

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Like using a child and a dog

and dealing with death and dealing with,

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you know, all the big,

huge themes and in art and in life.

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I enjoyed that.

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I really enjoyed it and doing it in a way

that wasn't it didn't feel heavy.

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It felt like it felt like it was it was

giving it to you and the birthday cake.

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We should have asked you this

in real life.

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But, If somebody had not seen this

or not even heard of it, where like 1 or 2

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things that you would tell them about it

so that they're like acclimated going in.

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The first one is that if you have problems

with like children in peril,

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kind of things like movies,

then this is like, yeah, this is

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I mean, you really you really need to know

going in that this is like

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it's from the point of view of a child,

probably around 9 or 10.

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Because Emily,

when we started watching this together,

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she was like,

I don't know if I can watch this

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because she has like a thing

about children suffering.

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It's kind of my number one thing.

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It's my number

two thing after dogs suffering.

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And I know, yeah,

I messed up. But then yeah, both of us.

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So thank you, Robbie,

for this delightful viewing.

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I'm so glad you watched this first. Then

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what I would have needed to have known

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is that, like, like

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a was a dog that was sent to space

and basically left to die for scientific

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purposes,

and everybody who would have seen it

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originally would have been like,

oh, yeah, it's a thing I know, and I.

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I have been to Russia

and I've been to like their space museum.

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And I burst into tears

learning about Laika.

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They have like a stuffed Laika

in a capsule.

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It's awful.

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I did, you know. Yeah,

I knew about it. Growing up.

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And I, you know, I was like,

I grew up during the Cold War, so.

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The. Dog came first,

and then the Americans put a man

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on the moon kind of thing.

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And then the second thing I would say is

that it's a memory.

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It's a memory movie.

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So like like a memory play,

it's like, it's it's

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definitely from that child's

point of view, like that child is going,

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like even though it's narrated by

the actor, the, the connector themselves.

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It is very it's glossy.

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It is it's very specific

in this point of view,

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and it is very fun in that way,

but also incredibly sad.

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When I think of it like that.

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It actually felt

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very like my memories feel like it's like,

I bet if I took a time machine back

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to like Cherry Lane, Denver at age four,

it would look very normal.

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But in my head, it's like this bright

colored circus that I lived in.

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You know,

I was really struck by a set design.

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I laughed at it a little because it felt

a little of like, a little overwrought

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a little, you know, like there's

a unicycle now we're like, I don't know.

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It's felt very like we have picked

these things in this moment.

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But as a memory film, it also feels like

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you're experiencing what the child

remembers and how everything looks.

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And everything has a bit of a

like show and circus to it.

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And like the things you would remember

is this, you know, zip line.

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Station, the. Space.

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Station.

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He's going to remember

the unicycle in the factory.

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He's going to remember the woman

with the nice breasts.

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Right.

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And it's all going to have

a bit of a card, like all of my memories

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of childhood definitely have, like,

a bit of a, like, cartoon flavor to them.

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Like, everything's a little taller

and a little bigger and like, I,

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I yeah, like, I remember the silly things.

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The scene where he where he falls

through the skylight

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when the woman is, is, is naked

and he wants to get a look at her.

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And I was noticing this morning

I didn't realize it before,

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but when he falls,

the camera focuses on the on the artist.

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And then there's like, a boob

running across the screen and then, like,

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the woman's vagina, you know, like,

like running across the screen.

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And it's all the reaction of the artist.

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And it was like, it's so kooky.

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It was very cartoonish to me,

and it was very funny.

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And, you know,

and then you get the next scene

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where he's like a bloodied shoulders

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and she's taking care of him

and looking down at him.

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And so you did recognize it was sad.

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Oh my God. Yes. Okay. Yeah.

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I was a little away

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afraid I read some stuff online

and everyone's like, it's the gentlest,

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sweetest movie. And I was like, it is.

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But it's so it's really not. No.

Thank you.

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Yeah.

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It's really not a sweet movie.

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It's, I mean, it's very funny.

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I like I found it very funny,

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and I find that

I find that kid to be compelling as hell.

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He is the star of a Swedish film

that opened last March

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and has been showing to sell out theaters

here in New York ever since.

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He is Anton

Glen's alias who plays the role of Ingemar

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Johansson in the movie My Life as a dog.

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Don't let this derail anything,

but I think it might help. But.

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Feared the future part

of this conversation for my life as a dog.

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But tiny detail.

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When the kid in the beginning is drinking

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milk and swirling around and he,

like, throws it in

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helix swirls it around until you're like,

is he having a seizure?

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But then he ends up very seemingly

intentionally throwing it in his own face.

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Is that

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help?

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Help us understand. That's great.

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I what.

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If how weird this person is or if they.

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Have.

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It seems like trauma.

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Yeah. What?

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What is this person? I do not know.

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Honestly,

Emily asked me that question as well, and

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I remember seeing that for the first time

and just thinking like I was

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I was 16 the first time I sat and,

and we were

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and I remember seeing that

and just thinking it was hilarious.

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And the brother

also thinks it's hilarious.

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And the

I thought it was a sign of neglect.

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I thought it was like that.

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Nobody cares that this kid

has like a neurological disorder.

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It might be trauma. It might be.

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It might be neurological.

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And what the movie does or skillfully is

it is is it is it cloaks it in this very

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I think the reason people think it's sweet

is because it seems like

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a very light movie.

