Reese Witherspoon | 5
Show Notes:
Reese Witherspoon first hit the silver screen in the film Man on the Moon in 1991 and since then she has taken more than Hollywood by storm.
In this episode host, Julia Washington and guest Tara Jabbari discuss the career and reach of Reese Witherspoon.
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Transcript:
Julia: Hey friends, this is pop culture Makes me jealous where we talk about pop culture through the lens of race or gender, and sometimes both. My guest this week is Tara Jabari, and we are taking a look at Reese Witherspoon's career.
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Julia: Reese Witherspoon first hit the silver screen in the film Man on the Moon in 1991, and since then has taken more than Hollywood by storm. But before we dive in, let me introduce you to my guest. Tara has worked in digital media for over a decade. Her passion is all things entertainment. As a podcast producer, she connects experts and entrepreneurs with podcasters to promote and educate listeners across the globe through their engaging conversations.
Julia: Welcome to the show.
Tara: Thank you for having me.
Julia: I'm excited you're here. So when we talked in our, um, first conversation, you were kind of telling me about this project you're working on, and so I'm wondering if you wanna share that with our friends at home.
Tara: I sort of have. An ongoing project of Who Was She Podcast, which is a biographical podcast about women throughout history, particularly those who were in, uh, BAHAs or members of the Bahai Faith.
Tara: Um, I'm working on season three right now, which will be on Hazel Scott. Wow. Uh, and, uh, do you know who Hazel Scott is? No, but I'm gonna look her
Julia: up when we're done. . Okay. So
Tara: she, it's really interesting. Um, she is the first black person to have had her own television show in the United States back in, they often consider the first black person a male, but it's actually her.
Tara: She had a 15 minute like variety show, um, in the mid to early fifties. Uh, and you know, she got, um, Not an internship. It, she got a scholarship to Julliard for piano. Classical piano at eight years old. Um, Wow. She was super talented. Billy Holiday was like a godmother to her. Oh, wow. Um, she married Adam Clayton Powell Jr.
Tara: Yeah. Who is much more well known. There's a street named after him in Harlem where she grew up also. It's like she was always connected to all these other people, but she is super, super talented. I think there's a really famous video of her where she plays two pianos at the same time, one hand on each piano.
Tara: Oh yeah. And it's super fast. So she was a classical pianist, jazz pianist, singer and all that. And she, uh, actually became a bahi later in life, but she had so much interesting things to happen. So I was like, Definitely we wanna talk about her. Uh, so that's season three. Very cool.
Julia: Well, I'm excited to hear about that.
Julia: I know the video clip you're speaking of. I've seen it.
Tara: Yeah. I think people will start to be like, Oh, her and I've started noticing she pops up lately. Um, and. Darn it, but I knew about her. Yeah.
Julia: More recently, . Yeah. Isn't that the way it always goes? Sometimes you have like this great idea, you're taking your time to be very mindful and you know, thoughtful about how you execute the idea.
Julia: And then someone's like, Here's this idea that I just came up with. And you're like, No, it's my idea. Oh, I feel that way a lot. Sometimes .
Tara: So, and, and so that's one of my biggest projects and it's like a passion project. And I, I really liked that process of mm-hmm. podcasting. And then, because mine wasn't necessarily interview or conversational, it's really just my voice telling you guys the story of their lives.
Tara: Um, I would go on other podcasts to promote mine. Mm. And I loved that process. So I became more and more concentrated as a podcast producer because there's, there's over 800,000 active podcasts. Um, and. All different niches and there are so many great guests or people that can educate audiences. Um, so I've been enjoying that process, my work to connect these people.
Tara: So I have a, a professor from graduate school, Dr. Janine Turner from Georgetown University, and she wrote a book that I was a research assistant on about presence theory, about how we need to be more present despite all the technological mm-hmm. distractions. Mm-hmm. , um, because it is impacting us negatively if we're not careful professionally as well as personally.
Tara: Yeah. So she wrote this book and it got finally published. So working on her, getting on some podcasts. Um, I've got a retail construction, um, expert who is traveling the world. Um, all sorts of, like, I have all these different Cool. Um, Clients that I get to learn from. So I'm hoping to get them on podcasts as well.
Tara: So that's another
Julia: That's really cool. Yeah. That screen thing is so important. I, we definitely have a rule in our house, like at dinner time, there's no phones at the table. That one's like a hard, fast rule because it's like, have a conversation with me please. Like, I would like to actually see your eyes
Julia: Yeah. Not your eyelids. .
Tara: And I found that the generation a little older than baby boomers, like the elderly now. Yeah. And the young children who were born after 2010. Mm-hmm. , they are the easiest to live without their phones. Yeah. Um, and everyone else in between is struggling because it is a new technology, but it was promising to hear and to learn that the youngest generation.
Tara: Is fine without having, you know, they're not actually that addicted to some sort of technology. That's good.
Julia: I definitely am working on too, like when I take the dog for a walk, I don't take the phone with me, I leave it at home trying to like mindfully and then I have my phone go on, um, do not disturb at a specific time at night.
Julia: So that way it's not like in, you know, I have, I'm taking that break before bedtime and it's just being very mindful and diligent.
Tara: Yes. It, it takes and we're all learning cuz it's a new thing that's been going on. Mm-hmm. . Mm-hmm . So I'm really excited that a Turner's book got published called Being Present.
Tara: Janine w Turner and uh, I we're working on getting her on podcasts as well. That's awesome.
Julia: That's exciting. Reese Witherspoon was born Laura Jean Reese Witherspoon on March 22nd, 1976, and is an Academy Award nominated actress who has star in films like Fear Election, Legally Blonde and Wild, just to name a very small few.
Julia: She is consistently ranked among one of the highest paid actresses in Hollywood. Not only does she have an active role in Hollywood with her production company, Hello Sunshine, which launched in 2016, but she is also the co-founder of Clothing and Home Design business, Draper James, which launched in 2015.
Julia: In 2017, she launched her book club, which catapults any book chosen onto the New York Times bestseller list. Within a week of the publication, Reese Witherspoon has a massive social media presence with 28 million followers on Instagram and 8 million followers on TikTok. But before we dive into Reese, I do, I am curious, I'm asking all my guests this question.
Julia: Do you remember what you thought of rich or wealthy women or what messages you received about wealth and money when you were a kid?
Tara: Um, yeah. So I, you, you let me know ahead of time and I had to think about it. Um, but I. I associated wealth with education. Hmm. Because my father in particular was very, very like academic fo focused.
Tara: He had, I think two masters and a jd. Oh, wow. Yeah. He was a collector . Um, but he, his first real profession, what he, you know, I think he studied economics, but he was a banker, so he traveled the world and made good money. Um, and he was so a, and also school came easy to him. Mm. It did not get easy for me, but he was very, very adamant that I needed to have good school and be really good at school.
Tara: Um, and, you know, aunt, my mom's sister-in-law is like a, a director of Boeing. Oh. She's the first female. She, uh, went for her master's at m i t. Oh wow. And then, you know, she got married, she had kids. And after her youngest, she has two boys. Her youngest was in high school. I think she went back to school for her PhD.
Tara: Not that she needed to, she just always wanted to do that. Wow. Um, and she, you know, she's already working for Boeing for, you know, 20 plus years and, you know, she's the cool one with the two phones. Yeah. And all sorts of stuff. And, um, I remember she was like, you know, I know the Secretary of Defense, he went to college with me.
Tara: Oh God. And then all that stuff. So she's like, so if my husband pisses me off, I'm like, , she's covered,
Julia: She's got backup .
Tara: So the, the idea of like, and, and you know, my. Grand or Yeah, his grandmother. So my great grandmother was very, very focused on school. She always, um, her daughter. So my great aunt, my dad's aunt was one of the first female architects of Iran back in Wow.
Tara: Fifties or sixties. Um, and architecture is, is hard to study. I mean, that's a lot of years of schooling and stuff. Yeah. So they were very, quite successful as in, I would say, like you didn't have to necessarily worry about the next paycheck. Mm-hmm. . Right. You knew where it was coming from. You worked long and hard hours.
