Loot | 8
Show Notes:
Loot debuted on Apple+ on June 24th 2022 and stars Maya Rudolph, Michaela Jae Rodriguez, Ron Funches, and so many others.
Host Julia Washington and guest It's My Screen Time Too discuss the representation of billionaires, the invisible work women do and the diversity of men on this show.
ADS:
Transcript:
Julia: Hey friends, this is pop culture Makes me jealous where we analyze pop culture through the lens of race or gender and sometimes both. On today's show, the duo from, its my screen time to its bag, and we're talking about the Apple plus original loot.
Julia: If you understand the nuances and intersections of being a Bipo woman, a woman identifying a woman in a male dominated industry, And all the microaggressions that come with the daily existence and how media reinforces those stereotypes. But you still love pop culture, then pop culture makes me jealous.
Julia: Best Friends Club on Patreon is just for you. Join an incredible community of like-minded individuals who meet monthly to discuss a different topic in pop culture, access to bonus. Weekly, lunchtime hangout sessions and discounts on merch. To learn more about how to become a part of the best friends club, visit pop culture makes me jealous.com/become a member.
Julia: There's a hyphen in between. Become a Member, become Hyphen a Hyphen Member. See you there. Luke premiered on June 24th, 2022, and Stars Maya Rudolph, McKayla, j Rodriguez. You also may know her as MJ Rodriguez, Joel Kim, booster. Ron Funes and Na Faxon. But before we dive in, let's meet our guests. Deborah and Katie co-host the podcast.
Julia: It's my screen time too, where they review TV and MO movies Made for Kids. Their show is fun and relatable because parents everywhere have been sucked into the vortex of kids tv, and their podcast makes you feel less alone about hating or loving the entertainment made for children. They were here earlier in the season to talk about Troupe Beverly Hills, and I'm thrilled they have come.
Julia: For loot, welcome to the show, Katie and Deborah. Hi.
Katie: Happy to be here.
Julia: We're excited you're back. I feel like, what is this, like the fourth or fifth time you've been here? I think so. Think, yeah, yeah, yeah. Which is always fun. Cause then it's like, yay friends .
Katie: Totally. We're so psyched to talk about a grownup show and we're also a little worried that we don't remember how, so this'll be fun.
Katie: I
Julia: love that. Oh gosh. I remember those days when like the only humans you talk to are under 15 and you're just like, I need full sentences at some point in my life. . Okay, so let's do a quick summary for those who may. Have seen the show or remember the show and also friends. Remember, we are a spoiler show, so if spoilers happen, it's not my fault, go get Apple Plus watch the show.
Julia: After divorcing her husband of 20 years, Molly Nova must figure out what to do with her $87 billion settlement. She decides to reengage with her charitable foundation and reconnect with the real world, finding herself along the. Which I feel like doesn't do it justice. That summary is from Google and it's just, there's so much more to it than that, but we'll, we'll let, we'll let it slide Google.
Julia: Reviews were anywhere from praise to criticism for squandering Maya Rudolph's talent. In the June, 2022 review from the New York Times writer, Mike Hale had this to say, you can feel a juggling act going on. The show wants to mock Molly's privileged cluelessness, and then also as her work with the foundation reorients, her moral compass.
Julia: Or simply shames her to score points for reforming her and for offering Fal reflections on class and gender. It's attempt to make. That straddle is halfhearted. However, one indication of the show's divided consciousness is the strange way in which no one comments on Molly's wealth or act strangely around her unless there's a particular message being delivered.
Julia: End quote. He also later on praises casting Maya Rudolph in this role, and he states that episode one is a caricature of extreme. So I thought we'd just dive in and talk about what we thought of Lou and whether or not we liked it. So take it away ladies. . Debra,
Katie: you should start because you were onto the show well before
Deborah: I was so, oh, I loved it.
Deborah: I am a Maya, Rudolph Stan, however, so I think I would like whatever she's in, but I thought this was super fun to watch. Like it's very. It's like reading a Vogue magazine, like it's glossy and beautiful and escapist and um, and also I like a good workplace comedy. Like it's fun to see how the relationships of the people in the office develop.
Deborah: I liked that even more than whatever growth that, uh, my Rudolph's character goes through. Agreed
Katie: to me, workplace comedy hits the nail on the head. It felt more like that than it did any sort of commentary on extreme wealth. It was like a bunch of good people take a clueless, dumb, dumb under their wings and teach sure how to behave like a human.
Katie: Yeah. Uh, but the wealth was mostly secondary to that, except in little bits. Mm-hmm. , like in jokey moments, like when they were seing the personal. David.
Julia: Oh my gosh. That was hilarious. And he's just like, you guys, I have a successful restaurant. One of like his, he felt like, what am I doing here? I have a successful restaurant.
Julia: What is happening? , I agree with both of you. I loved the show. My Rudolph is like, One of the best. I feel like comedic actresses of our time, you know, I fell in love with her when she was on snl. Um, I thought she did a really good job there and I was actually really sad when she left. But then all the things she's done since snl, I haven't been disappointed.
Julia: So maybe I'm with you on that, Deborah. Like she could do anything and I don't know if I would criticize her . Um, um, and I loved how she was kind of like, what do I do now? Let's go, let's go do, do gooder stuff. And then how, they were just like, no, no friend, like . That's not how the world works for everybody.