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So the kid you believe is aware of just

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how effed up

and how intense their circumstances are.

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When it comes to kids in movies.

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The precocious child

you see in movies or in TV, right?

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Like the knowing ones and The

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Well was so smart about this

movie is that he's not self-aware.

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Life is happening to him,

and he responds in a certain

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way, like he's he's still a kid

and he behaves like a kid.

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I thought the opposite.

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I think a problem reason

I had trouble with it was he's

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so self-aware who's narrating it?

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Adult him?

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No. No, I kid him. Yeah.

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And so it's like he's so aware.

He's like, well, it could be worse.

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It could be worse, which is a hyper

awareness of how bad it is.

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Right? It could be worse.

I wasn't this person. I wasn't like.

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He's constantly reassuring himself

that it could be worse.

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And so to me, it was just an extreme

awareness of how bad it was

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and a real attempt to control

in a way that like, felt like a lot of,

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self-reflection for a 12 year old

who's still living it right.

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So I actually thought the opposite.

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I thought he was extremely self-aware,

but it's still acting like a kid.

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I mean, he is being a kid.

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Yeah, and he doesn't have any power.

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And that's the whole, you know, the whole

the whole thing of the movie

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is, you know, that powerlessness

and being tossed around like he's

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the dog getting sent to the kids.

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Yeah.

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I agree that

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there is a certain level of awareness,

but I also think that as a child

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I kind of

I don't know how to articulate this,

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but there's a level of like,

I remember being a kid and

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and to a certain extent, there was

definitely trauma in my childhood there.

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Wasn't it

like an awareness that it was happening.

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But there was also

I don't know how to feel better.

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Yeah. Right. Right.

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Like like I don't know how to do that.

And so.

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That's clearly his.

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His explaining is like is an attempt to,

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to like to say, okay, this is fine,

this is fine.

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I can handle this. My mom is sick.

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My and and later in the movie

and actually like I was

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I was in tears at the end of it

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when I was watching it.

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Like he thinks he killed his mom.

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He thinks it's his fault.

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And so that's the thing that he is trying

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to like, like he's trying to push away.

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Like I grew up with stutter and,

you know, and the stutter had a lot

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to do with that.

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So interesting.

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Because my, one of my trauma

responses is like class clown, right?

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Like I'm like, yeah, gonna make a joke.

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And I did wonder,

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is part of him going upstairs was

he was like, don't do it right now.

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Don't, don't, don't talk about your face.

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Don't.

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And like being unable to not do it.

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Like I totally identify with that

where I'm like, don't don't make the joke

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Jaclyn. Don't make don't do it.

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Just walk up and like, having to like,

walk upstairs by myself and being like,

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okay, I didn't do it. Yeah, yeah.

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And so it's funny because it's like

if it is a trauma response,

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I of course mapped it to be like,

here's an inappropriately time joke.

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Like here was my stutter. That's right.

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Just for fun I really want to point out

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that I've never seen or heard Jacqueline

not say what's in her head.

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I mean it's really I

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would have to walk up a set of stairs

and find in the lone moment.

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Like we've been very intense high pressure

situations, like with the president

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of saying yes or no to whether or not

we could do the next shot in this film.

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And Jacqueline,

feel like you got a really long beard.

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What's with that beard?

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What's the beard, bro?

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Oops.

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I, I, I learned to scull

when summer road crew really?

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And I did a lot of flip tests, so, like,

I kept flipping the boat

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and I'd have to get back in,

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and it meant that I had bruises up

and down my entire body

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and multiple people that summer came up

to me, strangers, and said.

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Are you okay? Are you safe?

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Are you in a DV situation?

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And the first woman who asked me,

I said I am

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in an abusive

relationship with rowing and.

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I. Would just

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like you to know that that is not the time

nor the place.

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Make that joke.

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Don't do it, don't do it, do not do it.

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It was awful.

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It was terrible.

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Somebody comes concern for your safety.

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Genuinely concerned. Don't, don't.

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Did she. Do. What did she say?

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She didn't.

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She just. Was just. Walk. Away. Yeah.

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She just. Kind of was like. Shocker.

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Okay. It was not. It's not. It was awful.

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I would like to personally apologize

to her right now.

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I'm sure she's not listening.

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Shout out to oh she is.

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So she has not forgotten.

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She'll like that was me.

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I know that woman. Yeah.

It was just a nice stranger on the street.

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And I was like,

I am in an abusive no, don't do it.

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Not funny.

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Not a funny joke.

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So anyway, yeah, I yeah,

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I, I probably have never actually

walked up the stairs and gone away

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from making the bad joke,

but I identify with the fact

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that, like,

if I didn't leave, I couldn't not say it.

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That's why

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I have you to his friends

and not that many others.

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Okay.

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Cool just nodded.

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You're supposed to nod.

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I'm sorry guys.

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Anyway, yeah,

so that's what I think of that.

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Like you. Right?

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Like I don't disagree with you.

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I just the movie is so good about showing

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what he is going through

and also building the world.

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That sort of comes down on him.

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And this and the, the shots of the

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of the sky, as he's saying things like,

it could be worse.

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I could be the guy

who jumps over the busses.

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I could be the woman who went to Ethiopia

and preached, and the guy

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who crossed the track and field

and got a javelin in his jester's belly.

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My life as a dog is a funny

and poignant story coming,

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a coming of age story

a young boy in Sweden in the:

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Before we talk to Anton, here's

a clip from My Life as a dog.