Tara: Yeah. And it always went back to school. Mm-hmm. , you did well in school. You kept continuing your education. I do think that has changed a bit, um, especially because school, particularly in the United States, has gone so expensive now. Mm-hmm. , uh, but. I do equate with success and financial success with education.
Tara: Yeah.
Julia: I still see that too. Like, uh, my son's generation, I don't know if they're buying into college, will help elevate your socioeconomic status a lot. My, he just graduated high school, um, in the spring, and so a lot of the mentality from these kids is just like, well, college is a way to get outta my hometown, but I don't really expect it to do much for me kind of mentality.
Julia: And I think that's so interesting because, you know, I'm two decades older than these children and I'm like, I was always told college is how you get out of, it's the elevator if you're in poverty and it's the escalator if you're like, just ready to go to the next level. Um, and it, and it's just so interesting the difference that has happened in the last 20 years about that, about school.
Julia: Yeah. And it probably is because of the affordability and then the accessibility of it all
Tara: too. I do think, um, there's a saying that I highly agree with. They said the biggest things that are never a waste of money is travel or experiences. Mm-hmm. and education. And no one can ever take your education away from you.
Tara: Once you learn it, chances are you're gonna stick with it. Yeah. Yes. I don't remember geometry. I studied it, but, you know, like .
Julia: But it helps your, it helps your brain learn to think a different way, which is super
Tara: valuable. So, you know, the more and more people ask me about it or like, you know, some people wanna go back to graduate school, I did it.
Tara: Um, and all that stuff, I'd be like, Well, I mean, I don't think it's a waste. Mm-hmm. of time or money and it's never too late. Yeah. So you don't have to do it. Now, I always think of my aunt who just went back to school to finish her PhD. You know, 20 years later or so, I don't even know how many years later, but her kid was like, in high school, he was sufficient.
Tara: Her eldest was in law school. She was like, It's fine, I can do it. Yeah. Um, and I'm like, Yeah, I do remember a, a friend that I made, um, we were, uh, sort of traveling and she is an accountant and she didn't, she graduated high school, but she didn't go to college. Mm. And she came from a pretty poor family, I think from North Carolina.
Tara: I could be wrong. Okay. Uh, or Colorado, I don't remember . Um, so started with a C somewhere in that state. Yeah. Um, but, but she, you know, she became an accountant quite successful. She was able to get both her kids into college mm-hmm. and, and sort of pay for it and all that stuff. Even today, I mean, they're.
Tara: College too. Right. And things. And she was like, you know, but sometimes I just wanna go and be able to say, I have a bachelor's in accounting, even though I have 30 years of experience. And I'm like, if that's how, it's not a stupid feeling to feel like, you know, we could be considering brainwash, but it's not a bad idea.
Tara: Or go to college for something else. Yeah. You know, if you have another interest, hell do it for art history. You know, like the things that they're like, you got a degree in that when you're 22, but you, you can afford it and you can do it, and you learn something outta it. So she was like, maybe, um, but I've been meaning a touch base with her.
Tara: So anyway, But it also showed like, yes, you don't have to, it really is with your drive and force. Mm-hmm. and like sheer perseverance. Mm-hmm. , um, because she went without a college degree. So different from what I was growing up and noticing, but. It is possible, but it's never, I don't think it's ever a bad idea to go for an education, no matter how old you are.
Julia: I agree. I went back to grad school, I think I was 32 when I went back, and I love school. I love school. And actually for me, like the university level I felt like is where I really thrived because of the, the way they challenge you to think the, the, the, the demands of the work. All of that felt like, okay, now I'm actually like feeling like I'm learning something.
Julia: Whereas high school didn't feel like I was being challenged. It didn't feel like, you know, I was. Learning things that I hadn't learned already cuz my family was very robust. Conversations, my folks were into history and we talk about politics all the time around the dinner table and like, you know, just all of these different, My mom was a librarian so there was just a very much like, we are a knowledgeable people in this household.
Julia: So it was mind blowing to me when get to high school and people will be like, I don't know what happened in Germany in 1942. Oh gosh. It's like, what? Like how do you not know history? How do you know what's going on in the world right now? Like, how have you never read this book? So getting to college, it was, Oh you guys are all you guys, you're, you've read this book, you know this happened.
Julia: We have different opinions, let's do this. And it just felt so good to have that validation from even getting the, the grades too, right? Like when the professors be like, well written essay, you're just like, yes, .
Tara: I know, right? It's so great. But that, that's the other thing. You have like-minded individuals I think even today, especially for graduate school, cuz no one.
Tara: Really needs to go to graduate school. I mean, really, depending on the profession you're looking for. Yeah. But once they're there, you, you're like, you got no one else to blame but yourself. . Yeah. So you might as well enjoy it.
Julia: Exactly. Okay, well let's dive in. Witherspoon's most iconic role is L Woods in Legally Blonde, where she plays a rich sorority girl who's had her heart broken by her beloved Warner.
Julia: When Warner leaves her for Harvard Law School, Ella is determined to win him back and works hard to get accepted herself. Throughout the entire movie, we see L's, beauty and privilege get called into question Time and time again. She's seen with little to no substance, even by Warner. But when she is chosen to work on a high profile case her professor's firm is working on, she proves that she is more than just a beautiful face.
Julia: This film was released in 2001 in 2017, with her Spoon plays Madeline, Martha Mackenzie, A woman living in the Monterey Bay area and in a beautiful home overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Her character is dedicated to her family and to the theater. In 2020, she plays Elena Richardson, a woman living in Ohio, and I just have to add a note.
Julia: The neighborhood in Ohio, Shaker Shaker Heights, is a suburb of Cleveland and my family is from Cleveland. And when my mom read this book, she was like, Oh my gosh. Shaker Heights is, Yep. This is Shaker Heights. . Elena prides herself in her family, the family she's created, and in renting out the small apartment, her parents left to her, to people who have limited means, because everyone deserves to have a place to live.
Julia: All three of these characters are so different from each other, but they all have one thing in common money. So how do you think these women, these three women, specifically contribute to the narrative of wealthy women? Do you think it's positive or negative?
Tara: So I know want to note that they have a little bit more in common than just money.
Tara: Yeah, they do come from a. Pretty, you know, wealthy, well connected girl next door. Mm-hmm. , that's a three of them. That's a great point. Um, they just happen to be played by the same actress. I haven't read, uh, Little Fires Everywhere. I did read Big Little Lies, which takes place in Australia, like a rich suburb of, I think Sydney, but somewhere in Australia.
Tara: But it's still, she is well connected. You know, her family comes from wealth, her husband does, you know, all that stuff. L Woods, well, she went to college and she's in a fraternity, sorry, in a sorority. Um, and is well connected as well too, and grew up in that. Um, I, so that was one thing that I was like, well, they do have a little bit, because money doesn't necessarily mean you will have well connections.
Tara: Mm-hmm. or, or at least to this status that these three characters, their stories and where they live and all that stuff. Um, but the most positive. In, in portraying these kinds of women, I think is Lll Woods because even, you know, it is comes to question like, why is she so bubbly in like a Barbie? You know, you have that hesitancy.
Tara: You're like, Eh, something's weird with this girl. And you realize, no, no, no. She is being genuine. Mm-hmm. , she does treat everybody pretty much the same. Always giving everyone a chance. You know, like seeing the good in people. We see this even more in Weekly Blonde too. I always get so sad when she, I don't even remember what it's called, but it's like the compliment cup.
Tara: Okay. At everyone's arguing and all that sta stuff and she's like, Slap snap. You know? And then we put a little thought in the thing and then somebody's like, This is stupid. And her feelings cuz she's trying to put positivity in. Yeah. You see that this is just how she is. Yeah. Um, and so that was the positive I think.
Tara: The one that is the most negative or aggressive is the little fires everywhere. Mm-hmm. , because she's trying, she's like, I don't have a bi, like a prejudice bone. I'm not racist. Yep. I'm like, No, no, no. But everyone has a bias. We had a bias on L woods, you know what I mean? Like it doesn't have to be, you don't have to be black and poor.