Julia: And she's like, let's give these luxury gift baskets to people. And she's, they're like, no. Bad idea. So I, I appreciate that they made it a workplace comedy. There was some criticism in some of the reviews I found about that. Um, cuz an Andrew Yang, I think he did Parks and Rec. So, you know, there was criticism of like, doesn't, you know how to do anything else?
Julia: Thought, well, if you know how to do something well, why not? There are plenty of, plenty of actors and comedians out there who sort of recycled the same thing over and over and over again. Why can't he ? Mm-hmm. .
Katie: Mm. Yeah. And he found a good angle on it. I thought it was interesting what you said about there being criticism that Maya Rudolph was underutilized.
Katie: Cause if anything, I almost felt like they leaned into her Maya Rudolph a little bit too much. Mm. So she would have like these wacky moments of physical comedy and they would be very funny. But I'm not sure necessarily that they always served the larger
Julia: stories such as us. Yeah. Yeah. Are you talking about like the hot wings?
Julia: Yeah, I guess just
Katie: every minute we cut away for one of those moments to see
Julia: Molly acting in
Katie: some bizarre way that proof she was out of touch with the world. It kind of undercut the arc of the season, which was supposed to be her gaining that kind of self-awareness. Mm-hmm. . But you can't make Maya Rudolph stop being funny, you know, to show that she's
Julia: more self possessed.
Julia: Right. I dunno. Yeah. Yeah, I get that. Um, the, you brought up the wings, Deborah. That scene really actually did kind of bother me a little bit because I thought, you know, I just feel like. Anytime they were like, Molly, you shouldn't, like, the team was like, Molly, you shouldn't do this. I was like, if somebody that wealthy whose husband is that high profile, like they would have a publicist team.
Julia: They would have a team of people who would be like navigating that for her, what your appearances are gonna be. So that I felt. Was something that was missing, but I also could like let it go and still get into the show. Mm-hmm. , like I didn't let it ruin the rest of the episodes for me. Mm-hmm. . But that was, there were moments like that where it was just like, nope.
Julia: She would have a team of people who would have that under control. . That's true.
Deborah: And they do have like a team of people to show who shows up and gets her ready for events. Mm-hmm. . So what, yeah. Why are they missing? Publicity, especially with Joel. What's Joel? What's Joel? Kim Booster's, uh, character doing, isn't that his
Julia: part?
Julia: Yeah, , right. He's supposed to be the navigator between the two. Like when the rollercoaster thing happened at the music park, I was like, she, there would be a whole team, er would be all over that she would not be contacted by anybody directly. It would be the head of her. Team being like, Molly, we have this problem.
Julia: She wouldn't be walking into the conference room finding out that her park has a problem. . Mm-hmm. . But it, I mean, doesn't really matter at the end of the day, that episode still, I think, worked . Yeah. I mean,
Katie: let mea Rudolph be funny and that's how you do it, I guess, by making a, that relief about the actual legions of health
Julia: wealthy people have behind them.
Julia: Yeah. Yeah. I'd always be curious what it would be like to be on someone's PR team like that. Like how stressful would that be? ? Oh god, yeah. Roger ebert.com Writer David Moses stated this in his review. Luke struggles with how to frame the rich without making them heroes. They also struggle with finding a way to show that luxury clearly exists around these people, but not to make it a star.
Julia: So I didn't feel like Molly's wealth was a, like, was a character, like I felt like she was. Let me say this again. I felt like Molly's wealth was a character part of the cast, but it wasn't like in a leading role. But it could also be all about perception too, right? Like that could just be my perception.
Julia: So I'm wondering what your thoughts are about the extreme wealth and whether it was mishandled handled well, well, or something different when in regards to this show.
Julia: I thought
Deborah: they approached it from sort of a neutral position. It was sort of treated like it was, um, a different culture. Mm-hmm. , you know what I mean? Mm-hmm. . Um, she is from a different place than everybody else, and that place is, uh, wealth
Deborah: I don't know, like she's not really criticized for having so much money, but they do when she makes those wacky decisions, like to just fly to, where do they go? Miami for the day. Oh, Uhhuh. . And um, they treat it like she is sort of from a foreign country and like doesn't know the customs of the other people in the office a little bit.
Deborah: Mm-hmm. ,
Katie: that's a really, really good comparison. I like that.
Julia: Yeah, I do too, because it's not, and that's why I kind of thought the criticism of how they handled the wealth would felt weird to me because I thought, well, it feels like that's what they're, what you said Deborah, it was like, here's the world she lives in and then here's the world everybody else lives in.
Julia: So let's just take her to, you know, the foreign land. Um, and I thought that was really highlighted too in the episode where she. To her cousin's house for Oh yeah. Like game night. Mm-hmm. and everyone's kind of like, you've been away. Like that was the attitude was like, you've been away. You don't know how we live anymore.
Julia: Um, and you know, you see that a lot when people come home from a different place or whatever. It's like you don't know how to navigate that. And she desperately tries to like, figure out how to, um, Fit back in with her family ordering a new table. . Mm-hmm. . She ordered the new card table. I was like, girl, nope.
Julia: She's gonna be mad. Mm-hmm. ,
Deborah: it's not my original idea. Um, the writer, Emily St. John Mandel uses that idea. In one of her books, she wrote Station 11 and she's. Wrote this book about a young woman who gets like embroiled in a Ponzi scheme and discovers what it's like to like date a really wealthy person.
Deborah: And she describes it as like just being in a different. Country . Yeah, it's everybody else and they just like float wherever they want in the world and everything's smooth and taken care of and I feel like that's where Molly is coming from.