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Hey Mark, on this.

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Car. Oh, hold on,

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we might want to know why

are you barking at the end of the scene?

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His dog are dead.

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And, it try to don't understand that.

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So he try to be the dog herself.

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I mean, my God.

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Did you did you to like it?

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I was just hoping

this question won't come up.

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I mean, if my question was bad,

we can totally bypass. No it's not.

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I just didn't want to tell you

that. Something you loved, I didn't like.

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Oh, that's okay. Cool.

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Okay. Yeah. Yeah.

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It's, it's not a question of. Okay.

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This movie is is about a young boy

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who sees his mother

getting sicker and sicker every day.

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I think she's dying of tuberculosis.

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And what happens is that you get sent away

to relatives who take care of you.

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And the relatives are a little,

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not well.

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You don't understand. No.

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All right, well, let's just take that

as fact instead of a question.

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It did deal with childhood trauma

and a child in peril,

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which is my least favorite thing.

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Second least favorite thing.

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Because my least favorite thing

is dying or suffering dogs.

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Yeah.

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Also, the dog in

it looks like one of my favorite dogs.

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So then I now I have to watch Angus

suffer and I love Angus.

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Yeah I'm an escapist viewer.

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I don't always have like the best taste

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because I like to escape

and it just made me sad.

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But if I'd watch this like in college

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it would be my favorite film

and I would have talked about for years

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because it's the kind of movie

I feel like I should like.

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It's artsy. It's yeah, it's important.

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It's doing a lot of things

I wish I could do as a writer, but

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I love a metaphor,

and this was just metaphor on metaphor.

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Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah.

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How did you not love this

with all the metaphor?

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So much metaphor.

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I know, like, I love metaphor

more than anything except experiencing

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childhood trauma on a Saturday

and dog is suffering.

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But yeah, I love a metaphor.

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And it was I mean, it was metaphor for.

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So it did.

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I can't not like it because of that.

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And Robbie, I adore you.

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And I love experiencing something that

you loved and understanding more about it.

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Okay.

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Yeah, I sense. That for an answer.

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If my I want you to like me.

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So I want to like everything

you write. Yeah.

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And then I experience that as well.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

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We'll get to Hobbs and Shaw. Yeah.

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You can be as honest as you need to be.

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When we get there.

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What were you going to say?

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You wrote down your response.

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My life is a dog is the exact type

of movie that I want to love.

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It's the exact type of movie

I want to be like.

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This is what I watch all the time.

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It's the exact type of movie

that I want to make.

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One of the biggest shorts

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that Jacqueline and I have done

together was in the vein of this film,

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where it's like

it's supposed to be a slice of life and

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why are you laughing so much?

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Because I think I know going.

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Supposed to be a slice of life.

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It was beautiful.

We had all these theories. Yeah.

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If I had made references for it

and I had seen my life as a dog prior to,

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it'd be like, oh, we're doing my life

as a dog, but it's:

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And it's the last 50 minutes before, oh.

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Oh before. December. Right. Okay.

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Oh yeah.

361

:

Oh wow. Yeah.

362

:

That sounds. Amazing.

363

:

Yeah I thought so too. Yeah.

364

:

It was met with a real man.

365

:

It is one we've like

366

:

pulled favors to get minor celebs in it.

367

:

We spent months on it.

368

:

There were times where it was like

the universe said, you should just stop

369

:

because three actors quit two days

before one day before two hours before.

370

:

Oh, God.

371

:

But it was just like,

no, we're making this slice of life.

372

:

You will persevere. Yeah.

373

:

And before it, everything into it.

374

:

I was prepared.

375

:

We also had a there was a ranger in it.

376

:

One of the New York

Rangers was in it. Really?

377

:

I was pretty prepared.

Oh, shout out Craig.

378

:

We are taking down

ex-boyfriends one at a time.

379

:

Cut to chit play.

380

:

Oh, no, don't apologize.

381

:

People break up here all the time.

382

:

Honestly, it's

kind of like the perfect spot.

383

:

You want to break up

in some fancy restaurant?

384

:

It's going to cost $1 million.

385

:

The food is just going to taste sad.

386

:

But at Chipotle,

387

:

you can spring for the go get a diet

doctor Pepper and get on with your day.

388

:

Get up.

389

:

I know it doesn't feel like it

now, but ten years from now,

390

:

today is just going to feel

like some dumb story

391

:

for a podcast.

392

:

It's thank you for choosing Chipotle.

393

:

Have a great rest of your life

and go Rangers!

394

:

Shout out Craig, I just set up for you.

395

:

I was so prepared to be like, God, he's

going to really regret

396

:

not still be in my friend because I'm

about to party with the new York Rangers.

397

:

Because we're going to be famous.

398

:

Because Sean Avery was in it.

399

:

Oh, yeah, I am.

400

:

Nothing happened with it. He's in.

401

:

Do you know this? Right?

402

:

He's literally in Christopher

Nolan movies.

403

:

No, I didn't know

that. Sean Avery, he. Is a.

404

:

He was an Oppenheimer. Yeah.

405

:

His Oppenheimer.

406

:

He shut up.

407

:

Barbie Heimer and Colin, I went Wally.

408

:

Kind of like in the middle of the film.

409

:

I was like, nobody knows.

410

:

Where it just seen in Oppenheimer.