Tara: Yeah. To have, be biased against them. You, you know, So you're like, so to pretend you don't is false cuz every single person does. Um, and then worse, she tries to prove that she doesn't and she just makes it worse and worse and worse. Mm-hmm.
Julia: agree with you. That's right. Yeah. I agree with you. Like Elena Richardson.
Julia: Like she comes off as this ideal mom with the perfect life. I mean, Joshua Jackson, I mean, I'm the generation who's like mighty Ducks. Yeah. We all wanted to marry
Tara: and Bray, who's her like other sweetheart.
Julia: Yeah. Yeah. And so you have this like when I was, I read the book. I loved the book. Okay. And then when I watched the series, I thought what they did really, really well was they translated Elena almost perfectly.
Julia: That nuance of we're good people, we rent to people who don't have money, so that way everybody can be homed. Like that tone was so perfectly portrayed that I was just like, You guys did a great job at keeping this beautiful, perky woman who is just like, I'm so perfect and everybody loves me. But then you see that she really does have this layer of like, there's prejudice, there's bias, but she's never gonna let on because that's not okay.
Julia: Kind of tall and,
Tara: and the one that hurts it the most really in the long run will be her and her family. It's not the people that she is kind of prejudiced against. Yeah. Whether you're a someone of color or poor mm-hmm. , they are used to it. They know exactly what you're doing and you're not fooling them.
Tara: Yeah. So we'll move on with their lives, but you're, you and your children are gonna suffer the most. Yeah.
Julia: And I think that's why the Elena character just felt so much like, Oh, I know this woman, I've seen this woman in real life. I experienced this woman a lot, and I you like holy buckets. You nailed it with her character and Big Little lies.
Julia: I feel, I feel like she has redeeming values because she is so dedicated to her friends. You know, she cares so much about the Nicole Kidman character. She cares so much about Shaylene Wood Lee's character. Yeah. So even though she's got like these demons at home or things that are happening at home and you know, she and her husband are.
Julia: Whatever is happening, what they're doing. Um, there's still some sort of value, Not value, that's the wrong word. Um,
Tara: Well, she has still priorities. Yeah. She does have that superficialness mm-hmm. that can drive a person crazy, but at the end of the day, she just, I think what her issue is that she needs to control everything.
Tara: Mm-hmm. like she, and it's a little, I don't think it's actually in the book, but, uh, particularly in the second season of Big Little Lies, you know, she's like, I should have known that my best friend was being beaten by her husband. And we're like, This is not about you. Yeah. And, and in an abusive situation, they are good at hiding the real situation, but, you know, so she had to control it, you know?
Tara: Mm-hmm. and all sorts of stuff. Uh, I really, so when I would watch, I lo I think we, we decided on Reese Witherspoon, not, I'm not a part, I, I don't follow her on social media. Just doesn't interest me. But we talked about because we were talking about Big Little Lies. Yeah. And I was like, I hope I am like the Shalene Woodley character as a mother.
Tara: I fear that I will be, I will be more like Reese Witherspoon where she's just like organizing everything and getting, connecting everyone together. I don't feel like I'm a control freak, but I see that in her and I just, in the book, they do, you know, um, Chalene's mother. Goes to Reese and says, Could you watch out for her?
Tara: Cause she's so far away from us, and she's like, She will be my little sister. You know? So you get a little bit. So when I'm watching the show, knowing that, you know, obviously they read the show and Reese Reman herself, who's playing this character is produced this show is thinking of that. Right. That's why she's so particularly protective of Shalene.
Tara: Yeah. So I think that it was redeeming qualities of her, but yeah, at, at the same time, it's just like, Oh, I, I don't know. It it slightly like, little fires everywhere, but not just of a little bit too in your, uh, selfish or world. Mm-hmm. , Well, L Woods. Isn't really that selfish. Yeah. I mean she just has a goal in mind.
Tara: She loves this man. And what, like it's hard. She get into Harvard law. Yeah. and, and, and then people are like, Oh, but she will be there to help others. Yeah. She will be there to be like, You know what, you are actually not a good person and not for me, or not for anyone until you grow your and better yourself.
Tara: Mm-hmm. , you know, so she has a lot of redeeming qualities. Mm-hmm. the other. . It gets harder too, but Big Little Lies much more redeeming.
Julia: Yeah, yeah. Yeah. I love Ell Woods because of that, because she is so caring. Like when she stormed, when she walks into the nail salon, it's just like, I need my nails done.
Julia: And, you know, be friends Jennifer Coolidge. Like, you wouldn't think that these two characters would become as good of friends and closest friends as they are. And it's just really helpful to her in her own life and that, you know, that B story and helps her get the dog back and helps her, you know, stand up for herself.
Julia: And that tells you too, that she el has a big heart because she just wants like everyone to be happy and, and content. And it's why that movie, Everyone loves that movie. It's why it's been adapted into, um, musical theater. we love. I know.
Tara: I actually, I was like, I re-watched it when I was a kid when it first came.
Tara: I'm like, Okay, that's cute. Yeah. And then during lockdown in 2020, I was like, Let me rewatch this movie. Everyone keeps talking. I'm like, Oh yeah, it does hold up. Well, it does. Yeah. It's one of those that you're like, Please do watch. As for kids and stuff like that. Mm-hmm. , because, you know, there's a bit of, you know, like she's a Playboy money, uh, Bunny speaking of money, uh, Playboy Bunny for Halloween, you know, they kind of dress her and, you know mm-hmm.
Tara: people will whistle and stuff like that, but she's not gonna change Right. Who she is. Right, Right. Uh, and stuff like that. And, and that's the overall theme that you want kids to know. Yeah. Um, so yeah. I like it. Yeah.
Julia: I love, I love that movie. I actually made my son sit through it cause it's like, You need
Tara: to know
Tara: Yeah, you need to be like
Julia: Luke Wilson. Luke Wilson. Yeah. . You are not a Warner. And if you are, I mean, it's not my fault. . I tried.
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Julia: According to a 2021 report from Forbes, Weatherspoon is the world's richest actress with her net worth being 400 million, her production company. Hello Sunshine focuses on telling women led stories and has produced little fires everywhere. As we've mentioned, the Morning Show and Wild because of her affection for literature, oftentimes the book she chooses for book club find their way into being adapted for the screen with her production company behind them.
Julia: Time tapped Hello Sunshine in 2021 as one of the most influential companies stating quote, What started as a direct response to the dearth of compelling roles has grown into a 70 person multi-platform company. The once revolutionary premise of centering women, which so often means white women is no longer enough.
Julia: Achieving true equity means constantly examining biases and pushing to do better. It's embedded in our mission. CEO Sarah Harden says, This isn't about changing the world for white women. It's elevating intersectional voices. End quote, Being tapped by Reese Witherspoon has the same effect that being tapped by Oprah did in the nineties, but I feel like it's even bigger than that now.
Julia: So I, I guess I wanna talk about Witherspoon's overall impact on society today.
Tara: I think that last statement that you thought is bigger than her impact is bigger than Oprah. Um, I would disagree. Okay. I think you might think, or, or people might think it's bigger because we have social media and it's easier to have the individual, um, impact.
Tara: Like I could easily just go follow Hello Sunshine and then start reading this book or something like that. But before with Oprah, you has to be watching her show. Yeah. You to watch it the day it aired. And for that, it's not on anyone else's schedule. It's not on one on one, kind of like personal things.
Tara: It's, it's a lot more direct, a lot more scheduled. And therefore those who listened to her or wanted to, you know, her Oprah's picks, um, then I would say that she is still a bigger impact. Her impact is pretty big. I remember when, um, Do you, you know the show Younger? Yeah. I love that show. Right? They were like, oh.
Tara: Reese Smither Spoon wants this show, this book for her thing. And you know, and I'm like, when you are being, and I, I, I think it's been on a couple other television shows, but when these start picking up your phrases or your, your book club or something like that, you know, you've made it. Yeah. Right. And I think that shows her impact.