Julia: Yeah. Especially and I feel like they set that up really well in the first episode with the row.
Julia: Was it Lamborghinis all in different colors, like the rainbow colors of Lambkin and she can't figure out how to drive them cuz she's probably not driving them herself, you know? Mm-hmm. and. Here's your boat for your birthday. Like what I noticed
Deborah: for yacht, a super yacht
Julia: Or like her mirror when she gets ready. I was like, that feels like a department store. Like why are you standing on a pedestal with your 360 mirror? I would be like, no, I don't want that makes me feel uncomfortable. , the lighting, yes, I would love to have that kind of lighting, but not, I don't need a 360 mirror.
Julia: Like does everything fit? I'm good. .
Katie: Do you think they were consciously trying to avoid comparisons to visa? And that's why they made the wealth. So, I don't wanna say secondary, but the fact that nobody really commented on it. Mm-hmm. ,
Deborah: because, yeah. I thought it, oh, go ahead. No, go ahead. I thought it was like I didn't read anything going into it.
Deborah: I thought it was based on Mackenzie Scott.
Julia: That's what I was expecting
Katie: going in. And so I was wondering if the writers were like, well, we gotta make sure, even if that's what brings people in, that they know from the jump
Julia: that that story is not this story. Yeah. Cause like, yeah, I didn't, I knew nothing going in.
Julia: And then when the first episode happens, I was like, this feels familiar. We just saw this happen in real life. like, oh my gosh. Um, but that's a really good question. I wonder
Julia: if you understand the nuances and intersections of being a bipo woman. A woman identifying a woman in a male dominated. And all the microaggressions that come with the daily existence and how media reinforces those stereotypes, but you still love pop culture, then pop culture makes me jealous. Best Friends Club on Patreon is just for you.
Julia: Join an incredible community of like-minded individuals who meet monthly to discuss a different topic in pop culture, access to bonus content, weekly, lunchtime, hangout sessions, and discounts on. To learn more about how to become a part of the best friends club, visit pop culture makes me jealous.com/become a member.
Julia: There's a hyphen in between. Become a Member, become hyphen a hyphen member. See you there.
Julia: We have merch. Visit pop culture makes me jealous.com/merch to purchase. Some hoodies and t-shirts are the pop culture staples, but you don't wanna miss out on our seasonal collections. Whether it's specific to the show or a season, catch those limited edition styles before they're gone. Visit pop culture makes me jealous.com/merch to shop and use promo code shop pod to receive 15% off your first order.
Julia: That's S H O P P O D. Be sure to tag us on social wearing your.
Julia: We're looking for advertising partners. When you support the podcast, you're supporting a woman owned by Pac Small Business. We're looking for other small business partners who want to get in front of an audience of like-minded folks looking to smash the patriarchy and make cultural change. Email pop culture makes me jealous gmail.com to get.
Julia: One of the quickest and easiest ways to support our show is by subscribing, rating and reviewing our podcast on Apple Podcast. Sharing with other users while you love this show and reasons to tune in, is a simple kindness that will forever go appreciated by Teen Pop. Culture makes me jealous. I'm gonna be honest.
Julia: Writing a review is the strongest move because when you write a review, it helps that pesky algorithm tell Apple. This show is loved, like, subscribe and leave a review. Thanks for all your support friend.
Julia: Do you love to read? Pop Culture Makes me Jealous. Hosts a monthly book club that reads books that have been adapted for the screen. We meet on the fourth Sunday of every month via Zoom. The book club is open to anyone but Patreon Pals can vote on our monthly read and have access to our replay to sign up.
Julia: Hit the link in the.
Julia: Adam Scott plays John Nova, Molly's husband of 20 years. The relationship ends in divorce when Molly discovers John has been having an affair. And so the internet did do a lot of murmuring about like, oh, this is very remnant of Jeff Bezos and Mackenzie Scott. But like the biggest difference is Mackenzie Scott has been very mindful about how and who her money goes to and like she's basically like, here's your money.
Julia: to make the world better, but I'm gonna stay out of the details, like mm-hmm. , you handle it, which is like, in the grant giving world is like the dream, right? So like when Molly becomes involved, she embarks in some serious blunders. And we've kind of talked, brought up a couple of 'em, but like, we're any of them super memorable to you that stand out?
Julia: The gift basket is the one that I can't let go of.
Katie: That moment in the season finale when she drinks the glass of
Julia: dirty water. Oh my gosh. I will carry that with me till I die. And like the guy's like, I'm not gonna drink that. And she's like, but you have to. We have to drink it. We're here for clean water .
Deborah: This is terrible. But I've been seeing like clips of the Jackson Mississippi disaster and the water looks like the fictional poop water.
Julia: Yeah. Well now I
Katie: feel bad for laughing. Well,
Deborah: it was a really funny scene. It was a hilarious scene. And she drinks it all, all of
Julia: it. And then she's like, I thought she was just gonna take a sip. Yeah. . She was like, we're gonna lean into this. Like I'm going hard. And you're just like, but you don't have to.
Julia: Mm-hmm. girl, don't do it. Oh my gosh. I thought it was really interesting too, how like she stopped kind of hanging out with her like friends and then whenever she would run into them, she'd have these moments of like, huh, we are maybe terrible people. .
Deborah: Yeah. It seems like, okay. The wealth that she ha has and like the lifestyle she lived when she was just with her husband as like this pampered housewife made.