Oh, boy.

411

:

When they get to the testing part

and they start to go into the shed

412

:

and people are saying, me like,

do I leave these glasses on?

413

:

Do I take them off?

414

:

Yeah, this is like a big effing deal.

415

:

He is the one who's,

like, running the shed, being like,

416

:

and now we're doing this

and now we're ready for this.

417

:

And you guys,

he does have. A huge part in it.

418

:

He like communicates

so much in like 4 or 5 lines.

419

:

Yeah he our ABC's Matt Damon

I don't know how Sean pulled that.

420

:

That's a heist.

421

:

Anton Glenn's alias.

422

:

The movie is my life as a dog.

423

:

It's now playing in various theaters

throughout New York.

424

:

It is a, sweet, a poignant

and very funny film.

425

:

We thank you for coming by.

426

:

It's exactly the type of movie

or play or whatever I want to make.

427

:

If you were to ask Emily

what type of person I am,

428

:

I don't think she would say that. I'm

a ray of sunshine.

429

:

What would she say?

430

:

I'm, like, extremely anxious.

431

:

I get, I get very like I worry constantly.

432

:

This is the type of thing

that it really articulate.

433

:

Something that I have a very difficult

time articulating in, in my own life.

434

:

And I don't watch this every day.

435

:

I must have told you,

like I have this grandmother who grew up

436

:

in Poland and escaped Poland

before World War two,

437

:

and all of her side, like most of her

side of the family, died in the Holocaust.

438

:

As a kid, I used to go over

to her apartment and spend time with her,

439

:

and there was depressing woman

you would like, you know, Yiddish.

440

:

Yeah.

441

:

And, you know, and just talked about her

family dying and, you know, and was like,

442

:

what's so sad? And I loved her.

443

:

Like, I really loved her.

I loved her so much.

444

:

And the reason was,

was because there was like,

445

:

there was a melancholy in her

that I recognized.

446

:

I love that

because I recognize it in myself.

447

:

So, like, I can just hear her being like,

life is suffering.

448

:

Yeah, yeah.

449

:

It's like it's like it's.

450

:

A beauty and life is suffering.

451

:

Yeah.

452

:

It's the older woman in that movie,

you know, like in it

453

:

after after her husband dies. Like.

454

:

And it's not to say like there's

no recognition of the joyful thing

455

:

and, and the funny things, but like my

grandmother, this is a really sweet movie.

456

:

It's a very funny movie.

457

:

It reminds me a lot of life in general.

458

:

And it also reminds me

a lot of the things I want and I wish life

459

:

was, or that I want to surround myself

with the scene at the end

460

:

when everyone is listening to the

to the boxing match

461

:

and and everywhere, like, like everyone

462

:

is having a hard time with each other

throughout the entire movie,

463

:

but it cuts to different, different people

listening to the match.

464

:

And it's like at the glass factory,

465

:

the artist is there

and nobody likes the artist.

466

:

But everyone loves the artist.

467

:

There's the

468

:

family who's listening to the radio and

and they've gone through some stuff.

469

:

And then there's the man on the roof

who everyone has sort

470

:

of rallied around, even though they like

it's knock, knock, knock.

471

:

And he drives everyone crazy.

472

:

Everyone has conflicts

and everyone is a community.

473

:

And that was very touching to me.

474

:

And and what was so sweet to me about it

was that at the end,

475

:

it's, saga is

her name is Floyd Patterson.

476

:

Yeah.

477

:

And they're just asleep.

478

:

Yeah. That was and that was like.

479

:

It was like

480

:

they've gone through this entire thing,

and now they just get to rest.

481

:

Yeah, and

and so there's something about that

482

:

that is so beautiful to me

and so touching to me without

483

:

discounting

all the stuff that life throws at you,

484

:

all the other crap

that life throws at you,

485

:

all the death and the confusion and,

and the things that we carry.

486

:

I just never seen anything like that.

487

:

I never recognized like a kindred soul

and a piece of.

488

:

You know, like,

I have these things that, like,

489

:

I love now because they were

the first time I saw myself in something.

490

:

And that's where I was like,

I didn't have a lot of self-awareness

491

:

of what

my challenges were as a child. And.

492

:

But now having me come through,

I don't know, a ton of therapy.

493

:

And like,

494

:

not feeling so like that, it's

hard to put myself back in it.

495

:

But what it does

496

:

is it does feel he feels so powerless

and so trapped and so thrown around.

497

:

And you just really feel his, like,

lack of autonomy

498

:

in his lack of control and like,

all of the weight

499

:

and how he feels like he's responsible

for everything.

500

:

I mean, it just does it brilliant.

501

:

It does what it does

brilliantly on so many levels.

502

:

So it's like, I didn't like it,

but that doesn't mean it's bad.

503

:

And I also like me not liking

something is really

504

:

I like some real dumb stuff

and I don't like some great stuff.

505

:

So it's a tricky question

because I think I'm glad it exists.

506

:

I think it's beautiful.

507

:

I couldn't make it, and I love anything

that like really combines

508

:

the like darkness

and suffering of life with levity.

509

:

I should love it. Honestly.

510

:

I love that combo and I do love

a metaphor, but childhood trauma and dogs?

511

:

Cool.

512

:

We still haven't read your reaction. So.