Tara: And I, I remember, um, Gone Girl and Wild, Wild is it? Mm-hmm. . Mm-hmm. came out the same year. It was the first two big projects that she decided to do as a producer. Mm-hmm. , I admit I have not seen Wild. Um, but Gone Girl, uh, I heard about it. I had to, you know, my husband David Fincher is making it with my other husband, Ben Affleck , my kli, Kerry Coon as the best character.
Tara: Um, anyway, so I went and I was like, What? So I read the book. in preparation as they were making it and stuff like that. Yeah. And I do think it's a really well made film, um, and things like that. But I sh I like her impact because she's so different. Yeah. Like Gone Girl. And then you Got Wild, which again, isn't really something I was interested in.
Tara: Mm-hmm. , but I can tell the difference. And she was saying, I just wanted. I think I read this in an interview. Um, I was trying to find it in preparation for this podcast, but when these were all coming out, she was saying, I started getting more and more interested in, in being behind the scene, uh, behind the camera because she reads like, what, five books a week?
Tara: Yeah, she,
Julia: yeah. Her husband was like, You go through so much, so many books, you should start a book club. Like, that's essentially the story behind that. Yeah. Yeah.
Tara: And so she's clearly smart. Um, and I did a little research, I mean, her dad's a surgeon. Her mother has a PhD and is a nurse. You know, like she, they, she comes from actual smarts and brains.
Tara: And I clearly passed down not to her, and she went to Stanford University. Mm-hmm. . Um, I don't know if she actually graduated. I think she, she dropped out to do work and she just kept getting more work. I could be wrong, but either way, she is a smart person. Um, and then as she was, Turning 40, uh, as usual, the Hollywood curse that you can't get good roles after 40 unless you play a witch.
Tara: Mm-hmm. , she's like, Well, that's not accurate. And so she was like, Well, what can we do? Because, um, it's not just me or other women who want to be working as an actor in their forties and older, but we need to see these stories. I think that's why I loved Big Little Lies. Because you had three different age groups, roughly.
Tara: Yeah. Right. The Laura De and the Nicole Kidman are slightly older than Reese Withers spin. And of course there's the Shalene Woodley character. Um, and it was just, I was, You hadn't seen anything like that before and even in that extreme wealth. Yeah. How sad their lives could be. Mm-hmm. . . Um, and how with all that wealth, the, I would still argue the best mother is the Shaylene Woodley, who is a struggling working mother.
Tara: Yeah. You know? Yeah. Um, and it was just, they did such a great job. Gone girl was such a great story. I mean, I mean, Gillian Flynn is just awesome. I've read everything she's done. Um, and she lives in Chicago, where is where I am from and I am, and I'm always constantly looking for her. Yeah. . So, um, but it's, it is just, so I, I really applauded that and then it just kept growing from there.
Tara: Then she had her book club then, you know, all that stuff. So I do see her impact and to share stories you. Of different people from everywhere. Mm-hmm. , but I'm not very, and I think little fires everywhere. It, the book does not specify that the woman who moves into the house is a black woman. Correct. The
Julia: woman in the book who moves into the house, she's actually, um, she read to me as a white woman because everyone who is of a specific race, the author makes that delineation.
Julia: So like the, the waitress who has the baby did that make it in the show? That sounds familiar. Yeah. And then wants, she gave the baby like she abandons the baby because she's postpartum and then she wants to be, But that character is always has, is of Asian descent in the book and Asian descent in the show.
Julia: But in the, in the movie. In the movie, in the book itself, I. Um, the main, the, the photographer, um, I forget what her name is now. I literally Washington. Yeah, I have it today. Cause Celeste Eing is of Asian descent. So like she's pretty, um, diverse in her writing or she's, she's kind of, I mean, I don't know.
Julia: Why did I read that? Main characters being white? Well, there had to have been something in the story that made me feel like this character
Tara: was white. What's interesting is when I was reading interviews, and so, and I think it's an Imdv trivia, um, the author said when they said they wanted Carrie Washington for that role, I was like, you know, I always thought that that character was black, but I never wrote it then.
Tara: Yeah. Specifically that I just kept picturing her. A woman of color, probably black. Interesting. So I was like, Oh,
Julia: that's cool. But I did, I did get the sense that the daughter was mixed because of the way that they talked about the family. Mm-hmm. , um, that her do, that her daughter, sort of that scenario. Um, gosh, I should read it again.
Julia: I kid you not, when I read this book, because it got, I read it, it was published before it got picked up by, um, Reese Witherspoon's book club. So I have a copy that doesn't have the sticker on it. Oh, Okay. . Um, and I'm very proud of that fact. I don't know why. Yeah. Um, you should be . I mean, I devoured this book because the main character for me was so relatable.
Julia: The struggle to raise your child, being an artist, balancing the, you know, how do you provide for your kid and stay true to yourself and you know that. Conflict has lived within me the entire time my child was alive, has been alive. And so to read that in literature and to feel so seen in such a way, it was like, holy buckets.
Julia: And then as I started getting more, so I started within myself. And then as I started pulling out of myself for reading the book, seeing all the different types of motherhood existed is existing, the relationships that are happening, especially with the kids. Um, it, I was like, how is this not the best book of ever?
Julia: Like why isn't it when it, like, it needs awards, it needs all the things because it, it is every theme. When it comes to motherhood, there's so much depth. Yeah. There's so much relationship depth. Like you cannot classify this book as just chick lit as a lot of female themed books do. Mm. Um, and I spent the next two years buying it for everybody for whatever gift giving holiday
Julia: Oh, that's nice. It's like, you need to read this book. Everyone needs to read this
Tara: book. is the twist of how she gets her daughter. The same in the book that she is, It's surrogate when she stole it. Mm-hmm. .
Julia: Mm-hmm. . Yeah. But I feel like they were intimate. I should read it again. You know how there's things in life when that just impact you emotionally so much, but it's like a one and done situation cuz you can't like revisiting it might be like hard,
Tara: especially with books.
Tara: It's hard cuz then you gotta look for the damn thing. . Yeah. Yeah. Right. I mean there's a book that I am obsessed with called Night Film. It's like 900 page, no, 600 pages. Uh, it's, it's so good. And I think it did get bought to become a miniseries cuz it so should be. Yeah. But it never happened. And I have read it twice and I still don't remember everything that
Julia: happens.
Julia: Cause that's a good layered book when you don't have all things. I think what I'll do is get the audio version and follow along so that way I can like make notes. Oh, maybe it's, I've done that a couple of times when I'm really into a story. If I wanna reread it, but I want someone to read it to me.
Julia: that's
Tara: what I do. I've, I've done that with Ethan Hawk's book Cause he's writer. Yeah. But also his voice is very
Julia: nice. Yeah. Yeah. I just re-watched Reality Bites a couple weeks ago cause I was like, like it has the best vibe for me. Like, I just love, he's so dreamy in that movie. Should he? I don't know. Yes, but
Tara: But the thing about audio books, we're getting off on a tangent. It's, I looks the voice has to be good too. Yeah. Because I remember, um, The Woman in the Window, which is a terrible film, Okay. Awful. Um, with Amy Adams and Gary Oldman. Good casting, but it was awful or important execution. Poor executed, poorly executed.
Tara: But my friend was obsessed with you. Like, you have to read it, you have to read it. And it was gone. Like I, and I'm cheap. I was like, I'm not buying a book for 30 bucks. Okay. Yeah. So I was on the wait list of the library on all sorts of stuff. I'm on book bug, you know, the ebook deals and stuff. And then I was like, Fine, I'll do the audiobook too.
Tara: And then the audiobook came first and it was the most boring voice person. They're like the woman in the window. She stares, no , she stares back. She, and I'm like, Oh my God. And I told my friend, and I made my friend, we were driving somewhere. I'm like, You were listening to this audiobook, . Cause she's like, I can't believe you're not like hooked.
Tara: And I'm like, Listen to it. Just listen to it. And, and she's like, Oh yeah, this is bad. Yeah. And then the twist comes and you're like, Well, we all could see that, but that there's a second twist in the, in the book and in the film. And we're like, Oh, that's good. Yeah. I wish it would've been better. . Yeah, um, said out loud.