Deborah: Dumb. Mm-hmm. . And now that she is like going into this office world, she's like shedding all of that like stupidity. Mm-hmm. that the money like clouded her vision with, um, which I kind of liked. Um, cuz usually we see, um, wealth, like corrupting people, right? Like I thought a lot about. Succession. Mm-hmm. I was like, thinking about getting ready for this.
Deborah: And that's a show where like wealth equals evil and these people are terrible and they, um, are like destroying the world and poor Molly is just kinda like a bubble brain.
Julia: I don't know. Yeah. One of the things that struck me in the, in the episode when she was getting like the philanthropy award. When Adam Scott shows up again and he's like, you think you actually won this award?
Julia: I like basically paid for it for you. And she's like, excuse me. What? Mm-hmm. . And then he implies that she didn't earn any of the wealth that she received in the divorce settlement. And that kind of rings to what some of the internet was saying about Mackenzie and Jeff, right? Because people were like, how dare she get half his wealth?
Julia: She didn't do anything. He did all the hard work, very misogynist. Tones, right? And it's like, I'm sorry. She's the one who had the job with health insurance so he could like tinker away on the computer and greet Amazon. Like that's doing something, in my opinion. Um, and Molly kind of stand, I don't remember if she stood up for herself in that moment, but she does have a moment where it's like, I supported you, I helped you walk through all of your brain blocks and all these things.
Julia: I thought that was a really good tie in to what the internet was saying about the, the Amazon divorce because it's so easy to forget, like the invisible work that wives put in to supporting their husbands. Yeah,
Katie: definitely. Classic minimization of the long working
Julia: parents. Mm-hmm. . Mm-hmm.
Deborah: and that like devaluing.
Deborah: Like not valuing at all. Domestic labor . Yeah. Yeah. Cause they, she does make reference to like, uh, his company starting in the garage. Right. Like that classic Silicon Valley trope.
Julia: Yeah. Yeah. That, and then we like to forget the points where it's like, you know, somebody's parent was sitting on the board of ibm, so that was helpful.
Julia: or like, You know, they inha, they, they, I don't know, whatever. All the little things where it's like all these places started in a garage. What's stopping you? Well, shall I create a list? Not me personally, but you know, there's moments like that. The other thing that I loved that they did with the show was how they made Ron Fun's character.
Julia: Her cousin. Yes. Mm-hmm. . He was so good. Mm-hmm. .
Katie: I just love his relationship with Joel Kim Booster was my favorite part of the show. Mm-hmm. , I feel like that was the instance of someone moving out of their money bubble and learning to have a real relationship with a nor me, and they both learn and grow and they become better people through that relationship.
Katie: And I actually kind of think that's what I was missing with Molly, but I got it with Nicholas and I got it with Ni. Relationship with
Julia: Howard. Yeah. Yeah. They were the, they're such a good duo and I love how they show like this male relationship that isn't macho. Mm-hmm. , they can like, you know, um, Kim Booster's character wants to be an actor.
Julia: Like that was his dream. And you know, Howard's like, so what's stopping you? And like is very supportive through the whole thing. Like they have like, I felt like they had a relationship that we don't see a lot from men on television. And it was like they had their ups and downs because when, when, um, Kim realizes like, oh, your girlfriend's trash, like, she's not good for you, and he's not afraid to say something, and then eventually they come around, you know, it's just this progressions of like, Hey, we're going through growth periods, but like, Here for each other.
Julia: And it's not gross, it's not super macho and it's not like violent in any way. They're just like, I don't know. It's, it would be nice to see more male relationships like that on TV that aren't violent and like gross. I keep saying violent and gross because that's like a lot of it's,
Deborah: well, everybody knows what you're talking about,
Deborah: Yeah. And this was like they were really vulnerable together and like they. They worked at their relationship, which was really
Julia: touching. Yes. Yes, they did. They
Katie: broke the stereotype that, you know, women have face to face relationships and men have side by side relationships. Mm-hmm. or they're always supposed to be doing something, watching a football game, playing a video game, whatever.
Katie: But these men were able to really connect and I. in addition to being hilarious, very moving and and important part of the show.
Julia: Yeah. Mm-hmm. , absolutely. I love that. Um, speaking of characters that I also loved Arthur. I loved Arthur, so I wanna talk about Arthur and Molly for a little bit. Arthur is this sweet guy.
Julia: He's a total accountant type. Throughout this season they have this, like he and Molly have these adorable moments that make this rom comp me my. My wrong, calm junkie. Heart sw , but then Molly gets distracted by Jean Pierre, a wealthy Frenchman who is mysterious and sexy. Um, Jean Pierre and Arthur could not be more different.
Julia: And John Pier's clearly generational wealth because they place in little bits throughout the whole, every episode. He's in that like reaffirms, like he's had money his whole life, his family's had money forever, but the most glaring and this, that makes it a very glaring difference between the two, like they're socioeconomic status.
Julia: So I wanna know, , did you like either one better? And who would you like better for Molly .
Deborah: I know that's such a good question. I go back and forth because I think like the show sets you up to root for
Katie: Arthur. Yeah,
Deborah: for sure. But Molly could have so much fun with Sean Pierre drinking wine and that on that patio and like flying all over the world.
Deborah: I, that's a tough one.
Julia: And he makes that comment about how like they're equals mm-hmm. because they both have money. Like, we're equals here cuz we have money. And I was just like, Yes, and I don't
Katie: know. I think she could still drink wine and have fun with Arthur. They could just only have one glass of wine because he gets headaches if he has two when he wants to go to bed.