513

:

I guess one way I want to talk about it

514

:

being such a great story

and so well made is that,

515

:

and I'll explain this after,

but it's basically going to become my new

516

:

My Dinner With Andre

517

:

because I'm not on like the biggest sets

in the world where we're doing

518

:

like extremely expensive, important art

that millions of people will see.

519

:

I have to do like a lot of shoots

where somebody is paying us.

520

:

Gotta make it. Good.

521

:

Yeah, we. Gotta go home after this.

522

:

But at the same time,

on most of those sets,

523

:

we're all artists of some sort.

524

:

Yeah.

525

:

And we can't stop ourselves from caring.

526

:

And wanting to make something great.

527

:

Yeah, it's like we're all really trying.

528

:

But there there's a level of,

like, physical and mental

529

:

and physical exhaustion

where you just have to work.

530

:

Somebody has to chime in and say, guys,

what you're doing is no longer worth it.

531

:

The diminishing returns

532

:

have kicked in with how good you're

trying to make this thing.

533

:

And like, the shorthand for that is,

534

:

hey, we're not

making my dinner with Andre.

535

:

So everyone's like, all right,

let's go see this.

536

:

So now we are like,

537

:

we're not making my life. It's a dog.

538

:

You guys.

539

:

I mean, it doesn't seem that high budget.

540

:

No, but it was so.

541

:

But it was perfect. It's perfect.

542

:

Like when you can say Q unicycle

and someone has to ride a unicycle.

543

:

I mean, I will have a movie like that,

but it won't have the same.

544

:

It won't have the depth.

545

:

I'll be like,

wow, she really put a unicycle on it.

546

:

I swear I did things a lot

about how I would never

547

:

I could never write it

548

:

because I was like,

I can't imagine, like sitting down

549

:

and writing this scene

and being like, yes,

550

:

this is an important scene in a movie

because it is. I think you're so right.

551

:

It does such a nice job

about being about nothing.

552

:

Yeah.

553

:

And it's about everything.

554

:

Like it really, it really does something.

555

:

But like some of the scenes,

I was like, well,

556

:

if really nothing is happening

and like having the confidence

557

:

to write like that, to just sort of

have it be so subtle and quiet.

558

:

Like I think about movies

559

:

where we've discussed before

about like planting seeds,

560

:

and this movie really does

well with like the toaster, for example.

561

:

Like, oh. I like that.

562

:

Like that was the perfect gift.

563

:

Yeah, it really was.

564

:

It was there would be a perfect.

565

:

Gift and it was and and it was because

like in that in the first scene

566

:

he was burning toast

567

:

and then his mother comes out

and just throws away the burnt toast.

568

:

And him understanding.

569

:

That that was all that was.

570

:

Yeah, yeah.

571

:

And there's so many little things

like that.

572

:

Were you

the construction of the Summer house

573

:

and like it starts with like, the frame.

574

:

Yeah. Yeah. Yes.

575

:

Yeah. It's just the frame.

There's no walls. It's just an idea.

576

:

And then the construction goes further and

further until it's like an actual house.

577

:

And in which he locks himself in a like.

578

:

Yeah, yeah.

579

:

And it's like.

580

:

Having no,

no walls to being what, like in trouble.

581

:

Yes. Yeah. Yeah.

582

:

And a lot of it is just like relationship

building and character building

583

:

to where you ultimately

come to know these people

584

:

and you come to know this town

and you come to understand

585

:

why the area that he's been placed

is, like, perfect for him,

586

:

you know, and show it like that.

587

:

Uncle is like the perfect person for him

at that time because they, you know,

588

:

he actually cares

and takes them under his wing

589

:

and gives him something

that he can't get before.

590

:

And then you understand when he has to

go back after his mother has passed away,

591

:

and he finds out

that he's not gonna be able to spend time

592

:

with this guy, like you understand

why he's so upset?

593

:

I like, he's a dumb.

594

:

I'm sorry.

595

:

I love doing that to drive. Cool. Crazy.

596

:

I mean, you threw up now

saying there was so much.

597

:

Of my favorite.

598

:

I'm sorry, I don't.

I don't know why you're my friend.

599

:

I spent our whole friendship

just trying to annoy you.

600

:

And that's the friendship.

601

:

Goodness gracious.

602

:

And then cool.

603

:

You just, like, pour

your heart into your creative endeavors.

604

:

And I'm just like, here's here's

the thing that's going to annoy you.

605

:

That's what I was going to say.

606

:

You're welcome.

607

:

In this entire film,

no one says I love you. Yes.

608

:

No, that you're right.

609

:

There's the the hug between,

610

:

Saga and Ingmar

right before he leaves for the first time.

611

:

And then there's.

612

:

Noticeable

613

:

because because of the lack of it,

it's like, certainly a tight community.

614

:

Even if.

615

:

Yeah, I did really notice the lack of

I love you, though.

616

:

Yeah.

617

:

But the cathartic there

it is very cathartic to see.

618

:

Cathartic. It's very.

619

:

Gently.

620

:

It's going to go into an a quest

621

:

to the cathartic.

622

:

Get your snowshoes.

623

:

Set up, boys.

624

:

Okay,

625

:

now I'm never

going to be able to say it ever again.

626

:

And a spelling bee.

627

:

I lose,

628

:

you can say.

629

:

Oh, I forgot the letter C once in Arctic.

630

:

Oh, did you? In which C did you forget.

631

:

The first C?

632

:

I forgot the first c in Arctic.

633

:

Attention, everybody.