Tara: But anyway, so that is important. Yeah. So if big, uh, little fires everywhere has an audio book, make sure that it's a good voice.
Julia: I will. So, you know, our, our library uses hoopla and I don't believe they let us get a sample, which is kind of frustrating. But it's just a borrow. But you
Tara: Yeah. Yeah. It's a borrow.
Tara: Yeah. So borrow it and you're like, maybe it is a good, Yeah. But yeah, but
Julia: I loved, I loved it, I loved it. And I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm not embarrassed to say that, you know, I do jump on the book club bandwagon with re I mean, it's even an app for crying out loud that they have discussions in and just sort of chat, chat away each month about each book.
Julia: She even has a y Aya version of the book club, which I love. I heard, I heard about that. Yeah. I've pulled some from there. When, um, let's see, I've read Daisy Jones in the Six, which is a book club pick that's in the process of being like, they just finished filming the miniseries. So I think they're in post production at this point.
Julia: And I'm so excited. I've read that book three times, , it hasn't been out that
Tara: long. Um, Isn't The Crossing something with the, Oh crap that's coming out and everyone's really excited about it. The crossing. The, the cross crawl baby sinks or something. Oh, where the crada
Julia: sinks. Yeah. It's like I have the book up on, I did, I read that book.
Julia: I didn't fall in love with it. I didn't care for it the way that the rest of the world did. Okay. Um, and, but I did take my mom to see the film and we did enjoy the film. I mean, it's, you know, came out already. Yeah. It was released on July 8th. Oh, okay. Does that sound right? Uh, I'll confirm. Sure. Um, but I took my mom and, you know, she, she, she, she didn't read the book.
Julia: She was like, I read your book review. So I didn't read the book. And it was like, I appreciate your support because I'm very mad about this book. And, and then I found a reviewer. It might have been, Was it The Atlantic? Who was basically like, Yeah, you know, all the problems you had with the book. That's in the movie too.
Julia: And I was like, Yeah, girl. But like all of this fake scenery of North Carolina is just so welcoming, .
Tara: So the visuals make up for all that. The visuals
Julia: made up for it. And I'm embarrassed to admit that I got sucked into it, but I probably wouldn't have gone to see it if my, you know, if my mom hadn't been interested in going, having like a mommy daughter date.
Julia: Um, and then, What else has she been playing? I did read Wild. I know you said you didn't read it, but I, I, I actually listened it to it on audiobook. We had a really long drive and it was the length of time of our drive, like 11 hours. Oh my gosh. It was an incredible memoir, Cheryl Stray. And it, what's so funny to me is in, I don't know if you ever watched Gilmore Girls.
Julia: I can't remember. Yes, I do. Ok. It's like, I feel like we touched on Gilmore Girls in our pre-chat. in the year in the life when Loli goes to Walk the trail, she
Tara: walks from and every, And the guys knew exactly what she was doing.
Julia: Yes. And then people would book our movie and then they'd be like, Book and then the oh movie.
Julia: And then they'd brought over to the movie people and I was like, That's so how we are . That is kind of true, isn't it? You liked, you liked the movie and not the book, We can't be friends or vice versa kind of stuff. Right. I thought that was really cute how they captured that, but um,
Tara: I might watch it. One of these y years.
Julia: Yeah. . I'd be curious to see what, how they adapted that. Because Cheryl Strayed is very open in her memoir about having, um, drug addiction
Tara: and that's what it's Oh, so you haven't seen the film?
Julia: Mm-hmm. , I've only read the book.
Tara: Oh see, I heard. And I think that was one of the things again, it was the first real film that in Gone Girl where she was producing, Reese was producing and they're like, I mean, wild.
Tara: Wild. Mm-hmm. . And you're, Is she also a sex addict? Yep. Yeah. So, so she had kind of, I will admit, one of the reasons why I was, I was like, Oh, Mackel, Husman is in this, Oh, I might watch this . Um, he was in a Game of Thrones. Um, I'm probably saying his name wrong, but he is Bootiful. I saw him on the streets in New York, and I'm like, Oh my God, he really are that gorgeous.
Tara: Um, so anyway, but it was just like, and, and also to have Reese play it mm-hmm. because we know her as legally blonde. Yeah. A little bit more eccentric as a election, you know, But you had a certain, she, she was a certain type, uh, ca a type casted actress. Mm-hmm. . And here she is playing someone very flawed.
Tara: Um, and now older. Because 40 is old apparently. Yeah. Um, and all sorts of stuff. So people were really impressed and, and I did win her an Oscar nomination. Uh, so I am intrigued, but I just, I haven't gone to it. And then at the same time, I really did appreciate how well they made Gone Girl. Mm-hmm. . Um, of course David did such a great job.
Tara: Yeah. You know, as a wife, I'm, I'm very proud of him because I did not like him. His girl with the Dragon Tattoo, he had to sleep on the couch that night. . Um, as I remember, I was like, What the hell is this? It's not bad, but it was not as good as the Swedish version. Yeah. Not nearly as good as the book anyway.
Tara: Yeah. Yeah. So it, it, it, it is interesting. So, So you really liked the book? I really
Julia: did. And it was narrated by the author. I love it when that happens. Oh, that's nice because then it feels like they're telling you the story directly rather than hiring a voice actor. Um, another book that's getting adapted.
Julia: A lot of her book club stuff gets adapted. I'm trying to think. I can see the titles, but, or I can see the book covers, but I'm struggling with the titles of the names. Is
Tara: it really her company? Her, uh, Hello Sunshine production company?
Julia: They're behind it. Yeah. Wow. Yeah, they're behind a lot of them. It's busy, which is interesting.
Julia: And when I went and saw where the crowd out sings, um, Harper Collins had a little bit of, had a little Harper Collins Productions or whatever they called it. And I was like, That's interesting because I have never seen that in any book to screen adaptation where the publisher also gets a title credit.
Julia: Oh, in the opening credits as being one of like the producer or production company of this film. Yeah. That was really interesting to me. That's cool. And I guess that's why I feel like she is making such a huge impact because she's really like elevating voices from all communities, which is mm-hmm. . I mean, we, I, I don't know, not all white people do that when they're in positions of power
Tara: Yeah. Well, and also probably, I don't know, we, I, maybe we could have done a little bit more research. I don't know if you did, If in her company is, there are a lot of different backgrounds there to show the, the different voices because like little fires everywhere you're saying they, they did a really great job of this diversified cast, not just for the sake of diversity Right.
Tara: But how the characters are written. So that is going back to the biggest thing that Hollywood is saying is if you want more diversity, To show all the different aspects of, of life. Mm-hmm. , you need to hire the writers, the producers, people of different backgrounds to give you the different perspectives.
Tara: So that one joke, well lets, you know, will take it differently than a Middle Eastern or a Jewish person or you know, like all these things. So you need the, the room that writes it. Hmm. I'm wondering if Reese has that in her production company.
Julia: I know this CEO is a white woman, but as far as the rest of like anybody else in the C-suite, I haven't looked into it, but I do what I see on social media.
Julia: So it could, I mean it could be placating for all we know, um, cuz there's perform. But see it's not just performative because she is pushing out you. Black writers, Asian descent writers, you know, writer, Latino writer like she is. Yeah. But, um, it appears I could probably dig into it and add a little end note on our show to talk about it, to see if I can find demographics of our company.
Tara: And also going back to your impact, uh, today, like you said, social media, she might notice or somebody in her company notices how many different. Followers they get or comments they get. Mm-hmm. , they're like, I loved this book, or I didn't like this book. Mm-hmm. because as a so and so person, I didn't appreciate that.
Tara: So then they keep note of that, that could also be an
Julia: influence. You know what too, um, to add to that, I had commented, I had tagged a friend when they posted a couple of books on their YA book club. I tagged a friend and I was like, Hey girl, I think that you would love these books. You should check it out.
Julia: Somebody from the company sent me a DM and said, Hey, we would love to send you copies. And they did. And I was like, so I, so to me, cuz I managed social media my day life and it's at this point, soul crushing because Instagram and Facebook are just gonna do whatever they want and it's very frustrating.