Katie: Nine .
Deborah: He's definitely the sensible choice.
Julia: Yeah. I also
Katie: find that actor matton to be pretty charming.
Julia: Yeah. Yeah, he's kind of adorable. He's in the new league of their own reboot on crime Really. Oh, even more reasons to see it. Yeah, he's not a huge role. He's in the earlier episodes, but even then, he still has like a really good presence in the scenes that he's in.
Julia: I think he's one of those working actors that I feel like you deserve more than just being a working actor. Like you deserve more attention than what you're given. He Okay. He was in the short term sitcom years
Katie: ago with of all people, Dakota, Jackson. Called Ben and Kate, and they were a brother and sister.
Katie: She was a single mom raising her daughter, and so her brother Ben came to be like the nanny so she could work, and it was the
Julia: sweetest show that was just absolutely pilled by critics and everyone. Oh,
Katie: and lasted probably less than a season, but that was my first exposure to Nat and I think I have been a fan of his ever since.
Julia: I love that premise though. See, cuz we don't see, we don't see men doing stuff like that often. And that of course the critics were just like, we hate this show. . Like, how dare we put men in a role that, you know, they aren't being some grotesque, macho, whatever. Like, this is what I love about Luke. They have all of, they have all these different types of men and the only one that feels slightly icky is Adam.
Julia: Mm-hmm. . And that's the point. He's supposed to be icky, like that's his role. But all the other guys, you're just like, ah, like I would to like Ron Bunches, you deserve a better girlfriend. I would totally be your girlfriend. Like, come here,
Katie: she is. Terrible, terrible. And then
Julia: to be like just completely bold and admitting to Kim about like, oh, um, this is just my placeholder.
Julia: Like what? No, you can go by. Bye bye like we are done here. Um,
Katie: you're so right. That is like an example of so many different ways to be a man, but not the one stereotypical like sports loving hamburger guy. Yeah.
Julia: That's so clever. I like it. Yeah. I think that's one of the smarter things about the show that a lot of people, a lot of the critics missed because we're not seeing, like even Adam Scott's character, even though he's a gross guy, he's a gross guy because he's, you know, unfaithful to his wife and his attitude sucks about it, but he's still like a techy nerd type.
Julia: Um, and then you have the other guys who are just like sweet and, and honest and just, you know, big hearts like, um, Uh, Kim Booster's character is like, you know, kind of self-involved in whatever, but he's still like, you still root for him in the end, like you're still wanting to, at least I did. I was like, girl, I would totally watch you in every play.
Julia: Let's do this. . Mm-hmm. .
Deborah: Mm-hmm. . And you're so glad that, um, Howard shows up because that was a type, that was a time that Molly flaked. Yeah. Yeah. And didn't
Julia: watch his. That was hard to watch her not be there for him because she was very hard. Mm-hmm. . That's where I felt like, okay, I don't think John Pierre's a good fit for you because he's taking you away from the commitments you've already made.
Julia: And that bothers me. Like, I don't care what your wealth status is, is if you are going to be a friend. To somebody and make statements like, I will be there to support you for this. And then don't show up. And then don't say anything until after. And I Didn't she send them like flowers or something? Oh, it was that
Katie: fancy dance bottle of champagne that they said they were gonna drink.
Julia: That's right. Like that hurts. Mm-hmm. .
Katie: Yeah, I think, what was the name of the Frenchy boyfriends Jean
Julia: Pierre. I think
Katie: Jean Pierre was an important test for her though, because it. Can I still have these good feelings about myself? Mm-hmm. for doing good things for the world and maintain this lifestyle I've been living and this distance from the rest of the world, uh, in my wealth bubble.
Katie: Can I make that work and is that what I want? And to thankfully able to decide that she wanted to go another way, but it was good to kind of let her. That the choices she's making to be more a part of the foundation, to be more a part of these people's lives, those are the choices that she really wants to be made.
Julia: Yeah, that's a good point. I guess I didn't see him that way. I just saw him as like a flashy little, I mean, So terrible. But you know, when they flew, was it to Canada to have lunch so they could meet halfway or something like that? I'm like, oh my gosh. Like who does that? Is this something rich people really do?
Julia: Cuz I'm so curious. How do I sign up? I'm just kidding. .
Katie: So, like Sophia says in the final episode, is the problem, the money. Whereas the problem, Molly's attitude, well, we spent this whole first season dealing with Molly's attitude. Mm-hmm. , she came to a conclusion that the money was the problem, and now it seems like season two is be actually, which was the turn that I expected to
Julia: happen at like episode.
Julia: Right. Okay. But you know, the way that the season ended,
Julia: I don't know if I should say it out loud to really spoil everything for everybody, but I would, I, I don't know why, but after that reveal happened, I thought, oh, of course that happened. Why wasn't I expecting that? Like, that's so obvious. It made me really sad though. I'll just say that. Yeah. I just want her to be with Arthur when she purchased that painting for him.
Julia: Oh, it was so. I
Deborah: would like to have a scene in season two where she takes Arthur's shopping. For a new wardrobe
Katie: makeover scene. Yes. Yeah.
Deborah: like a pretty woman style in the boutique. Mm-hmm. , uh, trying him trying on a lot of different styles. I think that would be really funny.
Katie: Yeah. And I really want netex in with like oversized shopping bags going into a store and like, big
Julia: mistake's.
Julia: Huge. . . Oh my gosh, I love that.