634

:

It's before we officially get this year's.

635

:

Meyerowitz Global Holiday party started.

636

:

I just want to welcome a few new team

members onto the stage

637

:

to introduce yourselves

so you can chit chat later.

638

:

Y'all go ahead and tell everyone

your name, your department.

639

:

And how about this?

640

:

Tell us one interesting thing about you.

641

:

Up first, give it up for Chris.

642

:

Hello.

643

:

I, I my name is Chris.

644

:

Chris Sheridan

645

:

s h e r

646

:

I'd 8NI will be on the quality

assurance team.

647

:

And one interesting thing about me

648

:

is that one time

649

:

I was in a spelling bee.

650

:

I have a question for the both of you.

651

:

When I watched it

652

:

this last time, I was actually watching it

a little bit with YouTube in mind.

653

:

I didn't realize how much sex was involved

in this, like I really did not.

654

:

I did call it out as a single childless

woman.

655

:

I didn't love it,

but I was also a very like innocent kid.

656

:

So yeah, it was like I also didn't

have like, oh wow, this feels like me

657

:

as a kid, or I didn't have this,

like real nostalgic.

658

:

It didn't remind me of my childhood

in any way.

659

:

So it didn't feel like

I was an avatar of me as a child.

660

:

Neither of us knew whether or not kids

were just that horny or kids.

661

:

That was a natural part of childhood.

662

:

The way that I justified it was one.

663

:

It was simpler times.

664

:

I was very struck by,

like seeing a topless saga,

665

:

like I was like,

oh, that feels not consented.

666

:

And I think I turned to call

and I was like, I'm just going to have to

667

:

tell myself that there was an adult body

double for that moment, right?

668

:

Yeah. Different time.

But what did you think about it, Robbie?

669

:

It made me uncomfortable,

like watching it.

670

:

I was like, oh, my God, I don't remember,

671

:

I don't remember, like,

I don't remember this.

672

:

And I remember feeling like I do.

673

:

But it's also when I grew up,

especially 11, 12 year olds

674

:

getting into middle school, like

there was obsessed with sex, like kids

675

:

my age were obsessed with sex, obsessed

with, like, kissing and making out and

676

:

not necessarily intercourse, but

but like everything that everything up to,

677

:

I think also Americans

tend to be more puritanical

678

:

and less permissive and less positive

about about sex, about puberty, about

679

:

I mean, I'm sure it's uncomfortable

in Sweden as well, but there's also like.

680

:

It is odd that like, men cannot wear a top

and women have to live like,

681

:

what is what is boobs

versus like it is a weird, silly standard.

682

:

Also, to have a

683

:

question for both of you

because I don't believe in metaphor.

684

:

But metaphor doesn't believe in you.

685

:

For it.

686

:

Could you please explain to me

687

:

all the metaphors that you saw in it,

especially in the title?

688

:

I would have missed the that I think

I would have missed the whole thesis

689

:

of this story, if not for them literally

titling it as the whole metaphor, right?

690

:

Yeah, yeah. Bobby, do you want to start?

691

:

Sure. Yeah.

692

:

The I mean, the most obvious one is like,

is, is the dog

693

:

being shot into space without any food,

and that's exactly what he is like.

694

:

He's released

695

:

into this world that he doesn't

necessarily have any resources for it.

696

:

I cannot too,

I thought when they took the dog

697

:

to the kennel, I thought it was like very

698

:

it was like the dog goes to the kennel,

the kids

699

:

go to the go to two different spots,

so they split them up.

700

:

They don't care

if they're going to be happy.

701

:

They don't care if they're. Yeah, yeah.

702

:

Yeah, I. Like that.

703

:

Both both the space dog

and the kennel. Yeah.

704

:

And I mean it continues

with like you notice every time there's

705

:

a bit of stress at home

the dog is barking is barking is barking.

706

:

And then as it gets closer to as the dog

goes away, there's like he becomes the dog

707

:

who starts barking and barking and barking

like, especially at that party

708

:

when the two girls are fighting over

him and his his.

709

:

His response is to bark.

710

:

And then when he's in the summer home

711

:

and the uncle is knocking

to see if he's there and he's like again,

712

:

he barks at him again, like it's

the metaphor of he is the dog in space

713

:

and he does not have the resources

he needs, and he's developed.

714

:

No one cares. Yeah, yeah. Nobody cares.

715

:

Nobody's. And nobody's

going to bring him home, right?

716

:

Yeah, yeah. Do you know how

I know this was written by a man?

717

:

Because

718

:

there's this, like, weird kid

that two women are fighting over,

719

:

and he starts barking

and they continue to fight over him.

720

:

You know what that is?

721

:

It's called a nerdy man's fantasy.

722

:

He's losing patience.

723

:

All for me to say

724

:

that my favorite chapter in any novel is.

725

:

I'll quote the entire chapter for you.

726

:

The whole chapter? Yes.

727

:

It's highly related to this film.

And it is.

728

:

My mother is a fish.

729

:

Which is just about burying your.

730

:

Your dead mother.

731

:

Similar to

732

:

my dog is dead.

733

:

My mom is dead. Yeah. Yeah.

734

:

You've talked about that before.

735

:

But novels that.

736

:

As they lay dying,

I should probably say Faulkner for.

737

:

For those of us who didn't.

738

:

Yeah I did, but only because I'm

your friend, not because I'm so.

739

:

Well read.

