“Why don't you try squeezing something the size of a watermelon out of an opening the size of a lemon and see how hot YOU look?”
On this week’s episode of Deep Thoughts About Stupid Shit, Emily revisits the only 1980s romcom that starts with talking sperm, Look Who’s Talking. This 1989 film, written and directed by Amy Heckerling, reflects many of the frustrating realities women face during pregnancy and early motherhood, including the ways pregnant women are treated like public property and how mothers are shamed no matter what they do.
The comedy lets us laugh along with this cultural commentary, but it also perpetuates some regressive and anti-feminist views. The film wants us to believe Kirstie Alley’s Mollie and baby Mikey (voiced by Bruce Willis) need John Travolta’s James, despite the man’s questionable parenting choices and the inappropriate sexual comments he consistently makes to the baby. Like many 80s and 90s movies, Look Who’s Talking wants us to accept that women would be happier if they just relaxed.
But even if this film doesn’t quite live up Emily’s Gen X nostalgia, the baby/ies is/are super cute, Bruce Willis’s voiceover acting is pretty funny, and there is always some feminism to be found in the 5% of films written and directed by women.
We won’t tell you how to breathe or what to do with your ears. However you want to listen to this episode is entirely up to you!
We are Tracie Guy-Decker and Emily Guy Birken, known to our extended family as the Guy Girls.
We both have super-serious personas in our "day jobs." No, really. Emily is a Finance writer who used to be a classroom teacher. Tracie writes and consults on social justice and mindfulness and works as a copywriter and project manager for non-profits. If you really need to see the bona fides, please visit our individual websites: tracieguydecker.com and emilyguybirken.com
For our work together, what you need to know is that Tracie is older (3 years), Emily is funnier (by at least 3 percent), and we're both hella smart, often over-literal, and completely unashamed of our overthinking prowess. We love movies and tv, science fiction and murder mysteries, good storytelling with liberal amounts of dramatic irony, and analyzing pop culture for gender dynamics, psychology, sociology, and whatever else we find there.
Learn more about Tracie and Emily (including our other projects), join the Guy Girls' family, secure exclusive access to bonus episodes, video version, and early access to Deep Thoughts by visiting us on Patreon.
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