Julia: If you understand the nuances and intersections of being a Bipo woman, a woman identifying a woman in a male dominated industry, and all the microaggressions that come with the daily existence and how media reinforces the stereotypes, but you still love pop culture, then pop culture makes me jealous.
Julia: Best Friends Club on Patreon is just for. Join an incredible community of like-minded individuals who meet monthly to discuss a different topic in pop culture, access to bonus content, weekly, lunchtime, hangout sessions, and discounts on merch. To learn more about how to become a part of the best friends club, visit pop culture makes me jealous.com/become a member.
Julia: There's a hyphen in between. Become a Member, become hyphen a hyphen member. See you.
Julia: We have mech visit pop culture makes me jealous.com/merch to purchase today. Some hoodies and t-shirts are the pop culture staples, but you don't wanna miss out on our seasonal collections, whether it's specific to the show or a season. Catch those limited edition styles before they're. Visit pop culture makes me jealous.com/merch To shop and use promo code shop pod to receive 15% off your first order.
Julia: That's S H O P P O D. Be sure to tag us on social, wearing your swag.
Julia: We're looking for advertising partner. When you support the podcast, you're supporting a woman owned by Pop Small business. We're looking for other small business partners who want to get in front of an audience of like-minded folks looking to smash the patriarchy and make cultural change. Email pop culture makes me jealous@gmail.com.
Julia: To get started,
Julia: one of the quickest and easiest ways to support our show is by subscribing, rating and reviewing our podcast on Apple Podcast. Sharing with other users while you love this show and reasons to tune in, is a simple kindness that will forever go appreciated by team pop. Culture makes me jealous. I'm gonna be honest.
Julia: Writing a review is the strongest move because when you write a review, it helps that pesky algorithm tell Apple. This show is loved, like, subscribe and leave a review. Thanks for all your support friend.
Julia: Do you love to read? Pop Culture Makes me Jealous. Hosts a monthly book club that reads books that have been adapted for the screen. We meet on the fourth Sunday of every month via Zoom. The book club is open to anyone but Patreon Pals can vote on our monthly read and have access to our replay to sign up, hit the link in the show.
Julia: So I know this is like kind of unfair to all the other characters on the show to reserve this back end of the um, episode about them, but who was your ultimate end of the day? I know Katie, you said you loved, um, Howard and like that duo, but who, favorite character and why.
Deborah: I was going to say Howard and Nicholas.
Deborah: Mm-hmm. . But since we already talked about them, um, I'm gonna say the head of the foundation. Oh yeah. Sophia. And is it Sophia? Right. Sophia. Cause she was really the. The grounding person who just like cuts off all the fun. There's always somebody like that in the office who's like back to work. If you got time to lean, you've got time to clean.
Deborah: And like we've all worked with some, like someone who just like spoils any good time that anyone's having and that was her role. And I could totally. Like that's the, you need a character like that in the workplace. Trauma. Yeah. Or in the workplace comedy
Julia: for sure. Yeah. And they did a really good job of
Katie: humanizing her throughout the season.
Katie: Like that may have been her angle at first that she was the stick in the mud. Mm-hmm. . But it became clear pretty early on that she was really passionate about their mission and she was just focused on trying to do. I hate to keep bringing up the season finale, but clearly it really stuck with me. She had an awesome moment with an Uber driver.
Katie: Yeah. Uh, in the season finale where she just shut him down mm-hmm. and said, I'm not willing to put up with people who behave this way and I better for myself and I want better for the people of city. And yeah, it was pretty amazing. Yeah.
Deborah: Yeah. She's no fun, but she is very principled. She's there to, to save the
Julia: world.
Julia: Yeah. I really loved how they also gave us like a tiny little bit about her personal life when like those guys show up and like they're fighting in Spanish. And then another one, like if somebody else is sending flowers and you're just like, girl, what are you like in your personal life? I am so curious because I don't know about you ladies, but I am so here for men fighting over my love and affection,
Julia: Like one of my favorite tropes in romantic comedies, , it
Katie: is, I will say it does give me a little bit of the angry feeling, similar to the Leslie Note character from Parks, and we're supposed to respect her as we respect Sophia so much for their drive and their nonstop commitment in this, the face of this seemingly C task.
Katie: I wish it gave us a little more room to reflect on the fact that these are honestly very unrealistic expectations we have for
Julia: Sophia. Yeah, for sure.
Deborah: Who was your favorite, Julia? Oh my gosh,
Julia: that's really hard. You know what I really did love, like, like everybody else, the Nick and Howard relationship, I thought they were great.
Julia: Um, but I also kind of loved a lot, um, how we got so much more about, um, Arthur's life. I think he was, I think he actually, he is my absolute favorite on the show because he's just so golly g, but he's. Super naive, you know, cuz sometimes those characters can be really naive, but he's, you know, very like when, when he asks, when she asks him to look over her portfolio and he's just very practical about it.
Julia: And he's like, these are some things that are questionable and the things that are questionable are like, okay, yeah, we can all agree that that stuff's probably questionable for her to be a part of. Um, and just. Honesty is about his daughter and how sweet he is with his daughter. And you know that I don't, I don't have a teenage daughter that tweens stuff.
Julia: I could imagine that I was probably not a peach. Um, and so, you know, watching him sort of navigate that but not be portrayed in a way again where you're just like, oh, he's a bumbling dad who doesn't know what to do with his. Good. Like he genuinely cares. He genuinely tries. And then when they fly him in with the helicopter to pick her up, and it's just like, I'm gonna be like the coolest dad ever.