740

:

I had a job for many years.

741

:

I worked retail

742

:

and got to be the person who wrote

the chalkboard sign in front of the store,

743

:

and me being unable to stop myself

744

:

every day, I tried to write something more

and more and more and more obscure

745

:

on the side, with no explanation,

just to see who would come in and.

746

:

Say your trauma response

747

:

class clown stutter.

748

:

Unable

to just have the most obscure reference.

749

:

Could not. Stop yourself.

750

:

The one where I made

the most best friends was from writing

751

:

my mother's official on the sign,

because like 12 people are like.

752

:

I actually feel like that's a fairly

well known.

753

:

Okay, I didn't I. Didn't read.

754

:

And I have a master's degree.

755

:

In library sciences, I assume.

756

:

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

757

:

Feel like. Those librarians. Yeah.

758

:

Sorry.

759

:

We were too busy having life.

760

:

Sorry.

761

:

We were too busy having people like us.

762

:

Are we good?

763

:

We have to say, I have to pee.

764

:

Oh, and we're at, like, two hours,

so I feel like,

765

:

you know, we got a lot to talk about

with Hobbs and Sean.

766

:

Oh, we. Do.

767

:

We can break and I can read off

some pretentious bull crap

768

:

that I wrote down for my own sake.

I mean, I do want to hear it.

769

:

Yeah. You do.

I'll get through it really fast then.

770

:

You know, dude, take your time.

771

:

I'll keep my commentary to myself.

772

:

I love you more than anyone.

773

:

I really need to look at why I'm so mean.

774

:

This is why I'm in therapy.

775

:

Robbie

wanted to hang out with the two of us,

776

:

and I feel like today's the first day.

777

:

He's like,

I don't know if I. Know this time.

778

:

Well, he's making out with me.

779

:

I mean, it it sounds good, doesn't it?

780

:

Try and.

781

:

Pay attention.

782

:

Oh, so I found out

783

:

this was one of Kurt Vonnegut's

favorite films. Yes.

784

:

Oh it is.

785

:

Yeah, it's well known.

786

:

Well. I mean, if you like.

787

:

If you like her. Vonnegut.

788

:

Yeah. Yeah.

789

:

The, that made me feel so good

because he's one of my favorite writers,

790

:

and he he was like, yeah, the best movie

ever made is my life is the.

791

:

Best movie ever made. Yeah.

792

:

It's like anytime Albert Einstein.

793

:

Like something like a new it.

794

:

Yeah. Genius that you like.

795

:

Then you're like, yeah, because.

796

:

I'm a genius. Yeah.

797

:

Thank you.

798

:

I still think about,

I quote the story you told it.

799

:

Where did you tell it.

800

:

It must have been, I think it was

an, an Armando Diaz experience.

801

:

But sometime at the magnet

you told a story about Connor's birth and.

802

:

Oh yeah, it was scary

and it was like uncertain.

803

:

And it was, you know, it was like,

we didn't know

804

:

if this, like, child would live.

And I just loved that.

805

:

You take us through the story.

It's really tense. We don't know.

806

:

But you know, that

807

:

we kind of need to know that Connor

does live to be able to enjoy the story.

808

:

And so you start to say,

we didn't know then

809

:

that, like, my child would da

da da da da da da da da da.

810

:

And then you go, we didn't know

then that we'd be on a flight at 17 hour

811

:

flight, and we'd want to throw the child

out of the airplane.

812

:

It's like my favorite story.

813

:

It was. It was a Ben show.

814

:

The class that you took.

815

:

I asked you if you'd all stay after

and just listen to the story

816

:

because I needed some I some ears on it,

and I didn't include that before.

817

:

And everyone in the class

said, we need to know.

818

:

Felix.

819

:

That's a great story to you, Robbie. Yeah.

Thank you.

820

:

Robbie's a great storyteller.

821

:

But yes, yes, to answer your question.

822

:

Yeah. Yeah, definitely.

823

:

Could you say just very plainly,

Robbie teaches storytelling.

824

:

And Robbie teaches storytelling, and

he's a phenomenal storytelling teacher.

825

:

He's turning red.

826

:

He wants to runaway right now, but

this is factually accurate information.

827

:

I've taken more than one of his classes.

828

:

I've asked him to direct my own solo show.

829

:

I've worked with him

830

:

many times and consider him a peer, but

also consider me a director and a teacher

831

:

and a person who has made my stories

and my performing so much better.

832

:

Shout out Robbie!

833

:

Not an ex-boyfriend,

just a shout out to Robbie.

834

:

Not a

835

:

yeah, and Robbie

836

:

was a minor celebrity in the like,

New York theater.

837

:

Oh yeah. Robbie is not none.

838

:

I wouldn't call it minor.

839

:

Like a minor. Truly

one of like, truly like.

840

:

I'm not saying you're like a mass market

celeb.

841

:

No, no.

842

:

But you. Are a you are known as one of

the best storytellers the city knows.

843

:

That's just factually accurate.

844

:

Yeah, I can

I can drop Robbie's name. Yeah.

845

:

In an artistic context in New York

or Los Angeles.

846

:

Yeah. And people go oh yeah. Yeah, yeah.

847

:

Oh I know you're kind of a big deal

Robbie.

848

:

Wow. This is like a Robbie advertisement.

849

:

He's like he's like doing the like

cut cut.

850

:

He's like what is it.

What would you describe that.