Julia: Mm-hmm. . But it, I appreciate that aspect of like, cool, I tell my team we have to read the comments and respond and act and engage. So that means that her team is doing the same. And I appreciate that her team is doing the same thing because. You can buy software to do social listening for you. And a lot of companies do that, but for me, I'm like, I need a human reading those things.
Julia: If it's not me, then it's an intern or it's somebody on my team because we need to have the emotional impact of those comments so we know how to better serve our community. Yeah. And I get a lot of flack for that sometimes, cuz, Oh, I don't have that kind of time, then you don't have time for your community.
Julia: And I don't know why we're having a conversation
Tara: that or like you can easily just get an intern to do that, like go over. But I think also, I, I don't remember if any of her films or her projects particularly that she banked, um, with her production company has failed. Uh, Okay. They've all done pretty well.
Tara: So I think this is a pretty good indicator that her company is wise enough to be like, we gotta pay attention to what people are saying. Mm-hmm. not just. Professional reviewers and critics, but every day people, cuz that's who's gonna be watching that stuff. Yeah. So if they like this book, you know, and you know, maybe if, when they were doing little fires everywhere, because the main character is not specifically, um, said to background, she is, um, they were like, what do people think she is?
Tara: Mm-hmm. before we even look into casting.
Julia: Yeah. And they know that she heavily based, again, based on social media, they do include the writer in the process. The original author of the book. Yes. Like Delia Owens, who is in. Whatever her life is right now was, uh, was on set quite often. Mm-hmm. And I think she was credited as a consultant on the film, if I remember correctly.
Julia: Okay. Um, and so, you know, that's huge too because when you create this body of work as an author, it's a sole project, right? Like it is just you, There is no group work in this effort until you get it to an editor and then the editor says whatever the editor says. But the point is, is you birthed it by yourself.
Julia: They're just helping you refine it. And so to have the acknowledgement and the ability to say, We know this is your baby, so why don't you come on over so you can visit and you can make comments to, That's huge. That must feel really good cuz how many authors are completely shut out of the adaptation process of their work.
Tara: Yeah, it's so true. I mean, um, what David, David Benioff. , uh, who, you know, Game of Thrones? Mm-hmm. . But he did the 25th hour and he was so involved in the filmmaking cuz Spike Lee. Spike Lee. Is he the one who did do the right thing? Mm-hmm. . Mm-hmm. . Yes. Then Spike Lee. Um, yeah, I keep Spike Lee or Spike Johns. I always get nervous.
Tara: I know one's a short
Julia: black guy and one's a tall, skinny white guy. .
Tara: I know. So Spike Lee really was like, David, when you were doing this or that, like when you were writing it, how were you think? And he's like, Oh my gosh. Then he gets hired to do Troy, which is. Based on the id. Um, and Wolfgang and just like the big Hollywood studio didn't do anything with him.
Tara: They were just like, Give us the script. And then they, I mean, it is famously like such a crappy film. . Yeah. It is one of my biggest guilty pleasures. It's my, my best friend. And I joke that like, if we ever got married, our wedding song would be, remember by Josh . Oh, nice. What's his face? Um, be from the movie Troy and stuff.
Tara: I was like, Oh my God, this is not the Iard. And David has come on record. He's like, That was a cluster fuck. Excuse my language. But he was like, Because they didn't consult with me. I was like, No, no, no. I know it's slightly different from the book, but you're making it worse, you know? Yeah. And all. But he appreciated Spike wanting his input.
Tara: Yeah. And one of the most famous scenes in the film and in the book is the Big Fuck You, uh, Mirror Scene was not originally gonna be in the film. And Spike and Edward Norden were like, Why isn't it gonna be in the film? And they're like, Write it and we'll, we'll shoot it. We have to at least have filmed it and see if it makes, And it's the most famous scene in the film.
Tara: Yeah. . So I do agree. Authors should be more involved.
Julia: Yeah. You can tell too, when either the writer of the script or the author is involved because, or like when the writer of the script has an affection for the work that they're adapting. Mm-hmm. , it shows like the internet is ripping up, um, Netflix's adaptation of persuasion and it's so much fun to watch
Tara: them.
Tara: I haven't watched it because everyone is like, it is such crap.
Julia: It's so like, like my favorite, my favorite thing in the world that the internet is doing right now. I cannot even, I can't, I have to, I'm gonna pull up the pictures
Tara: and just freedom to, And this is to clarify the persuasion, that's 2022 with Dakota Johnson.
Tara: Uh,
Julia: The most recent at which, you know, persuasion. I, my best friend and I call Persuasion Jane Austin's Horniest novel . Oh, okay. So, so for, so for this to be, so she sent me, she, so she sent me a bunch of memes. And this one, Jane Austin. There could, there could have never been two hearts so open, no taste. So similar, no feeling so in unison.
Julia: No count is so beloved now. They were as strangers. They worse than strangers for they could never become acquainted. It was a perpetual estrangement. Gorgeous, right? Yes. Then it's Netflix and a picture of Dakota Johnson. Now we're strangers. We're worse than strangers. We're exes, .
Tara: Yes. I saw that in it. And I'm like, that is
Julia: not, another one that she sent me was like, she felt that she could do so much more.
Julia: Depend upon the sincerity of those who sometimes look or said a careless or a hasty thing than of those whose per whose presence of mine never varied. Whose tongue never slipped. Beautiful Netflix because he is a 10. I never trust a 10 .
Tara: Is that really said in the film? See, and this is. It's hard. Clueless was in a realm of its own again.
Tara: They did also modernize it. Yeah, but
Julia: the writer, Amy Heckerling, right? Yeah. I think she did Clueless. Had like loved Emma. She had an affection for Emma and had an appreciation for it.
Tara: Dickinson did a pretty decent job too, to modernize, but keep it at the time of Emily Dickinson and incorporate her poetry the way it was written into it.
Tara: But I mean, my favorite part is with is where they're talking about Blue Apron. They're like, Wouldn't it be great if you could just buy food already made like in a Blue Apron? Or you know, like they did something like that. It was weird. And they talk about podcasts. Yeah. . And so, but they, they did it pretty cleverly.
Tara: And it sounds like Persua, this, this version of persuasion was trying to be like clueless meets Dickinson. And they failed miserably.
Julia: They really did. My best friend was like, did the person who write the script not even read the book? And I joking, I jokingly said, I said they probably weren't even an English major
Julia: Cause I feel like, cause both of my degrees are in English and it's like every single freaking class, like every year it's like, here's your, you know, Jane Austin option in, in your British, your British literature class. And you're just like, Yes, I've read Jane Austin so much. You guys, like, I don't want it to get ruined because I've read it so much.
Julia: Like, stop forcing me.
Tara: Did you like the Emma? Uh, with, uh, Ona Taylor Joy. I did like it. A lot of people loved it. Yeah.
Julia: I thought was so happy. It was beautiful. I thought the acting was well done. I thought the adaptation was really nice. I, we covered clueless on this show a couple of, lots of episodes ago now.
Julia: Um, and I was like, Oh, I'll reread Emma and do like a, cuz I love to do book to screen adaptation analysis. Well, I made the mistake cause I was like, I'll listen to it this time cause I'm a sucker for a British accent. . Well, I made the mistake and I accidentally downloaded like a performance edition. So it was like, here's a summary and then here's the scene.
Julia: Acted out with like seven actors or who all is in the show. In the book. Right. And was like, shocks. I should, I'm so disappointed that I did that. I mean, it was good. It wasn't, it was well acted and some pretty famous people were mm-hmm. , um, performing in it. But for the purpose, for what I wanted, it wasn't.
Julia: It's beneficial. .
Tara: Well, you learn. You live, you learn. Yeah. Now I
Julia: know not to be fooled by that particular brand, .
Tara: If you ever wanted to do Fight Club or Godfather, let me know. I
Julia: fucking love The Godfather.
Tara: I, oh my God. I went and I saw Al Pacino and Robert De Niro at Tribeca. Did you? Oh
Julia: my gosh. When my son, when my son said he wanted to be a film major, I was like, Guess what we're gonna do today?