Julia: Like he's just so, he's just kind of like, what? I feel like every man should be sweet and solid and stable and just, you know, like, you know he's gonna be there for you. And then when you started dating, um, I forget the gal's name and how cute he was. I was just like, oh my gosh. , you're so, you're my favorite.
Julia: Like if I'm gonna pick one single character, you're my favorite. Yeah. Um. I do think some of the background characters, you know, were like the two gals that we didn't get a lot of Ansley and Is it Rhonda? Is it Rhonda? I can't recall. Um, I just thought that they were also kind of hilarious and not necessarily needed to be stronger, like bigger roles.
Julia: Like I felt like their roles were perfectly placed. Mm-hmm. I think too,
Katie: those are also very classic workplace comedy roles. Like if you think of like a Brooklyn 99 where they have those two older like bumbling tops on the side doing the whole Staler and Waldorf thing. Mm-hmm. , like in the office with that was not a huge American office watcher, but like the woman with red hair.
Julia: Um Oh, Meredith. Yeah.
Katie: Those like side characters that are just there for a little.
Julia: Little sprinkle of character from now every now and then. Yes. Thank you for
Katie: interpreting my, uh, hand gesture . It's famously visible to our podcast .
Julia: Yeah, you, you were right. Ainsley and Rhonda. Rhonda cracked me up. She was like, she's like the, you know, I know she's supposed to be the older woman in the office, but she didn't look that old to me.
Julia: But still, like with her little clips and stuff, it's like, ugh. We all need you, Rhonda .
Katie: This woman was made to enjoy Molly's wealth and I can't wait to see
Julia: more of it. Yes. Oh, when they flew to the, what was it, the spa, and she's just like, I am here for this . Like, is this how I wanna live in my sixties? Just living out my best life through somebody else.
Julia: Like I'll be, I'll be, I'll be your ride along. I'll be your entourage. I dunno. We all just need
Katie: to find billionaire
Julia: B. Right Mackenzie Scott, please. No, I'm just kidding. I do love what she's doing though, with just being like, here's the money. Do what you know you need to do with it. Um, it's so
Deborah: cool. Like every, I don't know, couple months, there's a headline in our local paper about how she's just chosen like a community college or, uh, After school program or just these little non-profits that mm-hmm.
Deborah: they know exactly what they can use the money for. It's just like, like a guaranteed income type of program with no strings attached, where you don't have to tell people exactly what type of food to buy with.
Julia: Mm-hmm. the,
Deborah: um, subsidy they get. So, yeah, I love her.
Katie: Yeah. But again, she is obviously making these choices with the help of a team of informed people.
Katie: Mm-hmm. Oh yeah. Really? Wells would have in this
Julia: instance. Yeah, . Exactly, exactly. I thought it was interesting too, the way they opened it with like, you know, all these programs woke up to receiving, I don't know how much money it was that they donated and there was such a surprise and da, da da. Cause I feel like that's how we all learned.
Julia: McKenzie Scott started giving away money. Like one day I turned on the news and it was like all of these people learned that they are getting a donation and they're so surprised. And I was like, Like, yeah, do the cause when you're working in the community. And that's one of the things that I loved about, um, Sophia is like, she, like we got the sense of like, maybe she came from a background that wasn't privileged at all.
Julia: Like maybe her parents did struggle. Cause I don't remember details about her life, but she was very clear on her mission, like we mentioned earlier. Um, and so for her to be like, Embodying that passion and then supporting Molly's like decisions to continue, but then also being like, girl, you need to like rein it in.
Julia: You can't just, that's a little out of touch, but I appreciate that when people recognize like, oh, you're the boots on the ground. You know how you need to function to survive to make this. Problem go away or whatever. You don't have to call it a problem, the issue better or go away. Like we're just gonna leave it up to you and give us a report so we know that, you know, our money's actually going to good work.
Julia: That I think is, we could all learn. I feel like we could do so much better if that was the mentality, rather than, you need to follow these markers and if you're not hitting these numbers, we have a problem and it's just, You can't help people when they're not ready to be helped . Mm-hmm. . But the people who are ready to be helped need help.
Julia: So like, we gotta figure out the balance. And I feel like it'll be interesting to see in five years what the results are from all of the early donations that Mackenzie Scott has given. Mm-hmm.
Julia: any last thoughts on this show?
Katie: I want season two already. I'm excited.
Deborah: Um, I have two last thoughts. One, I loved the wardrobe Yes. That Molly wore like so fun to watch cuz she is that character loves color, she loves ruffles. She never wears anything boring and it all looks really, really good on her. And that's really fun.
Deborah: And also her hair always looks great. Mm-hmm. . Um, and then my other last thought is, do you think that Melinda Gates and Mackenzie Scott ever watch this and like, text each other about how, uh, representation of billionaire isn't
Deborah: Hollywood?
Julia: That's a great question. I would love to be a fly on that wall . I hope so.
Katie: I hope so.
Julia: Oh, there's another, there's another show idea. No, I'm just kidding. I was like, I forgot the chance to, um, interview. Like that's what I wanna see in the next interview of Melinda Gates or, um, Mackenzie Scott, I need somebody to ask them that question. . Yeah.