851

:

Like cutting across it like a cross

852

:

cut cut cut the scene stuff right.

853

:

Read.

854

:

He's giggling but just nervous giggling.

855

:

Not because he thinks it's funny.

856

:

He's spinning in his chair.

857

:

But there are people all over the world

listening to this who may know words.

858

:

We have listeners in Australia

and we don't want Sophie to not know,

859

:

and all the other listeners in Australia

to not know how great you are.

860

:

Robbie. I'm sweating

861

:

so it's just suffering is like.

862

:

These are all just fat.

863

:

Like,

like it's going to make it all go away.

864

:

You're not using any adjectives.

They're just noun.

865

:

We're just facts. Yeah. Just facts.

He did just covers Mike.

866

:

You know how like when a little kid covers

her eyes playing peekaboo?

867

:

Like, where did I go

if maybe if I cover my own make,

868

:

they'll stop talking.

869

:

Like.

870

:

Is it even

871

:

okay to say, like, the phrase

favorite lines for the story?

872

:

If it's so.

873

:

I think you can certainly have

874

:

a favorite landing a well-written movie,

even if it's sad. I.

875

:

I loved the when Ingmar

and the little girl,

876

:

the blond girl were talking

and she's saying to him

877

:

that his dad should come home and he says,

oh, who's going to load the bananas?

878

:

That was cute. Who's going?

879

:

And so telling.

880

:

It's like, well,

who's going to take care of you?

881

:

It was funny and sad,

very economy of phrase.

882

:

I think I liked it

more as a device than as a quote, but

883

:

every time and every different way

that he said things could be worse.

884

:

There was one of those it could be worse

where the guy is jumping over the busses.

885

:

He did 31 and he says, well,

if he just kept to 30,

886

:

he would he would have been alive

or something like that.

887

:

That was really great.

888

:

The one I liked is it was it true

that, like, the kid's name is Ingmar?

889

:

Yeah.

890

:

And then one of the boxers was Ingmar,

one of the famous boxers?

891

:

Yeah, the Ingmar Swanson's Francis.

892

:

He was like.

893

:

Yeah.

894

:

So then they, like, nicknamed Saga Floyd.

895

:

So then it was Floyd and Ingmar

when they were boxing. Because.

896

:

Because, yes, Ingmar already shares

the name of one of the main boxers.

897

:

Great New York, 26th of June, 1959,

when Floyd Patterson

898

:

enters the ring to defend his title

against a Swede, Ingabire Hansen.

899

:

He has already confirmed his place

in the record books

900

:

as the youngest heavyweight champion

in the history of the sport to date.

901

:

I love to they

they called Saga Floyd Patterson

902

:

without any sort of explanation

or context, to the point that I was like,

903

:

oh, there's

904

:

this tiny girls definitely named Floyd

or last name is definitely Patterson.

905

:

Oh yeah.

906

:

It took me longer than it should have

because I was like, whoa, they grew up.

907

:

Like, we literally turn to cause

like they grew up in their boxing.

908

:

And now the whole community

is like listening to their boxing.

909

:

And he was like, no.

910

:

And then they're like, asleep on

the couch is still kids.

911

:

And I was like, right?

912

:

Johansson's awesome right

hand is known as the hammer of Thor.

913

:

So it's like when they're all around,

everybody's listening to the radio fight

914

:

and like and like you hear

the announcer voice of the radio

915

:

and everybody's listening to it.

916

:

The Swedes speed of foot

and quick reflexes are becoming apparent.

917

:

Yeah, but it says it through the lens of,

like, the radio announcing the boxer.

918

:

Yeah, the winner,

the new heavyweight champion of the world.

919

:

And you know, you want some.

920

:

Will you give me a recording of this?

921

:

And it just says, Ingmar didn't

let us down.

922

:

That's right.

923

:

That was like a really nice like,

oh, that's wink wink, you know.

924

:

Yeah. Like it sort of says it all.

925

:

On the body. You must be a good

926

:

on the body.

927

:

You must be a good, good.

928

:

Hey, you must be good.

929

:

There's no

930

:

you're just things for sure. No, Robby.

931

:

Yeah. Yeah.

932

:

Thank you.

It was happy birthday. Thank you.

933

:

Oh, happy earth and happy Virgo season.

934

:

Happy Virgo season after. Season.

935

:

I'm hanging on. There.

936

:

Guys are so intimidating.

937

:

Yeah,

938

:

you're such some small, thin people.

939

:

But you're the personalities.

940

:

Like we don't have

any muscles in our arms.

941

:

Our people are often.

942

:

Does this happen?

943

:

Do people often think

I'm a lot taller than I am sometimes?

944

:

Do I think it's my attitude?

945

:

Nice. Yeah.

946

:

I want to alarm for five five guys

like I'm under average size.

947

:

I think it's just because I.

I'm kind of a bitch.

948

:

I have a story about that.

949

:

But we could. Write about

me being a bitch. No, no, no,

950

:

but. I know that's the other thing.

951

:

Taller.

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About the Podcast

the arc.fm
Storytellers talking about stories!
Join us, three very different types of storytellers with three very different types of personalities, as we bring each other stories of all kinds to break apart and celebrate. In every episode, we're having the best time exploring what makes a story work, why it moves us, and why we can't stop talking about it. It's not analysis. It's not review. And it's something more than just a conversation about one of the things that makes life worth living... stories.