Julia: We're gonna watch, we're gonna watch Godfather. You Cannot enter into a film program. Not having some Godfather, I don't even know, I think was like, Does he like it? He liked it. I think it was 15. And then I had somebody judge me and I was like, I think I was 15 when I, I first saw it. So I think I
Tara: was just saying I was 15.
Tara: It is, Oh my God. I, I've, I remember my deck. Got the dvd. And we watched part one and two together and then he had to go work and he is like, But you should finish part three. And I argue it's not a bad movie, it's just not at the same level as part one and two.
Julia: And then I read Diane Keaton's book. Yes, me too.
Julia: Then again, and all the stuff that she was talking, I was like, What this is, this is the best. Diane Keaton, thank you so much for all of this. I
Tara: loved it. . And, and then I read the book. Um, and what's interesting is like Young Veto is one chapter, but it's ha not half, but like a third of part two. Oh, interesting.
Tara: And Mario Puso, who's the author. Mm-hmm. , um, was involved in part one and part two. I can't remember if he is, I think he is involved in part three. Okay. He might have just died after the film, but I can't remember. But part one and two, you do have Mario's input in it. Yeah. He helped co-write it with Francis for Coppola and you can tell Yeah.
Julia: Oh, I love that. Have, so I'm dying to see, I don't have Paramount right now cause I had a trial. Yeah. I'm dying to see the offer. I'm like, I gotta wait. I'm paying for something else. It was like, when that, when I'm done watching the show
Tara: over here, you've binge watch it for that week
Julia: long trial . I already did the trial.
Julia: They won't, lemme do it again. I bet I could probably do different, a different, I was just,
Tara: my friend's dad had it, so I was visiting her and we were watching it and she lives in New York and we're like, Oh my God. Pacino's gonna be at Tribeca and it's gonna be the 50th anniversary of the Godfather. We canceled all our plans.
Tara: We bought the tickets. And I didn't know that Robert De Niro was gonna, I mean, it's on my Instagram reels. I freaking lost my shit. You would hear me scream. I love that. And Robert De Niro looks fine. Oh my gosh. He has aged so well. Whew. Pacino, He's gone older. . Yeah, . I mean, the guy is right next to him with a microphone.
Tara: He is like, What did you say? And we're like, God, how, how many drugs did you take? Right. And you're older, so, my God. But it was, so how did I get into this? Oh yeah. So, so we were watching the offer while we had her dad's login. We got to like episode three and I'm gonna go visit her again, uh, next month. So I was like, I'll just wait.
Tara: Otherwise I was like, When can I finish it? Cause it's not as good as I had hoped.
Julia: So I had heard from a gossip. Rag that I follow on the internet, and I don't know how true this is, but Miles Teller character. Was originally SPO was cast army
Tara: hammer and I would've flipped my fucking shit if he, that little shit was go, I always hated Army hammer.
Tara: I will get into a tangent on that little shit. . I knew he was psycho. Um, speaking of wealth and privilege, I'm like, He's not a cannibal. He is literally the definition of privilege and he's so bored. He's so good. I don't think he's a cann.
Julia: I think he's just bored. Yeah. It's like one of those people that isn't very interesting.
Julia: So they have to make up stuff to be interesting. Yes,
Tara: exactly. Yeah. And so I was, I always hated him. I was like, Yeah, I get it. You're hot, but there's plenty of other hot people who have a personality and you do not. Yeah. Or your personality is demented like. This close to being a serial killer.
Julia: Which, which is why I think he probably would've been better than Miles Teller.
Julia: No, because Miles, Miles Teller always like, he's like, Whatever. He's adorable. We all love him. But also he kind of has this dopeness to him and I don't know if that's because I've seen him on all these films where he's like a dopey guy and now he's breaking out of that. Cuz he did do good job in Top Gun.
Julia: Oh.
Tara: I haven't seen it. But, but when I was watching it, they did such a long time to, in the very first episode to get the ball rolling on how. The film will come to be. And then by the second episode, they hired Francis for Co. And we're like, Whoa, whoa, whoa. You just like jumped at it. Yeah. Oh, interesting.
Tara: You went like, When, when did Paramount buy? Oh, they bought the, the rights from Mario Putto. So it begins with like, Mario, like struggling. He needs money. He writes, Godfather. It becomes a huge hit. The next scene is we have The Godfather. I'm like, Oh, geez. Who, who, who read it to say like, Let's buy it for, I think it was $30,000 or, or some something's missing if you're gonna go that slow and then you'd go jump into it.
Tara: That was my biggest complaint. Yeah. Was like, get even more detailed. Or jump a little bit faster.
Julia: Right, Right. Pacing is important.
Tara: It is. I don't think Miles did a bad job. It's in a very important role and I'm so glad Army Hammer got fired, like his fire dash should be ugh, disgust away from the Godfather.
Tara: Do not sell it. um, . Julia, I swear if I found out you did
Julia: The Godfather without me, I feel I would fair, I will not do The Godfather without you. The only person who can usurp you is my child, . If he says that he wants to do it, we can
Tara: do it as a group, as a try in. This is why I was interested, um, to see if his, if he liked it, because, um, so I was working with an editor, old school, you know, he won an Emmy for something from the seventies, I can't remember, or sixties.
Tara: Um, and his grandchildren were interested in film and were like, Well, you have to watch The Godfather. And they're like, It's boring. And I'm like, Oh, may Lord. Are you baptized? Cuz you're going to hell for saying that . Well, we,
Julia: we've always, we've always grown up watching all films from all decades. Like there was no, Yes.
Julia: I think that's important. And so I think because he grew up watching movies from the forties, the fifties, the sixties, transitioning into The Godfather for him. I don't think, and I'm speculating here, but I'm also speaking from experience too, because I also grew up on movies from the forties, the fifties and the sixth.
Julia: Yeah. Which is why I brought him into that fold, you know, moving into movies. So when modern day movies or even like older movies that I haven't seen before, do Move Slow. It's like, no, this is, this is
Tara: not, There's films that really capture touch. I remember my friend and I watched, um, Rear Window this last,
Julia: that is your favorite Hitchcock movie of all time.
Julia: It,
Tara: it, it still holds up because I had seen it so many times and I still couldn't not watch it and she had never seen it. And we were like, This is really good. Yeah. It's very simple. Yeah. You don't see any violence. It's, it's given the impression that there was violence, but, and you're still hooked and you're still kind of scared.
Julia: They're committed to the storyline. Yeah. Which is like a huge
Tara: part. And I think that, and you don't see it these days. I think talented, Mr. Ripley is another great classic. Mm-hmm. . Um,
Julia: well, my son and I had this conversation about, that's why we think Top Gun did so well, because movies nowadays try to do so much.
Julia: Mm-hmm. , but it was a very clear line of like, here's the plot, here's how we go through the plot and here's how we resolve the plot. And you don't really. Simply stories like that anymore. And it's still flashy. It still has its big show because it's Tom Cruise . Yeah. Right. Which I forget which actor it was recently was like, Tom Cruise makes the same movie over and over and over again.
Julia: And I was like, that's why he's a multimillionaire guy. Like people knows what works. He knows that people just wanna be entertained. And it's so simple and you don't have to think about it. You, you're not trying to predict what's gonna happen. You can just sit there and enjoy the film. And
Tara: it's still a simple, kind of, like you said, the some things that I, I can't really get into superhero movies.
Tara: Mm-hmm. , because, particularly Marvel, but any of them, because they're all connected. So then you have to remember what the hell happened to that storyline or, you know, I, I heard that. Adventure's end game. Six hours long in three hours or like eight minutes. Yeah. The Russo brothers said they have an uncut version.
Tara: Oh my God. And I'm like, you understand that movie was way too long for me And honey I would, I am objectifying the hell out of the actors. Chris. Chris Evan in so good
Julia: with the American as he's my favorite. Yeah. But
Tara: he, he's so good with the beard. You shaved his beard. The very first seed. And I was like, well then what the hell?