Deborah: What do you think about loot
Katie: That's for when they guest on the hot Wind
Julia: show. Yes. Oh my gosh. Yeah. The fashion was fabulous on the show, but I just associate Maya Rudolph with like great clothes. , always. Yeah. Yeah. And I love that she's been able to maintain a career and. Not be like piping thin. Like that's, she's, I feel like the embodiment of like, you can be a funny woman.
Julia: You can still have a successful career, and you don't have to be like, I'm a hundred pounds .
Deborah: Yeah. Doesn't she have like four kids or something? Four kids? Yeah. She, she's a, she looks like, I mean, she's gorgeous, but she looks like.
Julia: She is over 40. Yeah. , which I appreciate. Yeah. Yeah. What do you wanna see in season two?
Julia: Obviously
Katie: Molly and Arthur together, happily crying at the site of beautiful sparrows there,
Deborah: and I wanna see that Adam Scott character. Encounter some kind of a hardship. Mm-hmm. , like maybe his young girlfriend leaves him, or maybe his company doesn't do so well.
Julia: Something. Do you think they should pick up exactly where they left off?
Julia: That's a good question. Cause you remember
Katie: then they like jump forward and she's like dating him.
Julia: Cause remember in the old days when shows would like end in May and then they'd start in September and everyone's end September. We all start in the world at the same time. But now it's like, I don't know if you guys watched younger, but every season ended and then picked up exactly where it left off.
Julia: So even though it was like a year and a half in younger's world, it was seven seasons in our world. So it was easy to forget like, oh no, that probably just happened six months ago in their land, but for us it happened four seasons ago. So it'd be interesting, you know? So I'm curious if they would like try to like work out that scene.
Julia: That's
Deborah: a good question on timing. I mean, they can do whatever they want creatively, I guess. Mm-hmm. ,
Katie: I wanna see some sort of imagined Facebook style come up for Adam Scott's character. You know, we're not getting much. Facebook come up in some real life, but , there's more talk about it now than there once was.
Katie: So why not enact our fantasies and have him deal with some like antitrust lawsuit or,
Julia: oh, I love that idea.
Deborah: Oh, and then I wanna see bottle episode with Nicholas and Howard on a road trip together. Yeah,
Julia: that'd be really fun. Oh, cancel
Katie: all my thoughts. I only want that.
Julia: Yeah. Oh, I just love them. They're so, I just, they ma they, like you said earlier, Katie, they really do make the show.
Julia: The Hollywood Reporter said there's a lot to enjoy about loot, starting with its timely narrative and solid showcase for some of Maya Rudolph's myriad of skills. At the same time, it's very much a show you'll keep watching more for its potential than its immediate execution, which I don't know if I agree fully with that.
Julia: I do think there's a lot of potential for the show. Um, and I hope it does come back for a second season. Apple Plus doesn't seem to cancel things after the first season. They seem they, they tend to, or at least in the shows that I've seen, they've brought a lot of them back for a second season. They were
Katie: so confident in using the season as like a building towards that finale.
Katie: Mm-hmm. , I almost feel like they had to know that they had a second season already. Yeah. Yeah.
Julia: Yeah. I sure hope so. Anything with Maya Rudolph, Katie and I can start or Deborah and I can start a club. , can I be secretary? Yes. . I just love Maya Rudolph so much. Um, and it'll be interesting. Oh, I, I should, I'm gonna add for season two.
Julia: It'll be interesting cuz she's mixed. It'll be interesting if they bring that into the mix cuz we saw, you know, Ron Funs as her cousin and we. Side of the family. We don't know if it's the dad's side. The mom's side doesn't, that's not been identified, which I kind of love. But it'll be interesting if they do more family stuff, if they, if they write her characters being mixed or if they keep her character solely a black woman.
Julia: I'll be curious to see if that's something that shows up.
Deborah: Yeah, that's a good point. I would like to know more about her, like childhood. Mm-hmm. . Yeah.
Julia: Yeah. Or even like early days of her and, um, What's his face? Dating? Yeah.
Deborah: And their college years. Totally. Before they knew they were gonna be billionaires.
Deborah: Mm-hmm. .
Katie: Yeah. And like Molly's early days of competence. Before she became bubble
Julia: head. Yeah. . Yeah. Like what were her hopes and dreams? Like what was she, what did she wanna do before her husband's career took off? Like, yeah. I'll be curious. Katie, Deborah, thank you so much for joining me today to discuss lut.
Julia: Can you tell our friends at home where they can find you if they wanna keep up with you?
Katie: Again, we of course did not discuss who is gonna do this, but I got it this time. Deborah, if you want to do it, , it's my screen Time, too is available wherever you get your podcasts or on our website, my screen time, two dot.
Katie: You can find us at my screen time too, on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. Or you can always reach out to us via email at my screen time too, gmail.com.
Julia: Nice. And it's a great show. Friends, you should tune in. I've been on a couple times and it's just a lot of fun cuz there are some things after listening to your show, I'm just like, I'm cool.
Julia: I'm gonna avoid that. ,
Katie: yes, that is our, what we
Julia: aim to do. So saving me time, saving everyone time. Well,
Deborah: thanks so much for having us back again. I really am looking forward to your season
Julia: pop culture. Makes me jealous, is written, edited, and produced by me, Julia Washington. And I am fueled by the incredible support system of women who allow me to run ideas.
Julia: Cry, meltdown. Whenever I feel overwhelmed. I also wanna do a big shout out to our Patreon
Katie: community. Thank you for your continued support. It brings me
Julia: great joy to bring you quality content, and monthly get togethers. Thanks for tuning in y'all. Until next time.
Looking for more?