Tara: Mark ruffle is green the entire time. Yeah. All the other cuties are gone cause they've been snapped. Yeah. I was like, what am I supposed to watch for six hours? A clean shaven blonde, Chris Evans and a green Mark R uh, I'm not doing that because there's so much going on. I cannot keep track of everything.
Tara: Yeah. So you can't even enjoy the plot. I understand people who love it and I'm so happy for them. But that's the problem with these, Well, when
Julia: they used to do, When Easter Eggs used first were introduced, it was fun and exciting because you're like, Ooh. And then now it's just like, it's almost like that's the expectation.
Julia: So you don't get to just sit and enjoy the film because everything is, the type of layering that happens isn't the same as like the nuance that we talked about in little Fires everywhere. So it just kind of can get to the point. And even,
Tara: even in those books, cuz we are not talking about Ruth Withers spending money,
Tara: But even though there's all these different layerings, like you said, it's all about mothers or it's a lot about relationships between women and their friends or other women and other mothers and their children. Yeah. There's still versus, I mean, I guess you could argue like, uh, for instance, Avengers Endgame, it's about superheros saving the world.
Tara: What's so much is going on and I'm like, it's been five years. Who has a kid who doesn't? If it snaps back, do the kid. I don't. It's
Julia: setting up the next phase. So there's, you have to pay attention
Tara: because apparently there's gonna be another
Julia: adventurous movie. Uhhuh because there's so many things happening that are gonna set up the next phase.
Julia: And that's, I think that's the point. I think that's what, again, I'm speculating cuz I don't, I'm not inside his head, but I think that's kind of what my son was trying to say was like, you, we don't have movies that don't set up other movies anymore. Like that's what we have now. It's like this movie's gonna set up this movie.
Julia: Like even just the other day, the Gray Man Netflix, it's gonna be gonna be a franchise. So it's like, okay, so what about, they probably filmed it with the intention of it potentially being a franchise. So now that means it's not just a movie I could sit and think is actually a comedy and not a, not a serious movie.
Julia: Like they portrayed it to be,
Tara: um, So, Yeah. And, and that's the Godfather. Everyone was like, Do not do a sequel. It's, it's a death sentence. Yeah. And it is still, to this day, people don't know which one's better. Yeah. One or two.
Julia: Yeah. Cuz in, in I think Diane Keaton's book, she even said like, sequels weren't a thing back then.
Julia: Now movies. It's like, if you don't make it to set it up for sequel, are you even making a movie? ? Yeah. Yeah. Okay, let's hit the last question. Okay. Sorry. Have your opinion. No, it's okay. That's what we do on the show. We kind of go, This is why
Tara: I was so glad. I was like, really wanna be on.
Julia: How have your opinions either way of wealthy women changed over time?
Julia: And has the work wither Spoon is doing, influenced your opinion in any way?
Tara: Um, I don't think the work of Reese has done anything to influence my way. I think we, we kind of touched it in the beginning when I thought. As a kid, it was like education. Mm-hmm. equals success equals wealth. And now I'm seeing that that's not necessarily the case.
Tara: I mean, you've got these alleged, I don't understand the finances of influencers being millionaires or YouTubers who are, you know, like eight years old and are millionaires. Yeah. You know, so it, it has changed it. Now is it sustainable? That's a different story cuz education is sustainable. Right. Um, but what I do think Reese is doing that is, and I'm, I think other people have tried to do this, but she is one of the few that has been very successful to do.
Tara: And maybe from our discussion we have guessed on why adding more voices, adding different age groups and telling different stories. Yeah. Because is over 7 billion people on the planet and not everyone is going to be. Uh, a rich white, Episcopalian, you know, kind of, Yeah,
Julia: I sure should am
Tara: not , you know, And, and so that's why, uh, her production company, her book club, her, you know, all of that stuff.
Tara: I didn't even know she had a clothing company until you were telling me. And I was like, Oh, I love that. But, but she has this way as she, either she surrounds herself or she pays attention to all the different types of people that are out there that she sees everyone as a customer. Yeah. And she's really good at customer service, I guess.
Tara: Yeah. Just from this sheer, like they've noticed your tag. Yeah. Or your mention of someone and then they reached out. So I think that is really important. It didn't influence me necessarily, but I do see the influence. and it's a different kind of influence cause it's a different time period than when Oprah was, when she started out.
Tara: But if they started at the same time, that would've been interesting
Julia: to see. Ooh, that would be, And as you were speaking, I thought, Yeah, Oprah, um, walked So Reese could run .
Tara: Yeah. That could also very well be true, right? I mean, yeah. How many people do we know of a certain age, black or white or whatever, that are this successful?
Tara: Yeah. Honestly, they let
Julia: alone female. Yeah. The list is so small in doing research for this season. Um, you know, we, we have improved as a society in expanding, you know, there's more women in C-suites, positions, all these things, but the digit numbers are still really small. And that's what kind of shocked me because I was, I thought, you know, It would be a little bit higher than that, but it's still, there's still a lot of work to be done, I guess, is what I'm realizing.
Julia: The next
Tara: one will
Julia: Sprint . Yes. Yes. When Reese Witherspoon first set out to create meaningful content that centered women's stories, she admitted that projects were initially self-funded, which is a huge place to be in, to be able to do that. While there are reports that Hello Sunshine wasn't profitable until 20, 24 years after launch, which is not uncommon when starting a new business venture in 2021, it was reported the company sold for 900 million to Blackstone, back to a Blackstone backed media company.
Julia: Witherspoon has not only highlighted that women still have value over 40, and that reading matters. Her diverse collection of titles in her book club have exposed millions to stories like such a fun age by Kylie Reid, which is one of my personal favorites from her list. Mm-hmm. , his only wife by, Oh, I was gonna look up how to pronounce her name before we started recording, and I ran outta, I think it's Mediad Zoo.
Julia: And the proposal by Jasmine. I don't know how to say Jasmine's last name cuz I just call her Jasmine. Oh, Lori, we'll double check. I know I'm gonna, Tara, thank you so much for joining me today. Can you tell our friends at home where they can find you if they wanna keep
Tara: up with you? I'm pretty much everywhere.
Tara: Uh, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Um, Twitter and Instagram. It's at Taras Jabari, t a r a, underscore, j a b b a r I. Um, you can find all of my stuff on about.me/tara Jabari. That'll give you all my stuff. Um, and yeah, I really, really hope I come back and because I believe in America, you know, like I always do that.
Tara: No, I am gen. Like now I'm, I'm tearing up at the idea of doing Godfather. I love this
Julia: idea so much. I, Me too. And I actually think it'd be a fun little like, mini episode situation where we actually do a multi-part conversation mm-hmm. so we can like, get into. Um, the first one, talk about the SEC and talk about all three of 'em and like yeah, I
Tara: just think that it could work for the adaptation of a book to film, uh, because it's one of the few instances that not only did it well, but changed the game for everything.
Tara: Yeah.
Julia: And I've never read the book, so I think it'd be fun. I know, it's so sin. I
Tara: know. And you know what, there's things that I'll watch the film and I'm like, Oh my God, now I'm, It's in the background. Yeah. And I was like, That's in the book. Oh, I love that. And all sorts of stuff. So, and you know, um, so like in the book, Michael's my favorite, which scares me cuz he's so much more manipulative in the book.
Tara: Yeah, yeah. And kind of in the film. I love Sunny. Interesting. Yeah.
Julia: Yeah. Oh my gosh, that would be so much fun. So I definitely need time to read it and actually get into it as opposed to just listening to it on audiobook. Um, so I'll definitely circle back with you on that.
Tara: Yeah, please let me know so that I can reread it.
Tara: I haven't read it in like 10 years, but Oh gosh. Yeah, I still remember. Loving it.
Julia: Oh, I love that. We will link all of your things in the show notes so that way you can easily access Tara, because when it's linked in the show notes, there's no excuse for you to not check her out. Friends, thank you for tuning in.
Julia: I will see you in the dms 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, cry, melt down whenever I feel overwhelmed. I also wanna do a big shout out to our Patreon community. Thank you for your continued support.
Julia: It brings me great joy to bring you quality content, and monthly get togethers. Thanks for tuning in y'all. Until next time.
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